MOSCOW, Oct 5, 2023 (AFP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday called Canada’s former parliament speaker an “idiot” after the legislature celebrated a Ukrainian World War II veteran who had fought alongside the Nazis. Putin was referring to an embarrassing incident that marred a visit to Canada by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last month. During a visit to parliament by Zelensky, parliament speaker Anthony Ruta hailed an elderly Ukrainian immigrant from his district as […]
Tag: conflict
Chinese firm sold satellites for intelligence to Russia’s Wagner: contract
PARIS, Oct 5, 2023 (AFP) – Russian mercenary group Wagner in 2022 signed a contract with a Chinese firm to acquire two satellites and use their images, aiding its intelligence work as the organisation sought to push Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to a document seen by AFP. The contract was signed in November 2022, over half a year into Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in which the Wagner group under its founder Yevgeny Prigozhin was […]
US warplanes shoot down Turkish drone in Syria, escalating tensions between NATO allies
By W.G. DUNLOP WASHINGTON, Oct 5, 2023 (AFP) – US warplanes on Thursday shot down a Turkish drone that was deemed a threat to American forces in Syria, the Pentagon said — an incident likely to raise tensions between the NATO allies. The shootdown came as Turkey targeted Kurdish forces in Syria following a suicide bombing in Ankara that was claimed by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). US troops observed drones carrying out strikes early […]
Russia says it destroyed 8 Ukrainian drones after deadly strike on village
MOSCOW, Oct 6, 2023 (AFP) – Moscow said Friday it had destroyed eight Ukrainian drones in western Russia, following a deadly Russian strike on a village across the frontline. The Russian defence ministry said the attempted drone attacks on Belgorod and Kursk took place late Thursday. “Kyiv regime’s attempt to carry out a terrorist attack by an aircraft-type UAV on objects on the territory of the Russian Federation was thwarted,” it said on Telegram. It […]
Russian strike kills 51, including a 6-year-old, gathered for wake in east Ukraine
By Anatoly STEPANOV GROZA, Ukraine, Oct 5, 2023 (AFP) – A Russian strike killed at least 51 people gathered for a wake in an eastern Ukrainian village Thursday, provoking a wave of outrage from Western leaders for what a UN official called a “horrifying” attack. AFP journalists on the scene in the aftermath saw rescuers carrying a corpse from the rubble and several charred bodies in civilian clothes lying side by side, and others in […]
Russia to build naval base in breakaway Georgian region
MOSCOW, Oct 5, 2023 (AFP) – Russia’s navy will establish a base on the Black Sea coast of a separatist region in Georgia, its leader said in an interview published Thursday, as Moscow’s warships face mounting attack by Ukraine. The announcement from the leader of breakaway Abkhazia comes on the back of several attacks by Ukrainian forces on Russia’s Black Sea fleet that have embarrassed the Kremlin. Both Moscow and Kyiv have escalated tensions on […]
Ukrainians evacuate ‘ghost town’ amid Russian push to retake territory
By Anna MALPAS KUPIANSK, Ukraine, Oct 5, 2023 (AFP) – Sergiy walked out of his grey-brick house carrying two plastic holdalls and closed the front door as his dog barked. Then the 71-year-old got into a car for evacuation. His village of Boguslavka in eastern Ukraine looks idyllic, with geese in ponds and cows grazing, but Sergiy had finally decided to leave after heavy strikes. This area close to the Russian border has become too […]
Ukraine frontline attacks ‘failed’: Moscow
MOSCOW, Oct 3, 2023 (AFP) – Kyiv’s attempts to penetrate Russian defences on frontlines in the east and south of the country have “failed”, Moscow said on Tuesday, four months into a closely-watched Ukrainian counteroffensive. Kyiv launched the long-awaited counteroffensive in June but has acknowledged slow progress as its forces crash into sophisticated and kilometres-deep Russian defensive positions. “The enemy’s attempts to break through our defences in the areas of Verbovoye and Rabotino on the […]
Kyiv criticises Musk for making fun of Zelensky
KYIV, Ukraine, Oct 2, 2023 (AFP) – Ukraine on Monday reacted angrily to a social media post by billionaire Elon Musk that made fun of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s repeated calls for Western military and financial aid to fight Russian forces. Musk has provided Ukraine with Starlink satellite services that have been vital to the Ukrainian army, but some have criticised his statements on the war with Russia. Musk owns the social media platform X — […]
The geopolitical concerns facing Armenia after Nagorno-Karabakh collapse
By Joris FIORITI PARIS, Oct 2, 2023 (AFP) – Armenian separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh have, after three decades of struggle, agreed to disarm, dissolve their government and reintegrate with Azerbaijan after Baku seized back control in late September. The collapse of the breakaway statelet could shift the balance of power in the region and has left Yerevan facing a raft of geopolitical concerns. – Russian ‘double-deals’ – Nearly all of Karabakh’s estimated 120,000 residents have now […]
Kremlin says Ukraine fatigue ‘will grow,’ after US aid rift
MOSCOW, Oct 2, 2023 (AFP) – The Kremlin said on Monday that Western fatigue over Ukraine “will grow”, as the future of United States aid for Kyiv hung in the balance. A compromise struck in the US Congress over the weekend left out fresh funding for Ukraine due to opposition from hardline Republicans. “Fatigue over this conflict — fatigue from the completely absurd sponsorship of the Kyiv regime — will grow in various countries, including […]
Record number of children attacked and killed in DR Congo: UN
KINSHASA, Sept 30, 2023 (AFP) – The Democratic Republic of Congo is on track to see record numbers of children killed, maimed, kidnapped or sexually assaulted in 2023 for the third consecutive year, the UN said on Saturday. The number of “grave violations against children” in the conflict-racked country is estimated to be more than 1,700 for the first half of 2023, said UNICEF, the United Nations children’s agency — which marks a 41 percent […]





