Russia preparing for war

AFP Kyiv, Ukraine   ● Wed, August 10, 2022 2022-08-10 10:50 0 fbd44abf30fca00c6a042b692b107256 2 Europe Russia,Ukraine-war,crimea,power-plant,Volodymir-Zelensky,Vladimir-Putin Free Russian forces occupying the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southeast Ukraine are preparing to connect to Crimea, annexed by Moscow in 2014, and are damaging it by reorienting its electricity production, Ukrainian operator Energoatom warned Tuesday. It is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe and was occupied by Russia early in its invasion. Kyiv and Moscow blamed each other for attacks on the plant last week. "The Russian military present at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant are implementing the program of (Russian operator) Rosatom aimed at connecting the plant to the Crimean electricity grid," Energoatom president Petro Kotin told Ukrainian television. "To do this, you must first damage the power lines of the plant connected to the Ukrainian energy system. From … [Read more...] about Russia planning to connect nuclear plant to Crimea: Ukraine

Ukraine is "actively shaping" Russian President Vladimir Putin 's war "for the first time" since it began more than five months ago, a U.S.–based think tank said in an assessment on Thursday. The Institute for the Study of War ( ISW ) assessed that Russian troops are likely responding to counteroffensive efforts by Ukraine in the currently occupied southern Kherson region by ramping up the relocation of its personnel and military equipment to Kherson and the western Zaporizhzhia oblasts. Russian forces are also redeploying military equipment—artillery and aviation in particular—to the annexed Crimea region, from elsewhere in Ukraine, the think tank reported. Experts noted that Russian forces, when prioritizing the capture of the Luhansk area in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region in May, withdrew or suspended offensive operations in the city of Kharkiv, and the southern axis. "But they did so on their own initiative based on the changing priorities of their commanders," the … [Read more...] about Ukraine “actively shaping” war “for the first time”: ISW analysis

Russia claimed today that 141 British “mercenaries” have been killed in the war in Ukraine . The figures came from the Russian ministry of defence without names or clear evidence of how the numbers were calculated. Britain is seen as third among European countries in the number of deaths among foreign fighters . Some 436 mercenaries arrived from the UK since the war started on 24 February, and 141 died, claimed the ministry headed by close Vladimir Putin ally Sergei Shoigu. A total of 1,837 came from Poland with 643 allegedly killed. Some 505 “mercenaries” came from Romania, with 156 killed, say the Russians. Russian defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who announced the number of so-called "mercenaries" slain by Russian troops ( Image: MoD Russia/e2w) This compares with 608 fighters from Canada, with 213 killed, and 565 from the US with 241 killed. This comes as two British fighters Sean Pinner, 48, and Aiden Aslin, 28, are appealing a “court” verdict … [Read more...] about Over 140 British ‘mercenaries’ have been killed in Ukraine war, Russian claims

KYIV, Ukraine — Russia is working to fabricate evidence and frame Ukraine for an attack that killed dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war , U.S. and Ukrainian officials told NBC News Thursday. Describing recently declassified intelligence, a U.S. official said the United States expects Russian officials to falsify intelligence about the July 29 attack on the prison camp in Olenivka, which Kremlin-backed separatists in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region said killed 53 and injured 75. Ahead of likely future visits by international investigators and journalists to the attack site, the official said, “We have reason to believe that Russia would go so far as to make it appear that Ukrainian HIMARS were to blame.” HIMARS refers to High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, advanced medium-range rocket launchers, which the U.S. recently provided to Ukraine. Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy , said Ukraine had exchanged intelligence … [Read more...] about Russia aims to fabricate evidence in killing of POWs, U.S. and Ukraine warn

The war in Ukraine is set to enter a new phase, British military intelligence chiefs have said this morning. Russian forces are "almost certainly" massing in the south in preparation for a counter-offensive from Ukraine , the Ministry of Defence (MoD) warned on Saturday. Long convoys of military trucks, tanks and towed artillery are moving southwest away from the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, the MoD tweeted in an intelligence update. "Russia's war on Ukraine is about to enter a new phase, with the heaviest fighting shifting to a roughly 350km front line stretching southwest from near Zaporizhzhya to Kherson, paralleling the Dnieper River," the tweet said. Twitter Due to your consent preferences, you’re not able to view this. Open Privacy Options Battalion tactical groups - made up of between 800 and 1,000 troops - have been deployed to Crimea and are expected to support Russia troops in Kherson, according to the MoD update. … [Read more...] about Ukraine war set to enter ‘new phase’, Ministry of Defence warns

