Ukrainian military says Russian forces continue offensives in eastern Ukraine near Bakhmut Russia amassing aircraft near Ukraine border, Western intelligence indicates Ukraine deploys 5,000 more troops to Zaporozhye direction Ukraine expected to conduct offensive against Russia in the spring, US defense secretary says After attacks on energy system, Russians want to deprive Ukrainians of water – Ukraine's Prime Minister A year after Russia invaded Ukraine, Putin is beginning new offensives – and he desperately needs a victory Japan protests to China over suspected spy balloons Raisi's visit to Beijing expected to deepen China-Iran relations: Iranian FM Drone shows destruction in Turkish city before and after quake Welcome to the international news program. Highlights related to tensions in Europe, along with many new developments around the world, will be presented to you on today's program. According to the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on Tuesday. Russian forces are carrying out air and ground offensives in eastern Ukraine near Bakhmut Shakhtarsk, and other towns in the Donetsk region, "The enemy continues to concentrate their main efforts at assaulting in the Kupiansk, Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Shakhtarsk directions," the military said "Enemy aircraft are actively operating." "The enemy conducted air strikes near Avdiivka and Vuhledar," the Ukrainian General Staff claimed. "The Palace of Culture which is operating as a humanitarian aid center was damaged.
A medical facility was damaged as well," according to the update. The update also said several people were wounded in Russian shelling on civilian facilities in Kherson city, Beryslav, and Ochakiv in the Mykolaiv region Western intelligence officials have reportedly said. Russia is amassing fighter jets and helicopters close to the border with Ukraine News of the development has prompted suggestions that Vladimir Putin's forces are seeking to turn their troubled invasion into an "air fight".
While US defence secretary Lloyd Austin insisted the US did not see imminent signs of a "massive aerial attack", he is said to have highlighted the threat of Russia's significant remaining air force in a meeting with NATO allies today. And the FT reports that intelligence shared among member states revealed the build-up of aircraft near the Russia-Ukraine border fuelling demands for urgent shipments of air defence assets and artillery ammunition to Kyiv. The newspaper quotes a senior US administration official as saying of Mr Austin's briefing to allies "He was very clear that we have a short window of time to help the Ukrainians to prepare for an offensive "The Russian land forces are pretty depleted so it’s the best indication that they will turn this into an air fight.
If the Ukrainians are going to survive ... they need to have as many air defence capabilities and as much ammunition ... as possible." Russia has not yet commented on the Western speculation. Vladimir Rogov, leader of the We Are Together with Russia movement, said on Tuesday.
Some 5,000 more Ukrainian troops have been deployed to the Zaporozhye direction over the past week, "Today, their (Ukrainian troops - TASS) number has increased by nearly 5,000 literally in a week," he said in an interview with Radio Russia. According to Rogov, Ukraine had about 20,000 troops in this direction until recently. the situation along the Zaporozhye combat engagement line remains stable, despite Ukraine’s reinforcement.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he expects to see Ukraine conduct an offensive in the spring. He said in a news conference in Brussels on Tuesday. “What Ukraine wants to do at the first possible moment is to establish or create momentum and establish conditions on the battlefield “And so we expect to see them conduct an offensive sometime in the spring we all of the partners in in the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, have been working hard to ensure that they have the armored capability the fires, the sustainment to be able to be effective in creating the effects on the battlefield that they want to create,” he said. "In terms of munitions, it has been a tough fight throughout, and Ukraine has been at this for a year.
And so they have used a lot of artillery ammunition. We're going to do everything we can working with our international partners to ensure that we give them as much ammunition as quickly as possible"Austin replied. The US secretary of defense went on to say that Ukrainian servicemen undergo training in various European countries. the training will allow the armed forces of Ukraine to reduce the number of munitions they have to use in combat.
Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley are in Brussels for the ninth meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which focuses on providing support to Ukraine in its war against Russia. Austin is also participating in a meeting with NATO's defense ministers.
The one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion is just over a week away. German Defense minister Boris Pistorius said Germany has signed contracts with Rheinmetall to restart the production of ammunition for the Gepard anti-aircraft guns it has delivered to Kyiv, Pistorius said before a meeting with NATO ministers in Brussels. We will quickly start our own production of Gepard ammunition at Rheinmetall am very happy we have been able to guarantee the delivery of this important part of air defense," Germany has been trying for months to find new munitions for the Gepard anti-aircraft guns which its own military had decommissioned in 2010. In the midst of the West's efforts to aid Ukraine, red warnings about the possibility of Russia starting a great spring war were continuously raised Russian President Vladimir Putin and his military began to assemble the pieces of the 2023 offensives late last year The massive attacks last week were most likely a way for the country to "spy" to test Ukraine's strength, force layout and ability to resist. As a result of the casualties suffered in the first six months of the war, Putin announced a partial mobilisation on September 21, 2022. Then, in order to provide the political rationale for his war and the forthcoming offensives, he announced the annexation of Ukrainian territory in late September.
