Latest news with #SlavaUkraini
Euronews
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Russia instructed arson attack on Ukrainian restaurant, Estonia says
Arson attacks on a restaurant and supermarket in Estonia last year were ordered by Russian intelligence, an Estonian court said on Wednesday. The attack was one in a series across Europe, tracked and linked to Russia by Western officials. The goal, they asserted, is to sow division in Western societies and undermine support for Ukraine as it continues to fend off Russia's more than three-year-long all-out war against its neighbour. The Harju County Court in Estonia stated that the perpetrators were two related Moldovan men, both named Ivan Chihaial. One was sentenced to six and a half years in prison for the arson attack on the restaurant and supermarket, which the court said was carried out on behalf of Russia's security services. The other Ivan Chihaial was an accomplice and sentenced to two and a half years. In a statement, the court said the first Chihaial was tasked with the operation by Russian military intelligence, known as the GRU. The court says he carried out a trial operation on behalf of the GRU in January 2024, setting fire to a co-op supermarket in the village of Osula in southeastern Estonia. The next day an individual acting on behalf of the GRU tasked him with setting fire to the Slava Ukraini restaurant in the capital Tallinn. Chihaial drove with his cousin to the restaurant on the night of 31 January, 2024, where they then proceeded to set fire to the establishment before departing Estonia. The court said Chihaial's cousin was unaware he was working for the Kremlin. Authorities in Latvia, Lithuania and Poland worked to detain the two men who were apprehended in Italy before being sent back to Estonia to face trial, said State Prosecutor Triinu Olev-Aas. The arson is the latest in a string of Russian attacks on Estonia since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. In prior cases, Estonia suffered cyberattacks and vandalism to the windows of cars belonging to vocal anti-Kremlin politicians and journalists. Previous attackers have been recruited inside Russia, which shares a border with Estonia. The Estonian Internal Security Service said the fact that the GRU used Moldovans who were sent to the country showed they are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit. Russia has been accused of a widespread sabotage campaign by Western officials since its invasion of Ukraine. The attacks across Europe range from stuffing car tailpipes with expanding foam in Germany to a plot to plant explosives on cargo planes, to hackings that targeted politicians and critical infrastructure and spying by a ring convicted in the UK. Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, has denied such allegations, adding that the Kremlin has yet to be presented 'any proof' supporting accusations of a broader sabotage campaign.
Budapest Times
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Budapest Times
Defense Minister: Sacked former chief of staff joining Tisza Party poses danger to Hungarians
The former chief of staff had declared "Slava Ukraini", or "glory to Ukraine", "which is unworthy of a soldier and unacceptable", the defense minister said. Defense Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky said the former chief of staff who was sacked before joining the opposition Tisza Party 'poses a danger to Hungarians'. The defense minister said that based on audio recordings provided to Hungary by NATO, it was clear that the former chief of staff had departed from the Hungarian government's standpoint. In a Facebook post, the minister said he personally informed NATO's Deputy Secretary General that the former Hungarian chief of staff had not represented Hungary's position in NATO, and he also thanked Radmila Sekerinska for the organisation's 'constructive cooperation'. In a video published alongside the post, he said warring sides departed from and returned to negotiating tables, 'so who says what very much matters'. The former chief of staff had declared 'Slava Ukraini', or 'glory to Ukraine', 'which is unworthy of a soldier and unacceptable', the minister said. Minister Szalay-Bobrovniczky said it was important to inform NATO about the related investigations taking place in Hungary.
Budapest Times
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Budapest Times
State Secretary: Ruszin-Szendi declared ‘Glory to Ukraine'
Defense Ministry State Secretary Zsolt Barthel-Rúzsa said documents and sound recordings presented at a meeting of parliament's defense committee clearly showed that Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi, the opposition Tisza Party's defense spokesman, who was formerly Hungary's chief of staff, had declared 'Slava Ukraini', or 'Glory to Ukraine'. Barthel-Rúzsa told a press conference after an extraordinary meeting of the committee held behind closed doors that all participants at the meeting could hear that 'it is true that Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi made the remarks glorifying Ukraine' as reported in the press. The documents clearly proved that as chief of staff, Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi represented a position at a NATO meeting of chiefs of staff that went against the government's pro-peace position and the instructions he had been given, Barthel-Rúzsa said. 'Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi intentionally and in a premeditated manner risked the Hungarian people's security and betrayed the Hungarian people, his fellow soldiers and Hungary,' Barthel-Rúzsa added.
