Russian invasion fears escalate after Moscow deploys 50 warplanes to the Black Sea - Daily Express

Moscow is conducting aerial exercises involving missile launches and bomber movements over the contested region. Currently, 50 Russian fighters, bombers, and attack aircraft are taking part in “exercises over the Black Sea”. A report by Russian independent news agency Interfax said the war games held by Moscow are likely to exacerbate tensions in the region.

Involved in the aerial drills were Russian-made Su-27SM and Su-30SM fighters, Su-24M and Su-34 bombers, and Su-25SM3 attack aircraft.

The report by Interfax said: “During the exercises, the planes will perform missile launches and bombardment of naval targets.

Both the Russian air force and the Russian Black Sea Fleet are set to also perform, "tasks to accompany ship strike groups and actions as part of reconnaissance strike complexes while ensuring security in the Black Sea".

The military war games have seen involvement from naval aircraft and helicopters from Russia's Black Sea Fleet.

The naval deployment from Moscow also involves the Admiral Makarov frigate, that is equipped with Caliber cruise missiles.

The Grayvoron and Vyshny Volochek small missile ships have also been sent to the region.

Russia is also deploying their Samum hovercraft and the Ivan Golubets minesweeper to the Black Sea region near Crimea.

On Tuesday Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu said these naval and aerial exercises were in response to threats from NATO.

READ MORE: Biden under intense pressure to slap Merkel project with sanctions

In July 2014 298 people were killed after Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-flight MH17 was shot down by pro-Russian rebels operating out of eastern Ukraine.

The show of force from Vladimir Putin comes as intelligence suggests Russia is massing its military might close to the Ukrainian frontier.

Now Russian military videos have depicted a detachment of warships of the Russian navy moving from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea.

This is the first time a large number of naval vessels have made the move from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea since Soviet times.

There have been more intelligence reports showing Russian troops moving by rail in Krasnodar, Rostov, and Bryansk regions, near the Ukrainian border.

Now almost 100,000 Russian troops are believed to be massed on the border with Ukraine.

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2021-04-17 18:36:52Z
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Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny ‘could die at any moment’: Doctor - Al Jazeera English

Doctor says jailed Russian opposition leader at risk of cardiac arrest, kidneys impaired after weeks on hunger strike.

A doctor for imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, who is in the third week of a hunger strike, has said his health is deteriorating rapidly and the 44-year-old Kremlin critic could be on the verge of death.

Physician Yaroslav Ashikhmin said on Saturday that test results he received from Navalny’s family show him with sharply elevated levels of potassium, which can bring on cardiac arrest, and heightened creatinine levels that indicate impaired kidneys.

“Our patient could die at any moment,” he said in a Facebook post.

Anastasia Vasilyeva, head of the Navalny-backed Alliance of Doctors union, said on Twitter that “action must be taken immediately”.

Navalny is Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most visible and adamant opponent.

His personal physicians have not been allowed to see him in prison. He went on a hunger strike to protest against the refusal to let them visit when he began experiencing severe back pain and a loss of feeling in his legs.

Navalny said on Friday that prison authorities had threatened to put him in a straitjacket to force-feed him unless he abandons his hunger strike.

Russia’s state penitentiary service has said that Navalny is receiving all the medical help he needs.

Navalny was arrested on January 17 when he returned to Russia from Germany, where had spent five months recovering from nerve-agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin.

Russian officials have denied any involvement and even questioned whether Navalny was poisoned, which was confirmed by several European laboratories.

He was ordered to serve two and a half years in prison on the grounds that his long recovery in Germany violated a suspended sentence he had been given for a fraud conviction in a case that Navalny says was politically motivated.

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2021-04-17 20:00:31Z
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Russian warplanes launch missiles and drop bombs over the Black Sea in major military exercise - Daily Mail

Russian warplanes launch missiles and drop bombs over the Black Sea in major military exercise - as US 'warns commercial pilots against overflying hot zone amid fears another MH17'

• Russia is conducting major exercises including missile launches into Black Sea 
• Videos show warships being moved from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea 
• FAA warns American pilots warns about flying over regions of Russia & Ukraine
• Ukrainian diplomat Oleksandr Sosonyuk has been taken into custody by the FSB 
• Comes amid high tensions between the two countries with fears of possible war 

By Antony Thrower For Mailonline

Published: 09:44 BST, 17 April 2021 | Updated: 12:20 BST, 17 April 2021

Russia is conducting major aerial exercises including missile launches and bombings over the Black Sea amid warnings from the US of 'another MH17'.

