Latest news with #Russians'
Straits Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Russia says it plans to summon the German ambassador over alleged harassment of its journalists
Russia says it plans to summon the German ambassador over alleged harassment of its journalists MOSCOW - Russia will summon the German ambassador soon to inform him of retaliatory measures in response to what it sees as the harassment of Russian journalists based in Germany, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday. Russia has clashed repeatedly with Germany over the issue, and expelled a German correspondent and cameraman last November in what it said was a symmetrical response to German moves against Russian state TV journalists. Germany said the Russians' departure was linked to residence rules, and that Russian journalists can report freely in the country. Zakharova said Germany was applying undue "pressure and harassment" against Russian journalists and their family members. She has previously spoken of passports being revoked and limits on journalists' freedom of movement. Russia continues to accredit Western correspondents, although many left the country after Moscow in 2022 launched its full-scale war against Ukraine, which was followed by the passage of new censorship laws, and the 2023 arrest of U.S. reporter Evan Gershkovich on spying charges. Gershkovich, who denied the accusation, was freed in a prisoner swap last year. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
RTÉ News
5 days ago
- Politics
- RTÉ News
Starmer, Zelensky agree military production project
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced a new defence co-production initiative during a short visit by Mr Zelensky to London to discuss his country's defence against Russia. The two leaders announced the deal in the garden of Mr Starmer's Downing Street residence, where they also met Ukrainian troops being trained in Britain. "I'm really proud that this afternoon, we're able to announce an industrial military co-production agreement - the first of its kind so far as Ukraine and the UK are concerned - which will be a massive step forward now in the contribution that we can continue to make," Mr tarmer said. He did not provide further details on the agreement. Speaking alongside Mr Starmer, Mr Zelensky said it would help strengthen both nations and he thanked Britain for its support in the war against Russia. Mr Zelensky had earlier met Britain's King Charles at Windsor Castle where the two shook hands for cameras on what was their third meeting this year and the latest gesture of Charles' and Britain's support for Ukraine. The Ukrainian leader also met the speakers of both houses of parliament. The meeting comes as Russian drone and missile attacks in and around Kyiv overnight killed seven people, injured dozens, sparked fires in residential areas and damaged the entrance to a metro station bomb shelter, Ukrainian officials said. At least six people were killed in Kyiv's busy Shevchenkivskyi district where an entire section of a residential high-rise building was destroyed, Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv's military administration, said on the Telegram messaging app. Four children were among 25 people wounded in the attack, he added. "The Russians' style is unchanged - to hit where there may be people," Mr Tkachenko said. "Residential buildings, exits from shelters - this is the Russian style." Russia has stepped up drone and missile strikes on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities in recent weeks as talks to end the war, which began with Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, yielded few results. Both sides deny targeting civilians, but thousands of civilians have been killed in the conflict - the vast majority of them Ukrainian. Interior minister Ihor Klymenko said people could still be under the rubble after the overnight attacks caused damage in six of the city's ten districts. "To be honest, it wasn't like I got scared. It was more like my life was frozen," said a 75-year-old local resident. "You're frozen, looking at all of it and thinking about how you will live." Ukraine's air force said it downed 339 of 352 drones and 15 of 16 missiles launched by Russia in the attack on four Ukrainian regions. Photos posted by Ukraine's State Emergency Service showed rescuers leading people to safety from buildings and structures on fire in the dark. An entrance to the metro station in Kyiv's Sviatoshynskyi district was also damaged, along with an adjacent bus stop, officials said. Kyiv's deep metro stations have been used throughout the war as some of the city's safest bomb shelters. Kyiv Polytechnic Institute said the attack damaged its sports complex, several academic buildings and four dormitories. In the broader Kyiv region that surrounds the Ukrainian capital, a 68-year-old woman was killed and at least eight people were injured, officials said. Russia launched one of its deadliest attacks on Kyiv last week, when hundreds of drones killed 28 people and injured more than 150.
