Sabtu, 14 Januari 2023

Tens of thousands of Israelis protest Netanyahu’s legal reforms - Al Jazeera English

PM Benjamin Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption charges, has made changing Israel’s legal system a centrepiece of his agenda.

Tens of thousands of Israelis have rallied in three cities to protest plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to implement changes to the country’s legal system and weaken the Supreme Court.

Saturday’s protests in the cities of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa present an early challenge to Netanyahu and his ultranationalist national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has ordered police to take tough action if protesters block roads or display Palestinian flags.

Israeli media, citing police, said the crowd at Tel Aviv’s Habima Square swelled to at least 80,000 people, despite cool, rainy weather.

Protesters, many covered by umbrellas, held Israeli flags and signs saying “Criminal Government”, “The End of Democracy”, and other slogans.

Social media footage showed some Palestinian flags on display, in defiance of Ben-Gvir’s calls.

“They are trying to destroy the checks and balances of the Israeli democracy. This will not work,” said Asaf Steinberg, a protester from the Tel Aviv suburb of Herzliya. “And we will fight until the very last minute to save the Israeli democracy.”

Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption charges, has made the proposed changes to the country’s legal system a centrepiece of his agenda.

In office for just more than two weeks, his right-wing government has launched proposals to weaken the Supreme Court by giving parliament the power to overturn court decisions with a simple majority vote. It also wants to give parliament control over the appointment of judges and reduce the independence of legal advisers.

Israel protest
Israelis protest against Benjamin Netanyahu’s new right-wing coalition and its proposed plan to reduce the powers of the Supreme Court [Ronen Zvulun/Reuters]

Netanyahu’s justice minister says unelected judges have too much power.

But opponents to the plans say the proposed changes will undermine Israeli democracy. Israeli opposition leaders, former attorneys general and the president of Israel’s Supreme Court have all spoken out against the plan.

The legal changes could help Netanyahu evade conviction for corruption or even make his trial disappear entirely. Since being indicted in 2019, Netanyahu has said the justice system is biased against him.

The new government has also announced intentions to pursue a policy of settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank and to roll back social reforms, a reversal that would impact the LGBTQ community.

Reporting from the rally in Tel Aviv, Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan said the protesters were concerned that the far-right government is threatening democracy in Israel.

“This is an anti-government protest. They are worried about the rollback of powers of the Supreme Court – a very crucial system of checks and balances that has been in place for decades,” he said.

“There is a lot of anger here towards Benjamin Netanyahu, who they say is a criminal. There are a lot of signs around here saying he is fighting a court case and should not be the prime minister of Israel. They are also very worried about minority rights within Israel, particularly when it comes to gay rights. They are fearful that those things could be rolled back.”

Thousands of people also turned up for rallies in Jerusalem and Haifa.

No major unrest was reported, though Israeli media said small crowds scuffled with police as they tried to block a Tel Aviv highway.

Police beefed up their presence ahead of the march. Israeli media quoted police as saying officers had been instructed to be “very sensitive” and allow the protest to proceed peacefully. But they also pledged a tough response to any vandalism or violent behaviour.

Polls have diverged on public views of the reforms. Channel 13 TV last week found 53 percent of Israelis were opposed to changing the court appointments’ structure while 35 percent were in support. But Channel 14 TV on Thursday found 61 percent in favour and 35 percent opposed.

“Tens of thousands of people were at tonight’s demonstrations. In the election held here two and a half months ago, millions turned out,” tweeted Miki Zohar, a senior legislator in Netanyahu’s conservative Likud party.

“We promised the people change, we promised governance, we promised reforms – and we will make good on that,” he added.

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2023-01-15 02:15:00Z
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UK to send heavy battle tanks to Ukraine - Al Jazeera English

United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has pledged to provide heavy tanks and artillery systems to Ukraine, drawing swift reproach from the Russian embassy in London.

Sunak promised to send the 14 Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine following a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday, according to a statement from his office.

The move makes the UK the first Western country to supply the heavy tanks Kyiv has been calling for.

