ReportWire

Tag: ukraine

  • Live Updates: Russia-Ukraine War

    Live Updates: Russia-Ukraine War

    [ad_1]

    KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s State Emergency Service says that 12 S-300 missiles have slammed into public facilities in Zaporizhzhia, setting off a large fire in the area.

    It says that one person was killed in the attack early Tuesday.

    The S-300 was originally designed as a long-range surface-to-air missile. Russia has increasingly resorted to using repurposed versions of the weapon to strike targets on the ground.

    ———

    KEY DEVELOPMENTS:

    Missiles hit Ukrainian city, alarms elsewhere keep up fear

    Kremlin war hawks demand more devastating strikes on Ukraine

    Worried UN meets on Ukraine hours after Russian strikes

    Hong Kong nixes US sanctions on Russian-owned superyacht

    Follow all AP stories on the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

    ———

    PRAGUE — The presidents of NATO members in central and eastern Europe are condemning Monday’s Russian strikes on Ukrainian cities and saying that they “constitute war crimes under international law.”

    The presidents of the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Montenegro said in a statement that war crimes and crimes against humanity aren’t subject to any statute of limitations and are covered by the “jurisdiction of courts all over the world.”

    They demanded that Russia immediately stop attacking civilian targets and said that “We will not cease our efforts to bring to court persons responsible of yesterday’s crimes.” The presidents said that “any threats by Russian representatives to use nuclear weapons” are unacceptable.

    ———

    KYIV, Ukraine — Air raid warnings throughout Ukraine have sent some residents back into shelters after months of relative calm in the capital and many other cities. That lull had led many Ukrainians to ignore the regular sirens, but Monday’s attacks gave them new urgency.

    Besides the usual sirens, Kyiv residents were jolted early Tuesday by a new type of loud alarm that blared automatically from mobile phones. The caustic-sounding alert was accompanied by a text warning of the possibility of missile strikes.

    The Ukrainian Air Force said Russian Tu-95 and Tu-160 bombers operating over the Caspian Sea launched missiles over Ukrainian territory around 7 a.m. Tuesday. It did not provide information about the targets.

    It said four inbound missiles were shot down by the Ukrainian southern air command around 9 a.m.

    The governor of the Vinnytsia region, Serhiy Borzov, said there was an air strike there in the morning. There was no word on casualties.

    ———

    BERLIN — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says he plans to discuss how to bring down soaring fossil fuel prices with his counterparts in the Group of Seven industrial powers.

    Scholz told a conference of Germany’s machinery industry Tuesday that “the very first task must be to ensure that the prices for fossil resources, for gas, for oil and coal come back down.” But he noted that can’t be done unilaterally.

    Scholz said he plans to bring up “mutual responsibility,” particularly on gas prices, in all his international talks — including at a videoconference of G-7 leaders planned later Tuesday.

    He said that “we need a negotiated process in which prices sink to a sensible level again.” Scholz said that it was the same idea that led to the foundation of the G-7 in the 1970s.

    ———

    MOSCOW — The speaker of the lower house of Russian parliament has likened the Ukrainian president to former al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

    State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin asserted Tuesday that “the Kyiv regime has become a terrorist one,” pointing to the weekend attack on a bridge linking Russia with Crimea, which it annexed from Ukraine 2014, other attacks and the killings of public figures in Ukraine and Russia.

    He said that Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has “put himself on par with Osama bin Laden and other international terrorists.”

    Volodin argued that “Western politicians supporting Zelenskyy’s regime are effectively sponsoring terrorism.” He added that there is “a rule known worldwide: there can be no talks with terrorists.”

    ———

    MOSCOW — A senior Russian diplomat has issued a new warning to the U.S. and its allies that their support for Ukraine could draw them into an open conflict with Russia.

    Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that Western military assistance to Kyiv, the training of Ukrainian personnel in NATO countries, and the provision of real-time satellite data allowing the Ukrainian military to designate targets for artillery strikes have “increasingly drawn Western nations into the conflict on the part of the Kyiv regime.”

    He warned in remarks carried by the state RIA-Novosti news agency that “Russia will be forced to take relevant countermeasures, including asymmetrical ones.”

    Ryabkov added that “Russia isn’t interested in a direct clash with the U.S. and NATO, and we hope that Washington and other Western capitals are aware of the danger of an uncontrollable escalation.”

    ———

    LONDON — The head of GCHQ, Britain’s electronic intelligence agency, says Russia is running short of weapons and its troops are “exhausted.”

    Jeremy Fleming said Tuesday that “we believe Russia is running short of munitions.”

    Fleming is due to give a public speech later, arguing that Russian President Vladimir Putin has made “strategic errors in judgment” throughout the war.

    According to GCHQ, he will say that “we know – and Russian commanders on the ground know – that their supplies and munitions are running out.”

    “Russia’s forces are exhausted. The use of prisoners to reinforce, and now the mobilization of tens of thousands of inexperienced conscripts, speaks of a desperate situation.”

    GCHQ did not disclose the sources of its intelligence.

    ———

    KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s State Emergencies Service says that 19 people were killed and 105 others were wounded in Monday’s Russian missile strikes across Ukraine.

    It said Tuesday that critical infrastructure facilities were hit in Kyiv and 12 other regions, and 301 cities and towns were without power.

    Russia on Monday retaliated for an attack on a critical bridge by unleashing its most widespread strikes against Ukraine in months. They hit at least 14 regions, from Lviv in the west to Kharkiv in the east. Many of the attacks occurred far from the war’s front lines.

    ———

    TALLINN, Estonia — Moscow’s barrage of missile strikes on cities across Ukraine has elicited celebratory comments from Russian officials and pro-Kremlin pundits, who in recent weeks have actively criticized the Russian military for a series of embarrassing setbacks on the battlefield.

    Commentators lauded Monday’s large-scale attack as an appropriate and long-awaited response to Kyiv’s successful counteroffensives and a weekend attack on a key bridge between Russia and the annexed Crimean Peninsula.

    Many argued, however, that Moscow should keep up the intensity of the strikes in order to win the war. Some analysts suggested that President Vladimir Putin is becoming a hostage of his own allies’ views on how the military campaign in Ukraine should unfold.

    ———

    HONG KONG — Hong Kong leader John Lee says he will only implement United Nations sanctions, after the U.S. warned the territory’s status as a financial center could be affected if it acts as a safe haven for sanctioned individuals.

    Lee’s statement Tuesday came days after a luxury yacht connected to Russian tycoon Alexey Mordashov docked in the city.

    Mordashov, who is believed to have close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, was sanctioned by the U.S., U.K. and the European Union in February after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Hong Kong authorities have said that they do not implement unilateral sanctions imposed by other governments.

    “We cannot do anything that has no legal basis,” Lee told reporters. “We will comply with United Nations sanctions, that is our system, that is our rule of law,” he said.

    A U.S. State Department spokesperson said in a statement Monday that “the possible use of Hong Kong as a safe haven by individuals evading sanctions from multiple jurisdictions further calls into question the transparency of the business environment.”

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • All you need to know about the Nord Stream gas leaks — and why Europe suspects ‘gross sabotage’

    All you need to know about the Nord Stream gas leaks — and why Europe suspects ‘gross sabotage’

    [ad_1]

    Climate scientists described the shocking images of gas spewing to the surface of the Baltic Sea as a “reckless release” of greenhouse gas emissions that, if deliberate, “amounts to an environmental crime.”

    Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

    Two subsea pipelines connecting Russia to Germany are at the center of international intrigue after a series of blasts caused what might be the single largest release of methane in history — and many suspect it was the result of an attack.

    An initial crime scene investigation last week into what caused the gas leaks on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines reinforced suspicions of “gross sabotage.”

    As investigations continue, many in Europe suspect the incident was the result of an attack, particularly as it occurred during a bitter energy standoff between the European Union and Russia.

    The Kremlin has repeatedly dismissed claims it destroyed the pipelines, calling such allegations “stupid” and “absurd,” and claiming that it is the U.S. that had the most to gain from the gas leaks.

    The White House has denied any involvement in the suspected attack.

    What happened?

    On Sept. 26, a flurry of detonations on two underwater pipelines connecting Russia to Germany sent gas spewing to the surface of the Baltic Sea. The explosions triggered four gas leaks at four locations — two in Denmark’s exclusive economic zone and two in Sweden’s exclusive economic zone.

    The magnitude of those explosions was measured at 2.3 and 2.1 on the Richter scale, respectively, Swedish and Danish authorities said, and likely corresponded to an explosive load of “several hundred kilos.”

    Neither of the Nord Stream pipelines was transporting gas at the time of the blasts, although they both contained pressurized methane — a potent greenhouse gas.

    Remarkably, the signature of the gas bubbling at the surface of the Baltic Sea could be seen from space.