New videos indicate Moscow is continuing to mass its military might close to the Ukrainian frontier.

One video showed a detachment of warships moved by the Russian navy from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea, the first such switch since Soviet times, according to reports.

A military convoy recently spotted in Krasnodar region, Russia, amid warnings of war with Ukraine

Some of the military vehicles recently spotted in Bryansk region, Russia, amid fears Moscow is gearing for war

Another highlights armaments and troops being moved by road and rail in Krasnodar, Rostov and Bryansk regions.

The developments come as some 50 Russian fighters, bombers and attack aircraft were due to be involved in 'exercises over the Black Sea', reported Interfax.

The war games come amid the greatest period in tension between Russia and Ukraine with almost 100,000 Russian troops believed to be massed on its borders with its ex-Soviet neighbour.

The report said: 'During the exercises, the planes will perform missile launches and bombardment of naval targets.'

A detachment of ships of the Caspian flotilla were filmed passing under the Crimean bridge

Putin is continuing to build up his forced on the border with Ukraine, as the government warns troops numbers could swell to 110,000 with 7,000 tanks and other vehicles in support

It added crews from the Russian air force and the Black Sea Fleet would 'perform tasks to accompany ship strike groups and actions as part of reconnaissance strike complexes while ensuring security in the Black Sea.'

Naval aircraft and helicopters and the Black Sea Fleet also involved.

The detachment includes the Admiral Makarov frigate equipped with Caliber cruise missiles, the Grayvoron and Vyshny Volochek small missile ships, as well as large landing ships, the Samum hovercraft and the Ivan Golubets minesweeper.

On Tuesday Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu said Moscow was conducting major exercises in response to threats from NATO.

298 people, including 80 children, were killed when Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down in July 2014

During the last 'hot' conflict in the region, Malaysia Alrlines flight MH17 was shot out of the sky by pro-Moscow rebels, killing 298 people in July 2014.

The US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) had recommended American pilots to show extreme caution when flying above certain regions of Russia and Ukraine.

The FAA had issued two notices to airmen (NOTAM), said the report.

One said: 'Air crews were told to exercise extreme caution when flying 'into, out of, within, or over' the areas of the Moscow flight information region (FIR), as well as the Rostov-on-Don, Simferopol, Dnepr and Kiev FIRs.

The notices were issued 'due to potential safety-of-flight risks associated with escalating regional tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

Yesterday Russia detained a Ukrainian diplomat in St Petersburg for allegedly receiving classified information from the main security agency as tension between the two countries grows.

Oleksandr Sosonyuk, Ukraine's consul, was taken into custody by the Federal Security Service

The Federal Security Service (FSB) said Alexander Sosonyuk, Ukraine's consul, was taken into custody during a meeting with a Russian in which he received 'information of a classified nature contained in the databases of law enforcement agencies and the FSB.'

The claims come amid high tensions between the two ex-Soviet countries with fears the situation could deteriorate into war.

The security service said Sosonyuk was 'caught red handed' and added his activities were 'incompatible' with his status as a diplomat.

Russia claimed Ukraine's consul was caught 'red handed' and had a 'clear hostile nature' to the country 

The FSB said in a statement: 'The foreign diplomat will be handled in accordance with the norms of international law.

'[He] has a clear hostile nature in relation to Russia.'

Sosonyuk headed the Ukrainian consulate in St Petersburg, Russia's second city.

Moscow denies inflaming the tense standoff on the frontier.

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2021-04-17 11:20:44Z
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Biden backtracks on keeping Trump cap on refugees - BBC News

Reuters

President Joe Biden has reversed course hours after signing an order to keep the number of refugees admitted annually to the US at Trump-era levels.

Mr Biden drew ire on Friday as he held the cap at the historically low figure of 15,000, two months after he pledged to increase it to 65,500.

The White House later said Mr Biden would raise the refugee cap next month.

Reports say Mr Biden is concerned about letting in more people amid a record influx at the US-Mexico border.

UN figures indicate there are more than 80 million refugees worldwide, with 85% of them hosted by developing countries.

What did Biden's order do?

The White House said Friday's order would speed up refugee admissions to the US - since October around 2,000 people have been admitted under the programme.