Sunak said the tanks were a sign of the UK’s “ambition to intensify our support to Ukraine”, according to a readout of a phone call with Zelenskyy.

The Ukrainian leader expressed his appreciation for the UK’s military support on Twitter, saying “the decisions that will not only strengthen us on the battlefield, but also send the right signal to other partners”.

Sunak’s office said the British prime minister believed that a “long and static war only serves Russia’s interests”.

“UK defence and security officials believe a window has opened up where Russia is on the backfoot due to resupply issues and plummeting morale,” the statement said. “The Prime Minister is therefore encouraging allies to deploy their planned support for 2023 as soon as possible to have maximum impact.”

The squadron of Challenger 2 tanks, which are battle tanks designed to attack other tanks, will go into Ukraine in the coming weeks. About 30 AS90s, which are large, self-propelled guns operated by five gunners, are expected to follow, it said.

Russia responded to the UK’s pledge by warning that it would only “intensify” the conflict.

“Bringing tanks to the conflict zone, far from drawing the hostilities to a close, will only serve to intensify combat operations, generating more casualties, including among the civilian population”, the Russian embassy in London said.

Ukraine has been asking to be supplied with heavier tanks for months, including the US Abrams and the German Leopard 2 tanks. However, some Western leaders have been treading carefully.

Poland and the Czech Republic have provided Soviet-era T-72 tanks to the Ukrainian army.

While Poland has also expressed readiness to give Leopard tanks, President Andrzej Duda underscored that the move would only be possible as a part of a larger international coalition of tank aid to Ukraine.

Earlier this month, France said it would send AMX-10 RC armoured combat vehicles to Ukraine, designated “light tanks” in France. The US and Germany announced the same week that they would send Bradley fighting vehicles and Marder armoured personnel carriers, respectively, for the first time.

The UK’s decision to provide the tanks came as Russian forces fired missiles at Ukraine’s capital and other cities around the country on Saturday, hitting critical infrastructure.

At least 12 people were killed and more than 64 wounded in the southeastern city of Dnipro, where a Russian missile attack destroyed a section of an apartment building, regional governor Valentyn Reznichenko said.

Seven children were among the wounded, the youngest three years old, he added, saying “the fate of 26 people is still unknown”.

Infrastructure facilities were also hit in the western Lviv region and northeastern Kharkiv. Kyiv, the capital, was also targeted.

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2023-01-15 00:33:45Z
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Jumat, 13 Januari 2023

Explosion hits gas pipeline connecting Lithuania and Latvia - nearby village evacuated - Sky News

An explosion has hit a gas pipeline connecting Lithuania and Latvia.

The blast happened in the Panevezys county, northern Lithuania, said the country's gas transmission operator Amber Grid.

Lithuanian broadcaster LRT said the village of Valakeliai, with about 250 inhabitants, was being evacuated as a precaution.

Pic: Gintautas Geguzinskas
Image: Pic: Gintautas Geguzinskas, Mayor at Pasvalys municipality

Nemunas Biknius, general director of Amber Grid, told Sky News that no one was injured and no properties were damaged in the explosion, and an investigation will be launched into the cause.

He said: "Luckily no people were injured during this incident and we will start an investigation soon about what has happened.

"At the moment we do not have any evidence that it could have been deliberate, but the investigation will answer the questions."

Latvia's energy minister Raimonds Cudars was informed that the explosion was caused by a technical accident, according to the Baltic News Service.

More from World

Flames rose 165ft (50 metres) in the air and could be seen from a distance of at least 11 miles (17km), LRT reported.

Blazes have now been put out, after firefighters had to wait to tackle the flames.

"After the incident, the valves of the gas pipeline were tightened. We do not see any harmful effects on the gas pipeline," Mr Biknius said in a previous statement.

Gas supply has been restored to Latvia after being temporarily suspended, according to the CEO of the Lithuanian pipeline grid operator.

Lithuania gas explosion

Mayor of Pasvalys district, Gintautas Geguzinskas, told LRT: "We don't have any information on the cause of the explosion.

"I spoke to a few people near the scene. They told me that earlier today they saw some work being done near the pipeline where the explosion happened. I can't confirm if this is true or not."

The gas transmission system in the area consists of two parallel pipelines, and initial data indicates that the explosion occurred in one of them.

The other pipeline remained undamaged.

Lithuania gas explosion

Consumers in the Pasvalys district are being supplied with gas through the adjacent pipeline.

The area has a population of about 6,500.

Sky's Dominic Waghorn said: "It appears to be some kind of device or a terrible accident that ignited the pipeline and exploded it sufficiently to let enough gas escape to cause this kind of fireball.

Pic: Gintautas Geguzinskas
Image: Pic: Gintautas Geguzinskas, Mayor at Pasvalys municipality

"The background to this is that we have seen attacks on civilian energy infrastructures both in Ukraine, because of the war there, but also in parts of Russia.

"Whether [the pipeline in Lithuania] is related to the war or not, it isn't clear, but it is certainly not something that normally happens to pipelines without some presumably nefarious or sinister motivation behind it."

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2023-01-13 23:48:45Z
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Soledar: Russia claims victory in battle for Ukraine salt mine town - BBC

A satellite view shows a destroyed school and buildings in south Soledar, Ukraine, January 10, 2023Maxar Technologies

Russia's military says it has captured the Ukrainian salt-mine town of Soledar after a long battle, calling it an "important" step for its offensive.

The victory would allow Russian troops to push on to the nearby city of Bakhmut, and cut off the Ukrainian forces there, a spokesman said.

This was a very confident and ambitious statement from Moscow.

But Ukrainian officials said the fight for Soledar was still going on and accused Russia of "information noise".

The battle for Soledar has been one of the bloodiest of the war.

The town is relatively small, with a pre-war population of just 10,000, and its strategic significance is debatable. But if it is confirmed that Russian forces have seized control of it, then there will likely be a big sigh of relief in the Kremlin.

Divisions have emerged between regular Russian forces and the notorious Russian Wagner paramilitary group throughout the battle, with a jealous turf-war developing over who should take credit for the advance.

Barely any walls in Soledar remain standing, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said this week. Describing almost apocalyptic scenes, he spoke of the nearby terrain as scarred by missile strikes and littered with Russian corpses.

Speaking during his nightly address from Kyiv on Friday, Mr Zelensky said the battle in the region continued to rage, but avoided any reference to Russia's claims of control over Soledar.

"Although the enemy has concentrated its greatest forces in this direction, our troops - the Armed Forces of Ukraine, all defence and security forces - are defending the state," the Ukrainian leader said.

His chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, compared the fight for Soledar and Bakhmut to one of the bitterest battles of World War One, at Verdun.

Regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Thursday that 559 civilians including 15 children remained in Soledar and could not be moved out.

The town's significance for the Russian military is disputed by military analysts because of its relatively small size. The US-based think tank Institute for the Study of War said while it was likely that Russian forces had captured Soledar, it did not believe they would then be able to go on to encircle Bakhmut.

Nevertheless, if it becomes clear that Russia has taken it, then that will be seen in Moscow as progress - even a victory.

That is exactly what President Vladimir Putin needs as Russia has failed to capture a single town in Ukraine since July 2022. Since then, Moscow's forces have suffered a whole series of embarrassing defeats.

Ukraine's successful counter-attack pushed Russia almost completely out of Kharkiv region in the north-east. In October, Russia's Kerch bridge came under attack, with Russian forces retreating from the city of Kherson the following month.

The southern port city had been the only regional capital that Russia had managed to seize since the invasion began.

Capturing Soledar would be something for Moscow to present as some "good news" to the Russian people and the troops on the wintry front line.

But Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesperson for Ukraine's eastern military command, denied Soledar was in Russian hands: "We won't give any more details as we do not want to reveal the tactical positions of our fighters."

Deputy Defence Minister, Hanna Malyar, said fighting had been "hot in Soledar overnight". Ukrainian fighters were "bravely trying to hold the defence", she added, in what was a difficult stage of the war.

Western and Ukrainian officials have said much of the fighting in Soledar and Bakhmut is being done by the notoriously brutal Wagner mercenary group.

Photo claiming to show Yevgeny Prigozhin inside a Soledar salt mine
Reuters

Its leader, 61-year-old Yevgeny Prigozhin, has claimed repeatedly over the past few days that his forces are the only units on the ground in Soledar. He said on Tuesday night that his mercenaries had seized the town, only to be contradicted by Russia's defence ministry the next morning.

Daily updates from the Russian defence ministry have made no mention whatsoever of Wagner, and Friday's briefing was no exception. The military said that paratroopers had played a key part in the capture of the town.

Mr Prigozhin then released a statement saying he was "surprised" to read the defence ministry briefing. There "wasn't a single paratrooper" in Soledar, he insisted, warning against "insulting [his] fighters" and "stealing others' achievements".

And on Friday evening, Mr Prigozhin accused "officials who want to stay in their places" of being the biggest threat to his group's advance in Ukraine.

In a later statement, the defence ministry praised the mercenaries' "courageous and selfless actions" during the fighting, but again emphasised the leading role of regular Russian forces.

Analysts have long spoken of tensions between the military and Mr Prigozhin's Wagner group. The Russian oligarch has publicly criticised senior military leaders, including Gen Valery Gerasimov, appointed two days ago as overall commander of Russian forces in Ukraine.

While Russia has mobilised some 300,000 reservists for the war since the end of September, Prigozhin has looked to recruit extra numbers from Russia's prisons.

Andriy Yermak told French daily Le Monde that Russian criminals had been sent straight to their deaths on the front line: "Soledar is a scene of street battles, with neither side really in control of the town."

Control map of Bakhmut area
1px transparent line

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2023-01-13 21:43:59Z
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Yellen warns of U.S. default risk by June, urges debt limit hike - Reuters

WASHINGTON, Jan 13 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Friday that the United States will likely hit the $31.4 trillion statutory debt limit on Jan. 19, forcing the Treasury to launch extraordinary cash management measures that can likely prevent default until early June.

"Once the limit is reached, Treasury will need to start taking certain extraordinary measures to prevent the United States from defaulting on its obligations," Yellen said in a letter to new Republican House of Representative's speaker Kevin McCarthy and other congressional leaders.

She urged the lawmakers to act quickly to raise the debt ceiling to "protect the full faith and credit of the United States.

"While Treasury is not currently able to provide an estimate of how long extraordinary measures will enable us to continue to pay the government’s obligations, it is unlikely that cash and extraordinary measures will be exhausted before early June," the letter added.

Republicans now in control of the House have threatened to use the debt ceiling as leverage to demand spending cuts from Democrats and the Biden administration. This has raised concerns in Washington and on Wall Street about a bruising fight over the debt ceiling this year that could be at least as disruptive as the protracted battle of 2011, which prompted a brief downgrade of the U.S. credit rating and years of forced domestic and military spending cuts.

The White House said on Friday after Yellen's letter that it will not negotiate over raising the debt ceiling.

"This should be done without conditions," White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. "There’s going to be no negotiation over it. This is something that must get done."

Yellen's estimate expressing confidence that the government could pay its bills only through early June without increasing the limit marks a deadline considerably sooner than forecasts by some outside budget analysts that the government would exhaust its cash and borrowing capacity - the so called "X Date" - sometime in the third quarter of calendar 2023.

Analysts have noted that some Treasury bills maturing in the second half of the year are sporting a premium in their yields that may be tied to elevated risk of a default in that window.

"You could read this partly as trying to get Congress to act sooner rather than later," said Bipartisan Policy Center economics director Shai Akabas, adding that Treasury was being conservative in its approach.

Yellen said that there was "considerable uncertainty" around the length of time that extraordinary measures could stave off default, due to a variety of factors, including the challenges of forecasting the government's payments and revenues months into the future.

PENSION INVESTMENTS SUSPENDED

As of Wednesday, Treasury data showed that U.S. federal debt stood $78 billion below the limit, with a Treasury operating cash balance of $346.4 billion. The department on Thursday reported an $85 billion December deficit as revenues eased and outlays grew, particularly for debt interest costs.

Yellen said in her letter that the Treasury this month anticipates suspending new investments in two government retiree funds for pensions and healthcare, as well as suspending reinvestments in the Government Securities Investment Fund, or G Fund, part of a savings plan for federal employees. The retirement investments are restored once the debt ceiling is raised.

"The use of extraordinary measures enables the government to meet its obligations for only a limited amount of time," Yellen wrote to McCarthy and other congressional leaders.

"It is therefore critical that Congress act in a timely manner to increase or suspend the debt limit. Failure to meet the government’s obligations would cause irreparable harm to the U.S. economy, the livelihoods of all Americans, and global financial stability," Yellen wrote.

Reporting by Kanishka Singh and David Lawder; Additional reporting by Richard Cowan and Ismail Shakil; Writing by David Lawder; Editing by Tim Ahmann, Diane Craft and Andrea Ricci

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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2023-01-13 21:52:00Z
1729447086

Donald Trump's company fined $1.6m after top bosses dodged taxes - Sky News

Donald Trump's company has been fined $1.6m (£1.3m) after top bosses at the firm dodged taxes.

A judge could only impose a fine on the Trump Organization after its conviction last month for 17 tax crimes, including conspiracy and falsifying business records.

Mr Trump himself was not on trial and denied any knowledge of his executives evading taxes illegally.

Neither the former president or his children, who helped run the company, were in court for the sentencing hearing.

The Organization was charged through its subsidiaries: Trump Corp, which was fined $810,000 (£662,976) and Trump Payroll Corp, which was fined $800,000 (£654,792).

The amount imposed by Judge Juan Manuel Merchan was the maximum allowed by law.

He ordered the company to pay the full amount in 14 days, when it had asked for 30 days.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said the fines constituted "a fraction of the revenue" of the Trump Organization and that the tax evasion scheme was "far-reaching and brazen".

Prosecuting and defense attorneys Pic: AP
Image: Prosecution and defence attorneys. Pic: AP

Despite the fines costing less than an apartment in Trump Tower, the conviction is a black mark on the Republican's reputation, as he gears up for his 2024 presidential election campaign.

The company's lawyers have vowed to appeal over the verdict, while Mr Trump has said the case against his company was part of a politically motivated "witch hunt" waged against him by vindictive Democrats.

Along with the company, on Tuesday former Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg was sentenced to five months in prison after being found guilty of evading taxes on $1.7m (£1.4m) in job perks, along with 15 other tax crimes that he admitted to in August 2021.

Allen Weisselberg
Image: Allen Weisselberg

During a four-week trial, prosecutors said Mr Trump himself signed bonus checks, as well as the lease on Weisselberg's luxury Manhattan apartment and private school tuition for the CFO's grandchildren.

Weisselberg later denied Mr Trump was involved in the fraud scheme.

Read more:
Donald Trump sued over death of police officer after US Capitol riot

Donald Trump warns of 'horrible things' after tax returns release
Donald Trump engaged in 'multi-part conspiracy' to overturn 2020 election result

But Mr Trump faces several other legal challenges as he looks to retake the White House next year.

New York Attorney General Letitia James is suing Mr Trump and his Organization for $250m (£204m), alleging they misled banks and others about the value of its many assets.

Last month, the January 6 committee recommended criminal charges against the former president for his role in sparking the violent riots at the US Capitol.

The FBI is also investigating Mr Trump's storage of classified documents, something that current US President Joe Biden is also facing, after a special counsel was appointed to investigate documents found in his home and former Washington office.