    A satellite image of the Nord Stream leak in the Baltic Sea, captured on Sept. 26, 2022.

    Planet

    Climate scientists described the shocking images of the methane erupting from the burst as a “reckless release” of greenhouse gas emissions that, if deliberate, “amounts to an environmental crime.”

    At the time, Denmark’s armed forces said video footage showed the largest gas leak created a surface disturbance of roughly 1 kilometer (0.62 miles) in diameter, while the smallest leak caused a circle of approximately 200 meters.

    The Nord Stream gas pipelines have become a focal point of tensions between Russia and Europe in recent months, with Moscow accused of weaponizing gas supplies in a bid to gain sanctions relief amid its onslaught in Ukraine.

    Who’s to blame?

    Sweden’s national security service said Thursday that detonations caused “extensive damage” to the pipelines and “strengthened suspicions of gross sabotage.”

    Sweden’s Security Service said certain seizures had been made, without offering further details, and that these would now be reviewed and analyzed.

    “The continued preliminary investigation must show whether someone can be served with suspicion and later prosecuted,” Sweden’s Security Service said.

    Sweden’s prosecutor’s office said in a separate statement that the area was no longer cordoned off.

    The European Union has warned that any deliberate attack on European energy infrastructure would be met with the “strongest possible response,” calling what it suspects is an intentional attack “utterly unacceptable.”

    Most Western governments have stopped short of pointing the finger directly at Russia, while the Kremlin has sought to pin the blame on the West.

    U.S. President Joe Biden described the blasts on the Nord Stream pipelines as a “deliberate act of sabotage” late last month, saying Washington was working with its allies to work out exactly what happened.

    Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency, said at a conference in Paris last month that it was “very obvious” who was responsible for the gas leaks, Reuters reported. He did not say who that was, however.

    Russia has denied it was responsible for the gas leaks. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said at a briefing on Thursday that such claims were “absurd,” according to Tass news agency.

    Zakharova emphasized the “enormous investment” that the Kremlin took in the infrastructure project and lashed out at the West for blocking Moscow from taking part in the investigations.

    Environmental impact

    The unexplained Nord Stream gas leaks pose serious questions about the incident’s environmental impact.

    Climate scientists acknowledged in the aftermath of the event that it was hard to accurately quantify the exact size of the emissions and said the leaks are a “wee bubble in the ocean” compared with the massive amounts of methane emitted around the world every day.

    Methane is 84 times more potent than carbon and doesn’t last as long in the atmosphere before it breaks down. That makes it a critical target for combatting climate change quickly while simultaneously minimizing other greenhouse gas emissions.

    “It was a deliberate act and in my opinion it can very likely be linked to the push for constant provocation by the Kremlin,” Spanish Energy Minister Teresa Ribera told reporters last month, according to Reuters.

    Europa Press News | Europa Press | Getty Images

    The two Nord Stream pipelines were estimated to have contained enough gas to release 300,000 tons of methane — more than twice the amount released by the 2015 Aliso Canyon leak in California, the largest known release of methane in U.S. history.

    While that means it could be one of the largest single releases of methane, the incident pales in comparison with the roughly 70 million tons of methane emitted by the oil and gas industry each year.

    The European Space Agency estimated that the emissions leak from the Nord Stream gas pipelines was roughly equivalent to one and a half days of global methane emissions.

    Nonetheless, environmental campaigners argued the incident serves as yet another reminder of the risks associated with fossil fuel infrastructure.

    — CNBC’s Emma Newburger contributed to this report.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Russia’s war in Ukraine | CNN

    Russia’s war in Ukraine | CNN

    [ad_1]

    In a television appearance Monday, President Vladimir Putin said Russia had struck military and infrastructure targets across Ukraine following the Crimea bridge blast on Saturday.

    Putin threatened further “harsh” responses that correspond “to the level of threat to the Russian Federation, have no doubt about it,” while accusing Kyiv of “terrorism.”

    Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the attack on the Kerch bridge, a key link between the Russian mainland and Crimea, which Moscow annexed illegally in 2014.

    Putin listed a catalogue of alleged acts of “terrorism” by what he called the “Kyiv regime” at a Russian Security Council meeting on Monday, accusing “Ukrainian special services” of the “sabotage act on the Crimean bridge.”

    He went through a list of what he called acts of terrorism including “terrorist shelling of the citizen towns in Donbas for over eight years,” and alleged acts of terrorism against Russian energy infrastructure, including electric power facilities, the gas transportation infrastructure and “an attempt to undermine one of the sections of the Turkish Stream gas transportation system.”

    He warned of a harsh response that corresponds to the level of threat toward the Russian Federation in case of further “acts of terrorism.”

    More on the explosion: An explosion early Saturday severely damaged parts of the Crimean bridge, which is a road and rail link between the peninsula and the Russian Federation. Kyiv has not claimed responsibility for the blast on the enormous 19-kilometer (about 12-mile) bridge, which was was opened by Putin in 2018. Ukrainian reaction to the explosion has been gleeful and triumphant.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Superyacht linked to Russian billionaire mysteriously shows up in Hong Kong | CNN

    Superyacht linked to Russian billionaire mysteriously shows up in Hong Kong | CNN

    [ad_1]


    Hong Kong
    CNN
     — 

    A megayacht linked to a sanctioned Russian oligarch has dropped anchor in Hong Kong, amid efforts by the West to seize the luxury assets of Russian elites in allied ports as the war in Ukraine drags on.

    The Nord, a nearly 142-meter (466-foot) yacht that is said to be one of the world’s largest, was spotted by CNN on Friday in Hong Kong’s waters, just minutes from the central downtown district. The vessel is estimated to be worth at least $500 million and widely believed to belong to Alexey Mordashov, an industrial billionaire, according to a yacht broker who spoke with CNN.

    The yacht, 1.5 times the size of an American football field, arrived in Hong Kong on Wednesday from the Russian port of Vladivostok, according to the Chinese city’s Marine Department. The government agency told CNN on Friday that it hadn’t been notified about when the yacht would depart for its next destination.

    As of Friday afternoon, the Nord was seen flying a Russian flag, with the name of its home base, “Vladivostok,” emblazoned on its stern. A few people, apparently crew members dressed in uniform, were spotted on the vessel’s deck.

    Mordashov is one of Russia’s wealthiest billionaires, with an estimated net worth of $18.7 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. That’s down by $10 billion so far this year, according to the wealth tracker.

    The tycoon is chairman of Severstal, a Russian steel and mining giant that at last count had 54,000 employees across 69 countries.

    The US State Department sanctioned him and Severstal in June, in addition to three of Mordashov’s other companies, his wife and two adult children.

    In a statement at the time, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the Treasury Department was taking further action to “degrade the networks allowing Russia’s elites, including President [Vladimir] Putin, to anonymously make use of luxury assets around the globe.”

    But the United States isn’t the only country cracking down. Several superyachts tied to Russian businessmen have been seized this year in high-profile cases around the world, including in Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom.

    Mordashov has challenged sanctions against him in European courts. In May, he argued that an EU court should annul the decision to add him to a list of those penalized over the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to European Union filings.

    “I have absolutely nothing to do with the emergence of the current geopolitical tension and I do not understand why the EU has imposed sanctions on me,” he said this spring, at the beginning of the war, according to TASS, Russia’s state news agency.

    Nord seen anchored in Hong Kong on Friday, Oct. 7, just minutes by boat from the city's central district.

    Hong Kong may provide some refuge. Reached for comment by CNN on Friday, the Hong Kong Marine Department said that it would “not comment on any individual cases of vessel entry.”

    The city requires overseas yacht owners to gain permission from authorities to enter, including showing proof of insurance, according to the Marine Department.

    “We note that certain countries may impose unilateral sanctions against certain places on the basis of their own considerations,” it said.

    But the government “does not implement, nor do we have the legal authority to take action on, unilateral sanctions imposed by other jurisdictions,” the department added, saying only that it would enforce “sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council.”

    On Tuesday, Hong Kong leader, Chief Executive John Lee, said the city had “no legal basis” to act on Western-imposed sanctions – referring to the United States– but “will comply with any United Nations resolution on sanctions.”

    Lee himself is among nearly a dozen people sanctioned by the US in 2020 for undermining the city’s autonomy and democratic processes, to which he described as a “a very barbaric act” on Tuesday.

    “Hong Kong respects the rule of law. As an international financial city, Hong Kong’s regulatory system is on par with international standards. We will not do anything that has no legal basis,” Lee said.

    Russia and China — of which Hong Kong is a part — are two of the five members on the Security Council with veto power. Russia has consistently vetoed resolutions on the council in recent months, impeding action on Ukraine.

    Severstal did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Mordashov on Friday.