The order also changes the allocation of who is allowed in, with more slots being provided to arrivals from Africa, the Middle East and Central America, and an end to restrictions on resettlements from Somalia, Syria and Yemen.

• The suffocated youth unafraid of a perilous journey
• The challenges facing Biden at the US-Mexico border
• First photos emerge of Biden-era detention centres

But Mr Biden - who vowed to raise the cap on refugees during his campaign - kept the maximum number allowed in annually at 15,000, a ceiling set by his predecessor as president, Donald Trump.

Mr Biden stated the Trump-era cap "remains justified by humanitarian concerns and is otherwise in the national interest".

What did the White House say later?

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the Democratic president's directive had been the "subject of some confusion" after the news sparked outrage among aid groups, as well as from within Mr Biden's own party. Senate Foreign Relations Chair Bob Menendez described the figure as "appallingly low".

Ms Psaki blamed Mr Biden's failure to deliver on the 62,500 figure that he announced to Congress two months ago on "the decimated refugee admissions programme we inherited".

Ms Psaki said Mr Biden's order on Friday was meant to allow refugee flights to the US to begin within days.

The press secretary added: "With that done, we expect the president to set a final, increased refugee cap for the remainder of this fiscal year by May 15."

She did not specify a number, though she said "his initial goal of 65,000 seems unlikely".

In a speech to the state department in February, Mr Biden vowed to raise the figure to 125,000 within the next budget year.

Nearly 85,000 refugees were resettled in the US during the final year of Barack Obama's presidency.

What's the reaction?

Jenny Yang, senior vice-president at World Relief, a humanitarian organisation, told CNN that White House claims the US refugee resettlement programme needed to be rebuilt after the Trump years was "a completely false narrative".

"It's not grounded in any sort of reality," she said. "It's not that they don't have the resources. It's a purely political calculation at this point."

A US official earlier told Reuters news agency the administration had been concerned about looking "too open" with rising numbers of migrants arriving at the Mexican borders.

In March, at least 172,000 migrants were stopped at the US-Mexico border - the most in 20 years - and many were unaccompanied children.

Mr Trump's speechwriter and immigration adviser Stephen Miller tweeted that the directive "reflects Team Biden's awareness that the border flood will cause record midterm losses", referring to the congressional elections that happen midway through a president's term, which will next be held in November 2022.

The Biden order left some Democrats aghast.

Left-wing New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted: "Upholding the xenophobic and racist policies of the Trump admin, incl the historically low + plummeted refugee cap, is flat out wrong. Keep your promise."

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2021-04-16 22:46:07Z
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Fears of all-out war between Ukraine and Russia surge as troops ‘ready for assault’ - Daily Express

Tensions between the two nations have risen after Ukrainian diplomats called Russia’s growing army “the largest troop movement since the Second World War”. US President Joe Biden issued a warning on Thursday, urging Russian President Vladimir Putin to de-escalate tensions and “refrain from military action.”

In a statement, Mr Biden said: “If Russia continues to interfere with our democracy, I’m prepared to take further actions to respond.

“Now is the time to de-escalate.”

The US cancelled deployment of two warships to the Black Sea on April 14 in order to avoid an unnecessary escalation of the situation.

The Kremlin had previously warned US warships to steer clear of Crimea “for their own good” and has closed part of the Kerch Strait in an attempt to block foreign warships from reaching Ukraine.

Sergeant Sasha Iovenko, a Ukrainian soldier on the front line of the Eastern border, told The Telegraph: “I can’t tell you what’s going through the heads of the political leaders in the Kremlin.

“We can see the increase in the number of troops and equipment on our border but we cannot say for certain. We cannot make any kind of forecast.

"But they are bringing battalion tactical groups to our border.

“We are ready for the assault if it will happen.”

READ MORE: Biden under intense pressure to slap Merkel project with sanctions

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited Paris on April 15 to discuss four-way peace negotiations with Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel and Vladimir Putin.

Mr Zelenskiy told reporters: “I’m determined for the four of us to connect.

“The issue of the security situation in the east of Ukraine and the de-occupation of our territories — these are issues that are resolved at the N4 (Normandy) meetings, where four leaders resolve issues.”

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2021-04-16 23:51:11Z
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Raúl Castro steps down as Cuban Communist Party leader - BBC News

EPA

Raúl Castro says he is resigning as Cuban Communist Party leader, ending his family's six decades in power.