Observer
5 days ago
- Business
- Observer
The attrition of Russia
In the late 1970s, the Soviet Union launched a decade-long war in Afghanistan that would cost it 15,000 lives and contribute to its eventual implosion. Nearly a half-century later, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his own war, against Ukraine, and this one has cost his side at least 250,000 lives in the three years since the full-scale invasion began. At this rate, if Putin's invasion lasts as long as Leonid Brezhnev's Soviet-Afghan War, Russian casualties will be over 55 times greater — and Russia's population today is just over half that of the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, with 45 countries across three continents maintaining sanctions against Russia, the consequences have not been confined to Russia and Ukraine. We know that within Russia, the war has brought something resembling a 1930s-style fascist regime, though the Kremlin is relying on financial inducements, not just conscription, to feed the meat grinder. In the Samara region, the signing bonus for anyone who agrees to fight reached a record $40,000 in January. Obviously, such large payments for military service in Ukraine reflect growing reluctance on the part of would-be soldiers. While former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev reports that 175,000 men have signed up for the army in the first five months of this year, Mediazona estimates that 51,000 Russians died on the battlefield just in the second half of 2024. Perhaps Putin will still be able to recruit more than 30,000 per month, or perhaps not. In Samara, the bonus hike was reminiscent of how some gyms market memberships: the best perks were valid only for those who signed up by February 1. Presumably, Putin has offered to reward regional governors for high recruitment figures. But if regional administrations are raising signing bonuses only to cut them soon thereafter, one can infer that the costs are becoming unsustainable. Since June 5, the bonus for 'volunteers' in Bashkortostan, located between the Volga River and the Ural Mountains, has been reduced from $20,400 to $12,700; in the Belgorod Oblast near Ukraine, it was cut from $38,200 to $10,200 in January (after a three-month 'promotion'). Throughout Russia, flat-rate federal signing bonuses for prison inmates were cancelled in January. The need to increase payments reflects Russians' growing recognition of the odds of dying in Ukraine. In provincial areas such as Kurgan, located where the Urals and Siberia meet, cemeteries are being expanded. Nationwide, the 'exit' bonus for dead soldiers' families has nearly doubled, from the equivalent of about $95,000 to $176,000. Again, the recent cuts in signing bonuses suggest that the system is under financial pressure. After all, Russia has been selling oil, its main revenue source, for roughly $50 per barrel, or 25 per cent, below the price originally estimated in its 2025 budget. Still, Putin will likely avoid another mobilisation of conscripts. When he tried that in September 2022, public support for his 'special military operation' seemed to take a hit. He also undoubtedly remembers the Soviet misadventure in Afghanistan. The reason those 15,000 fallen soldiers mattered so much politically was that most of them had never chosen to go fight. Moreover, they were drafted not only from the Soviet periphery but also from Moscow and St. Petersburg, where the losses affected cultural elites, undermining the system's credibility. To avoid repeating these mistakes, Putin has relied on more subtle forms of coercion. For example, last month, Yakutia, located in the Russian far east, reportedly held a 'Change Your Life' day to recruit local homeless men for the front lines. The courts are also playing a role. 'I have followed hundreds of interviews with prisoners of war, obituaries, stories of soldiers among my acquaintances and family,' the exiled dissident Maria Vyushkova told me. 'In recent weeks, I have come across three similar cases: men who ended up on trial for minor offences and were pushed by judges to join the army under the threat of heavy sentences.' One of them, a 45-year-old from Ulan-Ude, south of Lake Baikal, was on trial last year for causing a traffic accident; the court offered to convert his sentence into a contract as a truck driver in Ukraine's Russian-occupied Donbas region. He eventually ended up as a Ukrainian prisoner of war. Russia has long used similar tricks to lure Kazakh or Nepalese migrants to the front lines. But now, it is Russians who are being targeted. Job vacancies for 'drivers,' 'security guards,' and 'construction workers' in active combat zones have been cropping up everywhere – an obvious ruse to hide the war's brutal reality. Meanwhile, the average age of new recruits is rising, with men over 60 joining those on the front line. Even authorised media outlets report cases of wounded soldiers being savagely beaten if they refuse to return to the front before fully recovering. In May, Russian soldiers on Telegram reported that their commander had sent men on crutches into battle. Earlier in the war, Russia's wounded at least got time to recover; no longer. With 23,000 armoured vehicles lost, mules are now being used to transport materiel. Despite the cracks that are beginning to show, Putin seems no closer to accepting a truce. On the contrary, his aggression is becoming even more indiscriminate and violent. Most likely, he simply does not get it. Bad news does not necessarily reach him, since subordinates protect themselves by withholding it. Ironically, Russia's military problems confirm the Kremlin's total identification with war. Russia has been at war for 19 of Putin's 21 years as president. Bent on revising the European order that emerged after the Soviet Union's collapse, Putin has created a regime that is willing to make choices that appear senseless to democratic societies. His war of attrition is therefore bound to continue. With US support for Ukraine dwindling, Europe needs to do more to widen the cracks in the foundation of Putin's praetorian regime. Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2025. Federico Fubini An editor-at-large at Corriere della Sera, is the author, most recently, of Sul Vulcano (Longanesi, 2020)
Spectator
5 days ago
- Politics
- Spectator
It's not foolish to believe Putin will attack Nato
