The Russian military has warned that it could hit Ukraine’s decision-making centers in the Ukrainian capital and said it would not be stopped by the possible presence of Western advisers there.
Russia’s Defense Ministry on Tuesday accused the United Kingdom of making statements encouraging Ukraine to use Western weapons to strike on Russian territory, warning that if that happened, the Russian military could retaliate by hitting government structures in Kyiv.
It points directly to UK Secretary of the Armed Forces James Happy, who told Times Radio that “it is not necessarily a problem” if British-donated weapons from Britain are used to destroy objects on Russian soil.
The ministry said in a statement that “the Russian armed forces are ready to retaliate with long-range precision weapons at centers in Kyiv that would make such decisions.” It notes that “the presence of citizens of one of the Western countries in the Ukrainian decision-making centers will not necessarily be a problem for Russia in deciding to retaliate.”
Until now, the Russian military has avoided hitting presidential, government and military headquarters in Kyiv during its campaign in Ukraine, which is in its third month.
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KEY DEVELOPMENT OF THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR:
– Putin gets what he did not want: the Ukrainian army is closer to the West
– A senior Russian diplomat warns Ukraine not to provoke World War II
– The winner of France Macron increases weapons, betting in Ukraine
– Ukrainian Orchestra of Freedom, organized by Met, Polish operas
– Follow all AP stories about Russia’s war against Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:
WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Anthony Blinken calls on Congress to fully fund the Biden administration’s proposed budget for the State Department, telling lawmakers that spending is crucial to ensuring Ukraine’s war is a “strategic failure” for Russia and a message to others. who can invade their neighbors.
Blinken said his weekend visit to Kyiv with Defense Minister Lloyd Austin left him with the “indelible impression” that Ukraine was winning, especially in the capital. “This was right in front of us: the Ukrainians won the battle for Kyiv,” he said.
Blinken told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday that the US-led global response to the Russian invasion had “emphasized the strength and purpose of US diplomacy”. He said the $ 60.4 billion budget proposal for next fiscal year is needed to continue to unite partners and allies in the cause.
“We will, we must continue to move this diplomacy forward, to take advantage of what I believe are strategic opportunities and to deal with the risks posed by Russia’s excessive reach, as countries reconsider their policies and priorities.” your relationship, “Blinken said. “The request for a budget before you was before this crisis, but its full funding is crucial in my view to ensure that Russia’s war in Ukraine is a strategic failure for the Kremlin and serves as a powerful lesson for those who could to consider following his path.
Blinken did not name other nations that could consider following Russia’s example, but his comment was seen as a veiled reference to China, which sided with Russia in the conflict in Ukraine and made no secret of its desire to reunite Taiwan with the drought.
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CHERNOBYL, Ukraine – The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency says an incident may have occurred when Russian troops took control of the site of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident during the war in Ukraine.
Speaking during a visit to the former nuclear power plant on Tuesday on the 36th anniversary of the crash, Rafael Mariano Grossi said that “the situation in 1986 was completely different. In this case, what we had was a nuclear safety situation that was not normal and could have turned into an accident. “
Russian troops moved to the radiation-contaminated Chernobyl exclusion zone in February on their way to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and withdrew late last month as Russia shifted its focus to fighting in eastern Ukraine. Now the site is back in Ukrainian hands and communications that were cut off have been restored.
Russian forces continue to operate a nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, the Zaporozhye plant, where fighting took place nearby in early March, damaging the plant’s training base.
“It is clear that the physical integrity of a nuclear power plant, Zaporozhye, was compromised, and we had situations where the external power supply was interrupted, including here (Chernobyl), so there were a number of events that compromised the normal operation of any nuclear power plant. “Grossi said.
“They were avoided, but, of course, as I said, the situation was not stable and we must be vigilant.