The final piece of this puzzle was the changes in command announced in early January. By placing General Valery Gerasimov in overall command in Ukraine, Putin hopes to see more offensive action than under his defensively minded predecessor, General Sergey Surovikin. Why is Russia beginning these offensive activities in Ukraine now? There are three reasons. The first and most important is political. Putin needs a victory. His forces over the past 12 months have suffered battlefield defeats in the north, south and east of Ukraine. Putin needs offensives to take ground and generate momentum in Ukraine as well as in the global influence battle.
And he has to demonstrate to the Russian people by the first anniversary of his invasion. A second reason Russia offensives is to disrupt future Ukrainian offensives. Finally, the Russian high command will want to ensure Russian forces are in a better position, in the east and south of Ukraine to hold more defensible ground before the full effect of recent Western donations of tanks, armoured vehicles and munitions Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal at a government meeting on Tuesday The Russians are releasing water from the Kakhovka Reservoir in order to deprive Ukrainians who receive water from the Dnipro river of access to water supply The Prime Minister said" Today, Russia is trying to make living conditions in Ukraine unbearable.
14 missile attacks on the Ukrainian energy sector. The last attack on the power system on February 10 lasted for more than a day. Missiles and drones were fired at 6 power facilities and 7 high-voltage substations of the main power grid," Power engineers have already managed to quickly supply power to consumers in Odesa and the surrounding areas, as well as parts of Kherson and Kharkiv Oblasts. "But the enemy does not stop. Now the Russians are trying to deprive Ukrainians of the access to water supply.
After the partial destruction and deliberate opening of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant’s gates by the Russians, we lose thousands of cubic meters of water every day As a result, 70% of the settlements that receive water from the Dnipro may be left without access to drinking water," added Shmyhal. At the same time, the nuclear threat is even greater because a decrease in water level in a storage facility may lead to improper functioning of the cooling systems of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. "Ukraine calls for all available means to put pressure on Russia to close the gates and restore the hydraulic structures at the Kakhovka HPP – or allow Ukrainian specialists to do so. otherwise we will face an environmental disaster that will have countless destructive consequences for the entire continent," Lu Xiang, research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Science said Russia's strategic targets in the special military operation have basically been achieved, while Ukraine has no independent defense capability at all, as it relies on the United States and NATO "The truth is, Russia's strategic targets have basically been achieved," Lu told the Global Times.
According to the expert, Russia "has established a stable front in the east of the Dnieper River," from where it can now launch attacks westward. As for Ukraine’s armed forces, those have "no independent defense capability at all," and Kiev " is 100% reliant on assistance from the US and NATO," Lu added. The Chinese expert also believes the West "has exaggerated Russia's strategic ambitions too hard." According to Lu, deliveries of more advanced Western weapons to Kiev may risk expanding the conflict. In a potential escalation, Poland and Romania, would be "the first to suffer," the Chinese expert warned He added that US would face "a truly policy-making dilemma.
If the conflict spills over, the expert explained, the global impact would be "100 times more severe" than the hostilities that started on February 24, 2022, Lu said. Japan plans to bulk-order Tomahawk cruise missiles from the United States by March next year as it begins a rapid military build-up Minister of Defense Yasukazu Hamada said on Tuesday. Hamada said at a regular news briefing. Japan wants to conclude a contract during the next financial year, which begins April 1, to buy Raytheon Technologies Corp (RTX.N) Tomahawks through the U.S. government's foreign military sales (FMS) programme, Japan's latest defence budget, which will jump by a quarter from last year, includes $1.6 billion to buy the cruise missiles part of its biggest military build-up since World War Two.
The government hasn't said how many it will buy, but local media reports said it wants as many as 500. Japan wants the cruise missile to give its military the capability to strike targets far from Japan to deter potential adversaries The ship-launched version of the munition, which can fly more than 1,000 kilometres, The U.S. military said on Monday it had recovered critical electronics from the suspected Chinese spy balloon downed by a U.S. fighter jet on Feb. 4, including key sensors presumably used for intelligence gathering.
the U.S. military's Northern Command said in a statement. "Crews have been able to recover significant debris from the site, including all of the priority sensor and electronics pieces identified as well as large sections of the structure," The Chinese balloon, spent a week flying over the United States and Canada before President Joe Biden ordered it shot down. The Chinese side emphasized that the hot air balloon used for civilian purposes had strayed to the US unexpectedly. Beijing criticized Washington for overreacting and warned it would take appropriate countermeasures.
Japanese officials say unidentified flying objects spotted in the country's airspace in recent years are strongly suspected to have been Chinese spy balloons. The Defense Ministry announced their analysis on Tuesday. Balloon-like objects were spotted over Japan's territory at least three times between 2019 and 2021. Officials urged Beijing to confirm details and prevent the recurrence of such incidents.