Kiwiblog
02-06-2025
- Politics
- Kiwiblog
Ukraine strikes back
The Ukrainian military have managed to take out 40 nuclear-capable long-range Russian bombers, representing a third of the Russian air missile carrier fleet. The cost of the damaged or destroyed planes is estimated to be between US$2 and US$7 billion. They were taken out by 117 drones that cost around $4,000 each, but not launched from Ukrainian territory. It was a cunning plan, that was 18 months in the planning. The drones were smuggled into Russia in trucks and then placed into mobile wooden kit houses. The trucks went around 4,.000 kms into Russia and then the roofs of the kit houses were remotely retracted, and the drones took off and targeted planes at five different airports. Slava Ukraini! UPDATE: Further details are that the truck drivers were not Ukranians but just Russians who had been hired, with no idea what was hidden in the roof of the truck. Can you imagine their surprise when you're driving along, and suddenly a few dozen drones blast off from your truck!
Budapest Times
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Budapest Times
Kocsis: Tisza Party has Ukrainian connections that may violate Hungary's sovereignty
Máté Kocsis, ruling Fidesz's parliamentary group leader, told public radio on Sunday that the opposition Tisza Party has Ukrainian connections that may violate Hungary's sovereignty. Referring to a report leaked on Thursday, Kocsis said that Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi, Tisza's defense expert who was formerly Hungary's chief of staff, had said 'totally different things' at NATO meetings than what he had written in his reports back home. Kocsis said the protocols of the general assembly meetings indicated Ruszin-Szendi had represented a 'pro-Ukraine' stance and had ended his addresses with the salute 'Slava Ukraini!'. Kocsis said that by doing this, Ruszin-Szendi was not representing his mandate and had gone against the official Hungarian position on ending the war and stopping weapons deliveries to Ukraine. He also said that after the release of the report on Ruszin-Szendi, Tisza Party leader Peter Magyar had 'used the entire left-liberal press to attack the Hungarian Armed Forces' by releasing an audio recording which the defense minister himself had published and which can also be found on the government's website. Not long after Magyar's 'incoherent accusations', Kocsis said, the Ukrainians 'accused, without any evidence' two Transcarpathian Hungarians of espionage aimed at obtaining intelligence about Ukrainian defenses in Transcarpathia. 'Though these are serious accusations, but since there's no evidence for them, it's clearly a part of the propaganda war that's been going on these last few years,' the group leader said. 'There's a pro-Ukraine former lieutenant general … there is a suspicion that he has a link to the Ukrainians, meaning he may have connections with the Ukrainian secret services, which in his case would warrant an investigation of its own,' Kocsis said. He said the 'obvious conclusion' to this was the suspicion that 'this connection was Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi himself'. 'Our political opponent, the Tisza Party, has Ukrainian connections that may, let's just say, violate the country's sovereignty,' Kocsis said. He noted that Hungarians will have to make an important decision in the coming weeks in the referendum on Ukraine's fast-tracked accession to the European Union. In response to a question, Kocsis said he did not think the 'Ukraine issue' would bring in more votes for fast-tracking Ukraine's accession,'even though this is what the opposition is hoping for'. 'I don't think that's the goal; I think the goal is to cause confusion,' the group leader said, adding that this was 'a typical secret-service operation that the Ukrainians are using as propaganda'. He said the goal was to — at the very least — create confusion in Hungary around the perception of issues relating to Ukraine. 'Our position, on the other hand, is that Hungarians shouldn't be told what to think from the Ukrainian secret service HQ or from Tisza's office in Brussels, because they themselves are the only ones who can decide on Ukraine's EU accession,' Kocsis said. He said Ukraine had been restricting the rights of its Hungarian minority community for years. He added that he did not think anything could be done in defense of the two Hungarians arrested in Ukraine, mainly because the evidence and allegations against them were not yet known. Kocsis said that sometimes these kinds of operations were not made public and did not involve any communication, but if there is, their identity and the evidence against them have to be revealed. 'But this hasn't happened, which also makes the case suspicious regarding the Tisza Party's timing,' he added.