    MarineTraffic, the global maritime analytics provider, shows that the Nord arrived in Hong Kong this week after a seven-day journey through the Sea of Japan and East China Sea.

    It’s hard to know exactly why the crew chose to come to the Asian hub now, said Michael Maximilian Bognier, a yacht broker with Next Wave Yachting in Hong Kong.

    But he noted that the port of Vladivostok could get relatively cold in the winter, making it tougher to maintain such a vessel.

    “Not [an] ideal climate to keep a boat like that,” Bognier told CNN.

    Asked whether the lack of sanctions could be a draw, Bognier acknowledged the current political climate wasn’t helping.

    “This could be a reason why she’s here,” he said, referring to the yacht. “It could be a free ticket.”

    It’s rare to see proof of direct ownership of such lavish vessels. Bognier noted, however, that word usually got around about top industry sales and said it was common knowledge that Mordashov was the owner of the yacht.

    “Running a boat this size is almost [like] running a city or a business,” he added.

    The Nord was built by German shipping giant Lürssen.

    “This is definitely one of the most iconic yachts,” said Bognier. “It’s got a very flat bow, not unlike an aircraft carrier actually. That’s a very distinctive feature about this yacht. So it’s very, very difficult, let’s say, to mistake it for something else.”

    Sky-high carrying costs could make it tough for even the world’s wealthiest to maintain such assets. Bognier estimated that it could range from approximately $45 million to $70 million just to keep the yacht running each year, not factoring in variable costs of fuel or maintenance after any long journeys.

    That would break down to an average bill of $100,000 to $200,000 a day.

    The Nord is seen in Hong Kong on October 7, 2022.

    The Nord yacht boasts two helipads, and would likely have an extensive staff on board, including a full-time chef, fitness instructor, massage therapist, and possibly a helicopter pilot, according to Bognier.

    “When we talk about boats this size, these are standard items,” he said.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Russia launches deadly wave of strikes in Ukraine

    Russia launches deadly wave of strikes in Ukraine

    [ad_1]

    Russia launches deadly wave of strikes in Ukraine – CBS News


    Watch CBS News



    The war in Ukraine grew more intense overnight with a barrage of deadly airstrikes that hit civilian areas throughout the country. It was Russia’s most widespread assault since its invasion in February. Charlie D’Agata reports.

    Be the first to know

    Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.


    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • “CBS Evening News” headlines for Monday, October 10, 2022

    “CBS Evening News” headlines for Monday, October 10, 2022

    [ad_1]

    “CBS Evening News” headlines for Monday, October 10, 2022 – CBS News


    Watch CBS News



    Here’s a look at the top stories making headlines on the “CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell.”

    Be the first to know

    Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.


    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • BBC Reporter Forced To Take Cover As Missiles Hit Kyiv Live On Air

    BBC Reporter Forced To Take Cover As Missiles Hit Kyiv Live On Air

    [ad_1]

    A BBC correspondent covering the Ukraine conflict had to duck for cover during a live broadcast after Kyiv was targeted by Russian airstrikes on Monday morning.

    Hugo Bachega was reporting from central Kyiv on the escalating conflict after a bridge connecting the annexed area of Crimea to Russia was blown up on Saturday. The Kremlin has blamed the attack on Ukraine.

    “So the fear is that this could trigger a very strong Russian response. We saw yesterday that a residential area of the city of Zaporizhzhia, a major city in the south of the country, very close to the front lines was hit,” Bachega said, before he was distracted by the sound of an airborne missile.

    He ducked out of view of the camera as an explosion was heard.

    The BBC threw it back to the studio, where the anchor said Bachega had taken cover “for obvious reasons.”

    Within the hour, Bachega delivered another report, noting that the airstrike had hit close to his hotel in the city center.

    “We understand that several explosions have happened here in the capital, and we had an update from the emergency services saying that several people have been killed and wounded,” he reported.

    He later posted on Instagram that he was safe, but was having a “busy and depressing day” reporting from a parking lot, ostensibly underground to shelter from airstrikes.

    At least 11 deaths and scores more injuries were reported Monday after Russia launched a major volley of strikes on cities across Ukraine. At least eight people were killed in Kyiv, according to city officials, with dozens more injured. Many of the locations hit appeared to be residential or key infrastructure sites, the Associated Press reported. Russian President Vladimir Putin said the strikes were ordered in retaliation for the Crimea bridge explosion.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Indian embassy in Kyiv issues advisory for Indians in war-torn Ukraine

    Indian embassy in Kyiv issues advisory for Indians in war-torn Ukraine

    [ad_1]

    The Indian embassy in Kyiv has released an advisory for Indian nationals currently in Ukraine. The advisory said that all Indian nationals should avoid all non-essential travel to and within Ukraine as the Russian-Ukraine war intensifies. The embassy has requested Indians residing in Ukraine to keep them informed about the status of their presence in Ukraine.

    The advisory read, “In view of the current escalation of hostilities in Ukraine, Indian nationals are advised to avoid all non-essential travel to and within Ukraine.”

    TWEET

    Cities across Ukraine were bombed on Monday morning by Russia, reports suggested. The bombings killed civilians and destroyed infrastructure in apparent revenge strikes after the Russian president Putin declared the bridge explosion in Crimea a terrorist attack.

    Explosions were reported in Lviv, Ternopil and Zhytomyr in Ukraine’s west, Dnipro and Kremenchuk in central Ukraine, Zaporizhzhia in the south and Kharkiv in the east, a Reuters report showed.

    US President Joe Biden has warned that Putin’s threat to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine might bring the world closer to “Armageddon” at any time since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Biden said that for the “first time since the Cuban Missile Crisis, we have a direct threat to the use of nuclear weapons, if in fact things continue down the path they’d been going.”

    Last month, the US Embassy in Moscow directed Americans in Russia to leave the country as early as possible. The official statement said that citizens should not travel to Russia and those residing or travelling in Russia should depart Russia immediately while limited commercial travel options remain. The embassy also asked Americans to avoid all political or social protests and not photograph security personnel at such events.

    Bulgaria and Poland have also recommended that their citizens consider the possibility of immediately leaving Russia and urged them to refrain from travelling to the country, Russian news agency Tass reported.
     

    Also read: US urges Americans to leave Russia immediately while they still can

    Also read: Biden presses the alarm button, says Putin’s nuclear threat could bring risk of ‘Armageddon’

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Kyiv calls for air defenses as Putin brings his Syria tactics to Ukraine

    Kyiv calls for air defenses as Putin brings his Syria tactics to Ukraine

    [ad_1]

    Press play to listen to this article

    Russian President Vladimir Putin turned back to his bloody, destructive playbook from Syria with a barrage of rocket attacks against civilian targets across Ukraine on Monday, ramping up pressure on Western allies to supply Kyiv with the air defenses it has long sought.

    Monday’s rush-hour bombardment on the streets of Kyiv, Lviv, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia and other regions came as little surprise, given that Putin had already signaled his willingness to switch to ever more brutal tactics by appointing Sergey Surovikin, the general who oversaw Russian forces in Syria on-and-off from 2017 to 2020, as commander of his struggling war effort in Ukraine.

    In a speech at an emergency meeting of his National Security Council on Monday, Putin claimed the strikes came in response to this weekend’s attack on the Kerch Bridge linking illegally occupied Crimea to Russia. Putin said Russia had deployed “high-precision, long-range weapons from the air, sea and land” to deliver “massive attacks on targets of Ukraine’s energy, military command and communications facilities.” He added that Russia would continue to dole out retribution if Ukraine continued to strike so-called “Russian” territory.

    Ukraine’s defense ministry said 75 missiles were launched, 41 of which were shot down.

    Moscow’s claims to precision attacks on strategic targets seemed to mask the fact that the aim was clearly to kill civilians, as the missiles struck the Shevchenkivskyi district in the heart of Kyiv during peak morning traffic. Pictures and footage taken by reporters and from security cameras show cars on fire; a crater beside a children’s playground in the Shevchenko Park and a pedestrian bridge destroyed.

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Telegram that Russia appeared to have two targets in its assault: energy facilities throughout the country — and Ukrainians going about their daily lives.

    “They want panic and chaos,” Zelenskyy said, in a video that appeared to have been shot on his cell phone on the streets of Kyiv. Monday’s attacks came at a time “especially chosen to cause as much damage as possible … Why such strikes exactly? The enemy wants us to be afraid, wants to make people run. But we can only run forward — and we demonstrate this on the battlefield. It will continue to be so.”

    Zelenskyy also renewed his appeals to the West to provide Ukraine with additional air defenses. Kyiv has been seeking this additional firepower for weeks, arguing that Russia is likely to try to knock out Ukraine’s energy and industrial infrastructure over the winter, and it has been disappointed by the slow response.

    In tweets, Zelenskyy said he had spoken with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in the wake of the strikes on the capital and other cities. With Macron, Zelenskyy said: “We discussed the strengthening of our air defense, the need for a tough European and international reaction, as well as increased pressure on the Russian Federation.”

    Those discussions on air defense batteries are now likely to loom large at the U.S.-led Ukraine Defense Contact Group — also known as the Ramstein format — where senior defense officials from across the globe will gather in Brussels later this week.

    Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said on Monday: “The best response to Russian missile terror is the supply of anti-aircraft and anti-missile systems to Ukraine — protect the sky over Ukraine! This will protect our cities and our people. This will protect the future of Europe. Evil must be punished.”

    The butcher of Syria takes over

    Surovikin was only announced as the new Russian commander for Ukraine on Saturday.

    The 55-year-old general, who before his promotion had been charged with leading Russia’s Southern Military District and Russian troops in Syria, has long been an infamous figure with a reputation for being ruthless.

    He was linked to the violent suppression of the anti-Soviet 1990 Dushanbe riots in Tajikistan, and was reportedly imprisoned (before being freed without charge) after soldiers under his command killed three protesters in Moscow during the failed coup against then Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev in August 1991. In 1995, Surovikin received a suspended sentence (which was later overturned) for participating in the illegal arms trade. Surovikin also played a role in Russia’s second Chechen war, commanding the 42nd Guards Motorized Rifle Division.

    But Surovikin is best known — and most feared — for his command of Russian forces in Syria, where Moscow intervened to prop up Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Human Rights Watch, a non-governmental organization, listed Surovikin as one of the commanders “who may bear command responsibility” for human rights violations during the 2019-2020 offensive in Syria’s Idlib province, when Syrian and Russian forces launched dozens of air and ground attacks on civilian targets and infrastructure, striking homes, schools, health care facilities and markets.

    It was not the first time Russian forces were accused of war crimes in Syria. The Kremlin’s troops, working with Syrians, undertook a month-long bombing campaign of opposition-controlled territory in Aleppo in 2016, killing hundreds of civilians, including 90 children, with indiscriminate airstrikes, cluster munitions and incendiary weapons hitting civilian targets including medical facilities.

    Now, with Russian forces on the back foot in Ukraine and Putin’s full-throated rhetoric out of step with the situation on the ground in his war, Surovikin appears to be turning to his old tactic of inflicting massive damage on civilians in an attempt to turn the tide of the war.

    [ad_2]

    Zoya Sheftalovich

    Source link

  • Live Updates: Russia-Ukraine War

    Live Updates: Russia-Ukraine War

    [ad_1]

    BRUSSELS — The European Union joined an international chorus of criticism and condemnation following the Russian missile attacks across Ukraine early Monday.

    “Russia once again has shown to the world what it stands for. It is terror and brutality,” said EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “I know Ukrainians will not be intimidated. And Ukrainians know that we will stand by your side, their side as long as it takes.”

    EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders had to be rushed to an underground shelter as he was visiting the Ukraine capital Kyiv to assess evidence of possible war crimes with local officials.

    EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said such acts have “no place” in the 21st century.

    European Parliament President Roberta Metsola called the attacks “sickening. It shows the world, again, the regime we are faced with: One that targets indiscriminately. One that rains terror & death down on children.”

    ———

    KEY DEVELOPMENTS:

    Putin calls Kerch Bridge attack “a terrorist act” by Kyiv

    ‘War crime:’ Industrial-scale destruction of Ukraine culture

    Indian minister says Ukraine war serves no one’s interests

    Singer driven from Belarus for speaking out tries to rebuild

    Follow all AP stories on the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine.

    ———

    MOSCOW — Russian war bloggers and political commentators lauded Monday’s attacks but and argued that the strikes on energy infrastructure should incur lasting damage to Ukraine.

    The hawkish Kremlin-backed leader of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, who has long pushed for ramping up strikes on Ukraine, said he is now “100 percent happy.” He taunted Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying “we warned you that Russia hasn’t even started it in earnest.”

    Margarita Simonyan, the head of the state-funded RT television, cheered the strikes on her messaging app channel and said Ukraine had crossed a red line that by attacking the bridge to Crimea.

    Andrei Kots, a war correspondent for Komsomolskaya Pravda, the top Russian tabloid, voiced hope that Monday’s strikes were “a new mode of action to the entire depth of the Ukrainian state until it loses its capacity to function.”

    “It was just one massive attack on Ukraine’s infrastructure,” noted Sergei Markov, a pro-Kremlin Moscow-based political analyst. “The Russian public wants massive attacks and the full destruction of the infrastructure that could be used by the Ukrainian army.”

    ———

    TALLINN, Estonia — Several thousand Russian troops will be stationed in Belarus, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announced Monday.

    Speaking at a meeting with defense and security officials, Lukashenko said Belarus will host the Russian soldiers. He did not give a specific number, but said they would not number a mere one thousand.

    “Be prepared to take in these people in the nearest future and place them where necessary, in accordance to our plan,” Lukashenko told them.

    Russia used the territory of Belarus as a staging ground to send troops into Ukraine. Moscow and Minsk have maintained close economic and military ties.

    Ukrainian military analysts worry that the Belarusian military could invade Ukraine from the north in order to draw Kyiv’s forces from the east and south.

    ———

    MOSCOW — A top Russian official said Monday that Moscow will try to oust Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government.

    Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia’s Security Council chaired by President Vladimir Putin, said that Russia, along with protecting its people and borders, should “aim for the complete dismantling of Ukraine’s political regime.”

    He alleged that “the Ukrainian state in its current configuration with the Nazi political regime will continue to pose a permanent, direct and clear threat to Russia.”

    Russia has repeatedly sought to cast the government of the Ukrainian president, who is Jewish, of Nazi inclinations, claims which have been mocked by Ukraine and its allies.

    ———

    MOSCOW — Russia’s Defense Ministry said that strikes waged against Ukraine on Monday hit all the designated targets.

    The ministry spokesman, Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said the Russian military launched “massive strikes on military command and communication facilities and energy infrastructure of Ukraine.”

    “The goals behind the strikes have been fulfilled, all the designated facilities have been struck,” he said. Konashenkov didn’t offer any details, and his statement couldn’t be independently confirmed.

    ———

    BERLIN — Germany has condemned a barrage of Russian strikes on Ukrainian cities and promised help in repairing damage to civilian infrastructure.

    Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s spokesman, Steffen Hebestreit, said the German leader assured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the solidarity of the Group of Seven industrial powers in a phone call on Monday.

    He said that “Germany will do everything to mobilize additional help and, in particular, to help with the repair and rebuilding of damaged and destroyed civilian infrastructure, for example electricity and heating supplies.”

    Germany currently chairs the G-7. Hebestreit said the group’s leaders will hold a video conference Tuesday on the situation, which Zelenskyy will join.

    Germany said in June that it would provide IRIS-T air defense systems to Ukraine. Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said Monday that the first of four systems will be ready “in the coming days.”

    She said Monday’s attacks underlined the importance of the quick delivery of air-defense systems.

    ———

    MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin said that a series of strikes Monday across Ukraine came in retaliation against the Ukrainian attack on a bridge to Crimea and other attacks in Russia that he described as “terrorist” actions.

    Putin said the Russian military launched precision weapons from the air, sea and ground to target key energy and military command facilities.

    He warned that if Ukraine continues to mount “terrorist attacks” on Russia, Moscow’s response will be “tough and proportionate to the level of threats.”

    The intense, hours-long attack marked a sudden military escalation by Moscow. It came a day after Putin called the explosion Saturday on the huge bridge connecting Russia to its annexed territory of Crimea a “terrorist act” masterminded by Ukrainian special services.

    The missile strikes across Ukraine marked the biggest and most widespread Russian attacks in months. Putin, whose partial mobilization order earlier this month triggered an exodus of hundreds of thousands of men of fighting age from Russia, stopped short of declaring martial law or a counter-terrorist operation as many expected.

    ———

    Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said he and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to create a joint “regional grouping of troops,” but offered no details as to where or when such a grouping might be deployed.

    Lukashenko’s statement follows his repeated claims that Ukraine is plotting an attack on Belarus. At a meeting with military and security officials on Monday, the Belarusian leader reiterated that “carrying out strikes on the territory of Belarus is not just being discussed, it is being planned in Ukraine.”

    Lukashenko added that the Belarusian government was warned “through unofficial channels” about the alleged plans to attack.

    In more than seven months since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, there has been no indication that Kyiv’s forces are planning an attack on Belarus.

    ———

    Moldova’s deputy prime minster says three cruise missiles launched Monday morning from Russian ships in the Black Sea on Ukraine crossed Moldova’s airspace.

    Nicu Popescu, who is also the minster of foreign affairs and European integration, said he had summoned the Russian ambassador for an explanation.

