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Tag: Russia-Ukraine war

  • Russia Repels Massive Ukrainian Drone Attack Overnight: Defense Ministry |

    MOSCOW: The Russian air defense has intercepted and destroyed 158 Ukrainian drones across multiple regions over the past night, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Sunday. UAVs were shot down over more than a dozen Russian regions, according to a statement issued by the Ministry on Sunday morning.

    Nine of the downed drones targeted Moscow and the Moscow region, the statement said, adding that 46 drones were destroyed over the Kursk region, 34 over Bryansk, 28 over Voronezh, and 14 over Belgorod. Several more were shot down over nine other Russian regions. The drones shot down have resulted in a fire in a Moscow refinery and at a power plant in the Tver region neighboring Moscow, local officials said as reported by Xinhua news agency. The authorities further said the fire in both regions had been contained, and no injuries were reported.

    Moscow was also the target of an attack, with seven drones shot down over the Moscow region and two more above the capital itself, the statement added as reported by RT. According to the Ministry, eight UAVs were destroyed in the Ryazan region, five in the Kaluga region, four in the Lipetsk region, and three in the Tula region.

    One or two drones were also shot down above the Tambov, Smolensk, Orel, Tver, and Ivanovo regions, it added. Moscow mayor Sergey Sobyanin said that at least 11 drones were destroyed near or inside the capital during the Ukrainian raid. Two UAVs were shot down in the vicinity of the Moscow Oil Refinery in the southeast of the city, he said.

    One of the unmanned aircraft crashed into an engineering building, the mayor noted, adding that the firefighters were extinguishing the blaze. Three UAVs also targeted the Kashira State District Power Plant, according to the Moscow region’s Kashira city district chief, Mikhail Shuvalov. There were no casualties or damage, he added.

    Kyiv intensified its plane-type drone incursions into Russia in January, mainly targeting energy infrastructure, but also hitting residential areas. Moscow responded by adding Ukrainian power plants to its list of legitimate military targets. Most of Ukraine’s non-nuclear generation capacity has been disabled or destroyed by Russian strikes since then.

    A major Ukrainian UAV attack on Russian territory took place in mid-August and saw 117 UAVs destroyed by air defenses. Another raid, just over a week ago, involved 45 drones, with 11 of them targeting Moscow, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

  • Trouble For Putin? France, Germany back Ukraine’s right to target Russian bases with weapons | World News

    BERLIN: France and Germany issued a joint statement on Tuesday, advocating for Ukraine’s right to utilise their weaponry to target Russian bases, which they allege are launching attacks on Ukrainian soil, CNN reported. French President Emmanuel Macron, during a press conference alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, emphasised that weapons supplied to Ukraine, including long-range missiles, are authorised to target Russian bases.

    “Ukrainian soil is being attacked from bases in Russia,” Macron declared during his visit to Schloss Meseberg in Brandenburg, Germany. “So how do we explain to the Ukrainians that we’re going to have to protect these towns and basically everything we’re seeing around Kharkiv at the moment, if we tell them you are not allowed to hit the point from which the missiles are fired?”

    “We think that we should allow them to neutralise the military sites from which the missiles are fired and, basically, the military sites from which Ukraine is attacked,” Macron continued, as reported by CNN. However, Macron stressed the importance of not allowing strikes on non-military or civilian targets in Russia.

    German Chancellor Olaf Scholz echoed Macron’s sentiments, affirming that Ukraine has the right to defend itself within the parameters set by the countries that have provided the weapons and international law. “Ukraine has every possibility under international law for what it is doing. That has to be said explicitly,” Scholz asserted. “I find it strange when some people argue that it should not be allowed to defend itself and take measures that are suitable for this.”

    The Western stance on the usage of donated weapons by Ukraine has long been contentious, with concerns among Western leaders that such actions could escalate violence and potentially draw NATO into a broader conflict. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has consistently sought permission from his allies to extend the use of provided weapons to target Russian territory.

    The United States, Ukraine’s largest arms supplier, has previously refrained from endorsing Ukrainian strikes inside Russian territory due to concerns about escalation. Secretary of State Antony Blinken hinted at a possible shift in policy, indicating that the US would continue to adapt its support for Ukraine in response to changing conditions.

