Category: General

The US and its allies are ultimately responsible for the actions of the “Kiev regime,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has claimed.

“They destroyed the lawful government in Ukraine [in 2014], put crooks and bandits in charge, provided them with money and weapons, imbued them with a sense of absolute impunity and provided political cover and military support,” Zakharova said on Thursday.

The official stressed that Russia holds “Washington, London, and NATO in general” accountable for all of the Ukrainian government’s actions.

On Wednesday, the office of President Vladimir Putin accused Kiev of launching two drones at the Kremlin in an attempt to assassinate the Russian leader. Ukrainian officials have rejected the allegation, claiming that their country does not attack targets in Russia.

Moscow has warned that it reserves the right to retaliate in a way it deems appropriate and at a time and place of its choosing.

Ukrainian troops are expected to launch a long-touted counteroffensive against Russian forces within the coming weeks. Foreign allies have pledged to support Kiev for as long as it takes to inflict a “strategic defeat” on Russia.

Leading Western media outlets have suggested that the operation could be a decisive moment for the conflict, and that Ukraine may find it difficult to secure future aid, should it fail to make significant gains on the ground.

Source: Russia Today

The Russian Foreign Ministry has expressed confidence that law enforcement can find and hold accountable those who launched the drone attack on the Kremlin on behalf of the Ukrainian government this week.

“Such crimes should not be left unanswered,” the ministry said in a statement on Thursday. The perpetrators will face “a stern and inevitable punishment.”

The ministry said it had no doubt that the “Kiev regime” was behind the incident, since it “has been deliberately supporting and using terrorist methods against civilian infrastructure and the peaceful population for a long time.”

It cited the bombing of the Crimean Bridge last October as an example of such tactics employed by Kiev. The Ukrainian government denied masterminding the attempted sabotage of the bridge, which claimed three civilian lives. It likewise rejected Moscow’s accusations regarding this week’s drone incident.

The Foreign Ministry argued that the latest episode confirmed that Kiev is not interested in peace, thus proving the necessity of continued military action against Ukraine.

“No threats to our security should emanate from the territory of Ukraine and no acts of terrorism should be committed [by it],” the statement said.

The ministry reiterated that Russia reserves the right to retaliate as it sees fit, in accordance with “the threat that Kiev created for the leadership of our nation.” Moscow described the drone attack as an attempt to kill President Vladimir Putin.

The drone incident happened on Tuesday night, when Putin was not at the Kremlin, according to his press secretary, Dmitry Peskov. When asked on Thursday how the Russian government had attributed the attack to Kiev, the spokesman cited intelligence reports. He also claimed that such an operation must have received a blessing from the US.

Source: Russia Today

Intelligence reports from Russian security services squarely blame Kiev for orchestrating this week’s drone attack on the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov, President Vladimir Putin’s press secretary, has revealed.

“It was the data we have, the data obtained by our special services,” he told journalists on Thursday.

Peskov did not offer any details about the intelligence, but claimed that Washington shares responsibility for the attack.

“Such decisions – choice of targets, choice of means, etc. – are dictated to Kiev from Washington,” he stated, warning that the incident could trigger an escalation.

Russia has accused Kiev of attempting to assassinate President Vladimir Putin with two drones directed at his residence in the Kremlin. The Russian leader was not on the premises at the time, Peskov explained.

Ukrainian officials have denied any involvement in the incident. An aide to President Vladimir Zelensky claimed, without offering evidence, that an unidentified Russian guerilla force was behind the incident.

US officials who spoke to Politico reportedly claimed that Washington was not warned about the operation, and did not attribute the attack to Ukraine.

Peskov dismissed the denials as “absolutely laughable.”

The spokesman also described the damage done by the drones, saying copper sheets covering the Kremlin Senate building dome must be replaced, he said.

Moscow has accused the US and its allies of waging a proxy war against Russia, with Ukraine serving as one of the tools.

Source: Russia Today

Russia has drastically ramped up the production of the BMP-3, its main armored infantry support vehicle, the state-run defense corporation Rostec said on Thursday. The news comes as Ukraine is preparing for the much-touted counteroffensive.

Rostec, which oversees defense production, said the Kurganmashzavod plant to the east of the Ural Mountains manufactured as many infantry fighting vehicles in the first quarter of 2023 as it did throughout the whole of 2019.

Described by Rostec as “the queen of infantry,” the BMP-3 was designed in the 1980s and has since become one of Russia’s main vehicles used to both transport soldiers and support them with firepower. The tracked vehicle can operate on difficult terrain and cross waterways. It is armed with a 30 mm gun and anti-armor rockets.

“The Kurganmashzavod is transferring infantry fighting vehicles practically every month, and the number of deliveries is growing,” Bekkhan Ozdoyev, Rostec’s director for weapons and ammunition, said in the statement. He explained that additional parts and metals were shipped to the plant in order to ensure an “uninterrupted production process.”