Many in Europe may still believe that a Russian invasion of one or more Nato countries is unlikely, if not absurd. This view seems convenient, but it is increasingly divergent from reality. Confidence in the alliance's principle of so-called collective security is, sadly, becoming not a deterrent but an incentive to aggression by Moscow. The idea floating in the air in Europe seems to be the following: 'Russia is bogged down in Ukraine. How can it threaten Britain or the Baltic states?'. This is rhetoric from another era. War is no longer what it used to be. And neither is Russia. The future invasion of the Baltic states will not be a copy of the Ukrainian campaign While Western armies rehearse parades and calculate brigade potential, the Russian military-industrial complex is betting on the mass production of FPV drones, electronic warfare systems and swarms of unmanned aerial vehicles. Today, 95 per cent of those wounded in Ukrainian hospitals have mine and explosive injuries, more than 70 per cent of them sustained from drone strikes. Artillery and armoured vehicles are becoming a thing of the past. So are most of the defence approaches adopted by Nato. Ukraine is on the front line of this new war. Contrary to expectations, it is Ukraine that today has perhaps the most combat-ready army in Europe. As former CIA director John Brennan said in an interview with Sky News: 'Compared to other armed forces, [the Ukrainian military] outperforms virtually any army in the world, including the United States.' Not because we have more weapons, but because we have adapted. Europe has not yet done so; would only a crisis force the continent to evolve? The most dangerous illusion today is to underestimate Moscow's goals. The Kremlin is not waging war for new territories. The Russians' goal is not Donbas or even Kyiv. Their goal is a new map of Europe, where the Kremlin once again writes the rules. Putin's ambitions are geopolitical. That is why no truce will suit them. A ceasefire is not part of Moscow's strategy because its goal can only be achieved by continuing the aggression against Ukraine. Earlier this month, Russia's deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov directly repeated Putin's 2021 ultimatum to Nato: the conflict will not end until the alliance retreats from Eastern Europe. There is a widespread belief in the West that if Russia risks 'testing' Nato in the Baltic states, it will receive an immediate and harsh response. I would like to believe that. But 'immediate' is not what we saw in 2014 in Crimea, between 2014 and 2022 in Donbas, or even in the first days of the full-scale invasion. Confidence in deterrence, alas, becomes a vulnerability in itself. The future invasion of the Baltic states will not be a copy of the Ukrainian campaign. It will not start with tanks and will not be accompanied by declarations. It will be unexpected: with communication blackouts, drone strikes on infrastructure and civilian convoys in uniform without identification marks. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania may simply wake up as part of Russia. Without a single shot fired by Nato. The operation will take no more than several days. Nato troops stationed at Adazi in Lithuania (about 5,000 men) would not even be able to stop a convoy of civilian minibuses. A political decision in London or Brussels to open fire on 'unidentified persons' may not come in time. Or it may not come at all. Yes, to effectively deter Russia, it is not necessary to spend 5 per cent of GDP, as Nato chief Mark Rutte is pushing for. FPV drones cost less than nuclear submarines and are more effective. But what definitely does not work is to mistake wishful thinking for reality. Where the Baltic states are incapable of defending themselves, Poland is vulnerable to Kaliningrad and Belarus, and the rest of Europe is only building ammunition factories and dual-use border surveillance systems with a view to them being ready by 2027 and beyond. This is not a strategy. It is a window of opportunity for the Kremlin. And for its masters in Beijing. China and Russia will simply divide Europe into zones of influence. Putin will get his Warsaw Block 2 from the countries of Eastern Europe. And China will get influence over Western Europe, which it will then 'defend' from invasion by barbarians from the East. In fact, Beijing is already preparing to adopt US President Donald Trump's strategy on Ukraine: 'the best defence of Western Europe is Chinese business on your territory'. Economic absorption will replace a tank offensive. And for the European elites, it will prove even more tempting. Russia is not betting on numerical supsuperiority on the element of surprise and its nearly unlimited tolerance for a high number of casualties. It is also banking on the psychological unpreparedness (enhanced by unwillingness) of Western leaders to give the order to destroy any 'civilian' invaders hiding behind Vilnius or Narva. The capture of the three Baltic capitals, the cutting off of the Suwalki corridor and the blocking of Nato's response are not fantasies. These scenarios have already been modelled. The next step in Russia's plan is simple: wait for Polish troops to approach the Suwalki corridor and slam the trap shut. This territory is within firing range of Kaliningrad and Belarus, and Nato's logistics are impossible here. Don't think that a hypothetical operation in the Baltics would be something unique: it would be a direct continuation of what Ukrainian troops experienced during their offensive into the Russian territory of Kursk. The large-scale use of drones and the strategy of disrupting logistics have already been tested by the Russian army during their attempts to de-occupy the region. Nato headquarters should study these cases not as exceptions but as the future of war. And they should already be planning their counter-operations based on the Ukrainian model. This development can only be stopped by shifting from reactive defence to proactive deterrence. For example, by creating a Ukrainian-Polish military contingent focussed on the Grodno region of Belarus. And by rethinking Belarus itself: not as a neutral zone, but as the vanguard of a possible invasion. The United Kingdom is not just the NHS and pensions. It is also Winston Churchill. And the union for freedom. Today, Europe is once again falling asleep, refusing to acknowledge the new reality. General Waldemar Skrzypczak, former commander-in-chief of the Polish army, said in an interview with Polsat News: 'If Ukraine loses, we will be next.' He is wrong about only one thing: the invasion processes in Ukraine and the Baltic states will run parallel. And it is not about Russia's strength. It is about Europe's weakness, including its unwillingness to cooperate. If you do not want war to come to Dover, you must act now. Because the war has already begun. It is just that not everyone has heard it yet.
