Category: war

The United States said Monday that ally Israel had a right to “defend its people” against Islamist militants but called for protection of civilians after a major, deadly raid in the occupied West Bank. “We support Israel’s security and right to defend its people against Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and other terrorist groups,” a State Department spokesperson said. “It is imperative to take all possible precautions to prevent the loss of civilian lives,” the spokesperson added. The United States, Israel’s…

China’s defense minister said on Monday he hoped to expand naval cooperation with Russia, in the highest-level public talks between military officials from the two countries since a failed mutiny in Russia last month. Li Shangfu spoke in Beijing with Nikolai Yevmenov, head of the Russian navy, and said he hoped both countries could “strengthen communication at all levels,” according to a readout from the Chinese defense ministry. He also said the two should “regularly organize joint exercises, joint cruises, and joint military…

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Russian forces have destroyed a Ukrainian Starlink satellite communication station and a drone control center near Artemovsk (Bakhmut), a Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson told Sputnik. “… the artillery of the group [of Russian forces] destroyed a Starlink communication station, a control center for unmanned aerial vehicles together with a Leleka-100 drone, a communication center and a pickup truck with an infantry group,” the spokesperson said. In addition, Russian forces have repelled an attack by a Ukrainian assault…

Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin on Monday released the first audio statement since an aborted armed rebellion he staged on Saturday, defending the move as a reaction to an attack on his force that killed some of his 30 fighters. “We started our march because of an injustice,” Prigozhin said in an 11-minute audio. He didn’t offer any details as to where he was at the moment or what his future plans are. Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin on Monday released the…

BlackRock and JPMorgan Chase are reportedly aiding the Ukrainian government in setting up a reconstruction bank that could see rebuilding projects being heavily invested in by private entities. The Financial Times noted that it would cost Ukraine roughly $411 billion to rebuild their country amid the onslaught of attacks by Russia, but the cost is continuing to increase.

Potential investors will get an inside preview of how things will look during a London conference that is set to take place this week.

MOSCOW — The head of the Wagner mercenary group said his forces were ending a march on the Russian capital after demanding the resignation of the country’s top defense officials over alleged failures in the war in Ukraine. In a statement to his Telegram social media account, Yevgeny Prigozhin said his fighters had led a “march for justice” over the past 24 hours that saw them travel from the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don to the outskirts of Moscow “The…

Evgeny Prigozhin has agreed to halt his advance on Moscow after a mediation effort led by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Belarusian state media reported Saturday evening.Lukashenko’s talks with Prigozhin, said to have stretched throughout the day Saturday, were agreed with Putin. “As a result, the parties agreed to to the inadmissibility of unleashing a bloody massacre on Russian territory. Evgeny Prigozhin accepted President Lukashenko’s proposal to stop the movement of Wagner’s forces in Russia and to take further steps to…

As columns of mercenaries appeared to be moving towards Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to strike back hard against Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the mercenary Wagner Group, who has launched an assault on his own government. In remarks on Saturday morning from the Kremlin, Putin denounced Prigozhin’s “criminal adventure” as an “armed mutiny” that would be met with a response from regular Russian troops. “Any actions that split our nation are essentially a betrayal of our people, of our…

Several world leaders, among them Russia’s closest allies and partners, have offered support for the Kremlin amid the deadly standoff between the Russian military and Prigozhin’s Wagner group. Belarus: Belarus, Russia’s Collective Security Treaty Organization ally and Union State partner, has offered full support for Moscow, emphasizing that Minsk has always been and remains Russia’s close ally. “Belarusians and Russians are brotherly peoples. Our states are bound by a political union. And we cannot remain aloof from events taking place…

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plane left Moscow Saturday morning, according to flight data. Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had not fled and “is working at the Kremlin.” Wagner mercenaries appear to be headed for Moscow in what some are calling an attempted coup. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plane took off from Moscow early Saturday morning, heading towards St. Petersburg before disappearing from flight tracking radar. Putin’s presidential plane left at 14:16 Moscow time, according to FlightRadar data retrieved by…

UNITED NATIONS, June 19 (Reuters) – U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday urged Israel to halt and reverse what he described as troubling and alarming decisions on settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, a U.N. spokesperson said. “The Secretary-General reiterates that settlements are a flagrant violation of international law. They are a major obstacle to the realization of a viable two-State solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace,” deputy U.N. spokesperson Farhan Haq said in a statement. “The…

A military attack against Sweden cannot be ruled out following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a report by the Swedish military said Monday, stressing the importance of its swift entry into NATO. The report entitled “Serious Times” did not single out Moscow for instigating a potential attack but rather said Russia’s war in Ukraine and China’s mounting influence in Asia and the world were responsible for rising insecurity. “An armed attack against Sweden cannot be excluded,” the report said. Russia is…

Omar Asad, 80, was detained at a temporary checkpoint in the occupied West Bank overnight in January 2022. The soldiers left him unresponsive on the ground of a construction site and said they assumed he had fallen asleep. Palestinian leaders say this case shows the near impunity of Israeli soldiers. They have called for those involved to be prosecuted in an international court. Mr Asad had been out drinking coffee and playing cardsbeforedriving to his home in the village of…

Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to order troops to take more land in Ukraine in order to protect Russian territory, he said in remarks on Tuesday. The assertion comes as Ukraine begins a long-awaited counteroffensive in the country’s south and east, claiming small victories that have been disputed by the Russian government. Putin said Ukraine has suffered “catastrophic” losses in their probing attacks into Russian-occupied portions of Ukraine, however Ukrainian officials have so far called the offensive a success. He…

Two senior officials with the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT), briefed ambassadors on recent developments, including the arrest of a top fugitive from the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, and the final verdict related to atrocities committed in the Balkan wars. Judge Graciela Gatti Santana, Mechanism President, reported that in-court proceedings are all but concluded as only one case related to core crimes committed in Rwanda now remains on the docket. “This represents a watershed moment…