List of All Articles with Tag 'world'

A second video of the Black Sea fleet commander and Russian top general, Viktor Sokolov, was shown on Russian TV on Wednesday, raising doubts over Ukraine’s claim that they ‘killed’ him in Sevastopol attack. A television station run by Russia’s defence ministry showed a video interview with Black Sea Fleet commander Viktor Sokolov on Wednesday, days after Ukraine claimed he had been killed in a missile strike on Russian navy headquarters in Crimea. In the video, Sokolov says the Black Sea Fleet is performing successfully. It was unclear from his comments whether the clip was filmed after Ukraine’s missile strike on Sept 22, Reuters reports. Ukraine’s special forces said on Monday that Russian admiral Viktor Sokolov and 33 other officers were killed in a missile strike carried out on the Black Sea Fleet’s headquarters in Sevastopol in Crimea on Friday. The new video comes after Russia’s defence ministry released another video on Tuesday, appearing to show Sokolov on a video conference call with Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu. It remains unclear when the video was recorded. Ukraine now says it is working to “clarify” earlier reports and Russia has not yet directly confirmed or denied the claims. Read More New video of ‘dead’ Russian Black Sea fleet commander raises doubts over Ukraine’s claim Hillary Clinton mocks Putin over Nato expansion: ‘Too bad, Vladimir. You brought it on yourself’ Ukrainian forces ‘enjoy success’ near Bakhmut as Putin deploys reserves A hard-right party gathers strength in Poland, pushing a new, less friendly course on Ukraine

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A top Russian naval officer who Ukraine claimed was killed in a missile strike has been seen in a new video released by Russia, sparking confusion among the war-hit country’s officials. Ukraine’s special forces on Monday had claimed Russian admiral Viktor Sokolov and 33 other officers were killed in a missile strike carried out on the Black Sea Fleet’s headquarters in Sevastopol in Crimea. The video released by Russia’s defence ministry on Tuesday, however, showed Black Sea Fleet commander Sokolov appearing on a video conference call with Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu. It remains unclear when the video was recorded. While it is not clear how Ukraine counted casualties in the Sevastopol operation, Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s minister of internal affairs, had earlier posted the admiral’s name and photo on social media. Ukraine now says it is working to “clarify” earlier reports. Russia has not issued any direct rebuttal of Ukraine’s claims, which is consistent with its stance of maintaining silence on significant battlefield losses. “As is known, 34 officers were killed as a result of a missile attack on the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation. Available sources claim that among the dead was the commander of the Russian Army. Many still have not been identified due to the disparity of body fragments,” Ukraine’s special forces said on their official Telegram channel. “Since the Russians were urgently forced to publish an answer with an apparently alive Sokolov, our units are clarifying the information,” it said. The video from Tuesday showed defence minister Shoigu talking about a drill he claimed Russia’s Pacific fleet had completed a day earlier, as several top officers appeared on a big screen in the room. Admiral Sokolov is also seen in a video screen but in a different location, with only a flag seen in the backdrop behind him. He is also not heard speaking in the video. While this appears to be a signal from Moscow that the admiral is still alive, Russia has not released any details to prove when the video conference took place. In its earlier update on the Sevastopol strike, Ukraine’s special forces said the air force fired 12 missiles on the Black Sea Fleet headquarters as it targeted areas where personnel, military equipment and weapons were concentrated. Two anti-aircraft missile systems and four Russian artillery units were hit, special forces said. It was a rare direct claim of responsibility from Ukraine for an attack on either Russian soil or a target in Crimea, which Russia has occupied since its illegal annexation in 2014. Moscow-installed authorities in Sevastopol are reported to be taking extra defensive measures in the face of Ukraine’s increased attacks on Crimea in recent days. Sevastopol is a critical region providing a platform from which Russia has launched many of its air attacks on Ukraine in the 19-month-long war. Read More Russia remains silent as Ukraine claims Black Sea Fleet commander among 34 officers killed Putin’s Black Sea fleet commander ‘killed in navy attack’ as Ukraine breakthrough triggers ‘panic’ Russia’s Lavrov rubbishes Ukraine peace plan and warns conflict will be resolved on battlefield Ukraine-Russia war – live: Putin planning new ‘assault units’ despite Moscow’s ‘mobilisation issues’

