Drone footage shows the scale of destruction in Odesa after the Russian attack
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Vladimir Putin’s threat of tactical nuclear weapons is “real”, US President Joe Biden has said as the war in Ukraine approaches 500 days.
“When I was here about two years ago saying I was worried about the Colorado River drying up, everybody looked at me like I was crazy,” Biden said in California.
“They looked at me like when I said I was worried about Putin using tactical nuclear weapons. It’s real.”
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Russia’s staunch ally in the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, confirmed the delivery of Moscow’s tactical nuclear weapons to his country last week, saying some of the nuclear weapons were three times more powerful than the atomic bombs that the US dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. in 1945.
This is Russia’s first deployment of such warheads, shorter-range and less powerful nuclear weapons that can be used in a war, outside its borders since the fall of the Soviet Union.
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Putin’s threat of tactical nukes is ‘real’, Biden warns
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s threat of tactical nuclear weapons is “real”, his US counterpart Joe Biden said, days after denouncing Russia’s deployment of such weapons in Belarus.
“When I was here about two years ago saying I was worried about the Colorado River drying up, everybody looked at me like I was crazy,” Biden told a group of donors in California on Monday.
“They looked at me like when I said I was concerned about Putin using tactical nuclear weapons. It’s real,” Biden said.
Biden had called Putin’s announcement that Russia had deployed its first tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus last week as absolutely irresponsible.
It comes as Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said his country has begun receiving Russian tactical nuclear weapons, some of which he said were three times more powerful than the atomic bombs the US dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. .
Arpan Rai20 June 2023 03:44
The war in Ukraine on the agenda of the German-Chinese talks
The war in Ukraine, trade and climate change are on the agenda as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz holds talks with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, who is on his first trip abroad since taking office .
Tuesday’s meeting in Berlin is the seventh time Germany and China have held high-level government consultations and comes a day after Chinese President Xi Jinping met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken indicating an effort by Beijing to reach out to the West and improve frosty relations. .
Germany is willing to maintain good ties with China, its main trading partner, despite wariness over Beijing’s growing assertiveness and refusal to criticize Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Germany’s recently published national security strategy describes China as “a systemic partner, competitor and rival”.
Scholz has said he wants to avoid an over-reliance on Chinese trade and diversify Germany’s supply of key goods – an approach he called “de-risking” – while rejecting the idea of ”decoupling” China.
The position was echoed last month by the Group of Seven’s major industrial powers, most of which rely heavily on trade with China.
Martha MchardyJune 20, 2023 09:39
Four Russian attack helicopters were downed last week, according to Ukraine
Two Russian fighter jets and two military helicopters have been shot down by Ukraine’s air defenses since last Friday, a Ukrainian military official said.
Mykola Oleshchuk, commander of Ukraine’s air force, said a Russian Ka-52 helicopter was hit by an anti-aircraft missile over eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region at 11 p.m. yesterday. the evening.
Another helicopter was shot down on Friday, while two fighter jets were reportedly shot down over the weekend.
The claims could not be independently verified.
Martha MchardyJune 20, 2023 09:31
More than 800 houses remain flooded in Kherson after the collapse of the Kakhovka dam, according to the Ukrainian interior ministry
More than 800 houses remain flooded along the right bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson after the collapse of the Kakhovka Dam, Ukraine’s Interior Ministry said.
Four settlements and 818 houses remain flooded, according to the ministry.
In a tweet, the Ministry of the Interior said: “The water continues to fall. The level is currently 0.31 m. 4 settlements (818 houses) on the right bank of the Dnipro remain flooded. In the temporarily occupied – 17 settlements. We keep working.”
At least 16 people have been killed and 31 missing in floods from the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam, Ukraine’s interior ministry said on Saturday.
He added that 3,614 people have been evacuated from flooded areas “including 474 children and 80 people with reduced mobility”.
Martha MchardyJune 20, 2023 09:22
Ukrainian shelling in Belgorod leaves at least 8 injured
At least eight people were injured yesterday in a Ukrainian shelling in the border town of Valuiki in Russia’s Belgorod region.
A total of 40 artillery shells and 14 Grad shells were fired at the town of Valuiki, Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of Russia’s Belgorod region, confirmed to Telegram, adding that the shelling damaged five apartment buildings, four homes and three cars.