They told their counterparts that violation of airspace by foreign spy balloons cannot be tolerated. Defense Ministry sources say the analysis is based on intelligence from the United States about the Chinese balloon the US military shot down on February 4. China responded by claiming that high-altitude balloons from the US have flown through its airspace without permission more than 10 times since the start of 2022. Washington denies the allegation. The US also downed three unidentified flying objects over North America this month.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday (February 13) that the four aerial objects shot down in recent days including one over Yukon territory on Saturday, are connected in some way, without elaborating. Trudeau told reporters in a news conference in Whitehorse, Yukon's capital Obviously there is some sort of pattern in there, the fact we are seeing this in a significant degree over the past week is a cause for interest and close attention," A U.S. F-16 fighter jet shot down an octagonal-shaped object over Lake Huron on the U.S.-Canada border. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the priority was to locate debris from unidentified objects shot down General Austin added that Americans on the ground have not been threatened by flying objects that have been shot down for more than a week.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi is on a visit to China, a trip lasting from February 14 to 16, at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping. The visit is expected to contribute to deepening the relationship between the two countries. Raisi, 63, he was elected to the presidency in June 2021 and sworn in as president in August the same year. Speaking at a weekly press conference, spokesman Nasser Kanaani said during President Raisi's visit to China, he will discuss cooperation with China in various fields such as economics, trade and culture.
"From a political point of view, President Raisi's visit to China is of great importance and special significance. It shows that relations between the two countries continue to develop The visit will reflect the political will of the leaders of the two countries on issues such as expanding bilateral relations and safeguarding common interests," he said. China's foreign ministry said Xi told Raisi that his country will unswervingly develop friendly cooperation with Iran, no matter how the international and regional situation changes.
Xi reportedly stressed that China will advance the comprehensive strategic partnership between their countries That's a 25-year cooperation agreement which covers a wide range of sectors. Xi also voiced China's opposition to external forces interfering in Iran's internal affairs and undermining its security and stability. The two leaders then witnessed the signing of cooperation agreements in a range of areas, including agriculture and trade.
A senior Israeli official said on Monday. Israel was not surprised by U.S. opposition to its decision to retroactively authorize nine Jewish settler outposts in the occupied West Bank U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said such unilateral moves exacerbate tensions and undermine peace prospects.
In addition, he also said that the above decision of Israel goes against the goal of promoting the two-state solution. At the same time, it affects the vision of security, freedom, prosperity, and dignity of the people of Israel and Palestine. The senior Israeli official, who declined to be identified, said Israel and the United States have disagreed on this issue for decades. "These disagreements did not hurt and will not hurt the strong alliance between Israel and the United States," the official said. An official of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
China will take targeted measures to consolidate the foundation of grain production and improve the efficiency of agricultural production The 14 billion people in China need to consume 700,000 tons of grain, 98,000 tons of edible oil, 92 million tons of vegetables and 230,000 tons of meat every day, and so it requires huge efforts to guarantee grain production and the supply of important agricultural products. In order to meet such a huge demand, China's annual sown area of grain, cotton, oil, sugar and vegetables is stable at 153 to 160 million hectares. Zhang said that China has already explored a set of policy systems and working mechanisms that are effective in ensuring grain production capacity. On the one hand, China will fully implement the grain production strategy based on farmland management and technological application On the other, China will generalize agricultural services and mechanize agricultural production to save costs and increase efficiency, which will improve the quality of agricultural products.
Syrians living in the rebel-held town of Jandaris camped outside on Monday (February 13 as their homes have partially collapsed due to a devastating earthquake a week ago. One 53-year-old father of three, who gave his named as Abu Abed al-Khalek is living with his family in their front yard after they managed to escape the collapsing ceiling of their house without injury. Currently, the family has carpeted sleeping in the backyard. "God almighty miraculously saved us all and we ran outside", Abu Abed al-Khalek said. Another resident of the town, Abdelrahman Ghilan, 36, has also put together a shelter for his wife and four children after their home partially collapsed. The family sleeps in a shelter combining their car with a UNHCR tent and hung around with blankets to keep out the wind.
Ghilan, said he had seen houses in the town collapse and one of his neighbours lost two children when their home was destroyed. The combined death toll in Turkey and Syria from the magnitude quake massive tremor climbed above 37,000 on Monday Many countries continue to step up aid to disaster areas. The White House on Monday (February 13) said the United States is prepared to provide any and all aid to earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria. A convoy of 10 trucks crossed into Syria on Sunday (February 12) bringing the number of trucks that crossed the border to a total of 52 "It's critical for the Security Council to authorize two additional crossings to deliver life-saving assistance. We cannot delay any longer," Jean-Pierre said.
An Emirati aid plane carrying essential medical supplies for quake-hit Syria landed in Latakia airport on Monday (February 13). Departing from Abu Dhabi, the plane carried supplies to be distributed to clinics and hospitals in areas devastated by the earthquake. Drone footage of Turkish city of Kahramanmaras revealed the extent of devastation from the earthquake on Tuesday (February 14) The stadium, which used to be the city's sports center, has now become a rescue site for victims of natural disasters.
Previously surrounded by a bustling residential area, the neighbourhood is now lined with damaged facades and piles of rubble where buildings have totally collapsed. the country’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said on Tuesday. The death toll from powerful earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria last week has risen to 31,974 It said that nearly 195,962 victims have been evacuated from the quake zone in southern Turkey. The destruction in Turkey could cost Ankara up to $84.1 billion, a business group said, while a government official put the figure at more than $50 billion. The earthquake is currently the sixth-worst natural disaster in terms of loss of life this century.
The earthquake is the deadliest in Turkey since 1939
2023-02-16