‘Panic’ grips Putin’s military and milbloggers over Ukraine’s advances on battlefield
Ukraine’s advance on the southern frontline’s Verbove area has triggered “panic” for a Russian source affiliated to Vladimir Putin’s elite military unit VDV, according to a US-based war monitoring think-tank. The Ukrainian General Staff reported that its forces captured new unspecified locations near Verbove on 24 September and top general Oleksandr Tarnavsky said more breakthroughs are coming for the war-hit nation that is deep into a counteroffensive against Mr Putin’s troops. A VDV-affiliated source reported that Ukrainian forces broke into Verbove on 22 September and continued attacking the settlement with armoured vehicles as of Sunday, as per The Institute for the Study of War think-tank. The source later said Ukrainian forces occupied half of Verbove as of Sunday. “For how long can Shoigu’s MoD hide the breakthrough in Verbove?” the source said, accusing the Russian ministry of defence of trying to conceal Ukraine’s tactical progress in Verbove. Territorial advancement and control of Verbove will help Ukraine’s critical counteroffensive goal of advancing further towards southern and eastern regions. Verbove is a few miles east of Robotyne, that was retaken by Ukraine earlier this month. This comes as Russian military bloggers are complaining about the battlefield situation in the continuing war against Ukraine, the war-torn country’s defence ministry has revealed in a video that compiles their Telegram messages. Russia’s war bloggers, an assortment of military correspondents and freelance commentators with army backgrounds, have enjoyed broad freedom from the Kremlin to publish their views about the war, now in its 20th month. Mr Putin even made one of them a member of his human rights council last year. “A lot of you are wondering how the war’s going. At first we thought about explaining it to you from our perspective. Then we realised we couldn’t improve on what the Russians are saying,” the ministry said in the video and took a dig on the war frontline updates given by Russian bloggers with millions of followers. “Does anyone out there have enough balls to start telling the truth to higher management, I don’t understand?” read the first Telegram message from early August by a Russian military blogger known as “the 13th”. “You f***ing wait until the Ukrainians come to Crimea, and then I’ll see how you make excuses there.” Another Russian military blogger, known as Romanov whose comments were shared in the Ukrainian ministry’s video, said there are no words for the military assault in Ukraine’s Kherson. “What kind of c**p is happening right now in the Kherson direction... The enemy is rolling out in boats along the Dnieper,” he was heard saying in a Telegram message from 23 August. In another post two days later, the military blogger complained Russian troops were “being cut to pieces” there and efforts were being made to evacuate, but the brigade commander “is afraid to report to the top about the current situation”. On 30 August, a Russian military blogger was heard saying in a warning message on Telegram that the Russians should “not expect anything good and it will only get worse”. “To tell the truth, I am no longer so confident in some kind of ‘Victory’ while the whole country is dancing to sounds approaching the cries of the country’s leadership,” the blogger who goes by the name “13th” said. Several of Russia’s military bloggers with closer access to the battlefield situation – virtually and otherwise – have been actively sharing details on the casualties and attacks in Ukraine and its territories controlled by Mr Putin’s forces. Read More Ukraine-Russia war – live: Drone attack south of Moscow after two killed in Kherson shelling Ukraine is building an advanced army of drones. For now, pilots improvise with duct tape and bombs Russia ‘weaponised food and deliberately caused starvation’ in Ukraine Heartwarming moment Russian bomb victim, 6, learns to ride bike again Inside Putin’s attempts to indoctrinate Russia’s youth by encouraging ‘self-sacrifice’
2023-09-25 16:19
Drones attack Black Sea, Crimea and parts of Russia where thousands suffered power cuts
