By Bernd FISCHALECK, Leon BRUNEAU TOKYO, Nov 8, 2023 (AFP) – G7 foreign ministers said Wednesday that they supported “humanitarian pauses and corridors” in the Hamas-Israel war but refrained from calling for a ceasefire. The group also said after talks in Japan that their support for Ukraine in its war with Russia “will never waver” while calling on China not to support Moscow in the conflict. “We stress the need for urgent action to address […]
Tag: Ukraine
Russia hands captive Ukrainian soldiers heavy sentences
MOSCOW, Nov 8, 2023 (AFP) – Russian military courts on Wednesday sentenced two Ukrainian soldiers to 19 and 20 years in prison for allegedly shooting civilians in separate incidents in Mariupol in 2022. At the start of the conflict last year, Russian forces launched an intense assault on Mariupol, a port city home to more than 400,000 people before the conflict, destroying large swathes in weeks of air strikes, shelling and gun battles. Russian investigators […]
Russia test fires nuclear-capable ballistic missile
MOSCOW, Nov 5, 2023 (AFP) – Russia said Sunday it had successfully test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads from one of its submarines. The launch of the “Bulava” missile, the first in just over a year, comes as Russia ramps up nuclear rhetoric since revoking its ratification of a key nuclear test ban treaty. “The new nuclear-powered strategic missile submarine cruiser Emperor Alexander the Third has successfully launched the Bulava sea-based […]
Russia says intends to continue nuclear test moratorium
MOSCOW, Nov 3, 2023 (AFP) – Russia intends to stick to a nuclear test ban moratorium despite withdrawing its ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, the foreign ministry said Friday. “We intend to keep the moratorium that was introduced more than 30 years ago in place,” said a ministry statement. But any nuclear tests by the United States would “force us to do the same,” it added. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday […]
Ukraine reports ‘massive’ Russian drone attack
KYIV, Ukraine, Nov 3, 2023 (AFP) – Russia launched 40 drones overnight in a “massive” attack on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure but over half of them were downed, officials said on Friday. “Last night there were about 40 ‘Shaheds’. More than half of them were shot down,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a post on social media. Russia has used hundreds of Iranian-made self-detonating Shahed drones to attack targets across Ukraine since the start of […]
Russian President Vladimir Putin urges officials to act as inflation rises
MOSCOW, Nov 1, 2023 (AFP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday called for officials to act on high inflation, as he warned the economy faced increased pressure from Western sanctions. Inflation has remained stubbornly high in Russia, ticking upwards as the economy grapples with a weaker ruble and rising military spending on the offensive in Ukraine. “I once again draw the attention of the government and the Bank of Russia to the importance of […]
N. Korea sends Russia artillery rounds for satellite advice: Seoul
SEOUL, Nov 1, 2023 (AFP) – North Korea has provided Russia with over one million artillery rounds to use in its war with Ukraine with Pyongyang appearing to receive advice on satellite technology in return, a South Korean lawmaker said Wednesday, citing Seoul’s spy agency. Russia and North Korea, who are historic allies, are both under a raft of global sanctions — Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine, and Pyongyang for its testing of nuclear […]
US arrests three Russians for shipping weapons components to Russia in violation of sanctions
NEW YORK, Oct 31, 2023 (AFP) – Three Russians were arrested Tuesday in New York for evading US sanctions to ship electronic components for weapons used by Moscow in its war in Ukraine, authorities said. Nikolay Golstev, 37, and his wife, Kristina Puzyreva, 32 — both Russian-Canadian — were arrested along with their alleged partner Salimdzhon Nariddinov, 52, who has Russian-Tajik citizenship. The trio are accused of evading sanctions to dispatch, over the course of […]
Russian president Vladimir Putin blames Ukraine, West for Dagestan airport riot
MAKHACHKALA, Russia, Oct 30, 2023 (AFP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday accused Ukraine and the West of instigating anti-Israel rioting at Dagestan’s Makhachkala airport the previous day, an accusation that Washington has called absurd. Security forces have detained over 80 people since the incident, which saw rioters in the Muslim-majority region take over the runway on Sunday evening in an attempt to encircle a plane that had flown in from Israel. “The events […]
Moscow test fires missiles, practicing retaliatory nuclear strike as it moves closer to scrapping nuclear test ban treaty
MOSCOW, Oct 25, 2023 (AFP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin oversaw ballistic missile drills Wednesday, the Kremlin said, with Moscow’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu announcing forces will practise a “massive” retaliatory nuclear strike. The exercises came after Moscow moved to revoke a key nuclear test ban treaty, 20 months into Russia’s Ukraine offensive. During the dragging conflict, Putin and Russian officials have given mixed signals about the possible use of nuclear weapons, prompting alarm in […]
Russia’s Shoigu says Moscow exhausting Ukrainian army
MOSCOW, Oct 25, 2023 (AFP) – Russia claimed Wednesday it was exhausting Ukraine’s army, 20 months into a conflict in which neither side has made recent significant gains. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu made the comments during a visit to east Ukraine, the defence ministry said Wednesday. “The situation today suggests the enemy has fewer and fewer opportunities. And they will continue to be reduced, thanks exclusively to your combat work,” Shoigu told Russian soldiers. […]
Russia resumes assault on Avdiivka: Ukrainian military
KYIV, Ukraine, Oct 20, 2023 (AFP) – Russia has stepped up its military assault on Avdiivka in its ongoing bid to encircle and capture the eastern Ukrainian city, Ukraine’s general staff said Friday. The frontline city in the eastern Donetsk region has been the centre of intense fighting in recent weeks, as both sides have struggled to advance along the frontlines. “The enemy has resumed offensive actions and does not stop trying to surround Avdiivka,” […]





