Drone footage shows the scale of destruction in Odesa after the Russian attack
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Four of Vladimir Putin’s attack helicopters were shot down by Ukraine’s air defenses last week, a Ukrainian military official said.
Two Russian fighter jets and two military helicopters have been shot down since last Friday, the commander of the Ukrainian air force 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.
Meanwhile, 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.
It comes yesterday as at least eight people were injured 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.
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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
Russian soldier gets $12,000 to destroy German tank in Ukraine
A Russian soldier who destroyed a German Leopard tank in a battle in Ukraine has received a reward of 1 million rubles ($11,842) from a private foundation, Russia’s defense ministry said on Tuesday.
Martha MchardyJune 20, 2023 1:11 p.m
Scholz calls on China to increase pressure on Russia over Ukraine war
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Tuesday that he had asked China to use more of its influence over Russia regarding the war in Ukraine.
Speaking alongside Chinese Premier Li Qiang after bilateral talks in the German capital, Scholz also said that China should not supply Russia with weapons and that the war in Ukraine should not become a frozen conflict.
Martha MchardyJune 20, 2023 12:53 p.m
Russia says it hit and destroyed eight Ukrainian ammunition depots
Russian forces have struck and destroyed eight ammunition depots across Ukraine in the past 24 hours and repelled Ukrainian attacks in three different directions, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.
The ministry, whose daily statement was quoted by Russian news agencies, said Ukrainian forces had attempted attacks towards Donetsk, southern Donetsk and the southern Zaporizhzhia region.
Martha MchardyJune 20, 2023 12:32 p.m
Russia warns Ukraine not to attack Crimea with US and British missiles
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday that Moscow had information that Ukraine was planning to attack Russian-held Crimea with longer-range US and British missiles and warned that Russia would retaliate if that happened.
Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, but considers it outside the scope of what it calls its “special military operation” that focuses on eastern and southern Ukraine, where Ukraine is fighting to regain the territory .
Kiev, which says it is fighting for its survival in a war of colonial conquest, says it wants all of its territory back, including the Crimean peninsula that is home to Russia’s Black Sea naval base.
Shoigu told a meeting of military officials that Moscow had information that Ukraine planned to attack Crimea with US-supplied HIMARS long-range rocket systems and British-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missiles.
“The use of these missiles outside the zone of our special military operation would mean that the United States and Britain would be completely dragged into the conflict and would involve immediate attacks on decision-making centers in Ukraine,” Shoigu said .
Ukrainian generals and politicians have said many times that they do not announce their military plans in advance.
Shoigu said Ukraine’s armed forces had carried out 263 strikes against Russian forces’ positions since June 4, referring to what Moscow sees as the start of Ukraine’s counteroffensive.
“Thanks to the smart and selfless actions of our units, all of them (attacks) have been repelled, the enemy has not achieved their goals,” Shoigu said.
Ukraine says it has recaptured eight villages in the early stages of its counteroffensive and a defense official has vowed that the “biggest blow” to Kiev is expected despite stiff resistance from Moscow’s troops.
Martha MchardyJune 20, 2023 12:28 p.m
“I delayed the invasion of Ukraine by several years,” says Donald Trump
Former US President Donald Trump has claimed he delayed invading Russia by several years after he told the Russian president: “Don’t do it.”
Trump also claimed that if he had remained in office, Vladimir Putin would not have invaded Ukraine.
“I have a very good relationship with Putin. I mean, I haven’t spoken to him in a while, but I have a very strong relationship with Putin,” the former president said.
He added: “Look, I talked to him. I said, if you do it, there’s going to be hell to pay. It’s going to be a catastrophe. Don’t do it.”
Donald Trump previously claimed that he would have ended the war between Russia and Ukraine within 24 hours.
Martha MchardyJune 20, 2023 11:55 am
The Kremlin says it sees little reason for peace talks in Ukraine after the African mission
Russia sees little chance of peace talks with Ukraine because of Kiev’s stance on the issue despite the constructive efforts of an African peacekeeping mission, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had held “very productive” talks with African leaders on Saturday and remained open to dialogue and contacts on Ukraine, Peskov said.
But he told reporters that what he called the history of Kiev’s position meant that “one can hardly talk about stable bases” for peace negotiations.
Martha MchardyJune 20, 2023 11:47 am
Russia jails dual national for fighting for Ukraine
A Russian court has sentenced a dual Ukrainian-Russian national to 16 years in prison on terrorism-related charges for fighting alongside Kiev’s forces in Ukraine.
Denis Muryga was charged by a Russian military court with fighting as part of Ukraine’s Aidar battalion, Russian news agencies reported.
Muryga joined the Ukrainian force in 2015, according to investigators.
He was accused of blowing up a bridge in Russian-controlled Luhansk, which “caused the death of people”.
RIA Novosti reported: “The accused fully admitted his guilt and repented. During the discussion of the case, the prosecutor asked the court to appoint him 18 years in a penal colony with a strict regime, the lawyer told him he asked for a minimum term”.
Martha MchardyJune 20, 2023 11:44 am
Kiev in talks with Western arms manufacturers to establish production in Ukraine
Ukraine is in negotiations with Western arms manufacturers to increase weapons production, Reuters reported.
Sergiy Boyev, Deputy Minister of Strategic Industries in Ukraine, said: “We are in very detailed discussions with them. And we are sure that we will have the contracts signed in the coming months.”
Boyev said that Ukraine is in talks with manufacturers from Germany, Italy, France and the East europe on the production of weapons, including drones, in Ukraine itself.
The contracts could be signed in the coming months, Boyev said.
Martha MchardyJune 20, 2023 11:37 am
Russian mercenary chief says his fighters still haven’t received promised medals as row with Kremlin continues
Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin complained on Tuesday that most of his fighters had yet to receive medals promised by President Vladimir Putin for their role in the bloodiest battle of the Ukraine war, the latest twist in a fight with the top leaders.
Prigozhin’s private Wagner army led the assault on the eastern city of Bakhmut, captured last month by Russian forces after nine months of fighting.
Putin congratulated Wagner and the Russian military at the time and said that all those who distinguished themselves would receive state awards.
But Prigozhin, who has publicly accused the Defense Ministry and its leadership of incompetence and failing to adequately supply his forces, said most of his men had not been decorated.
(REUTERS)
“Of the state awards for Bakhmut, only Hero of Russia stars have been received. Nothing has been awarded to the fighters, the bulk of the fighters. The lists are from the Ministry of Defense,” he said in a statement by his press office.
“According to my information, there is a commotion to sign the awards. Everyone has already forgotten that they fought and died there,” Prigozhin added, accusing the generals of “adorning themselves with trinkets.”
There was no immediate reaction to his criticism from the Ministry of Defense which has ignored his public complaints.
His outburst comes as he remains locked in a murky standoff with the defense ministry over an order for mercenary groups like his to sign formal contracts with the ministry by July 1.
The move would more closely integrate Wagner and Prigozhin into the command structure of the Ministry of Defense in a subordinate position.
Prigozhin initially refused to sign anything, and has since said, without providing details, that he himself is proposing an alternative contract.
Martha MchardyJune 20, 2023 11:11 am
