«Якби ми отримали доступ до всієї тієї зброї, якої потребуємо, яка є в наших партнерів і яка зіставна зі зброєю, яку використовує Російська Федерація, ми б уже завершили цю війну»
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Russia said Tuesday it will expel 15 Dutch diplomats, saying they have two weeks to leave the country. The retaliatory move following the Netherlands’ expulsion last month of 17 Russians whom Dutch officials said were intelligence officers posing as diplomats.
In response to Tuesday’s announcement, Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Wopke Hoekstra said in a statement, “It was to be expected that Russia would take countermeasures. Nevertheless, this is a regrettable step.” The envoys will be leaving the Dutch embassy in Moscow and consulate-general in St. Petersburg.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it was also going to expel four Austrians and 12 Belgians, both in retaliation.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, some 300 Russian diplomats have had to leave various countries.
Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Poland and the United States have expelled Russian envoys.
Russia has taken similar moves against envoys from the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and the European Union.
Some information in this report came from Reuters.
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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave a “wholehearted” apology Tuesday for attending parties that were banned during COVID-19 lockdowns.
However, he did say he didn’t know he was breaking the rules.
Johnson and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak have been under investigation for 12 parties at both 10 Downing Street and the Cabinet Office, some of which were attended by the ministers and their staff.
Police said some 50 people could face fines or other penalties over the parties.
The political opposition in Britain has called for Johnson’s resignation over the scandal. This week, there will be a parliamentary debate and vote on whether to censure Johnson.
Johnson previously apologized over one incident saying he thought it was a work event.
The parties were held during 2020 and 2021, according to news reports.
One event captured in a photo published by the BBC, shows Johnson and others gathered at the Downing Street garden drinking wine in May 2020 when other Brits were not allowed leave their homes without a reason, and outdoor gatherings were limited to two for exercise.
Investigations into other parties could lead to more fines for Johnson, which could lead to more pressure on him from his own party.
Some information in this report comes from The Associated Press.
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Спочатку літери Z та V зʼявилися на російській військовій техніці, яка бере участь у війні проти України. Потім російська влада та пропаганда почали використовувати ці літери для демонстрації підтримки вторгнення
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Суму виявленого майна наразі встановлюють
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Він закликав до припинення бойових дій з четверга до неділі
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Російські війська розпочали битву за Донбас, до якої давно готувалися, заявив у відеозверненні в ніч на 19 квітня президент України Володимир Зеленський
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The World Health Organization says escalating fighting in Ukraine is preventing emergency medical supplies and health personnel from reaching many people in need of help.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine nearly two months ago, the World Health Organization has delivered some 218 metric tons of emergency medical supplies. Roughly two-thirds have reached their intended destinations, mostly in the east and north of the country where the need is greatest.
WHO has released 15 generators from its warehouse in Lviv Tuesday with plans to deliver them this week to hospitals across the country. Speaking from Lviv, WHO spokesman, Bhanu Bhatnagar, says three will be sent to Luhansk and Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. That is where heavy fighting is underway, and the power supply is badly affected.
Other generators, he says are destined for places such as Kharkiv, which has been devastated by Russian shelling, and the besieged city of Mariupol.
“We will only move the generators to their final destinations when we can ensure the safety of our personnel and the precious cargo they are transporting. These generators will help meet the sort of minimum energy needs of medical and surgical units of referral hospitals, where power supply is either limited or non-existent,” he said.
Bhatnagar says access to a reliable power supply is critical, noting even a momentary power failure can have serious consequences for patients. He says providing care in this dangerous environment is becoming ever more difficult.
As of now, he says WHO has verified 147 attacks on health care facilities, ambulances, and medical personnel. He adds at least 73 people have been killed and 52 injured. Attacks such as these, he says are hampering efforts to reach the people who need help.
“An increase in fighting in certain parts of the country could really threaten our supply chains in and out of some of the affected areas. To mitigate this risk, we are ramping up our donations to the Ministry of Health. We are also assessing the possibility of pre-positioning supplies in additional locations to sort of build a network of warehouses to reach affected areas,” said Bhatnagar.
Mariupol has been subjected to heavy bombardment by Russian forces since the start of the war. The city has been demolished, thousands of people reportedly have been killed and thousands more remain trapped.
Bhatnagar says WHO fears the worst for the health system of Mariupol. He says no one has access to the city. But he adds WHO is positioning generators and other supplies nearby. This, so it can bring in life-saving medicines and equipment the moment this becomes possible.