    Moldova’s defense ministry said the three missiles crossed over the northern part of the country, and that they “posed a danger to the infrastructure (of Moldova) and, in particular, to civil aircraft flying over the country’s airspace.”

    Moldova, a former Soviet republic which shares a border with Ukraine to the south, has been a strong supporter of Ukraine during the war.

    Russian troops have occupied its breakaway Transnistria region since 1991, when the region fought a brief war for independence from Moldova with Moscow’s support.

    ———

    KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian forces launched dozens of missiles and Iranian-built drones against Ukraine.

    “They want panic and chaos. They want to destroy our energy system,” Zelenskyy said in a video address on Telegram.

    He also said that Russia is “trying to destroy us and wipe us off the face of the earth.”

    The General Staff of the Ukraine Armed Forces said 75 missiles were fired against Ukrainian targets, with 41 of them neutralized by air defenses.

    Zelenskyy said that the attacks Monday morning were clearly timed to inflict the most damage.

    ———

    KYIV, Ukraine — At least eight people were killed and 24 were injured in one of the strikes in Kyiv, said Rostyslav Smirnov, an advisor to the Ukrainian ministry of internal affairs.

    Explosions on Monday rocked multiple cities across Ukraine, including missile strikes on the capital Kyiv for the first time in months.

    The attacks came hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin called a Saturday explosion on the huge bridge connecting Russia to its annexed territory of Crimea a “terrorist act” masterminded by Ukrainian special services.

    ———

    DNIPRO, Ukraine — A telecommunications building was hit in the central city of Dnipro, one of several strikes that caused at least three deaths.

    Bystanders said that two rockets hit the building in the western end of the city. A heavily damaged bus could be seen on the street in front of the building, which was strewn with rubble and broken glass.

    Oleksandr Shuklin, a construction worker who was working on a site just adjacent to the strike, said he’d seen one person who had died and another that was taken away by ambulance with injuries. He said he believed the strikes across Ukraine on Monday were Russian retaliation for the explosion on the Kerch bridge on Saturday.

    ———

    KYIV, Ukraine — Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko says that there are casualties and damage to several objects of critical infrastructure as a result of strikes on the Ukrainian capital on Monday.

    The strikes on Kyiv injured several residents who were seen on the streets with blood on their clothes and hands. A young man wearing a blue jacket was sitting on the ground as a medic wrapped a bandage around his head.

    A woman with bandages wrapped around her head had blood all over the front of her blouse. Several cars were also damaged or completely destroyed.

    ———

    KHARKIV, Ukraine — The eastern city of Kharkiv was struck multiple times Monday morning, knocking out power in parts of the city.

    Mayor Ihor Terekhov said that the energy infrastructure building was hit. There is no electricity and water in some of the districts of the city.

    The strikes come two days after a series of explosions rocked the city on Saturday, sending towering plumes of illuminated smoke into the sky and triggering a series of secondary explosions.

    ———

    KYIV, Ukraine — Multiple explosions rocked Kyiv early Monday following months of relative calm in the Ukrainian capital as other cities across Ukraine also came under attack.

    Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported explosions in the city’s Shevchenko district, a large area in the center of Kyiv that includes the historic old town as well as several government offices.

    Lesia Vasylenko, a member of Ukraine’s parliament, posted a photo on Twitter showing that at least one explosion occurred near the main building of the Kyiv National University in central Kyiv.

    The spokesperson for Emergency Service in Kyiv told the AP that there are killed and wounded people. Rescuers are now working in different locations, said Svitlana Vodolaga.

    Ukrainian media reported explosions in a number of other locations, including the western city of Lviv that has been a refuge for many people fleeing the fighting in the east, as well as Ternopil, Khmelnytskyi, Zhytomyr and Kropyvnytskyi.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Russia unleashes missile barrage against Ukraine: What to know

    Russia unleashes missile barrage against Ukraine: What to know

    [ad_1]

    Dozens of explosions have rocked cities across Ukraine, including the capital, Kyiv, in an intensification of Russia’s attacks that could spell a major escalation in the nearly eight-month war.

    “This morning, 75 missiles were launched. 41 of them were neutralised by our air defence,” General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, wrote on Twitter on Monday.

    The barrage of strikes killed several civilians in Kyiv, according to initial reports by Ukrainian officials.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country had launched long-range missiles against Ukrainian energy, military and communications infrastructure, in retaliation for an attack on the bridge linking Russia to the annexed Crimean peninsula on Saturday.

    “This morning, on the advice of the defence ministry and according to a plan from the general staff, a massive strike was carried out with high-precision, long-range weapons… on energy, military command and communications facilities in Ukraine,” Putin said during a meeting with his security council.

    He repeated, without providing evidence, his assertion that Ukraine and its NATO backers were behind still-unexplained ruptures to the Nord Stream gas pipelines which run from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea.

    Putin also accused Ukraine of attempting to carry out an attack against a nuclear power plant in Russia and against the TurkStream gas pipeline.

    “If such attempts continue there will be responses that will be harsh and correspond to the level of threats made against the Russian federation,” he added.

    After the first early morning strikes in Kyiv, more loud explosions were reported in a number of other locations, including the western city of Lviv, near the border with Poland, as well as the city of Dnipro, closer to the front lines in the east.

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia is “trying to destroy us and wipe us off the face of the earth”.

    The strikes came as the Kremlin reels from humiliating battlefield setbacks amid a Ukrainian counteroffensive in recent weeks.

    How bad was Kyiv hit?

    Kyiv city police said at least five people had been killed and 12 wounded in the capital, while a preliminary announcement by Rostyslav Smirnov, an adviser to the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs, said at least eight people were killed and 24 were wounded in just one of the strikes in the city.

    Al Jazeera’s Rory Challands, reporting from Kyiv, said the death toll was “very likely to go up considerably”.

    “Kyiv hasn’t experienced anything like this in months; people stopped paying attention to the air raid sirens, so it’s a very, very different reality this morning,” he added.

    The blasts took place in the Shevchenko district, a large area in the centre of Kyiv that includes the historic old town as well as several government offices, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

    At one of Kyiv’s busiest road junctions, a massive crater had been blown in the intersection. Cars were destroyed, buildings were damaged and emergency workers were on the scene. Two cars and a van near the crater were wrecked, blacked and pitted from shrapnel.

    Residents were seen on the streets with blood on their clothes and hands. A young man wearing a blue jacket sat on the ground as a medic wrapped a bandage around his head. A woman with bandages wrapped around her head had blood all over the front of her blouse. Several cars were also damaged or completely destroyed. Air raid sirens sounded repeatedly across the country.

    The Kyiv metro stopped running as people took shelter in its stations. Power and water supplies were knocked out in numerous areas.

    What happened elsewhere?

    Elsewhere, Ukrainian officials said Russia targeted civilian areas and energy infrastructure as air raid sirens sounded in every region of Ukraine, except Russia-annexed Crimea, for four straight hours.

    Ukrainian media also reported explosions in a number of other locations, including Lviv, Kharkiv, Ternopil, Khmelnytskyi, Zhytomyr and Kropyvnytskyi.

    Kharkiv was hit three times, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said. The strikes knocked out the electricity and water supply.

    Energy infrastructure was also hit in Lviv, Regional Governor Maksym Kozytskyi said.

    What might have prompted the escalation?

    The hits came a day after Putin called the explosion on the Kerch Bridge to Crimea a “terrorist act” carried out by Ukrainian special services.

    The strategic military supply line and emblem of Moscow’s claims on Crimea was partially destroyed. The speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament, the Duma, called it “an act of war”.

    Commentators on Russian television called for retaliation against Ukraine as Russia’s military leadership faced increasing public criticism for the first time following setbacks on the battlefield.

    Russia’s Security Council was scheduled to meet on Monday to discuss the incident. Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said before the meeting that Russia should kill the “terrorists” responsible for the attack.

    “Russia can only respond to this crime by directly killing terrorists, as is the custom elsewhere in the world. This is what Russian citizens expect,” he was quoted as saying by the state news agency TASS.

    Monday’s strikes also came days after Putin appointed General Sergey Surovikin to lead the war effort in Ukraine, following the sacking of two senior Russian military commanders.

    The general is known for being totally “ruthless” in the Russian military, according to a report by the Jamestown Foundation, a US defence policy think-tank.

    Is Russia losing the war in Ukraine?

    Russia has faced major setbacks on the battlefield since the start of September, with Ukrainian forces bursting through the front lines and recapturing territory in the northeast and the south.

    Thousands of Russian soldiers retreated from the eastern front-line area in recent days, leaving behind major destruction. Bomb craters, burned-out vehicles and corpses were strewn along roads leading towards the eastern front.