Mr Castro, 89, told a party congress that he is handing over the leadership to a younger generation "full of passion and anti-imperialist spirit".

His successor will be voted in at the end of the four-day congress.

The move, which was expected, ends the era of formal leadership by him and his brother Fidel Castro, which began with the 1959 revolution.

"I believe fervently in the strength and exemplary nature and comprehension of my compatriots," he told party delegates in Havana on Friday.

• In pictures: Raúl Castro's career over six decades
• Miguel Díaz-Canel: The expected successor

Although Mr Castro has not endorsed a successor, it is widely believed the party leadership will pass to Miguel Díaz-Canel, who took over as the island's president in 2018.

Not unexpected, but no less historic

By Will Grant, Cuba Correspondent

While the entire island knew this moment was coming, it was no less historic or symbolic when it arrived: Cuba will be officially governed by someone other than a Castro for the first time since 1959.

The reality is that, at least in the short term, little will change.

The man who took over from Raúl Castro as president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, may well succeed him now as the party's first secretary too. It seems likely he will be forced to take further steps to liberalise Cuba's centrally controlled economy. The island is currently in the grip of its worst economic crisis since the period immediately following the end of the Cold War. As a result, private farmers were recently permitted to sell beef and dairy products - goods previously under the sole control of the state.

Any hope of improving ties with the US however may have to wait as the Biden administration has shown little inclination to unpick the Trump administration's harsher sanctions on Cuba at this stage.

One thing is for sure, Raúl Castro's words of keeping "one foot in the stirrup" means he will remain a powerbroker behind the scenes. And by reiterating the island's eternal commitment to socialism it means that political change remains as unlikely under his successor as it was under his late brother, Fidel.

End of an era

His retirement means that for the first time six decades Cuba will not have a Castro formally guiding its politics.

Raúl has been the party's first secretary since succeeding his older brother, Fidel, in 2011.

Getty Images

Fidel Castro led the communist revolution that toppled the Cuban government in 1959, when Raúl served as one of his commanders.

Fidel Castro was the country's leader until falling ill in 2006 and in 2008 handed over the presidency to his brother. Fidel Castro died in 2016.

Cuba under Raúl

As leader, Raúl Castro maintained the communists' one-party grip on power.

He oversaw an improvement in relations with United States between 2014 and 2016, including historic talks with President Barack Obama in 2016.

EPA

But tensions worsened under Donald Trump, who reinforced sanctions.

Current US President Joe Biden has vowed to relax some of Trump's sanctions, although the White House said on Friday a shift in Cuban policy was not one of his top priorities.

At the congress on Friday, Raúl Castro said his country was willing to "develop respectful dialogue" with the United States but it would not accept having to make "concessions" regarding its "foreign policy and ideals".

What next?

The change at the top of Cuba's governing party comes as the island's leadership is tackling its most serious economic crisis in decades.

The Covid-19 pandemic, financial reforms and restrictions imposed by the Trump administration have hit the economy, which shrank by 11% last year.

AFP

A long-awaited currency reform launched on 1 January has sought to make the economy and state companies more efficient. But it has also badly squeezed the budgets of ordinary Cubans.

Many have been calling for much more economic freedom in the country.

Read more about Cuba

• Cubans get access to 3G mobile internet
• New constitution: What's in and what's out
• Miguel Díaz-Canel: The man succeeding the Castros
• All you need to know about Cuba

Another challenge will be maintaining ideological unity and support in the face of citizens' increased access to the internet and social media. Dissidents have been using social media to stage anti-government protests and gain live audiences online.

In response, the party has said one of the functions of its congress would be "confronting political and ideological subversion, which has made internet and social media its principal field of operations".

But despite the change in leadership, few expect it will prompt a dramatic change in policy direction.

A new constitution in 2019 confirmed state dominance of the economy and the "irrevocability of socialism".

In a tweet on Friday, 60-year-old President Díaz-Canel said the congress would be where "ideas are entrenched, history recognized and the future discussed." But added that there would be "continuity".

Mr Castro told the congress he was retiring as "a simple revolutionary fighter".

"And as long as I live I will be ready with my foot in the stirrups to defend the fatherland, the revolution and socialism."

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2021-04-16 20:42:05Z
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Appeal for calm as video shows 13-year-old shot dead by Chicago policeman - BBC News - BBC News

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2021-04-16 21:36:03Z
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