International

Ukraine isn’t naive, Zelenskiy says after Russia pledges to scale down attack on Kyiv

Published

2 years ago

March 30, 2022

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy

Ukraine reacted with skepticism to Russia’s promise in negotiations to scale down military operations around Kyiv and another city as some Western countries expected Moscow to intensify its offensive in other parts of the country.

Talks took place in an Istanbul palace more than a month into the largest attack on a European nation since World War Two that has killed or injured thousands, forced nearly 4 million to flee abroad and pummelled Russia’s economy with sanctions.

The invasion has been halted on most fronts by stiff resistance from Ukrainian forces who have recaptured territory even as civilians are trapped in besieged cities.

“In order to increase mutual trust and create the necessary conditions for further negotiations and achieving the ultimate goal of agreeing and signing (an) agreement, a decision was made to radically, by a large margin, reduce military activity in the Kyiv and Chernihiv directions,” Russian Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin told reporters.

He made no mention of other areas that have seen heavy fighting, including around Mariupol in the southeast, Sumy and Kharkiv in the east and Kherson and Mykolaiv in the south.

“Ukrainians are not naive people,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said late on Tuesday.

“Ukrainians have already learned during these 34 days of invasion, and over the past eight years of the war in Donbass, that the only thing they can trust is a concrete result.”

The general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces said that Russia’s promise to curtail military operations in some areas was “probably a rotation of individual units and aims to mislead.”

The Russian military accused Ukrainian forces in cities under attack of using ceasefires to restore their combat readiness and set up firing points in hospitals and schools, Interfax news agency said.

Russia has started moving very small numbers of troops away from positions around Kyiv in a move that is more of a repositioning than a retreat or a withdrawal from the war, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.

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“We all should be prepared to watch for a major offensive against other areas of Ukraine,” spokesman John Kirby told a news briefing. “It does not mean that the threat to Kyiv is over.”

Britain’s Ministry of Defence in an intelligence update said: “It is highly likely that Russia will seek to divert combat power from the north to their offensive in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in the east.”

Reuters could not immediately verify the claims made by either side.

The Moscow-backed self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine may consider joining Russia once it controls all of Ukraine’s Donetsk region, its leader was quoted as saying. Kyiv has said any such move would have no legal basis.

Russia calls its assault a “special operation” to disarm and “denazify” Ukraine. The West says it launched an unprovoked invasion.

Some analysts noted that Russia’s promise to reduce fighting mostly covered areas where it has been losing ground.

U.S. troops in Poland are “liaising” with Ukrainian forces as they hand over weapons to them and a total of 10 F-18 aircraft and more than 200 troops are being deployed to NATO member and Russian neighbour, Lithuania, said Kirby.

PROPOSALS

Ukrainian negotiators said that under their proposals, Kyiv would agree not to join alliances or host bases of foreign troops, but would have security guaranteed in terms similar to “Article 5”, the collective defence clause of the transatlantic NATO military alliance.

They named Israel and NATO members Canada, Poland and Turkey as countries that may give such guarantees. Russia, the United States, Britain, Germany and Italy could also be involved.

The proposals, which would require a referendum in Ukraine, mentioned a 15-year consultation period on the status of Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014.

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The fate of the southeastern Donbass region, which Russia demands Ukraine cede to separatists, would be discussed by the Ukrainian and Russian leaders.

Kyiv’s proposals also included one that Moscow would not oppose Ukraine joining the European Union, Russia’s lead negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said. Russia has previously opposed Ukrainian membership of the EU and especially of NATO.

Medinsky said Russia’s delegation would study and present the proposals to President Vladimir Putin.

To prepare a peace agreement, Medinsky later told the TASS news agency, “We still have a long way to go”.

U.S. President Joe Biden discussed with allies more financial aid of up to $500 million for Ukraine, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters.

MARIUPOL DEATH TOLL

On the ground, reports of attacks continued.

A shell hit a temporary Russian military camp near the border with Ukraine late on Tuesday, Tass news agency said and cited a source as saying preliminary data showed it had been fired from the Ukrainian side.

Tass issued the report shortly after a senior local official reported a series of explosions outside the Russian city of Belgorod, close to the border with Ukraine. Reuters could not immediately verify the details.

In Ukraine’s besieged seaport Mariupol, thousands of civilians may have died, the head of the United Nations human rights mission in the country told Reuters on Tuesday.

Those who remain are suffering.

“We are eight people. We have two buckets of potatoes, one bucket of onions,” said Irina, an engineer, in her apartment where windows had been blasted out.

Elsewhere, Ukrainian forces have made advances, recapturing territory from Russian troops on the outskirts of Kyiv, in the northeast and in the south.

In the southern city of Mykolaiv, a missile blasted a hole through the main administrative building. Authorities said at least 12 people were killed and 33 injured.

Reuters

Related Topics:Kyiv naive Russia Ukraine Zelenskiy

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International

BREAKING : Israel launches deadly attacks on Iran

Published

6 hours ago

April 19, 2024

Trends Admin

File photo

BREAKING : Israel launches deadly attacks on Iran

Israel has attacked Iran, three people familiar with the matter said, as Iranian state media reported early on Friday that its forces had destroyed drones, days after Iran launched a retaliatory drone strike on Israel.

One source told Reuters the U.S. was not involved but was notified by Israel before the attack.

Iran’s Fars news agency reported three explosions were heard near an army base in the central city of Isfahan. An Iranian official told Reuters there was no missile attack and the explosions were the result of the activation of Iran’s air defense systems.