    Ukrainian forces last week achieved their biggest breakthrough in the country’s south since the war began on February 24, bursting through Russian defences and advancing rapidly along the Dnieper River, threatening supply lines for thousands of Russian troops.

    Western weaponry has helped the Ukraine military win back more territory in the past month than Russian forces seized in five months.

    Putin responded to the losses by ordering a mobilisation of hundreds of thousands of reservists, proclaiming the annexation of occupied territory and threatening repeatedly to use nuclear weapons.

    Amid reports of ineligible men being called up for the draft, Russia’s first public mobilisation since World War II stoked public anger and triggered a string of rare criticism among Putin’s allies.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Ukraine

    Ukraine

    [ad_1]

    President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday people were killed and injured in multiple missile strikes on cities across Ukraine, including the first bombardment of the capital in months. The strikes could signal a major escalation in the eight-month-old war.

    “Air raid sirens are not subsiding around Ukraine… Unfortunately there are dead and wounded. Please do not leave the shelters,” Zelensky said on social media, accusing Russia of wanting to “wipe us from the face of the Earth.”

    The blasts came a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed Kyiv for massive a explosion on a 12-mile bridge connecting Crimea with Russia. Crimea is a large Ukrainian peninsula that Russia occupied and then unilaterally annexed eight years ago during a previous invasion. The annexation of that territory, like Putin’s recent land grab of four Ukrainian regions that he declared Russian soil last week, have been condemned as illegitimate and illegal by Ukraine, the United Nations, the U.S. and other Ukrainian partners.

    APTOPIX Russia Ukraine War
    Rescue workers survey the scene of a Russian attack on Kyiv, Ukraine on Oct. 10, 2022. Several explosions rocked the city early in the morning following months of relative calm in the Ukrainian capital.

    Adam Schreck / AP


    Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the president’s office, said on social media Monday that, “Ukraine is under missile attack. There is information about strikes in many cities of our country.”

    General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said on Twitter that Russia had launched 75 missiles at Ukraine but that “41 of them were neutralized by our air defence.”

    Zelenskyy later emerged onto a street in Kyiv to record a selfie video with a message to his people and the world, denouncing Russia for the barrage of missiles which he said had targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, and its civilians.

    “They have specifically chosen such a time and such targets to cause as much damage as possible,” the president said. “But we Ukrainians, we help each other, believe in ourselves, rebuild everything. Now the shortages of electricity may occur, but not the shortage of our defiance and our confidence in our victory.”   

    In Kyiv, reporters for the French news agency AFP heard at least five explosions in two salvos Monday morning, and a BBC News reporter ducked for cover as a massive explosion struck while he was on the air. Some of the missiles hit the center of the capital. Previous attacks largely targeted Kyiv’s outskirts.

    Videos posted on social media showed black smoke rising above several areas of the city. Russia’s last strike on the capital was on June 26.


    Russia launches deadly strikes in Ukraine after battlefield setbacks

    02:40

    Other major cities hit by explosions Monday included Lviv, in Ukraine’s far west, which has been a refuge for many people fleeing the fighting in the east.

    The foreign minister of Moldova, a small nation that sits along Ukraine’s southwest border, said three cruise missiles “from Russian ships in the Black Sea” had flown through Moldova’s airspace as they headed for Ukraine on Monday morning. 

    Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu added in his Twitter message that he had “instructed that Russia’s ambassador be summoned to provide an explanation.”  

    ukraine-map.jpg

    CIA World Factbook


    Witnesses also reported a loud explosion Monday morning in Russia’s Belgorod region, which sits right along Ukraine’s eastern border. One witness told Reuters there was a loud bang and windows shook. The cause of the blast wasn’t clear.

    The explosions came a day after Putin said Ukraine was behind an explosion on the Kerch bridge, linking Crimea with Russia, that left three people dead.

    “The authors, perpetrators and sponsors are the Ukrainian secret services,” Putin said of Saturday’s bridge bombing, which he described as a “terrorist act.”


    Crimea bridge, key supply route in Russia’s war in Ukraine, destroyed

    02:38

    Putin spoke during a meeting with the head of the investigation committee he has set up to look into the bombing, Russian news agencies reported. The Russian leader was gearing up for a meeting with his Security Council later Monday, the Kremlin told local news agencies.

    “Tomorrow the president has a planned meeting with the permanent members of the Security Council,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

    The blast that hit the bridge sparked celebrations among Ukrainians and others on social media. But Zelenskyy, in his nightly address on Saturday, didn’t directly mention the incident, and officials in Kyiv have made no direct claim of responsibility.

    On Saturday, Russia said some road and rail traffic had resumed over the strategic link, a powerful symbol of the Kremlin’s 2014 annexation of Crimea. The bridge has served as a vital supply link between Russia and the annexed Crimean peninsula during its current invasion of south and eastern Ukraine.

    Some military analysts argue the explosion could have a major impact if Moscow sees the need to shift already hard-pressed troops to Crimea from other regions — or if it prompts a rush by residents to leave.

    Mick Ryan, a retired Australian senior officer now with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said even if Kyiv wasn’t behind the blast, it constituted “a massive influence operation win for Ukraine.

    “It is a demonstration to Russians, and the rest of the world, that Russia’s military cannot protect any of the provinces it recently annexed,” he said on Twitter.

    TOPSHOT-UKRAINE-RUSSIA-CONFLICT-WAR
    Rescuers gather near a residential building damaged after a strike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, October 9, 2022.

    MARYNA MOISEYENKO/AFP/Getty


    Zelenskyy, meanwhile, denounced a Russian missile strike on Sunday that killed at least 17 people in Zaporizhzhia, the latest deadly bombardment of the southern Ukrainian city. The attack also wounded 89 people, according to a statement from the president’s office.

    Zelenskyy described the “merciless strikes on peaceful people” and residential buildings as “absolute evil” perpetrated by “savages and terrorists.”

    Regional official Oleksandr Starukh posted pictures of heavily damaged apartment blocks on social media and said a rescue operation had been launched to find victims under the rubble.

    Russian officials, meanwhile, denounced on Sunday what they said was a surge in Ukrainian fire into its territory that had hit homes, administrative buildings and a monastery.

    Russia’s FBS, which is responsible for border security, said on Sunday: “Since the start of October, the number of attacks from Ukrainian armed formations on Russia’s border territory has considerably increased.”

    More than 100 artillery attacks, concentrated on the western border regions of Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk, had hit housing and administrative buildings, said the statement. The attacks had killed one person and wounded five others.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Explosions rock central Kyiv in apparent missile strikes

    Explosions rock central Kyiv in apparent missile strikes

    [ad_1]

    Two explosions rocked Kyiv early Monday following months of relative calm in the Ukrainian capital.

    Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitchko reported explosions in the city’s Shevchenko district, a large area in the center of Kyiv that includes the historic old town as well as several government offices.

    Lesia Vasylenko, a member of Ukraine’s parliament, posted a photo on Twitter showing that at least one explosion occurred near the main building of the Kyiv National University in central Kyiv.

    The spokesperson for Emergency Service in Kyiv told the AP that there are killed and wounded people. Rescuers are now working in different locations, said Svitlana Vodolaga.

    The number of casualties is not yet known.

    The explosions were heard by AP journalists and appeared to be the result of missile strikes. Also on Monday morning, Associated Press journalists reported hearing explosions in the center of Dnipro city.

    Recent fighting has focused on the regions just north of Crimea, including Zaporizhzhia, where six missiles were launched overnight Saturday from Russian-occupied areas of the Zaporizhzhia region.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday called the attack that damaged the huge bridge connecting Russia to its annexed territory of Crimea “a terrorist act” masterminded by Ukrainian special services.

    Also read: Vladimir Putin accuses Ukraine of Crimea bridge blast; calls it terrorism

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Blasts rock Kyiv, other Ukrainian cities

    Blasts rock Kyiv, other Ukrainian cities

    [ad_1]

    A series of loud explosions rocked Kyiv Monday morning, a day after Russian President Putin blamed Ukraine for a deadly blast on the bridge linking Crimea to Russia. The blasts broke months of relative calm in the Ukrainian capital.

    Monday’s attacks hit the center of the city. Previous attacks targeted Kyiv’s outskirts for the most part.

    Associated Press journalists also reported hearing explosions in the city of Dnipro Monday morning. And Ukrainian media reported explosions in a number of other cities, including Lviv, in the country’s west. It’s been a refuge for many people fleeing the fighting in the east.

    Associated Press journalists also reported hearing explosions in the center of Dnipro city Monday morning. And Ukrainian media reported explosions in a number of other spots, including the western city of Lviv that has been a refuge for many people fleeing the fighting in the east.

    At least three explosions were heard in Kyiv around 8:15 a.m. local time, followed by at least two more. An Agence France-Presse journalist in the city saw numerous ambulances appearing to head toward the scenes of the blasts.