Several parts of Russia, the Black Sea and the Crimean peninsula came under drone attacks from Ukraine in the early hours on Monday, officials said as the strikes disturbed air traffic operations over Moscow’s two major airports. The Russian air defence systems destroyed four Ukraine-launched drones over the northwestern part of the Black Sea and over the Crimean peninsula, its defence ministry said on Monday. Another four drones were destroyed over Russia’s bordering cities Kursk and Belgorod, the ministry said in a separate post. The officials did not immediately mention any damage or injuries as a result of the reported attacks. Russia’s Tula region also came under drone attack in the early hours of Monday as the country engaged its air defence systems to repel strikes, officials said. The air defence was activated over the region bordering Moscow to its north, reported Russian news agency RIA. According to preliminary information, no damage or injuries were reported as a result of the attack, the Russian ministry of regional security said. The latest morning attacks caused limitation of air traffic as two of Moscow’s major airports – the Vnukovo and Domedovo – trimmed down operations on Monday. Flights flying into these airports were redirected to other airports, the Tass state news agency reported. A Russian city located right after like Bryansk and Kursk, cities that border Ukraine, Tula has witnessed increasing attacks and power outages recently. In late August, the Russian defence ministry claimed its air defences destroyed two drones over the city, but did not provide further details on the damage and casualties from the interception, if any. It also did not share any precise time and location of the attack. Last week, a loud explosion rocked the Russian city and was followed by a major power outage affecting thousands of people in a district. Local residents reported hearing sounds of an explosion in the vicinity right before the lights went out in Zarechensky district. Around 5,000 residents in the district suffered power outages, RIA reported. However, a Russian official said the two incidents of explosion and power outages were not related. The power blackout was caused by technical failure and not related to any sounds of an explosion, the Russian emergency situations ministry had claimed on Thursday. It also rejected the noise heard by residents to be of explosions and speculated it was caused by an aircraft’s transition to “supersonic speed”. The ministry said work to restore power supply to the Zarechensky “will be completed in the near future”. Read More Ukraine-Russia war – live: Drone attack south of Moscow after two killed in Kherson shelling Russia ‘weaponised food and deliberately caused starvation’ in Ukraine Rishi Sunak poised to delay northern phase of troubled HS2 rail link by up to 7 years India had been riding a geopolitical high. But it comes to the UN with a mess on its hands A Kremlin critic was transferred to a Siberian prison and placed in a 'punishment cell,' lawyer says
2023-09-25 15:54
Singapore’s Slowing Inflation Allows MAS Room to Be Dovish
Singapore’s core inflation moderated further in August from a year ago, reflecting improvements to supply chains and lower
2023-09-25 14:46
EU Warns China It Will Be ‘More Assertive’ on Fair Trade
The European Union’s chief trade negotiator warned China on Monday during his trip to the nation that the
2023-09-25 14:28
Oil Resumes Rally as Hedge Funds Join Increasingly Bullish Bets
Oil climbed for a second day as hedge funds piled on bets that tightening supplies will see a
2023-09-25 10:52
Kosovo and Serbia row over monastery gun battle
A Kosovan policeman and three ethnic Serb gunmen are dead after a siege of a monastery in Kosovo.
2023-09-25 09:28
Macron, in Reversal, Says French Soldiers Will Leave Niger
President Emmanuel Macron said French troops will leave Niger by year’s end, bowing to the demands of a
2023-09-25 08:29
Ukraine war: Training to clear the world's most heavily mined country
How British military bomb disposal teams are helping Ukrainian engineers clear Russian minefields.
2023-09-25 08:17
Electric car rules could cost carmakers billions
New Brexit trade rules could push up the price of electric cars, manufacturers warn.