Iranian state TV said that shortly after midnight “three drones were observed in the sky over Isfahan. The air defense system became active and destroyed these drones in the sky.”

The broadcaster later said the situation in Isfahan was normal and no ground explosions had occurred.

The Israeli military had no comment on the reports.

Israel had said it would retaliate, opens new tab against Iran’s weekend attack, which involved hundreds of drones, opens new tab and missiles, in response to a suspected Israeli strike on its embassy compound in Syria. Most of the Iranian drones and missiles were downed before reaching Israeli territory.

Analysts and observers have raised concerns about the risks of the Israel-Gaza war spreading into the rest of the region.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi had warned Israel before Friday’s strike that Tehran would deliver a “severe response” to any attack on its territory.

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Iran told the United Nations Security Council on Thursday that Israel “must be compelled to stop any further military adventurism against our interests” as the U.N. secretary-general warned that the Middle East was in a “moment of maximum peril.”

Asian shares and bond yields sank on Friday while safe-haven currencies, gold and crude oil jumped. Brent crude futures rose 2% to $88.86 a barrel, the dollar gained broadly, gold rose 1% and S&P 500 futures dropped 1%.
Iran’s state television said nuclear facilities where Iran has been conducting work – which Tehran says is peaceful but which the West believes is aimed at building a weapon – were unharmed.

The Natanz nuclear site, the centerpiece of Iran’s uranium enrichment program, is in Isfahan province.

Airports in Tehran, Shiraz and Isfahan were closed until 0700 GMT, subject to extension, and flights have been cleared from the western half of Iran, slight tracking website FlightRadar24 reported.

Some flights destined for Tehran from Turkish Airlines and Emirates were returning to their origin, FlightRadar24 said on X. An Iran Air flight from Rome to Tehran was diverting to Ankara, Turkey, it showed.

FlightRadar24 showed Emirates, flydubai, Turkish Air, Wizz Air Abu Dhabi and Belavia were among the carriers continuing to use the part of Iran’s airspace that remained open on Friday morning.

Israel’s assault on Gaza began after Palestinian Islamist group Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200, according to Israeli tallies. Israel’s military offensive has killed over 33,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the local health ministry.

Iran-backed groups have declared support for Palestinians, launching attacks from Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq.

BREAKING : Israel launches deadly attacks on Iran

(REUTERS)

International

Updated: Tragedy hits Kenya, Defence chief, nine others die in military helicopter crash

Published

10 hours ago

April 19, 2024

Trends Admin

Updated: Tragedy hits Kenya, Defence chief, nine others die in helicopter crash

A military helicopter on Thursday crashed in Kenya, claiming the life of the country’s Defence chief, Francis Ogolla, and nine officers on board.

Kenya’s President, William Ruto, confirmed the unfortunate accident in a televised address.

He said the helicopter crashed shortly after take-off Thursday afternoon local time, killing Ogolla and nine other members of the military.

Two people survived the crash, he added.

“I am deeply saddened to announce the passing on of General Francis Omondi Ogolla, the Chief of the Kenya Defence Forces,” he said.

A team of investigators was immediately dispatched to the site of the crash in Elgeyo Marakwet County to determine the cause of the accident, Ruto said.

Ogolla left Nairobi on Thursday to visit troops in the North Rift region of the country for inspection of ongoing school renovations, the president said.

Ruto has convened an urgent meeting of the country’s National Security Council in Nairobi, according to presidential spokesperson, Hussein Mohamed.

“For me, as the Commander in Chief of the Kenya Defence Forces, it is a tragic moment for the Kenya Defence Forces fraternity and it is a most unfortunate day for the nation at large,” Ruto said.

“Our motherland has lost one of her most valiant generals. We have also lost gallant officers, servicemen, and women,” he added.

Ruto said Kenya would observe three days of mourning beginning from Friday.

Ogolla is the first Kenyan military chief to die in active service.

The general joined the Kenya Defence Forces in 1984, becoming 2nd Lieutenant in 1985 before he was posted to the Kenya Air Force, according to the Ministry of Defence website.

International

JUST IN: Court orders Mohbad’s wife to do DNA test

Published

19 hours ago

April 18, 2024

Trends Admin

Mohbad’s father, Joseph Aloba, Mohbad and baby

JUST IN: Court orders Mohbad’s wife to do DNA test

A Magistrate Court sitting in the Ikorodu area of Lagos has ordered that singer late Mohbad’s wife, Wunmi, be served notice of a pending DNA test application, by substituted means.

A statement signed by a member of the legal team to the Aloba family, Monisola Odumosu, disclosed this on Wednesday, April 17.

Mohbad’s father, Joseph Aloba, in the application filed by the legal team to the family sought an order to serve Wunmi by posting all the originating processes and other processes in the suit on the last-known address of the respondent.

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The statement revealed that the legal team led by Emmanuel Oroko had argued that the sheriff had attempted twice to serve Wunmi the court process but failed.

“If the process were served on the last-known address of the respondent by Order of the Court, it would constitute good service and she would be aware of the pending suit.

The Chief Magistrate granted the order and ordered that the respondent be served by posting the court process on her last known address.

It will be recalled that the Aloba family is contesting the paternity of baby Liam and filed an application before the Family Court wherein it sought an order of the court against Wunmi to present herself and baby Liam for a DNA test at any recognised laboratory in Lagos,” Odumosu said.