    “Several explosions in the Shevchenkivskyi district — in the centre of the capital,” Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said on social media.

    Videos posted on social media showed black smoke rising above several areas in the city.

    Russia’s last strike on Kyiv took place on June 26.

    The explosions came a day after Putin said Ukraine was behind an explosion on a bridge linking Crimea to Russia, leaving three people dead.

    “The authors, perpetrators and sponsors are the Ukrainian secret services,” Putin said of Saturday’s Crimea bridge bombing, which he described as a “terrorist act.”

    Putin was speaking during a meeting with the head of the investigation committee he has set up to look into the bombing, Russian news agencies reported.

    The Russian leader was gearing up for a meeting with his Security Council later Monday, the Kremlin told local news agencies.

    “Tomorrow the president has a planned meeting with the permanent members of the Security Council,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

    The blast that hit the bridge sparked celebrations from Ukrainians and others on social media.

    But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in his nightly address on Saturday, didn’t directly mention the incident, and officials in Kyiv have made no direct claim of responsibility.

    On Saturday, Russia said some road and rail traffic had resumed over the strategic link, a symbol of the Kremlin’s 2014 annexation of Crimea.

    The 12-mile bridge is a vital supply link between Russia and the annexed Crimean peninsula.

    Some military analysts argue that the blast could have a major impact if Moscow sees the need to shift already hard-pressed troops to Crimea from other regions — or if it prompts a rush by residents to leave.

    Mick Ryan, a retired Australian senior officer now with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said even if Kyiv wasn’t behind the blast, it constituted “a massive influence operation win for Ukraine.

    “It is a demonstration to Russians, and the rest of the world, that Russia’s military cannot protect any of the provinces it recently annexed,” he said on Twitter.

    Zelensky, meanwhile, denounced a Russian missile strike on Sunday that killed at least 13 people, one of them a child, in Zaporizhzhia — the latest deadly bombardment of the southern Ukrainian city.

    The attack also wounded 89 people, including 11 children, according to a statement from the president’s office.

    Zelensky described the “merciless strikes on peaceful people” and residential buildings as “absolute evil” perpetrated by “savages and terrorists.”

    Regional official Oleksandr Starukh posted pictures of heavily damaged apartment blocks on Telegram and said a rescue operation had been launched to find victims under the rubble.

    Russian officials meanwhile denounced on Sunday what they said was a surge in Ukrainian fire into its territory that had hit homes, administrative buildings and a monastery.

    Russia’s FBS, which is responsible for border security, said on Sunday: “Since the start of October, the number of attacks from Ukrainian armed formations on Russia’s border territory has considerably increased.”

    More than 100 artillery attacks, concentrated on the western border regions of Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk, had hit housing and administrative buildings, said the statement.

    The attacks had killed one person and wounded five others.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Multiple explosions reported in heart of Kyiv

    Multiple explosions reported in heart of Kyiv

    [ad_1]

    Multiple explosions have struck Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities on Monday morning, according to local officials and footage. This is the first time Ukraine’s capital has been under attack since June 26.

    Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that “several explosions” had taken place in the Shevchenkivskyi district in the heart of the city. Pictures and footage taken by reporters show rubble and vehicles on fire amid rush hour. More blasts were heard later in the morning.

    “Unfortunately, there are dead and wounded,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Telegram, although it’s still unclear how many victims there are.

    All Kyiv underground stations have started working as shelters, the capital’s administration announced on Twitter.

    Local media reported explosions in other cities, including Lviv, Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia earlier in the night. Energy infrastructure has been struck in the Lviv region in Western Ukraine, a local military official said.

    “The aggressor launched 75 rockets. 41 of them were destroyed by our air defense,”  Ukraine’s top general, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, said.

    “They are trying to destroy us and wipe us off the face of the earth,” Zelenskyy said. “Kill our people who are sleeping at home in Zaporizhzhia. Kill people who go to work in Dnipro and Kyiv.”

    Mykhailo Podolyak, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s adviser, denounced “Deliberate attacks on the center of Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro — yet another proof of Kremlin’s terrorist inadequacy.”

    “Russia is not capable of fighting on battlefield, but capable of murdering civilians. Instead of talking we need air defense, MLRS, longer-range projectiles,” he added.

    The blasts come two days after a strategic bridge linking Crimea to Russia was blown up. Ukraine did not claim responsibility for that attack but many officials celebrated it as a humiliating blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

    This article was updated.

    [ad_2]

    Jules Darmanin and Sergei Kuznetsov

    Source link

  • Explosions rock Kyiv in apparent missile strikes

    Explosions rock Kyiv in apparent missile strikes

    [ad_1]

    Two explosions rocked Kyiv early Monday following months of relative calm in the Ukrainian capital

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • October 9, 2022 Russia-Ukraine News | CNN

    October 9, 2022 Russia-Ukraine News | CNN

    [ad_1]

    Black smoke billows from a fire on the Kerch bridge, on October 8.

    (AFP/Getty Images)

    The Kremlin is intent on showing the attack on the Crimea bridge wasn’t that serious and that the crucial lifeline from the Russian mainland to the illegally-annexed Crimean Peninsula will be back to normal soon.

    The physical damage can be restored — Russia immediately dispatched a large emergency team to the site — but the damage to Russia’s prestige and, more importantly, to the image of Vladimir Putin, won’t be that easy to repair. 

    This is his bridge, his project, built with the equivalent of almost $4 billion from the Russian treasury. It’s a symbolic “wedding band” uniting Mother Russia and Ukraine, or at least a region that still legally belongs to Ukraine, crucial not only to Putin’s war effort but to his obsession with bringing Ukraine back under Russia’s control.

    Putin’s February 21st address to the Russian people, delivered just before he ordered the invasion of Ukraine, laid bare his warped view of history. Ukraine, he insists, is not really an independent country: “Ukraine is not just a neighboring country for us,” he claimed. “It is an inalienable part of our own history, culture and spiritual space.” 

    That speech, one of the most revealing of his presidency, makes clear that this fratricidal war against Ukraine is very personal to him. For many years he has been fixated on Peter the Great, the Russian czar who founded St. Petersburg, the city in which Putin was born and raised. I once visited the city administration office in which Putin worked in the early 1990s after he returned from his job as a KGB operative in East Germany. On the wall above his desk was a portrait of Peter the Great.

    In June of this year, as the grinding war in Ukraine entered its fourth month, Putin again compared himself to Peter the Great, insisting that Peter, who conquered land from Sweden, was “returning” to Russia what actually belonged to it.

    Putin now, apparently, believes that returning Ukraine to Russia is his historic destiny. He likely sees the galling attack on the Crimea bridge not only as an attack on the Russian homeland, but as a personal affront. And he is likely to respond viciously.  

    Already, a day after the attack, Russian forces are bombing civilian apartment buildings in Ukraine. Hardline supporters of Putin are urging more strikes on Ukraine’s infrastructure. Western leaders warn that an increasingly frustrated Putin might resort to using tactical nuclear weapons. Military experts say he could retaliate asymmetrically, striking unexpected targets.

    For years, Putin has had another obsession: punishing traitors. One month after his forces attacked Ukraine, he threatened to retaliate against any Russians who opposed the war, calling them “fifth column … national traitors” in thrall to the West.

    This Sunday, the day after the bridge bombing, he called it a “terrorist attack” whose “authors, executors and masterminds” are the secret services of Ukraine…and “citizens of Russia from foreign countries.”

    One thing is clear: as the fighting moves closer to Russia, Vladimir Putin sees his “historic mission” in jeopardy. And that means emotions could outweigh reason. For Ukraine, for Russians who oppose the war, and for the world, this is a dangerous moment.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Putin accuses Ukraine of Crimea bridge blast ‘terrorism’

    Putin accuses Ukraine of Crimea bridge blast ‘terrorism’

    [ad_1]

    Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Ukraine of being behind the Kerch bridge explosion, masterminding an “act of terrorism” that destroyed part of the crucial link between Russia and the annexed territory of Crimea, as calls grow for reprisals.

    The bridge, which holds important strategic and symbolic value to Russia, was partly damaged on Saturday by what Moscow has said was a truck bomb. Road and rail traffic on the 19km (12-mile) bridge was temporarily halted, hindering a vital supply route for Russia’s armed forces battling a renewed Ukrainian counteroffensive.

    “There is no doubt. This is an act of terrorism aimed at destroying critically important civilian infrastructure,” Putin said on Sunday in a video posted on the Kremlin’s Telegram channel.

    “This was devised, carried out and ordered by the Ukrainian special services.”

    Putin is due to convene a meeting of the country’s security council on Monday with the body’s Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev saying that Russia should kill the “terrorists” responsible for the attack.