Ozdoyev also reported a boost in hiring, as nearly 1,200 new workers were brought in during the first few months of 2023, compared to over 1,000 in total last year.

President Vladimir Putin instructed the government to ramp up defense production last year after Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine. In March, Putin declared that Moscow planned to produce or upgrade over 1,600 tanks, and that the country would have more than three times as many tanks available as Ukraine. Last month, Russian media outlets reported that the newest T-14 Armata tanks were being used in Ukraine for the first time.

The equipment deliveries take place as Kiev is gearing up a counteroffensive, whose success Ukrainian officials said would heavily depend on shipments of foreign arms, including main battle tanks and aircraft. Kirill Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, claimed it would be “a crucial battle.” However, Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba has urged everyone not to view the planned offensive as a decisive operation.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who now serves as the deputy head of the country’s Security Council, said Moscow should respond to the counteroffensive with the “massive destruction” of Ukraine’s troops and equipment.

Source: Russia Today

Trkiye’s defense industry will reach a product range that can create an air force from scratch thanks to the development of the basic trainer Hurkus, jet trainer Hurjet and national combat aircraft KAAN, the chief test pilot of Hurkus said. “Trkiye has made a magnificent move, starting with Hurkus in manned aircraft and Anka in unmanned aircraft, starting with Atak in helicopters and continuing with Gokbey,” Murat Ozpala told Anadolu. He stressed that Hurkus has carried out more than 2,000 hours of test flights to date. On Monday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that KAAN would be the name of Trkiye’s fighter jet which was previously known as the national combat aircraft. KAAN will take off for the first time after completing high-speed taxi tests. The fifth-generation aircraft was developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) with an aim to replace the Turkish army’s aging F-16 fleet. Hurjet, Trkiye’s first indigenous supersonic combat aircraft, made its maiden flight at the end of April. The aircraft is aiming to replace aging jet trainers and to be “used as Advanced Jet Trainers due to the increasing number of 5th generation aircraft (TFX, F-35, etc.) and their changing configurations,’ according to Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI).

Source: Anadolu Agency

A fire broke out overnight at an oil storage facility in Krasnodar Region, Russia, following a suspected drone strike, TASS news agency reports, citing a source in the local emergency services.

“A second restless night for our emergency services,” Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said on Thursday morning, confirming that dozens of firefighters are working to contain the blaze at the Ilsky oil refinery.

No injuries have been reported, and local residents are not in danger, Kondratyev added. The fire was fully contained and extinguished by 5:30am.

While the governor did not reveal the suspected cause of the incident, a source told TASS that a fuel storage tank caught fire early Thursday morning allegedly “due to an attack of an unknown drone.”

Witnesses reported at least one explosion in the area shortly before the blaze started around 2:40am local time, according to the Baza Telegram channel.

The incident comes a day after another oil facility in Krasnodar Region caught fire, also due to an alleged drone strike. The authorities, however, have yet to officially confirm the cause of the incident in the village of Volna, 10km north of the port city of Taman and close to the eastern end of the Crimean Bridge.

In late April, Ukraine claimed it was behind the attack on an oil terminal in the Crimean port of Sevastopol, which destroyed four oil tanks, according to the local authorities. Kiev stated that the raid was meant to lay the groundwork for its long-planned spring counteroffensive.

Early Wednesday morning, two UAVs exploded over the Kremlin and the Russian Senate. The authorities said they were brought down by the air defenses. There were no injuries or reports of damage in the attack, which Russia blamed on Ukraine. The Kremlin stated that it reserves the right to retaliate in a manner, place, and time of its choosing.

Source: Russia Today

World air traffic grew 52.4% from a year earlier in March, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) on Thursday. Air traffic – measured in revenue passenger kilometers, or RPKs – was 12% lower than its pre-pandemic level in March 2019. ‘Ticket sales for both domestic and international travel give every indication that strong growth will continue into the peak Northern Hemisphere summer travel season,’ Willie Walsh, IATA’s director general, said in a statement. International traffic jumped 68.9% from last year, with RPKs reaching 81.6% of the March 2019 level. “This — the surge in international traffic– was led by a near-tripling of demand for Asia-Pacific carriers as China’s re-opening took hold,” Walsh said. Asia-Pacific continued to post the strongest annual hike among other regions, up 158.9% year-on-year in March. Nearing its pre-pandemic levels for months, domestic air traffic rose 34.1% compared to a year ago, reaching at 98.9% of the March 2019 level. Separate IATA data showed global demand for air cargo, measured in cargo ton-kilometers, dropped 7.7% annually. March performance slipped back into negative territory compared to pre-COVID levels, down 8.1%, the IATA added. Capacity – measured in available cargo ton-kilometers – rose 9.9% compared to last March.

