Photo: The Canadian Press
Engineers inspected the bombed bridge connecting Kyiv with Irpin, Ukraine, on Wednesday.
Russian authorities have accused Ukrainian forces of carrying out air strikes on Russia’s Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, the latest in a series of allegations of cross-border attacks by Kyiv on Russian territory.
Russia’s Investigative Committee claims that two Ukrainian military helicopters entered Russian airspace on Thursday and, “moving at low altitudes, acting intentionally, inflicted at least six air strikes on apartment buildings in the village of Klimovo”, about 11 kilometers from the Russian border.
It says at least six houses in the village were damaged and seven people, including a small child, were injured. The commission of inquiry has launched an investigation into the attack.
Earlier on Thursday, Russia’s State Security Service or the FSB also accused Ukrainian forces of shelling a border checkpoint near Bryansk on Wednesday.
Reports cannot be verified independently. Earlier this month, senior Ukrainian security officials denied that Kyiv was behind an air strike against an oil depot in the Russian city of Belgorod, 35 miles from the border.
LVIV, Ukraine – Russia’s Defense Ministry says the fire on the cruiser Moscow, the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, has been contained. It is stated that the ship remains on the surface and will be towed to the port.
The ministry said in a statement on Thursday that no more fire had been found on the ship and the explosions of ammunition had stopped. “The main missile weapons are not damaged,” the statement said.
However, Ukrainian officials say the ship has sunk, saying it was a “loud slap” to Moscow’s forces. Conflicting accounts could not be reconciled immediately.
Alexei Arestovich, an adviser in the Ukrainian president’s office, said in a Facebook post that 510 crew members were aboard the cruiser Moscow, which sank in the Black Sea after severe damage from a Ukrainian missile strike.
Military analyst Oleg Zhdanov said the damage to Moscow significantly boosted the morale of Ukrainian forces on the eve of a new wave of Russian offensives in Donbass.
In the early hours of Thursday, Russia’s defense ministry said the ship had suffered “serious damage” after its munitions were detonated “as a result of a fire”. The ministry did not attribute the fire to a missile strike.
GENEVA – The International Committee of the Red Cross says it is launching its largest financial aid program to help more than 2 million people in Ukraine or fleeing abroad cope with the effects of the Russian invasion.
Nicole Robische, a spokeswoman for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said Thursday that the organization plans to distribute “well over 100 million” Swiss francs – about $ 106 million – to people affected by Russia’s seven-week war in Ukraine. .
Humanitarian groups such as the IFRC have recently promoted the effectiveness of cash assistance programs for people affected by events such as natural disasters, drought, famine and conflict as a way to “allow people to decide what they need” and to return money to the local economy, “Robisho said by telephone.
The program aims to help about 360,000 people in Ukraine and many others in asylum countries.
The IFRC says national Red Cross organizations have already helped more than 1 million people with items such as blankets, food, mats and kitchen equipment.
LONDON – The British Foreign Office said it was freezing assets worth up to 10 billion pounds ($ 13.1 billion) belonging to two Russian oligarchs described as longtime business partners of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.
Officials said on Thursday that Eugene Tenenbaum took control of Evrington Investments Ltd., an Abramovich-linked investment company, immediately after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24th. Tenenbaum, who is also the director of Chelsea Football Club, has been frozen.
The other sanctioned Russian is David Davidovich, who was subject to an asset freeze and a travel ban.
The move came after the Norman island of Jersey said this week it was freezing $ 7 billion in assets allegedly linked to Abramovich, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The British government said the measures “cut key sources of revenue for Putin’s military machine” amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that attempts by Western countries to stop importing Russian gas will have a negative impact on their economies.
Speaking on Thursday, Putin said European attempts to find alternatives to Russian gas supplies would be “quite painful for the initiators of such policies”.
He claims that “there is simply no reasonable replacement for him in Europe now”.
Putin noted that “supplies from other countries that can be sent to Europe, mainly from the United States, would cost consumers many times more.” He added that this “will affect people’s living standards and the competitiveness of the European economy”.
The European Union depends on Russia for 40% of its natural gas and 25% of its oil.
Kyiv, Ukraine – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he is “sincerely grateful” to the United States for a new round of $ 800 million in military aid.
In his daily late-night address to the nation, Zelenski also said he was grateful for the visit of the presidents of Poland, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia on Wednesday.
He said that these leaders “helped us from day one, those who did not hesitate to give us weapons, those who did not doubt whether to impose sanctions.”
In a telephone conversation with US President Joe Biden Zelensky, they said they discussed the new arms supply, even tougher sanctions against Russia and efforts to bring justice to Russian soldiers who have committed war crimes in Ukraine.
Zelensky also said work to clear tens of thousands of unexploded ordnance, mines and cables left in northern Ukraine by retreating Russians continues.
He called on people returning home to these cities to watch out for any unfamiliar items and report to police.
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