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Представник влади додав, що заарештоване саме судно, але не його нафтовий вантаж
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«Бачили (звернення – ред.), жодної реакції (Кремля – ред.) наразі немає», – сказав речник Путіна
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У Генштабі додали, що Білорусь продовжує надавати свою територію для завдання авіаційних ударів по території України і ведення розвідки об’єктів
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«Ухвалення проєкту закону сприятиме остаточному звільненню України від російської парадигми відзначення Дня перемоги»
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Ukraine says Russia has begun its offensive to take control of eastern Ukraine while a Russian missile attack hit the western city of Lviv, killing at least seven people.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video address Monday, “Now, we can already state that the Russian troops have begun the battle for the Donbas, for which they have been preparing for a long time.”
He said a “significant part of the entire Russian army is now concentrated on this offensive.” The Donbas region includes Luhansk and Donetsk, two provinces that are already partly held by Russian-backed separatists, along with the port city of Mariupol to the south. Capturing the region would allow Russia to control a land corridor to the Crimean Peninsula, which it seized in 2014.
Russia’s withdrawal of its forces from areas around Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and other parts of the north in recent weeks prompted assessments from Western military officials that Russia was reinforcing and redeploying those assets to eastern Ukraine.
In the western city of Lviv, regional Governor Maksym Kozystkiy said three missiles hit military infrastructure sites, while another struck a car tire repair shop. Lviv, which is about 60 kilometers from Poland, had previously escaped the worst of the violence of the Russian invasion that began nearly two months ago.
The city is a major transportation hub in Ukraine, which has been receiving weapons from Western allies.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the United States has no indication that any Western aid was targeted in Lviv.
The new barrage came as Russian President Vladimir Putin contended during a video call with economic officials that the sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies had failed.
He said the West “expected to quickly upset the financial-economic situation, provoke panic in the markets, the collapse of the banking system and shortages in stores.” However, he added, “The strategy of the economic blitz has failed.”
Western officials say the sanctions have pushed Russia into a sharp recession that will hurt its economy for years.
Asked Monday if the Biden administration is considering more sanctions against Russia, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters the United States will “continue to expand our sanctions targets and continue to take steps to both further tighten our sanctions to prevent evasion.”
U.S. President Joe Biden is holding a video call with allies Tuesday to discuss what the White House called “our continued support for Ukraine and efforts to hold Russia accountable.”
Russia initially described its aims as disarming Ukraine and defeating nationalists there. Kyiv and its Western allies say those are bogus justifications for an unprovoked war of aggression that has driven a quarter of Ukraine’s 44 million people from their homes.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse
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Близько 100 осіб були поранені, пише видання з посиланням на джерело, близьке до командування Чорноморського флоту Росії. Загалом на кораблі перебували близько 500 осіб
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«Але блокування судноплавства і загроза ракетних ударів зберігаються»
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Swedish police said Monday that the riots that have shaken several cities and towns in the Nordic country are extremely serious crimes against society and suspect some protesters are linked to criminal gangs that intentionally target police.
Sweden, a nation of 10 million, has seen unrest, scuffles, arson and violence since Thursday that has left some police officers and protesters injured. It was triggered by Danish far-right politician Rasmus Paludan’s meetings and planned Quran burnings across the country.
“We suspect that those involved (in the riots) have links to criminal gangs,” National Police Commissioner Anders Thornberg told a news conference on Monday, adding that some of those “criminal individuals” are known to police. “I have been in touch with the public prosecutor to prosecute these individuals.”
Sweden’s National Police Commander Jonas Hysing said Monday that 26 police officers and 14 individuals — protesters or other people — have been injured in the riots, and 20 police vehicles have been destroyed or damaged.
The latest riots broke out Sunday night in Malmo, Sweden’s third-largest city, as an angry crowd of mainly young people set fire to car tires, debris and garbage cans in the Rosengard district. Protesters threw stones, and police responded by firing tear gas into the crowd. A school and several cars were set on fire, but the situation calmed down early Monday.
A total of 11 people were detained, and three people were arrested in Malmo. No serious injuries were reported.
Since Thursday, in addition to Malmo, riots, unrest and violent clashes have been reported in Stockholm, the central city of Orebro, the eastern cities of Linkoping and Norrkoping and the southern town of Landskrona.
Police have been forced to use weapons in self-defense, Hysing said. Three people were hurt in Norrkoping on Sunday as they were hit by ricochets as police fired warning shots into a crowd of protesters.
“There is a lot to suggest that the police were targeted,” Hysing said, adding that some protesters were suspected of attempted murder, aggravated assault and violence against an official.
Both Thornberg and Hysing stressed that the main target for the rioters was Swedish police and society, not Paludan — seen by many Swedes merely as an agent provocateur — and his Stram Kurs (Hard Line) Party, which runs on an anti-immigrant, anti-Islam agenda.
Thornberg, Sweden’s supreme police chief, said “criminal individuals” who took advantage of the situation with Paludan’s Swedish Easter tour and joined the riots, were the main suspects for the violent flare-ups of violence. The unrest escalated quickly after Paludan’s first demonstrations, which were met by counter-protesters in many places last week.