Hillary Clinton mocked Vladimir Putin on Tuesday for his concerns about Nato’s expansion and said the Russian president “brought it on himself” with his invasion of Ukraine. "Defending democracy in Ukraine, expanding Nato – just as an aside, too bad Vladimir, you brought it on yourself," the former US secretary of state said, prompting laughter and applause. Ms Clinton was speaking at the State Department where she unveiled her official portrait and addressed current and former officials in the ornate Benjamin Franklin State Dining room. "We always said, ‘people are not forced to join Nato. People choose and want to join Nato,’" she added. The top leader also took shots at the policies of Republican former president Donald Trump, who defeated her in the 2016 US presidential election. She added that there may have been questions raised on Washington’s ability to gather support for its aid for Ukraine to fend off Russian invasion due to Mr Trump’s legacy of alienating allies. "People might have doubted that because we had burned so many bridges with our allies and our friends," she said. "Reinstating a foreign policy... that actually brings people to us, not pushes them away, would have been thought to be extremely difficult. And indeed it was, but it was accomplished," she said and thanked her successor secretary of state Antony Blinken for "helping to restore America’s standing". Ms Clinton said the current Biden administration pursued many of the priorities of the Obama administration, in which she was the top US diplomat. Talking about the common Biden and Obama priorities, she described the mutual concerns of "expanding Nato, facing down Russian aggression and managing the challenges from China" as she took a dig at the Russian president who has long complained of Nato’s expansion in Europe and blamed it as a motive for his invasion of Ukraine. The top former official joked that it had been a long time since she had seen the portrait, which depicted her gazing into the distance against the backdrop of an enlarged American flag. "Between Covid, between not wanting to finish it during the prior administration," she said with a meaningful glance at the audience, drawing laughter, "it’s been a while. And I am going to be probably as surprised as all of you". Read More Ukraine-Russia war – live: Putin planning new ‘assault units’ despite Moscow’s ‘mobilisation issues’ Ukrainian forces ‘enjoy success’ near Bakhmut as Putin deploys reserves Hillary Clinton makes quip about Trump administration as her portrait is unveiled Donald Trump’s play for union votes leaves the GOP in a confusing spot once again

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Ukrainian troops “enjoyed success” in villages near Bakhmut, a key town seized by Russian forces in May after some of the heaviest fighting in the 19-month-old war. Ilia Yevlash, spokesperson for Ukraine’s forces in the east, told national television that Russia trained fire on Ukrainian soldiers 580 times on this front and used aircraft four times. “On the southern flank, we continue the offensive operation. In particular, we have had successes near Zaitseve, Klishchiivka, Odradivka and Ivanivske. There, our defenders continue to knock out the enemy. Under heavy fire, they are holding the defence and consolidating positions,” he said during the 24/7 national forecast. The Ukrainian army killed 141 Russian troops and destroyed several pieces of Russian artillery equipment, the spokesperson said. On the southern front, Russian forces were bringing in reserves as Ukrainian troops dug in and were poised to move on the village of Verbove as part of their advance to the Sea of Azov, said Oleksandr Shtupun, a spokesperson for the troops in the south. "I believe we will soon have good news," the spokesperson said. The battlefield’s “loud” successes were cheered on by president Volodymyr Zelensky in his nightly address who confirmed damage to Russian logistics and headquarters. “The first is the actual situation at the front, our offensive and defensive operations. Important reports on the east and south. On the destruction of logistics and headquarters of the occupiers. There are good details. Loud details. I thank all the Ukrainian warriors who distinguished themselves!” he said on Tuesday evening. While Russian forces aimed their strikes on Ukraine’s grain exporting district, Kyiv’s forces also struck back on Monday and Tuesday with a growing number of attacks inside Russia and Russian-occupied Crimea. The governor of Russia’s Kursk region said power had been cut off to about seven settlements in the latest reported attack. Russia’s defence ministry said a drone had been destroyed over the Kursk region at around 5.30 am local time. Ukraine fired its counteroffensive operations in early June and is gradually progressing with gains in eastern and southern Ukraine where Russian forces have managed to breach the territory. But Ukrainian troops have targeted these regions in its bid to push back Russian soldiers off its territory. After a grinding slow start in June, Ukraine has reported a chain of success in recapturing its settlements and villages in Bakhmut, Zaporizhzhia and southern regions as it continues to move through heavily mined and destroyed towns and cities. Read More Ukraine-Russia war – live: Putin planning new ‘assault units’ despite Moscow’s ‘mobilisation issues’ Destruction in Ukraine’s eastern village of Klishchiivka captured in aerial footage Explosions from Russian drone attack on Odesa region seen from ferry on Danube Russia tries to rejoin UN Human Rights Council