    “Russia can only respond to this crime by directly killing terrorists, as is the custom elsewhere in the world. This is what Russian citizens expect,” the former president was quoted as saying by the state news agency Tass.

    The damage to the bridge came amid battlefield defeats for Russia in the east and south, and growing concern over the use of nuclear weapons. Russia last month formally annexed four areas of Ukraine following hastily-organised referendums that breached international law, and Putin has repeatedly warned that any attack on Russia could provoke a nuclear response.

    Putin made the accusation against Ukraine during a meeting with Alexander Bastrykin, the head of Russia’s Investigative Committee, who presented the findings of an inquiry into the bridge blast and subsequent fire.

    Bastrykin said the truck had travelled through Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia, North Ossetia and Russia’s Krasnodar region before reaching the bridge. Among those who helped in the attack were “citizens of Russia and foreign countries,” Bastrykin added in the video on the Kremlin’s Telegram channel.

    In Kyiv, presidential adviser Mikhail Podolyak called Putin’s accusation “too cynical even for Russia”.

    “Putin accuses Ukraine of terrorism?” he said. “It has not even been 24 hours since Russian planes fired 12 rockets into a residential area of Zaporizhzhia, killing 13 people and injuring more than 50. No, there is only one state terrorist and the whole world knows who he is.”

    Zaporizhzhia targeted

    Podolyak was referring to attacks on the city of Zaporizhzhia in the early hours of Sunday morning that brought down part of a large apartment building.

    The missiles were launched from Russian-occupied areas of the Zaporizhia region, according to the Ukrainian air force. The region is one of the four Russia annexed, although the capital remains under Ukrainian control.

    Oleksandr Kovalenko, a military analyst and head of the website Information Resistance, told Espreso TV website, a prominent digital broadcaster in Ukraine, that Russia may intensify attacks on civilian targets following the Crimea bridge blast.

    “This probably means missile attacks on border areas — Sumy and Chernihiv regions. It could also mean using missiles and [Iranian-made] Shahed-136 drones to hit even deeper into Ukrainian territory,” he said.

    There was morning shelling on Sunday night into Monday, with some people injured when an apartment building in Zaporizhzhia was hit, regional Governor Oleksandr Starukh said early on Monday.

    Zaporizhzhia city — 52km (32 miles) from Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant which Russia has occupied since shortly after the invasion — has been under frequent shelling in recent weeks, with 19 people killed on Thursday.

    Russia denies targeting civilians.

    The White House on Sunday declined direct comment on the bridge blast but said the United States would continue to arm Ukraine.

    Rescuers and residents remove debris in a residential area of Zaporizhzhia that was badly damaged by a Russian attack [Stringer/Reuters]

    Ukraine has recaptured more than 1,170 square kilometres (450 square miles) of land in its southern Kherson region since a counteroffensive against Russia began in late August, a military spokesperson said on Sunday.

    Ukraine achieved lightning success with its offensive in the northeast, but its advance in the south has been slower.

    Recent fighting has focused on the regions just north of Crimea, including Zaporizhzhia.

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy lamented the latest attack. “Again, Zaporizhzhia. Again, merciless attacks on civilians, targeting residential buildings, in the middle of the night,” he wrote.

    “From the one who gave this order, to everyone who carried out this order: They will answer,” he added.

    Moscow has appointed a new commander to lead the war, air force chief Sergey Surovokin, and announced plans to mobilise some 300,000 reservists in a move that has prompted many Russian men to flee their country.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Face The Nation: MacFarlane, Killion, Baker Glasser, D’Agata, El-Erian

    Face The Nation: MacFarlane, Killion, Baker Glasser, D’Agata, El-Erian

    [ad_1]

    Face The Nation: MacFarlane, Killion, Baker Glasser, D’Agata, El-Erian – CBS News


    Watch CBS News



    Missed the second half of the show? The latest on the trial of Oath Keepers’ founder Stewart Rhodes’ seditious conspiracy begins; how Donald Trump’s influence is playing out in 2022 midterm races; Russia launches deadly strikes in Ukraine after battlefield setbacks; and El-Erian on “unsettling volatility” in the market.

    Be the first to know

    Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.


    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Russian Brigades In Southern Ukraine Depended On One Major Bridge. Now They’re Cut Off From Resupply.

    Russian Brigades In Southern Ukraine Depended On One Major Bridge. Now They’re Cut Off From Resupply.

    [ad_1]

    Two days after a powerful explosion rocked the $4-billion rail and road bridge across the Kerch Strait, the narrow waterway separating the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula from the Russian mainland, the Russians are scrambling to re-open the span.

    It’s not hard to see why. The 11-mile-long bridge is the most important overland line of communication between Russia and Russia’s forces in southern Ukraine. There are ways around the bridge, but they’re narrow, slow and vulnerable to Ukrainian attack.

    Which leaves Russia with a choice. Fix the Kerch Bridge fast, or risk its brigades on the southern front—already weakened by months of bombardment—starving on the brittle vine of Russia’s collapsing supply lines.

    The Russian government began work on the Kerch Bridge just a year after its forces annexed Crimea and invaded eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region. The bridge, along with sea and air transport, helped the Russians to build up a powerful garrison in Crimea. A garrison that, back in late February, rolled north as part of Russia’s ever-widening war on Ukraine.

    The bridge with its twin rail lines and two lanes for cars and trucks by far is the most efficient way for heavy equipment and bulk materials to get to Crimea and then north to the occupied Kherson, the locus of Russian control over southern Ukraine south of the free city of Mykolaiv.

    The bridge’s extreme value explains why Ukraine apparently devised some method of striking it from a distance of 175 miles. None of the rockets and ballistic missiles Ukraine has copped to possessing can travel that far. The Ukrainian air force, despite its surprising durability in the face of Russia’s overwhelming aerial advantage, has never struck that deeply behind the front line.

    The massive explosion that struck the bridge on Friday could only have resulted from a powerful bomb. Packed in a truck, perhaps, and remotely triggered by a team of saboteurs. The blast destroyed several civilian vehicles, presumably killing their occupants, and dropped one lane of the two-lane road bridge into the Kerch Strait.

    The attack set ablaze a passing train with tanker cars. The train fire, burning at a temperature of 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit or hotter, almost certainly weakened the steel in the bridge’s structure. A further collapse wouldn’t be surprising.

    In any other country, at any other time, authorities would totally shut down the bridge for what could be many months of extensive repairs. But the Kremlin had little choice but to reopen the bridge—or at least look like it was reopening the bridge in order to project strength. Within a day, the Russians were allowing a few vehicles onto the bridge’s surviving lane. Inspection of the damaged rail line was ongoing.

    The Kerch Bridge still stands. But its capacity is a fraction of what it was just two days ago. Ferries have begun shuttling people and cars across the Kerch Strait as thousands of Crimea residents flee the peninsula.

    The dilemma that was apparent on Friday remains unanswered. How does the Kremlin intend to resupply its field armies in and around Kherson? The dilemma grows more urgent by the day as a trio of Ukrainian brigades continues its aggressive counteroffensive in the south.

    The 17th Tank Brigade is rolling toward Kherson’s outskirts from the west. The 128th Mountain Brigade is racing south along the wide Dnipro River east of Kherson while the 35th Marine Brigade attacks east of the Inhulets River north of Kherson.

    The Ukrainian assault already has destroyed or scattered a Russian coastal-defense brigade and driven back a lonely and misplaced Arctic brigade. The Russian 49th Combined Arms Army, the backbone of the Kherson garrison, could be next to fall if the Kremlin can’t push supplies into the area.

    But until the Kerch Bridge reopens, there’s just one way in—via a railway threading from Russia through eastern Ukraine to occupied Melitopol. The problems are myriad. For one, the eastern rail line is close enough to the front near Donetsk that it could come under intensive attack. Secondly, there’s no major direct rail between Melitopol and Kherson.

    To get to the 49th CAA by rail, supplies would need to travel south from Melitopol into Crimea, then back north to Kherson—a slow and inefficient route that adds time and risk. The alternative is to unload the trains in Melitopol, load up trucks and drive the supplies west to Kherson. But the Russians never had enough trucks. And they’ve got even fewer now that the Ukrainians have destroyed hundreds of them.

    As engineers prod the charred remains of the Kerch Bridge, the severity of Russia’s logistical problem is becoming clearer. The Russians’ supply lines into southern Ukraine were fragile before the attack on the Kerch Bridge. They’re even more fragile now.

    It might take a few weeks for the major implications to manifest. The 49th CAA in and around Kherson won’t immediately starve. But it will starve. And when it does, it will retreat, surrender or die in place as Ukrainian brigades close in.

    Follow me on Twitter. Check out my website or some of my other work here. Send me a secure tip. 

    [ad_2]

    David Axe, Forbes Staff

    Source link