    “We’re always listening. We’re always learning, and we’re always making determinations about what’s necessary to make sure that Ukraine can effectively continue to defend itself,” Blinken stated. Despite this, Blinken reiterated that, at present, the US has not sanctioned Ukrainian strikes into Russian territory with US-provided weaponry.

    France has equipped Ukraine with SCALP cruise missiles, whose capabilities include a range of up to 155 kilometers (96 miles) and a 400-kilogram (881-pound) high-explosive penetration warhead. “The SCALP missiles have been provided to Ukraine with specific guidelines,” Macron emphasised. “They are intended solely for targeting military installations from which attacks are launched into Ukrainian territory.”

    In a similar vein, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron affirmed Ukraine’s right to use the weaponry supplied to defend itself against Russian aggression. “In terms of what the Ukrainians do, in our view it is their decision about how to use these weapons, they are defending their country,” Cameron remarked during a visit to Kyiv. “We don’t discuss any caveats that we put on those things. But let’s be absolutely clear: Russia has launched an attack into Ukraine, and Ukraine absolutely has the right to strike back at Russia.”

    Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, contended that Ukraine’s use of long-range weapons necessitates significant NATO support, which could potentially lead to a global conflict, according to CNN. “Long-range precision weapons cannot be used without space-based reconnaissance,” Putin asserted during a state visit to Uzbekistan. “Final target selection or launch mission for Western systems need to be made by highly skilled specialists who rely on this reconnaissance data.”

    “Officials from NATO countries, especially those based in Europe, should be fully aware of what is at stake,” Putin cautioned. “They should keep in mind that theirs are small and densely populated countries, which is a factor to reckon with before they start talking about striking deep into Russian territory.”

    Despite the tensions, Ukraine received pledges of support from Belgium and Spain, with both countries agreeing to supply military equipment to Kyiv. Belgium committed to providing 30 F-16 fighter jets over the next four years, while Spain announced a $1.08 billion weapons deal for Ukraine. These agreements underscored a broader coalition of Western nations standing in solidarity with Ukraine against Russian aggression. Alongside Belgium and Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Denmark, Finland, and Canada have also signed security agreements, affirming their commitment to supporting Ukraine’s defence efforts, CNN reported.

  • Inside The US Plan To Counter Russia's Nuclear Warfare In Ukraine |

    On February 24, 2022, the world witnessed the commencement of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Fast forward two years, and there is still no resolution in sight for the largest conflict in Europe since World War II. Since the beginning of the war there was a widespread anticipation that Russia would swiftly overcome Ukrainian defenses and seize control of the capital, Kyiv.

    The ongoing warfare has uprooted millions of Ukrainians, reshaped the geopolitical dynamics of Europe, and inflicted substantial global economic repercussions. Supply chains have been disrupted, contributing to inflation.

    The war has entered its third year, and the momentum today rests with Russia. There is no indication of emergence of peace talks anytime soon, both the country's peace plans are currently in contradictory stage. Amid the sustained unrest, CNN reported that as per two senior administration officials, the US began 'preparing rigorously' for the possibility of Russia launching a nuclear strike on Ukraine.

    As per reports the Biden administration harbored specific concerns regarding the potential deployment of a tactical or battlefield nuclear weapon by Russia amid the ongoing conflict. They were ready to deploy every tactic in the book to avoid the possibility of a nuclear conflict.

    US's Cue For Fear Of Nuclear Attack

    1. Russian forces faced a devastating period in late summer 2022 as Ukrainian forces advanced on Russian-occupied Kherson. The potential for a catastrophic loss and the surrounding of Russian units were perceived as triggers for the use of nuclear weapons by Russia.

    2. Between late summer and fall of 2022, the National Security Council held a sequence of meetings to develop contingency plans in case of a clear sign or an actual occurrence of a nuclear attack by Russia. The unforeseen necessity for these preparations took numerous officials by surprise.

