A spokesman for Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry issued a warning about today’s comments through a senior Russian official.
Speaking today, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said threatening the security of Russian troops in the breakaway region of Transnistria would threaten to unleash an army with Moscow.
This is what Oleg Nikolenko said in response. . .
Moscow’s troops will join forces from China and other countries in a sign of the development of defense cooperation over the next week.
Exercise Vostok 2022 will be held until Sept. 7 at seven levels of firing in the Russian Far East and the Sea of Japan, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
It will involve more than 50,000 and 5,000 guns, totaling 140 aircraft and 60 warships.
Russia’s Chief of Staff, General Valery Gerasimov, will oversee the exercises.
Participants come with several former Soviet countries, China, India, Laos, Mongolia, Nicaragua and Syria.
Authorities failed to win over Ukrainian prisoners of war held in the Russian-controlled city of Olenivka, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross said.
Intense negotiations were conducted with the Russian government, but the Red Cross did not obtain security guarantees for a visit.
In July, dozens of prisoners were killed in a missile attack or explosion. Ukraine and Russia exchanged fees for the attack.
The Red Cross said it had registered another 1,800 people pulled from the besieged Azovstal metal generators in Mariupol, on the understanding that it could stop at them, but this has not been possible so far.
Director-General Robert Mardini said the Red Cross had visited many prisoners of war from both sides, but there were thousands more he could still see.
“We negotiate each and every day to have full access to all prisoners of war,” Mardini said.
“It is obviously an absolute legal responsibility (of) the parties to hand over the ICRC to all prisoners of war. “
Ukrainian troops can simply retake the southern city of Kherson simply by threatening to encircle the 20,000 Russian troops in the area, said Professor Michael Clarke, former director general of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).
Speaking to Sky News, the defence analyst said Ukraine’s counter-offensive was unfolding “quite quickly” and a “major offensive”, stretching from southwest Kherson to the village of Velyka Kostromka.
“I guess what they would like to do is surround the 20,000 Russian troops that are west of the Dnipro River,” he said.
“If they can threaten to encircle them, the Russians will have to withdraw from Kherson and the fact is that if they can convince the Russians that they will have to withdraw from Kherson, they can do so without having to fight for it.
“They don’t need to bomb the city and they can leave Kherson simply by leading this immediate offensive that threatens to encircle 20,000 soldiers. “
Speaking about Vladimir Putin’s resolve to attend Mikhail Gorbachev’s funeral, Clarke said Mr. Putin needed to be related to the former Soviet leader.
“Gorbachev represents all the things Putin wants to reverse,” he said.
“Gorbachev has lost control of the procedure he has put in place. He didn’t need to end the Soviet Union, he didn’t need to create all the adjustments that happened, and Putin is looking to back down.
“Putin is looking in a way to distance himself. He doesn’t need Gorbachev’s legacy to be part of his legacy. “
As we discussed in the last hour, a team of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency arrived at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
These are some of the convoys that arrive. . .
Speaking at Sizewell C in Suffolk, Boris Johnson said this. . .
“From this catastrophe, from Putin’s war, I think it will come out, in the sense that Europe will detach itself from Russian hydrocarbons.
“We will no longer be subject, vulnerable, to their blackmail, and in this country we will have greatly accelerated the long-awaited reforms and steps towards independent power, adding to repair the damage we have caused to our nuclear industry. “
Despite everything, the delegation of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) arrived at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, according to the Ukrainian state company Energoatom.
The team was delayed for 3 hours at a Ukrainian checkpoint after the bombing in the planned direction.
Still, the organization had said they were looking to move forward.
The scale in is incredibly vital as it is the first time inspectors can see the factory since it was captured through Russia.
But the project may be “shorter than expected,” a Ukrainian source said.
“The project may turn out to be shorter than expected,” they said on condition of anonymity.
The IAEA had said in the past it expected the layover to last a few days, but Russian officials said they expected it to last only one day.
The photographs below show the inspectors escorted through the Russian forces.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned Moldova that threatening the security of Russian troops in the breakaway region of Transnistria could cause an army with Moscow.
Transnistria is identified worldwide as part of Moldova, but has been under the control of the separatist government since 1992, when the collapse of the Soviet Union sparked a conflict.
Russia has about 1,500 troops in Transnistria, which it describes as a “peacekeeping” force.
Moscow says its army is there for peace and stability, but Moldova needs Russian forces to withdraw.
“Everyone perceives that any action that threatens the security of our troops [in Transnistria] would be regarded as an attack on Russia through foreign laws, as was the case in South Ossetia when our peacekeepers were attacked by [former Georgian President] Saakashvili,” Lavrov said.
He referred to a five-day war in 2008 in which Russian forces seized several Georgian cities.
Transnistria remains economically dependent on Russia, for loose gas.
Following speculation, the Kremlin showed that Russian President Vladimir Putin would attend Mikhail Gorbachev’s funeral on Saturday.
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it is possible that the president will only turn himself in because of scheduling conflicts.
Gorbachev, the former Soviet leader who helped end the Cold War, died this week at the age of 91.
He had a complicated relationship with Putin, whom he said had not run for a third term.
Gorbachev criticized the war in Ukraine.
The Kremlin Putin laid flowers at Moscow’s Central Clinical Hospital in tribute this morning.
It’s the same hospital where a Russian businessman reportedly died after falling out of the window this morning.
Ravil Maganov, chairman of Lukoil’s board of directors, had criticized the war in Ukraine.
Residents of Mykolaiv are being evacuated by the local government after Ukraine announced the start of a counteroffensive in the south of the country.
Those who wish to leave will be taken to the port city of Odessa.