“We must put an end to this early. What we see here is a very serious crime,” Thornberg said, referring to the riots.
Justice Minister Morgan Johansson said Monday that he continues to have great confidence in the Swedish police, despite the unrest over the weekend, and pledged more resources to law enforcement.
“When you end up in these critical and aggressive situations, there’s nothing else police officers can do but to put up a hard fight,” Johansson told Swedish news outlets. “We cannot accept that perpetrators commit this type of violence.”
Iraq’s Foreign Ministry on Sunday summoned Sweden’s charge d’affaires over Paludan’s planned Quran burnings, reportedly saying that such activity could seriously endanger Sweden’s relations with the Muslim world.
In Iran, dozens of students gathered Monday at Sweden’s embassy to protest Paludan’s planned Quran burnings. Chanting “Insulters of Quran must be condemned!” they also repeated slogans such as “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”
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Голови об’єднань роботодавців та профспілок вважають, що негайна відмова від російського газу призведе до закриття підприємств та втрати робочих місць
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Президент США Джо Байден не планує приїжджати до Києва, заявила прессекретар Білого дому Джен Псакі.
«Приїзд президента не планується. Дозвольте мені повторити це», – заявила Псакі журналістам 18 квітня.
Президент України Володимир Зеленський закликав Байдена продемонструвати підтримку США у боротьбі проти Росії, приїхавши до Києва.
17 квітня він висловив припущення, що Байден приїде, але сказав, що рішення має ухвалити президент США і воно залежатиме від ситуації з безпекою.
Міністр закордонних справ України Дмитро Кулеба 17 квітня американському телеканалу CBS News заявив про зацікавленість проведення особистої зустрічі президентом України Володимиром Зеленським із президентом США Джо Байденом.
«Особиста зустріч між двома президентами може прокласти шлях для нових постачань американських озброєнь в Україну і для обговорень можливого політичного урегулювання цього конфлікту», – сказав Кулеба.
Білий дім заявив, що замість Байдена, найімовірніше, до України прибуде високопосадовець такого рівня як держсекретар Ентоні Блінкен чи міністр оборони Ллойд Остін.
Псакі також висловила сподівання на поновлення роботи посольства США у Києві. «Це, безперечно, наша мета. Очевидно, що дипломатична присутність на місцях є важливою», сказала Псакі.
Декілька європейських лідерів вже здійснили поїздку до Києва і зустрілися із Володимиром Зеленським.
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Раніше твердження про «збитий літак» поширили державні ЗМІ РФ із посиланням на міністерство оборони Росії
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Про повернення дипломатів до Києва або такий намір в найближчому майбутньому вже заявили низка країн
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A group of Catalan separatists, including several members of the European Parliament, other politicians, lawyers and activists from Spain’s northeastern region, had their phones hacked with a controversial spyware called Pegasus, a cybersecurity firm said Monday.
Citizens Lab, which is associated with the University of Toronto, said at least 65 people were targeted using the Israeli-made software that is only available to governments.
The maker of the software, NSO, said the allegations were “false.”
The spyware infections allegedly took place between 2017 and 2020 after a failed Catalan independence bid.
The movement for an independent Catalonia dates back more than a century and has been a problem for Spain’s central government. Catalonia enjoys some regional autonomy under the Spanish constitution.
Citizens Lab said it could not pinpoint the source of the hacking but said on its website that “a range of circumstantial evidence points to a strong nexus with one or more entities within the Spanish government.”
The Spanish government declined a request for comment by Reuters.
On Twitter, Catalonian government President Pere Aragones called the hacks an “unjustifiable disgrace.”
Some information in this report comes from Reuters and The Associated Press.
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Turkish military forces using planes, helicopters and drones attacked Kurdish rebel positions inside northern Iraq, the Turkish Defense Ministry said Monday.
The targets included camps and ammunition depots in the regions of Metina, Zap, and Avashin-Basyan, the military said.
Kurdish rebels have launched attacks in Turkey from northern Iraq, and Ankara said they were planning another attack in Turkey.
The Associated Press reported 19 Kurdish rebels were killed and four Turkish military members were wounded.
“Our operation is continuing successfully as planned,” the state-owned Anadolu news agency quoted Defense Minister Hulusi Akar as saying. “The targets identified in the first phase have been captured.”
Turkish military forces have repeatedly attacked Kurdish groups such as the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which Ankara considers terrorist organizations.
The PKK has been active since 1984. It has bases in southeastern Turkey and northern Iraq.
Kurdish people are spread throughout a region covering parts of Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran.
(Some information in this report comes from Reuters and The Associated Press.)
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