The consequences of the bombings
(EPA)
The bombing damaged five apartment buildings, four private homes and three cars
(EPA)
Martha Mchardy20 June 2023 09:08
Russian-backed officials say Ukraine hit town of Nova Kakhovka with drones – TASS
Ukrainian forces attacked the Russian-held town of Nova Kakhovka in the southern Kherson region with drones on Tuesday, injuring three civilians, the TASS news agency reported, citing Russian-appointed local authorities.
The attack took place in the morning, TASS said, and was carried out using stray munitions, also known as kamikaze drones.
The reports could not be independently verified.
Martha MchardyJune 20, 2023 08:42
Russia strikes Ukrainian cities in overnight airstrikes
Russia launched an overnight airstrike in Ukraine on Tuesday, targeting military and infrastructure facilities in Kiev and other cities, officials said on Tuesday.
Ukraine said it had shot down 32 of 35 Iranian-made Shahed drones launched from Russia’s Bryansk region and the Sea of Azov.
No casualties have been reported in the latest airstrikes launched by Moscow since Kiev launched a counteroffensive in which it says it has retaken 113 square km (44 square miles) of land from Russian forces.
The air force told the Telegram messaging app that air defenses had been in action in most regions of Ukraine.
“However, the main direction of attack by Iranian drones was the Kiev region. More than two dozen Shaheds were destroyed here,” he said on the Telegram messaging app.
Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said the air alert in the capital lasted more than three hours. He did not give details of any damage.
“They hit a very important facility. There were three hits,” regional governor Maksym Kozytskiy said.
The air force said Russia had also hit the southeastern industrial city of Zaporizhzhia with Iskander and S-300 missiles.
The Ukrainian military said that according to preliminary information, Russia had fired seven missiles at Zaporizhzhia.
Reuters could not independently verify the reports. There was no immediate comment from Russia.
(REUTERS)
Maryam Zakir-HussainJune 20, 2023 08:13
Jailed Putin critic Navalny launches anti-Kremlin campaign as retrial could keep him in prison for decades
He is the man who has led the opposition to Russian President Vladimir Putin for a decade, and is currently the country’s most high-profile prisoner.
Alexei Navalny, 47, who is serving sentences totaling more than nine years, was in court on Monday for the start of his latest trial, accused of extremism. Charges that could keep him behind bars for decades.
Beyond the courtroom, he also announced a massive new campaign to turn Russian public opinion against Putin and his invasion of Ukraine, urging Russians to “join forces in the fight against Putin’s lies and hypocrisy of the Kremlin”.
Maryam Zakir-HussainJune 20, 2023 07:57
The tone of Wagner’s boss is “unequivocally confrontational”, says the UK Ministry of Defence
The British Ministry of Defense (MOD) has said that the head of Wagner’s mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has taken an “unequivocal confrontation” with the Russian defense ministry.
Yesterday, Prigozhin said he was waiting for a response from the Russian defense ministry about a “contract” of his own writing that he had handed over to the ministry three days earlier.
“This follows the MoD’s own ultimatum to Wagner and other ‘volunteer formations’ to sign contracts with the MoD by July 1, 2023,” the British MoD said.
He added that while the contents of Prigozhin’s document have not been made public, “the act of handing it over increases the risk and is very likely another deliberate effort to undermine the authority of the military authorities officers”.
“Prigozhin’s tone towards the Ministry of Defense has become unmistakably confrontational. The Ministry of Defense almost certainly finds this deeply unfortunate at a time when it is struggling with Ukraine’s counteroffensive,” he added.
Arpan RaiJune 20, 2023 07:12
Criticism of India’s stance on Russia is not widespread in the US, Modi says
India’s stance on Russia in the Ukraine conflict has not been the subject of widespread criticism in the United States, the country’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.
Asked about critical comments in the US for not taking a stronger stance against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Modi said: “I don’t think that kind of perception is widespread in the US.
“I think India’s position is well known and understood throughout the world. The world has full confidence that India’s highest priority is peace,” he said.
New Delhi has refused to condemn its former ally Russia over the war in Ukraine and has increased its trade with Moscow to record levels, fueled largely by imports of Russian oil.
Arpan RaiJune 20, 2023 06:40