Four more ships carrying agricultural cargo held up by the war in Ukraine received authorization Sunday to leave the country’s Black Sea coast as analysts warned that Russia was moving troops and equipment in the direction of the ports to stave off a Ukrainian counteroffensive. The body overseeing an international deal intended to get some 20 millions of grain out of Ukraine and to feed millions of impoverished people who are going hungry in Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia said the loaded vessels were expected to depart Chornomorsk and Odesa on Monday. Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations signed agreements last month to create a sea channel that would allow cargo ships to travel safely out of ports that Russia’s military had blockaded and through waters that Ukraine’s military had mined. Implementation of the deal, which is in effect for four months, has proceeded slowly since the first ship embarked last Monday. For the last four months of the war, Russia … [Read more...] about Shift in War’s Front Seen as Ships Cleared to Leave Ukraine

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko doesn't have the final say about whether Russian troops can use his territory amid the Russia-Ukraine war, said Estonian official Marti Magnus on Friday. Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in late February, with the Kremlin saying that the invasion is about "liberating" the separatist Donbas region and getting Nazis out of the Ukrainian government, even though Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is Jewish. The invasion was met with widespread condemnation from many world leaders, who have raised concerns about a lack of substantial justification to invade and reports about war crimes. However, Russian President Vladimir Putin has found a key ally in Lukashenko , who has long had close ties to the Kremlin. Belarus shares a border with Ukraine and Russia, and has sided with Moscow during the conflict. Throughout the invasion, Lukashenko has allowed Putin's military to use his country's territory to wage its war—and as recently … [Read more...] about Lukashenko doesn’t have final say on Russian troops using Belarus: Expert

Russian missile attacks on residential areas killed at least 21 people early on Friday near the Ukrainian port of Odesa, authorities reported, a day after the withdrawal of Moscow’s forces from an island in the Black Sea seemed to ease the threat to the city. Video of the attack before daybreak showed the charred ruins of buildings in the small town of Serhiivka, about 50 kilometers from Odesa. The Ukrainian President’s office said three Kh-22 missiles fired by warplanes struck an apartment building and a campsite. Data | India’s imports from Russia soar amid sanctions Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday. The conversation that came days after PM Modi participated in the G7 summit in Germany, included the Ukraine crisis and the latest developments in the global commodities market. "The two leaders reviewed the implementation of the decisions taken during President Putin's visit to India in December 2021. … [Read more...] about Russia-Ukraine crisis updates | Blasts rock Mykolaiv after Russian missiles kill 21 near Odesa

Russian forces occupying the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southeast Ukraine are preparing to connect to Crimea, annexed by Moscow in 2014, and are damaging it by reorienting its electricity production, Ukrainian operator Energoatom warned Tuesday. It is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe and was occupied by Russia early in its invasion. Kyiv and Moscow blamed each other for attacks on the plant last week. “The Russian military present at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant are implementing the program of (Russian operator) Rosatom aimed at connecting the plant to the Crimean electricity grid,” Energoatom president Petro Kotin told Ukrainian television. “To do this, you must first damage the power lines of the plant connected to the Ukrainian energy system. From August 7 to 9, the Russians have already damaged three power lines. At the moment, the plant is operating with only one production line, which is an extremely dangerous way of working,” he added. “When the … [Read more...] about Russia Planning to Connect Nuclear Plant to Crimea: Ukrainian Operator

Taiwan 's military said it would respond rationally to a series of Chinese war games scheduled to begin on Thursday, a day after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other U.S. lawmakers conclude a historic trip to the island that has drawn protests from Beijing. Within minutes of Pelosi's arrival in Taipei late on Tuesday local time, China's official news service Xinhua published a map showing planned military drills in six locations surrounding Taiwan, including in its territorial waters. One zone was marked only 9 nautical miles off the island's southwest coast. The exercises, which are scheduled to end on Sunday, represent what could be the largest escalation in tensions in nearly 30 years, since the third Taiwan Strait crisis of 1995 and 1996, when Chinese amphibious forces drilled in three locations off the mainland coast and fired missiles near major Taiwanese ports. Sun Li-fang, a spokesperson for Taiwan's Defense Ministry, described Beijing's announcement as … [Read more...] about Taiwan vows army will “stick to its posts” during China’s war games