For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails
Sign up to our free breaking news emails
Pro-Ukraine fighters are believed to have used US-made armoured vehicles in one of the biggest incursions across the Russian border, according to pictures and videos verified by New York Times.
At least three US-made MRAPs (Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles) were used in the attacks in Russia’s Belgorod oblast, with two of those captured by Russian forces, the report said.
One civilian was killed following the attacks by two purported anti-Kremlin armed groups employing Russians based abroad.
Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod region, said they have begun evacuation from nine Russian villages in the Belgorod region as a counter-terrorism operation continued in full force.
“Do not yet return to your homes,” he told local residents who had been evacuated on Monday.
The US State Department denied that it would “encourage or enable strikes inside of Russia” but said, “it is up to Ukraine to decide how to conduct this war”.
Russia has said its forces crushed the attack, killing more than 70 “Ukrainian nationalists” and pushing the remainder back into Ukraine.
Anti-Russia fighters using US-made armoured vehicles for incursion into Russia - Report
Anti-Russian fighters appeared to have used US-made armoured vehicles in the Belgorod Oblast incursion, according to pictures and videos verified by New York Times.
At least three such US-made vehicles were used with two of those captured by Russian forces.
The group behind the incursion that has sparked evacuations in Belgorod used MRAPs, known as Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected, which were first built by the US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and Washington has sent several to Ukraine.
The two groups that have claimed responsibility for the incursion are the Freedom of Russia Legion - a Ukraine-based Russian militia led by Russian opposition figure Ilya Ponomarev that says it is working inside Russia for Vladimir Putin’s overthrow - and the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC).
One of the photos of a seized MRAP showed a Russian soldier standing next to a vehicle which had a white spray-painted marking of an upward-pointing arrow. A vehicle with a similar symbol was seen in a video just hours before the incursion into Russia.
Russia's Lavrov: West sees Russia and China as threat to its dominance
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday said that the West saw Russia and China as “adversaries” that posed what he called an existential threat to the West’s “dominance”.
“As evidenced by statements made at the recently concluded G7 summit in Japan, the West views Russia and China as strategic adversaries posing almost an existential threat to its dominance,” Lavrov said.
Mercenary Prigozhin warns Russia could face revolution unless elite gets serious about war
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner mercenary group, warned that Russia could face a revolution similar to those of 1917 and lose the war in Ukraine unless the elite got serious about fighting the war.
Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine has triggered one of the deadliest European conflicts since World War Two and the biggest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
Ukraine is preparing a counter-offensive aimed at pushing Russian troops back to the borders of before 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea, Prigozhin said. Ukraine would try to encircle Bakhmut and attack Crimea, he added.
“Most likely of all, this scenario will not be good for Russia so we need to prepare for an arduous war,” he said in an interview posted on his Telegram channel.
“We are in such a condition that we could fucking lose Russia - that is the main problem ... We need to impose martial law.”
Prigozhin said his political outlook was dominated by love for the motherland and serving Putin. He said the nickname of “Putin’s chef” was stupid as he couldn’t cook, quipping that “Putin’s butcher” might be a more apt nickname.
Russia‘s elite, he said, protected their own children from fighting the war while the children of ordinary Russians perished on the front, a situation he said that could trigger turmoil in Russia.
If ordinary Russians continued getting their children back in zinc coffins while the children of the elite sunned themselves abroad, he said, Russia would face turmoil along the lines of the 1917 revolutions which ushered in a civil war.
Russia ‘forcefully mobilising’ AWOL soldiers in Ukraine, British intelligence says
In today’s intelligence update, the British ministry of defence has said Russian military courts dealt with 1,053 cases of personnel going absent without leave (AWOL), citing a credible search by a Russian journalist.
It said Russia’s struggle to enforce discipline in its ranks throughout its operations in Ukraine has likely worsened following the forced mobilisation of reservists since October 2022.
Russian PM says relations with China at ‘unprecedented’ high level
Russian prime minister Mikhail Mishustin who arrived in Beijing today said the ties with China are at an “unprecedented” high level, characterised by mutual respect for each other’s interests and the desire to jointly respond to challenges.
“As our Chinese friends say, unity makes it possible to move mountains,” Mr Mishustin told Chinese premier Li Qiang during a meeting in Beijing.
Mr Li said that China was willing to work with Russia to promote their pragmatic cooperation in various fields and take it to a “new level”.
Pragmatic cooperation between China and Russia has shown a “good” development trend, and the scale of investment between the two is also continuously seeing an upgrade, Mr Li told Mr Mishustin during a meeting in Beijing.
Kyiv denies EU’s Josep Borrell’s claim that Ukrainian pilots training on F-16 jets
Ukraine’s Air Force has denied EU diplomacy chief Josep Borrell’s comments that its pilots are training on US-made F-16 jets in several European countries.
Preparations for the training program are “still ongoing”, Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat said, according to Kyiv Independent, adding that Ukrainian representatives have been sent to the countries providing the training to “study how the process will go.”
“For a long time, unfortunately, I’ve had to refute (claims) that ‘pilots study in the US, (and) Europe,” Mr Ihnat said in a televised interview on 23 May. “There is no need to give any extra hope.”
Pictures: Russian prime minister arrives in Beijing
Russian prime minister Mikhail Mishustin arrived in Beijing for a state visit during which he will meet Xi Jinping and ink a series of deals on infrastructure and trade.
He is the highest-ranking Russian official to visit Beijing since Moscow sent thousands of its troops to Ukraine in February 2022.
Drone drops explosive device on a car in Belgorod, governor says
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) dropped an explosive device on a car in Russia’s Belgorod Region, Tass reported, adding that the car was damaged.
Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on his Telegram channel today that no one was injured in the attack and a bomb squad was rushed to the scene.
Later, the drone was shot down in the region’s airspace but it is not clear if it was the same drone that dropped explosives.
“Air defences have shot down a drone above the Belgorod Region. According to preliminary information, there were no deaths or injuries,” he said.
Russia will achieve goals of its operation in Ukraine by any means, Kremlin says
Russia has denied the possibility of freezing the Ukrainian conflict, saying it will pursue its goals through special military operation or by other available means, Kremlin spokespersons said.
“Russia is taking under consideration only the completion of its special military operation: ensuring its interests, achieving Russia’s goals either through the special military operation, or by other available means,” Dmitry Peskov told TASS.
When about the reconciliation plans put forward by other countries, he said: “It is too early to speak about it. No prerequisites for a peace process are yet in place, evidently”.
He added negotiations are “hardly possible, because any negotiations with Russia are prohibited [in Ukraine]”.
Russia scrambled fighter jets after intercepting two US Air Force strategic bombers over Baltic
Russia said it scrambled a Su-27 fighter jet after it intercepted two US Air Force strategic bombers flying over the Baltic Sea yesterday night.
“After removing the foreign military aircraft from the Russian state border, the Russian fighter went back to its air base,” the Russian defence ministry said.
The Russian army flew its jet to “prevent violations of the state border”, adding that “the flight of the Russian fighter was carried out in strict accordance with international rules for the use of airspace.”
Confirming that US aircraft were intercepted by Russia, Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder said B-1 bombers were taking part in a “long-planned exercise in Europe”.
https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiZ2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmluZGVwZW5kZW50LmNvLnVrL25ld3Mvd29ybGQvZXVyb3BlL3J1c3NpYS11a3JhaW5lLXdhci1wdXRpbi13ZWFwb25zLWJlbGdvcm9kLWIyMzQ0NTU1Lmh0bWzSAQA?oc=5
2023-05-24 06:57:38Z
2043795006
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar