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Tag: Belarus crisis

  • Russian bombers fly over Belarus amid Ukraine tensions

    Russia on Saturday despatched a pair of long-range nuclear-capable bombers on patrol over its ally Belarus amid spiralling tensions over Ukraine.
    The Russian Defense Ministry stated that the 2 Tu-22M3 bombers practiced interplay with the Belarusian air drive and air protection property throughout a four-hour mission.
    The flight adopted a number of comparable patrols over Belarus, which borders Ukraine to the north.
    The mission got here because the Kremlin has moved troops from Siberia and the Far East to Belarus for sweeping joint drills. The deployment added to the Russian navy buildup close to Ukraine, fuelling Western fears of a attainable invasion.

    Russia has denied plans of attacking its neighbour Ukraine, however urged the US and its allies to supply a binding pledge that they don’t settle for Ukraine into NATO or deploy offensive weapons and roll again the alliance deployments to Eastern Europe. Washington and NATO have rejected the calls for.
    The West has referred to as on Russia to tug again an estimated 100,000 troops from areas close to Ukraine, however the Kremlin has responded by saying it can station troops wherever it must on the Russian territory.
    A fireball rises from an explosion through the joint workouts of the armed forces of Russia and Belarus at a firing vary within the Brest Region, Belarus February 3, 2022. (Via Reuters)
    As the tensions over Ukraine soared, the Russian navy has launched a sequence of struggle video games spreading from the Arctic to the Black Sea.
    The Russian troop deployment to Belarus raised issues within the West that Moscow may stage an assault on Ukraine from the north.

    The Ukrainian capital is simply 75 kilometers (50 miles) from the border with Belarus.
    In latest months, Russia has performed a sequence of joint drills with Belarus and repeatedly despatched its nuclear-capable long-range bombers to patrol the skies over its neighbour, which borders NATO members Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.
    Belarus’ authoritarian chief Alexander Lukashenko, who has more and more relied on the Kremlin’s political and monetary help amid bruising Western sanctions triggered by his crackdown on home protests, has referred to as for nearer protection ties with Moscow and lately provided to host Russian nuclear weapons.

    As struggle fears mounted, Ukrainian authorities launched a sequence of drills for civilians to organize for a attainable Russian invasion.
    “I am here to learn how to defend myself, defend my relatives and also understand how to act in the situation,” Kyiv resident Ilya Goncharov stated after collaborating in drills on the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital.

    “I am happy that I came here to learn the basics of self defense and first aid.”
    Amid the standoff over Ukraine, US President Joe Biden has ordered 2,000 US-based troops to Poland and Germany and shifted 1,000 extra from Germany to Romania in a present of the US dedication to NATO’s japanese flank.
    Earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin has signalled Moscow’s readiness for extra talks with Washington and its NATO allies.
    As a part of high-level diplomacy to ease the tensions, French President Emmanuel Macron is about to move to Moscow and Kyiv on Monday and Tuesday, whereas German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will journey to Kyiv and Moscow on Feb. 14-15.

    Amid the tensions with the West, Putin on Friday attended the opening of the Winter Olympics in Beijing and met with China’s chief Xi Jinping to strengthen the 2 international locations’ alliance.
    In a joint assertion, Putin and Xi declared their opposition to any enlargement of NATO whereas affirming that the island of Taiwan is part of China.
    Putin and Xi introduced that the relations between Moscow and Beijing are “superior to political and military alliances of the Cold War era” and their friendship “has no limits.”

  • Belarus border disaster: Poland detains 100 migrants

    The Polish Defense Ministry reported Thursday that there had been quite a few makes an attempt to cross the border from Belarus. It stated on Twitter that round 100 migrants had been detained.
    As regional leaders contemplate the following step within the Belarus-Poland border disaster, 1000’s of migrants stay within the border space.
    Aid teams have stated that a minimum of 11 migrants have died for the reason that disaster started in the summertime
    Belarusian particular forces accused of serving to crossings
    The Polish ministry alleges Belarusian Spetsnaz, or particular forces, carried out reconnaissance and had probably broken the barbed wire fencing.
    “Then the Belarusians forced the migrants to throw stones at Polish soldiers to distract them. The attempt to cross the border took place several hundred metres away,” the ministry stated.
    In video footage Polish troopers could be seen surrounding a big group of individuals huddled within the darkness.
    DW Correspondent Barbara Wesel is within the Polish border area and stated in accordance with Polish border authorities, in a single occasion tons of of migrants had tried to make throughout. Wesel stated it’s not recognized if any made it via.
    “Five-hundred migrants tried to breach the border. So they tried in a really large group to sort of push through with the idea that the police will catch some but maybe not all them so we don’t know how many of them made it through, and that shows that this is not totally over… out in the forests here in this huge border region there are still hundreds of migrants that are trying to make their way into the EU.”
    Migrants proceed to face harsh situations
    Conditions have improved for some migrants who’re making an attempt to get into the EU, with some given shelter in a warehouse in Belarus. Hundreds of others nevertheless, stay out within the chilly and face extraordinarily difficult situations.
    DW’s Barbara Wesel was in a position to accompany support staff who went to help a Syrian man who had fallen unwell someplace within the forests.
    “It was a really heartrending experience, because we got a tip from local aid workers that somebody had called for help from the forest, and we went out into the forest with them. It took four hours to find the man. And he was a Syrian man from Homs, totally exhausted, he had fallen ill on the trail, his group had left him behind,” Wesel stated.
    “At least they sent a location pin to this aid group, who then went to find him. They couldn’t help him on his way, he was too ill, he had to go to hospital. And the point now is they’re trying to keep the Polish police from pushing him back across the Belarusian border, because that would be something that this man certainly would not survive.”

    Poland has handed laws in parliament permitting teams of migrants to be pushed again into Belarus.
    Former German authorities migration adviser Gerald Knaus instructed DW that what is going on on the border is in violation of EU regulation.
    “The Polish prime minister is not even arguing that this is in line with EU law. He simply says and explains that EU law should be irrelevant because Poland is facing an invasion. And so these basic principles, these conventions are suspended. Legally it’s clear, unfortunately, politically, it’s also clear that there is now a consensus in the EU to just accept this violation.”

    EU should train ‘humane control’
    Knaus stated migrants who attain Poland needs to be allowed to use for asylum, whereas methods are discovered to cease journey to Belaurs. He stated the EU ought to train what he calls “humane control.”
    “Humane control would be to say our laws are clear. Those who reach Poland have a right to apply for asylum in Poland or in the European Union. And if we want to stop people going to Belarus, we need to think about other ways to do that. That is an effort, but it is worth it. If you believe in a fundamental convention of human rights.”
    The migration adviser additionally stated that the guiding ideas of the 1951 Refugee Convention have been sidelined.
    “The core of the refugee convention is no longer respected by any of the bigger democracies. So at our borders in the 70th year of the refugee convention, this refugee convention is unfortunately no longer guiding what is happening.”