    3. Simultaneously, Russia's propaganda machine circulated a false flag story about a Ukrainian dirty bomb, raising fears that it could serve as a cover for a Russian nuclear attack. US officials dismissed the warnings but remained concerned about Russia's motivations.

    4. Intelligence agencies received information about communications among Russian officials explicitly discussing a nuclear strike. The risk level was deemed to be escalating, prompting urgent outreach and high-level discussions between US and Russian officials.

    Plan To Avoid The Contingency

    The United States actively reached out to its allies and sought assistance from non-allied nations, such as China and India, to dissuade Russia from initiating a nuclear attack. The participation of influential global entities was deemed crucial in preventing a crisis.

    Despite a reduction in the immediate threat as the conflict reached a relative stalemate, officials from the US and its allies maintain a state of heightened vigilance. Ongoing refinement of plans acknowledges the potential escalation of nuclear threats in the coming months.

  • Russia’s Vladimir Putin Warns Of Nuclear War If NATO Troops Are Sent To Ukraine |

    New Delhi: Russian President Vladimir Putin warned NATO nations on Thursday (February 29) that they could trigger a nuclear war if they deployed troops to Ukraine, saying that Russia needed to fortify its western military district in response to Finland and Sweden joining the Atlantic alliance. . The United States and major European allies this week ruled out sending ground forces to Ukraine, following France’s suggestion of the option. Putin delivered the caution during his annual speech to Russia’s lawmakers and other members of the country’s establishment.

    The war in Ukraine has caused the worst crisis in Moscow’s ties with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Putin has already warned of the perils of a direct clash between NATO and Russia, but his nuclear caution on Thursday was one of his most blunt. Speaking to lawmakers and other members of the country’s elite, Putin, 71, reiterated his claim that the West was intent on weakening Russia, and he implied that Western leaders did not grasp how risky their intervention could be in what he portrayed as Russia’s own domestic affairs.

    He preceded his nuclear caution with a specific reference to an idea, proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday, of European NATO members sending ground troops to Ukraine – a suggestion that was swiftly dismissed by the United States, Germany, Britain and others.

    “(Western nations) must understand that we also have weapons that can strike targets on their territory. All this really risks a conflict with the use of nuclear weapons and the annihilation of civilization. Don’t they understand that?!” said Putin.

    Ahead of a March 15-17 presidential election when he is sure to be re-elected for another six-year term, he praised what he said was Russia’s greatly modernized nuclear arsenal, the largest in the world.

    “Strategic nuclear forces are in a state of full readiness,” he said, noting that new-generation hypersonic nuclear weapons he first mentioned in 2018 had either been deployed or were at a stage where development and testing were being finished.

    Visibly furious, Putin suggested Western politicians remember the fate of those like Nazi Germany’s Adolf Hitler and France’s Napoleon Bonaparte who had unsuccessfully invaded Russia in the past.

    “But now the consequences will be far more dire,” said Putin. “They think it (war) is a cartoon,” he said, accusing Western politicians of forgetting what real war meant because they had not faced the same security challenges as Russians had in the last three decades.

    Russian forces now had the upper hand on the battlefield in Ukraine and were advancing in several places, Putin said. Russia must also increase the troops it has deployed along its western borders with the European Union after Finland and Sweden decided to join the NATO military alliance, he added.

    The veteran Kremlin leader rejected Western suggestions that Russian forces might go beyond Ukraine and attack European countries as “nonsense”. He also said Moscow would not repeat the mistake of the Soviet Union and allow the West to “drag” it into an arms race that would consume too much of its budget.

    “Therefore, our task is to develop the defence-industrial complex in such a way as to enhance the scientific, technological and industrial potential of the country,” he said.

    Putin said Moscow was open to discussions on nuclear strategic stability with the United States but implied that Washington had no genuine interest in such talks and was more focused on making false claims about Moscow’s alleged aims.

    “Recently there have been more and more unfounded accusations against Russia, for example that we are allegedly going to deploy nuclear weapons in space. Such innuendo… is a ploy to draw us into negotiations on their terms, which are favorable only to the United States,” he said.

    “…On the eve of the US presidential election, they simply want to show their citizens and everyone else that they still rule the world.”