The Advertiser
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Advertiser
Russian attacks on Kyiv kill seven, injure dozens
Russian drone and missile attacks in and around Kyiv overnight killed seven people, injured dozens, sparked fires in residential areas and damaged the entrance to a metro station bomb shelter, Ukrainian officials said. At least six people were killed in Kyiv's busy Shevchenkivskyi district on Monday when an entire section of a residential high-rise building was destroyed, Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv's military administration, said on the Telegram messaging app. Four children were among 25 people wounded in the attack, he added. "The Russians' style is unchanged - to hit where there may be people," Tkachenko said. "Residential buildings, exits from shelters - this is the Russian style." Moscow has stepped up drone and missile strikes on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities in recent weeks as talks to end the war, which began with Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, yielded few results. Both sides deny targeting civilians, but thousands of civilians have been killed in the conflict - the vast majority of them Ukrainian. Russia has not commented on the latest attacks. Interior minister Ihor Klymenko said people could still be under the rubble after the overnight attacks caused damage in six of the city's 10 districts. "To be honest, it wasn't like I got scared. It was more like my life was frozen," said a 75-year-old local resident who only gave her first name, Liudmyla. "You're frozen, looking at all of it and thinking about how you will live." Ukraine's air force said it downed 339 of 352 drones and 15 of 16 missiles launched by Russia in the attack on four Ukrainian regions. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he would discuss the country's defence and additional pressure on Russia to end such strikes during his visit to Britain. Photos posted by Ukraine's State Emergency Service showed rescuers leading people to safety from buildings and structures on fire in the dark. An entrance to the metro station in Kyiv's Sviatoshynskyi district was also damaged, along with an adjacent bus stop, officials said. Kyiv's deep metro stations have been used throughout the war as some of the city's safest bomb shelters. Kyiv Polytechnic Institute said the attack damaged its sports complex, several academic buildings and four dormitories. In the broader Kyiv region that surrounds the Ukrainian capital, a 68-year-old woman was killed and at least eight people were injured, officials said. Russia launched one of its deadliest attacks on Kyiv last week, when hundreds of drones killed 28 people and injured more than 150. Russian drone and missile attacks in and around Kyiv overnight killed seven people, injured dozens, sparked fires in residential areas and damaged the entrance to a metro station bomb shelter, Ukrainian officials said. At least six people were killed in Kyiv's busy Shevchenkivskyi district on Monday when an entire section of a residential high-rise building was destroyed, Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv's military administration, said on the Telegram messaging app. Four children were among 25 people wounded in the attack, he added. "The Russians' style is unchanged - to hit where there may be people," Tkachenko said. "Residential buildings, exits from shelters - this is the Russian style." Moscow has stepped up drone and missile strikes on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities in recent weeks as talks to end the war, which began with Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, yielded few results. Both sides deny targeting civilians, but thousands of civilians have been killed in the conflict - the vast majority of them Ukrainian. Russia has not commented on the latest attacks. Interior minister Ihor Klymenko said people could still be under the rubble after the overnight attacks caused damage in six of the city's 10 districts. "To be honest, it wasn't like I got scared. It was more like my life was frozen," said a 75-year-old local resident who only gave her first name, Liudmyla. "You're frozen, looking at all of it and thinking about how you will live." Ukraine's air force said it downed 339 of 352 drones and 15 of 16 missiles launched by Russia in the attack on four Ukrainian regions. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he would discuss the country's defence and additional pressure on Russia to end such strikes during his visit to Britain. Photos posted by Ukraine's State Emergency Service showed rescuers leading people to safety from buildings and structures on fire in the dark. An entrance to the metro station in Kyiv's Sviatoshynskyi district was also damaged, along with an adjacent bus stop, officials said. Kyiv's deep metro stations have been used throughout the war as some of the city's safest bomb shelters. Kyiv Polytechnic Institute said the attack damaged its sports complex, several academic buildings and four dormitories. In the broader Kyiv region that surrounds the Ukrainian capital, a 68-year-old woman was killed and at least eight people were injured, officials said. Russia launched one of its deadliest attacks on Kyiv last week, when