2023-09-25 07:25
Russia ‘weaponised food and deliberately caused starvation’ in Ukraine
Russia has weaponised food and deliberately caused starvation in Ukraine, a war crimes dossier is set to allege. Working alongside Ukraine’s public prosecutor, leading human rights lawyers are preparing a report to the International Criminal Court (ICC). The dossier will document examples of hunger being used as a “weapon” over the course of the 18 month war, with the evidence aiming to encourage the ICC to launch a prosecution that could see Vladimir Putin indicted. Amongst the incidents include the killing of 20 civilians in Chernihiv on 16 March 2022. Russian fragmentation bombs detonated outside a supermarket whilst Ukrainian locals queued for food, with the lawyers similarly focusing on the siege of Mariupol in which food supplies to the city were cut off. Humanitarian corridors were also suspended, making it increasingly difficult for relief to be distributed among starving survivors. In May 2018, the United Nations (UN) Security Council passed a unanimous resolution condemning the use of food insecurity and starvation as a war tactic. The resolution asked all parties in war to leave food stocks, farms, markets and other food distribution mechanisms intact, stating that “using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare may constitute a war crime.” Yousuf Khan, a senior lawyer with law firm Global Rights Compliance, told The Guardian “the weaponisation of food has taken place in three phases,” beginning with the initial invasion in February 2022 where supplies were cut across Ukrainian cities. Mr Khan said such attacks symbolise “not crimes of result but crimes of intent” as “if you are taking out objects that civilians need, like energy infrastructure in the dead of winter, there is a foreseeability to your actions.” Russia has also restricted the exports of Ukrainian food, with a further 270,000 tonnes destroyed between late July and early August. In September 2022, the UN food chief warned that the world is facing a “global emergency of unprecedented magnitude” over the impact of the war in Ukraine on food supplies, with up to 345 million people pushed towards starvation and 70 million pushed closer to it. David Beasley, executive director of the U.N. World Food Program, told the U.N. Security Council at the time: “What was a wave of hunger is now a tsunami of hunger.” Read More A Kremlin critic was transferred to a Siberian prison and placed in a 'punishment cell,' lawyer says Ukraine-Russia war - live: Kyiv launches second attack on Crimean city as Zelensky warned by Polish PM Russian airstrikes kill 2 and wound 3 in southern Ukraine as war enters 20th month The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary
2023-09-25 07:19
Ukraine Recap: Kursk Attacks, Grain Ship Reaches Turkey
Ukrainian forces carried out attacks around Kursk with drones to strike a building used by Russia’s domestic security
2023-09-25 02:54
Man gored to death during Valencia running of the bulls
A man has died after being gored during a running of the bulls in eastern Spain, authorities said. The festival, organised in the town of Pobla de Farnals in the Valencia region on Saturday, attracts huge crowds and has seen a number of incidents involving spectators and participants being badly injured in recent years. The victim, whose identity has not been revealed, was gored in his side by a bull called Cocinero during the festival on Saturday and sustained severe injuries. He was rushed to the hospital but died soon after, officials said. This was the second injury reported during the festival this week alone. Earlier another man was also gored in the leg by the same bull. However, he survived the incident and was in a stable condition in hospital, officials said. The festival, where bulls are released into the streets and runners dash ahead of them, remains a controversial topic in Spain with activists saying it amounts to animal cruelty aside from the clear dangers to people involved. Festivals involving running of the bulls are nonetheless still widespread in Spain, with a survey by rights groups AnimaNaturalis and CAS International finding that more than 1,820 events take place across all Spanish municipalities every year. The most famous is held in the northern city of Pamplona in July. Despite the risks, the traditional runs remain popular with both locals and tourists and attract huge crowds. However, accidents are also frequent. Last year two men, aged 50 and 46, died after being violently struck by bulls in Valencia while a French tourist in his 60s sustained serious injuries. In 2015 two US citizens and a Briton were gored and eight others injured during a bull run during the San Fermin festival. Read More Fresh outrage in Spain as ‘wolf pack’ rapist’s sentence is reduced under botched law: ‘It’s a joke’ Woman claims she accidentally stabbed baby while aiming for dog who ate her chicken sandwich From an old-style Afghan camera, a new view of life under the Taliban emerges With temporary status for Venezuelans, the Biden administration turns to a familiar tool Spain women's coach set to speak on eve of Sweden game amid month-long crisis at Spanish federation Cave art dating back 24,000 years discovered in Spain
2023-09-24 23:54