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Hungry and exhausted Armenian families jammed roads to flee Nagorno-Karabakh on Tuesday, as the United Nations and Washington called on Azerbaijan to protect civilians and let in aid. At least 20,000 of the 120,000 ethnic Armenians who live there have already crossed into Armenia after Azerbaijan launched a swift and successful military operation to defeat separatists who have governed the breakaway region for about 30 years. Hundreds of cars and buses crammed with refugees and their belongings snaked along mountain roads. Some fled packed into the back of open-topped trucks, others on tractors. Grandmother Narine Shakaryan arrived in her son-in-law's old car with six people packed inside. The 48-mile drive had taken 24 hours, she said. They had no food. “The whole way the children were crying, they were hungry,” Shakaryan told Reuters at the border, carrying her three-year-old granddaughter, who she said had become ill during the journey. “We left so we would stay alive.” Nearly 50 people, mostly children, scrambled from the back of one large truck. “It rained all night, there was no shelter. The nice driver took some of the children into his cabin to give at least some of them shelter,” said Maktar Talakyan, 54, who was travelling with her daughter Anna and her three grandchildren. Anna’s husband, a demobilised soldier who had fought for the now defeated separatist forces, remains in Karabakh, Talakyan said. As Armenians rushed to leave the Karabakh capital – known as Stepanakert by Armenia and Khankendi by Azerbaijan – fuel stations were overwhelmed by panic buying; at least 20 people were killed and 290 injured in a massive blaze when a fuel storage facility blew up. “I think we’re going to see the vast majority of people in Karabakh leaving for Armenia,” said Thomas de Waal, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Europe think tank. “They are being told to integrate into Azerbaijan, a country that they’ve never been part of, and most of them don’t even speak the language and are being told to dismantle their local institutions. That’s an offer that most people in Karabakh will not accept.” In the Armenian capital Yerevan, US Agency for International Development (USAID) chief Samantha Power called on Azerbaijan “to maintain the ceasefire and take concrete steps to protect the rights of civilians in Nagorno-Karabakh.” Power, who earlier handed Armenian prime minister Nikol Pashinyan a letter of support from president Joe Biden, said Azerbaijan’s use of force was unacceptable and that Washington was looking at an appropriate response. She called on Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev to live up to his promise to protect ethnic Armenian rights, fully reopen the Lachin corridor that connects the region to Armenia and let in aid deliveries and an international monitoring mission. Aliyev has pledged to guarantee the safety of Karabakh’s Armenians but said his iron fist had consigned the idea of the region’s independence to history. Asked if she believed Azeri forces had committed atrocities against civilians or combatants in Karabakh, she said: “We have heard very troubling reports of violence against civilians. At the same time given the chaos here and the trauma, the gathering of testimonies ... of the people who have come across is something that is just beginning.” United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Volker Turk, said in a statement late on Tuesday: “I am following with concern the evolving and fragile humanitarian situation. “It is important that the rights of the ethnic Armenian population on the ground are safeguarded and all actions rooted in international law. Protection of all civilians must be an absolute priority. Those affected must have access to humanitarian assistance.” The Azerbaijan victory changes the balance of power in the South Caucasus region, a patchwork of ethnicities crisscrossed with oil and gas pipelines where Russia, the United States, Turkey and Iran are jostling for influence. Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, Armenia has relied on a security partnership with Russia, while Azerbaijan grew close to Turkey, with which it shares linguistic and cultural ties. Armenia has lately sought closer ties with the West and blames Russia, which had peacekeepers in Karabakh but is now preoccupied with the war in Ukraine, for failing to protect Karabakh. Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. Felix Light reported for Reuters from the Armenian border village of Kornidzor. Read More What is Nakhchivan? And after Nagorno-Karabakh, is this the next crisis for Azerbaijan and Armenia Thousands of ethnic Armenians flee Nagorno-Karabakh after Azerbaijan seizes control in lightning offensive Exasperated residents flee Nagorno-Karabakh after Azerbaijan seizes control of breakaway region At least 20 dead and 300 injured in Nagorno-Karabakh fuel depot explosion At least 20 dead in gas station explosion as Nagorno-Karabakh residents flee to Armenia