The Russian defence department announced that they intercepted four long-range missiles, dispatched by the US and aimed towards Crimea, on a Saturday. These missiles were identified as Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS), which were recently provided by Washington to Ukraine.
Subsequently, the department highlighted that their air defence capabilities successfully intercepted a total of 15 ATACMS missiles in the previous week. Ukrainian officials purportedly launched an attack on Crimea on a recent Tuesday using ATACMS, in a move to breach the Russian air defence lines protecting the region. Russian defences successfully neutralised six of these missiles.
Last month, an American official disclosed that the US had anonymously delivered long-range missiles to Ukraine. These ATACMS missiles, capable of hitting a target up to 300 km away, were employed for the first time on April 17th for an onslaught on a Russian airfield located in Crimea, roughly 165km away from Ukrainian territory.
The Pentagon initially expressed reservations about deploying such long-range projectiles, as usage from the US arsenal could potentially affect the country’s military readiness. The possibility of Ukraine employing the missiles for strikes deep inside Russia was another concern, potentially escalating the conflict to a point of direct Russian-American confrontation.
A separate report from the Russian defence ministry on Saturday highlighted the dismantling of a western-supplied military train bound for Ukraine with arms and equipment. Insufficient information was provided on the extent of the damage, and the exact time and place it happened.
Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, responded to accusations from NATO of Russia perpetrating hybrid attacks on its member nations, describing them as “misinformation” serving to distract from NATO’s own activities. She emphasised that NATO had shown signs of preparing for a potential conflict with Russia through their four-month long military exercise ‘Steadfast Defender’ near Russian borders. She pointed out that it was NATO that was waging a hybrid war against Russia by boosting Ukraine with weaponry, intelligence, and finances.
Currently, Nato is conducting its most substantial exercise since the Cold War, named Steadfast Defender, in areas close to Russian territories. Undergoing practice battles against Russia in these exercises are the coalition, employing a mixture of hybrid and traditional armaments, as per a statement. It has become evident that Nato is earnestly readying for a possible clash with Russia.
The diplomatic ties between the West and Russia are experiencing unprecedented strain, possibly the worst in several decades, due to the initiation of Russia’s armed conflict in Ukraine back in 2022. Nato had reported the commencement of these maneuvers last January, stating that 90,000 soldiers would be involved. American troops practiced reinforcement of the European allies, especially those sharing borders with Russia or situated on the eastern confines of the alliance, for preparing if a confrontational situation occurred. These trials are scheduled to continue until May.
Earlier, Russia had expressed that these drills indicated an unalterable revival of Cold War plans. Later, Russia inaugurated a criminal investigation against Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, placing him on a search list, announced national news agency, TASS, referring to the Interior Ministry’s database. However, no additional information was provided in the news report.
This series of arrest warrants against multiple Ukrainian and other European political figures first began to come out in 2022, following the outbreak of the violent conflict in Ukraine with Russia. For instance, in February, Russia’s police force added the names of Estonia’s Prime Minister, Kaja Kallas, Lithuania’s Minister for Culture, and several members from the former Latvian parliament to their search list. These individuals were accused of dismantling the monuments from the Soviet era.
Last year, they had issued a warrant against the prosecutor from the International Criminal Court who had previously drafted a warrant for the arrest of President Vladimir Putin on suspects of war crimes. – Source: Reuters
– Source: Reuters
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