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2023-01-13 16:18:51Z
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Russia claims control of salt mine town Soledar - BBC

A satellite view shows a destroyed school and buildings in south Soledar, Ukraine, January 10, 2023Maxar Technologies

Russia's military says it has captured the Ukrainian salt-mine town Soledar after a long battle, calling it an "important" step for its offensive.

The victory would allow Russian troops to push on to the nearby city of Bakhmut, and cut off the Ukrainian forces there, a spokesman said.

This was a very confident and ambitious statement from Moscow.

But Ukrainian officials said the fight for Soledar was still going on and accused Russia of "information noise".

The battle for Soledar has been one of the bloodiest of the war.

The town is relatively small, with a pre-war population of just 10,000, and its strategic significance is debatable. But if it is confirmed that Russian forces have seized control of it, then there will likely be a big sigh of relief in the Kremlin.

Barely any walls there remained standing, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said this week. Describing almost apocalyptic scenes, he spoke of the nearby terrain as scarred by missile strikes and littered with Russian corpses.

His chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, compared the fight for Soledar and Bakhmut to one of the bitterest battles of World War One, at Verdun.

Regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Thursday that 559 civilians including 15 children remained in Soledar and could not be moved out.

Control map of Bakhmut area
1px transparent line

The town's significance for the Russian military is disputed by military analysts because of its relatively small size. The US-based think tank Institute for the Study of War said while it was likely that Russian forces had captured Soledar, it did not believe they would then be able to go on to encircle Bakhmut.

Nevertheless, if it becomes clear that Russia has taken it, then that will be seen in Moscow as progress - even a victory.

That is exactly what President Vladimir Putin needs as Russia has failed to capture a single town in Ukraine since July 2022. Since then, Moscow's forces have suffered a whole series of embarrassing defeats.

Ukraine's successful counter-attack pushed Russia almost completely out of Kharkiv region in the north-east. In October, Russia's Kerch bridge came under attack, with Russian forces retreating from the city of Kherson the following month.

Kherson had been the only regional capital that Russia had managed to seize since the invasion began and it was back in Ukrainian hands.

Capturing Soledar would be something for Moscow to present as some "good news" to the Russian people and the troops on the wintry front line.

But Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesperson for Ukraine's eastern military command, denied Soledar was in Russian hands: "We won't give any more details as we do not want to reveal the tactical positions of our fighters."

Deputy Defence Minister, Hanna Malyar, said fighting had been "hot in Soledar overnight". Ukrainian fighters were "bravely trying to hold the defence", she added, in what was a difficult stage of the war.

President Volodymyr Zelensky described Soledar, Bakhmut and the wider defence of the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine as the top issue in his nightly address late on Thursday.

Photo claiming to show Yevgeny Prigozhin inside a Soledar salt mine
Reuters

Western and Ukrainian officials have said much of the fighting in Soledar and Bakhmut is being done by the notoriously brutal Wagner mercenary group.

Its leader, 61-year-old Yevgeny Prigozhin, has claimed repeatedly over the past few days that his forces are the only units on the ground in Soledar. He said on Tuesday night that his mercenaries had seized the town, only to be contradicted by Russia's defence ministry the next morning.

Daily updates from the Russian defence ministry have made no mention whatsoever of Wagner, and Friday's briefing was no exception. The military said that paratroopers had played a key part in the capture of the town.

Mr Prigozhin then released a statement saying he was "surprised" to read the defence ministry briefing. There "wasn't a single paratrooper" in Soledar, he insisted, warning against "insulting [his] fighters" and "stealing others' achievements".

Analysts have long spoken of tensions between the military and Mr Prigozhin's Wagner group. The Russian oligarch has publicly criticised senior military leaders, including Gen Valery Gerasimov, appointed two days ago as overall commander of Russian forces in Ukraine.

While Russia has mobilised some 300,000 reservists for the war since the end of September, Prigozhin has looked to recruit extra numbers from Russia's prisons.

Andriy Yermak told French daily Le Monde that Russian criminals had been sent straight to their deaths on the front line: "Soledar is a scene of street battles, with neither side really in control of the town."

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2023-01-13 14:05:34Z
1733763175