Source: Anadolu Agency

China on Thursday sought answers from the US over its alleged use of ‘cyber weapons to carry out espionage’ globally. Beijing also accused the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of ‘directing color revolutions’ by gathering intelligence from foreign governments. Citing a report on the US intelligence agency, Mao Ning, spokeswoman for China’s Foreign Ministry, said: ‘Over the years, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has gathered intelligence information from foreign governments, enterprises, and citizens, organized, carried out, directed and supervised trans-boundary covert actions, and secretly conducted ‘Peaceful Evolution’ and ‘Color Revolution’ around the world.’ Mao was referring to the joint report released by China’s National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center and Chinese cybersecurity company Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. The report alleges cyberattacks against other countries by the CIA and ‘the consequences it led.’ ‘The international community needs to stay on high alert against these moves,’ she added. ‘The large number of real cases in China and other countries disclosed by the report once again testifies to CIA’s cyber-attack activities around the world over the years,’ said the spokeswoman, urging Washington to ‘take seriously and respond to the concerns from the international community.’ Washington must ‘stop using cyber weapons to carry out espionage and cyber-attacks around the world,’ Mao added. According to Chinese state broadcaster CGTN, the joint report ‘unveils that the CIA took advantage of a zero-day vulnerability, including a number of backdoors and vulnerabilities that haven’t been disclosed to the public.’ ‘This was done to set up ‘zombie’ networks to initiate springboard attacks by stages, targeting web servers, terminals, routers, as well as industrial control devices. The zero-day vulnerability is software loopholes that are discovered by attackers before the vendor has become aware of them,’ it added. Back in 2020, Qihoo 360 discovered an unknown cyberattack organization ‘which carried out a slew of cyberattacks toward China and other countries by utilizing cyber tools related to CIA.’ ‘Such cyberattacks can be traced back to the year 2011, and continue to this day. The targets of such espionage actions expand to fields such as countries’ key information infrastructure, the aerospace sector, scientific research institutes, petroleum industry, tech companies as well as government agencies,’ said the report.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Hungary will not allow the EU to impose sanctions on the Russian nuclear energy industry, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told journalists on Thursday following an EU ministerial meeting in Brussels.

Though Budapest is facing tremendous pressure over the issue, this will not affect the nation’s position, he said.

“Here and now, I would like to state again that this will definitely not happen,” Szijjarto said. “Hungary will not [agree] to nuclear [industry] sanctions of any kind, even minimal,” he added.

The minister indicated that the expansion of Hungary’s Paks Nuclear Power Plant is crucial to the nation’s energy security. Hungary earlier struck a deal with Moscow to expand the facility. Budapest will block any initiative to restrict cooperation with Russia regarding nuclear energy, he added.

According to Szijjarto, restrictions on Russia’s nuclear sector were touted as part of the bloc’s 11th sanctions package, which is currently in the works. The minister claimed, however, that other EU members that use nuclear energy also oppose the idea.

Hungary blocked a similar initiative in February, when the EU adopted its 10th sanctions package over Russia’s military operation in Ukraine. At the time, Szijjarto also said that the package would exclude the country’s nuclear energy sector.

Moscow and Budapest struck the Paks expansion deal in 2014. Russia is about to build two new power generating units under its state-of-the-art VVER-1200 pressurized water reactor project, which is up to the highest modern safety standards.

The Paks plant already produces a sizable portion of the energy consumed by Hungary, and the expansion would see its share in Hungary’s total energy production double, according to RIA Novosti.

The developments come as the EU struggles to find new areas of the Russian economy to target with restrictions, an issue which was acknowledged by European Council President Charles Michel as early as February, during the bloc’s previous sanctions drive.

The restrictions that the US and its allies have placed on Russia since the beginning of the conflict have been “tougher than expected,” according to Moscow. However, they failed to bring Russia’s economy to its knees and the nation’s economic outlook has been improving, according to both the Russian central bank and the World Bank.

Source: Russia Today

The countries in the Black Sea region should solve problems through dialogue to ensure peace, the Turkish parliament speaker said on Thursday. “Solving the problems in the region through diplomatic mechanisms and dialogue is essential for ensuring development, peace and stability not only in the countries of the region, but also in the European continent and on a global scale,” Mustafa Sentop said at the 61st General Assembly of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC) in the capital Ankara. Sentop said it is more vital than ever before to solve the problems in the region by showing a common will and acting in cooperation. “Establishing peace and stability in our region and ensuring sustainable development depend primarily on building political trust. For this, it is necessary to prevent prejudices and misperceptions and to keep dialogue channels open,” he added. The role of parliaments and parliamentarians should be highlighted within the framework of changing global dynamics, Sentop said, adding: “We believe that our parliaments have additional roles and responsibilities that they can play in consolidating peace, prosperity and stability in our region.” He also urged for strengthening cooperation between parliaments since it is important in terms of establishing trust and cooperation between governments. “The importance of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) for the peace and stability of our region is undeniable,” Sentop said. The 13-member BSEC aims to diversify and further develop bilateral and multilateral economic, technological and social relations among its member states.

Source: Anadolu Agency