hundreds of drones killed 28 people and injured more than 150. Russian drone and missile attacks in and around Kyiv overnight killed seven people, injured dozens, sparked fires in residential areas and damaged the entrance to a metro station bomb shelter, Ukrainian officials said. At least six people were killed in Kyiv's busy Shevchenkivskyi district on Monday when an entire section of a residential high-rise building was destroyed, Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv's military administration, said on the Telegram messaging app. Four children were among 25 people wounded in the attack, he added. "The Russians' style is unchanged - to hit where there may be people," Tkachenko said. "Residential buildings, exits from shelters - this is the Russian style." Moscow has stepped up drone and missile strikes on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities in recent weeks as talks to end the war, which began with Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, yielded few results. Both sides deny targeting civilians, but thousands of civilians have been killed in the conflict - the vast majority of them Ukrainian. Russia has not commented on the latest attacks. Interior minister Ihor Klymenko said people could still be under the rubble after the overnight attacks caused damage in six of the city's 10 districts. "To be honest, it wasn't like I got scared. It was more like my life was frozen," said a 75-year-old local resident who only gave her first name, Liudmyla. "You're frozen, looking at all of it and thinking about how you will live." Ukraine's air force said it downed 339 of 352 drones and 15 of 16 missiles launched by Russia in the attack on four Ukrainian regions. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he would discuss the country's defence and additional pressure on Russia to end such strikes during his visit to Britain. Photos posted by Ukraine's State Emergency Service showed rescuers leading people to safety from buildings and structures on fire in the dark. An entrance to the metro station in Kyiv's Sviatoshynskyi district was also damaged, along with an adjacent bus stop, officials said. Kyiv's deep metro stations have been used throughout the war as some of the city's safest bomb shelters. Kyiv Polytechnic Institute said the attack damaged its sports complex, several academic buildings and four dormitories. In the broader Kyiv region that surrounds the Ukrainian capital, a 68-year-old woman was killed and at least eight people were injured, officials said. Russia launched one of its deadliest attacks on Kyiv last week, when hundreds of drones killed 28 people and injured more than 150. Russian drone and missile attacks in and around Kyiv overnight killed seven people, injured dozens, sparked fires in residential areas and damaged the entrance to a metro station bomb shelter, Ukrainian officials said. At least six people were killed in Kyiv's busy Shevchenkivskyi district on Monday when an entire section of a residential high-rise building was destroyed, Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv's military administration, said on the Telegram messaging app. Four children were among 25 people wounded in the attack, he added. "The Russians' style is unchanged - to hit where there may be people," Tkachenko said. "Residential buildings, exits from shelters - this is the Russian style." Moscow has stepped up drone and missile strikes on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities in recent weeks as talks to end the war, which began with Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, yielded few results. Both sides deny targeting civilians, but thousands of civilians have been killed in the conflict - the vast majority of them Ukrainian. Russia has not commented on the latest attacks. Interior minister Ihor Klymenko said people could still be under the rubble after the overnight attacks caused damage in six of the city's 10 districts. "To be honest, it wasn't like I got scared. It was more like my life was frozen," said a 75-year-old local resident who only gave her first name, Liudmyla. "You're frozen, looking at all of it and thinking about how you will live." Ukraine's air force said it downed 339 of 352 drones and 15 of 16 missiles launched by Russia in the attack on four Ukrainian regions. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he would discuss the country's defence and additional pressure on Russia to end such strikes during his visit to Britain. Photos posted by Ukraine's State Emergency Service showed rescuers leading people to safety from buildings and structures on fire in the dark. An entrance to the metro station in Kyiv's Sviatoshynskyi district was also damaged, along with an adjacent bus stop, officials said. Kyiv's deep metro stations have been used throughout the war as some of the city's safest bomb shelters. Kyiv Polytechnic Institute said the attack damaged its sports complex, several academic buildings and four dormitories. In the broader Kyiv region that surrounds the Ukrainian capital, a 68-year-old woman was killed and at least eight people were injured, officials said. Russia launched one of its deadliest attacks on Kyiv last week, when hundreds of drones killed 28 people and injured more than 150.