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TOKYO – Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Tuesday announced an emergency package of 6.2 trillion yen ($ 48.7 billion) to reduce the impact of rising prices on gasoline, cereals and other raw materials due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The package includes additional subsidies for petrol, financial support for small and medium-sized businesses affected by the pandemic, and support for low-income households.
At a time when the pandemic is still affecting people’s daily lives and the economy, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has exacerbated global insecurity, causing rising oil and grain prices, disrupting a stable supply of seafood and raw materials and causing insecurity in Kishida’s lives. said. “We need to ensure a sense of security among the people.
About a quarter of the package will be used to deal with rising crude oil prices. To curb rising gasoline prices, the government will increase subsidies to oil distributors and extend the program until the end of September.
The package will also support small and medium-sized businesses affected by the pandemic and provide support for low-income households, as well as fisheries, logging and wheat.
Kishida also said that Japan will maximize renewable energy and promote nuclear energy after the decision to stop importing coal from Russia. He said the government would ensure the stability of energy, materials and food supplies by diversifying exporters.
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Kyiv, Ukraine – Ukrainian authorities say the Russian military has struck a strategic bridge connecting the southern region of Odessa with neighboring Romania.
Alexander Kamishin, head of Ukraine’s state railways, said the bridge over the Dniester estuary, where the Dniester River flows into the Black Sea, was damaged in a rocket attack by Russian forces on Tuesday. He said no one was injured.
The strike cut off the railway connection with the Odessa region west of the estuary and Romania.
The Russian attack was followed by a series of strikes on key railway facilities in Ukraine by the Russian military on Monday.
This comes after a statement by a senior Russian military officer last week that Russia aims to take control of the entire southern part of Ukraine and build a land corridor to Moldova’s separatist Transnistrian region, where tensions have escalated in recent days.
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WARSAW, Poland – The Polish government has said it is imposing sanctions on 50 Russian legal entities and individuals over Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski said on Tuesday that the Polish measures are in addition to European Union sanctions and are aimed at many Russian individuals and companies doing business in Poland.
Kaminski said the assets of the target companies would be frozen and excluded from public tenders, and Russian oligarchs on the list would be barred from entering Poland.
Gas giant Gazprom and Moshe Cantor, which owns a stake in Poland’s state chemical group Azoty, are on the new list.
Cantor recently resigned as head of the European Jewish Congress after Britain imposed sanctions on him over his alleged ties to the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Poland, a staunch supporter of Kyiv, has accepted millions of refugees and announced plans Monday to send an unspecified number of tanks to Ukraine.
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STOCKHOLM – The Swedish Foreign Minister condemned as “unjustified and disproportionate” the decision of the Russian authorities to expel several Swedish diplomats.
Anne Linde promised in a social media post that Sweden would respond “appropriately” to the expulsion announced on Tuesday by four Swedish diplomats from Moscow. Separately, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that three diplomats “from the Swedish Embassy in Russia” will be expelled.
The Swedish news agency TT reported that three of the diplomats were based in Moscow, where the embassy is located, and one in St. Petersburg.
Linde wrote on Twitter: “By expelling Western diplomats, Russia is isolating itself internationally.”
Russia has generally sought to keep expulsions symmetrical to European countries’ actions to expel Russian diplomats over President Vladimir Putin’s military campaign in Ukraine.
Earlier this month, Sweden expelled three Russian diplomats.
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Kyiv, Ukraine – Ukrainian authorities say more civilian deaths have been reported in various parts of eastern Ukraine as Russian forces stepped up attacks Tuesday.
Luhansk Governor Sergei Haidai said three people had died after Russian shells struck a residential building in the town of Popasna that Russian forces were trying to seize.
The governor of the neighboring Donetsk region, Pavlo Kirilenko, said two people had been killed and six others injured in his region, writing on social media that “Russians continue to deliberately shoot at civilians and destroy critical infrastructure.”
North of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, District Governor Oleh Sinekhubov said three people were killed and seven others were injured in shelling of civilian areas.
And further south, the regional authorities in Zaporozhye …
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