The Cuban foreign ministry says it has uncovered a human trafficking ring aimed at recruiting Cubans to fight for Russia in its war in Ukraine.
It said that Cubans living in Russia and "even some in Cuba" had been "incorporated into the military forces taking part in the war in Ukraine".
Cuba is a close ally of Russia, but it stressed in its statement "it does not form part of the conflict in Ukraine".
There has not yet been a response from Russia.
The Cuban foreign ministry did not specify who was behind the operation.
Last August, President Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian military to increase its number of soldiers after its combat forces suffered heavy losses in Ukraine.
A Russian newspaper, Ryazan Gazette, has since reported that Cubans living in Russia had joined Russian combat forces fighting in Ukraine in exchange for a promise to receive Russian citizenship.
There have also been videos claiming to show Serbian volunteers training to fight alongside Russian troops in Ukraine.
While it is not clear if the Cuban foreign ministry statement is linked to the reports in Ryazan Gazette, it states that "Cuba has a firm and clear historical position against the use of mercenaries".
"We will act decisively against those who... engage in human trafficking with the aim of recruiting Cuban citizens to bear arms in any country," the statement reads.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez published the statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, adding that Cuba was using "the force of the law" to counter attempts to recruit its citizens.
The statement strikes a rare dissonant note in recent Cuban-Russian relations, which has seen the two countries forging tighter trade ties.
Just over two months ago, the defence ministers of Cuba and Russia held talks in Moscow, and the Russian foreign minister travelled to the Communist-run island in April as part of a tour of Russia's Latin American allies.
[UnderstandingWar] Ukrainian light infantry has advanced to positions beyond anti-tank ditches and dragon’s teeth anti-tank obstacles that comprise the current Russian defensive layer ahead of the Ukrainian advance in western Zaporizhia Oblast, and Ukrainian forces likely intend to hold those positions.
ISW is not prepared to assess that Ukrainian forces have breached this Russian defensive layer in the absence of observed Ukrainian heavy equipment in these areas.
Geolocated footage published on September 4 indicates that Ukrainian forces advanced to tree-line positions that are east of the Russian anti-tank ditches and dragon’s teeth obstacles that are a part of a tri-layered defense immediately west of Verbove (18km southeast of Orikhov).
Geolocated footage published on September 4 indicates that Ukrainian light infantry has also advanced further into a series of prepared Russian defensive positions along the road that runs northwest into Verbove.
Posted by: lord garth ||
09/05/2023 00:00 ||
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Breached and expanding. Ukrainians aren't releasing information but Russian blogs show them shelling their infantry trenches and behind into previously Russian held territory. Ukrainians now have to bring armor through the breaches and roll up the infantry trenches from behind where the Russian can't be resupplied or reinforced.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Korrespondent] The Russians periodically achieve minor advances. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in turn, reports that the Defense Forces are holding back the enemy's offensive.
The Russians are planning to go on the offensive in the Kupyansko-Limansky direction and use air assault brigades there. This was announced on Monday, September 5, by Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Anna Malyar on the air of the telethon.
Malyar noted that the Ukrainian defenders are preparing to repulse the enemy.
"To do this, the command analyzes the situation, calculates the actions of the occupiers. All this work is being done to prevent the enemy from passing either in the Kupyansky or in the Limansky direction," she said.
The deputy minister noted that the Russians are completing reserves for the offensive on this front from the troops that were being restored, and also replenishing the army with units transported from Belarus.
"One part of the Russian troops was being restored - they will replace the conditionally exhausted ones. Some of the troops they bring in from the Russian Federation are newly formed units. There was also a statement by Naev that the Russians took their troops from Belarus and accumulated them where they prepare reserves for attacks on the Kupyansk and Limansk directions," Malyar said.
She added that the enemy plans to use professional air assault brigades in this direction.
Recall that the Ukrainian military had success in the direction of Novodanilovka and Novoprokopovka, Zaporozhye region. The Armed Forces of Ukraine are fixed at the achieved levels.
Recall that over the past day, the Armed Forces of Ukraine repelled the offensive of Russian troops in three directions - Avdeevsky, Maryinsky and Zaporozhye.
Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title
23:03 The defense forces are preparing for a new wave of Russian offensive in the Kupyansko-Limansky direction, said Anna Malyar, Deputy Defense Minister. According to her, the Russians are completing reserves for the offensive in the Kupyansko-Limansky direction from the troops that were being restored from the newly formed units and soldiers transferred from Belarus. In addition, the Russians are bringing up professional air assault brigades, "although we have destroyed most of these units both in the south and in the east."
22:41 Air defense systems Pantsir S-1 have been installed in the Moscow Region near Putin's residence in Novo-Ogaryovo, Radio Liberty reports.
21:48 Zelensky said that he was on a visit to the Donetsk region , visited combat brigades as part of the Donetsk operational-tactical group. "Important reports, problematic issues, deliveries that need to be increased, the creation of an auxiliary management system to provide brigades, increasing the motivation of our soldiers. Eight brigades this day. Each one is special, but all are powerful," the president noted.
21:27 The New York Times writes, citing sources, that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un plans to visit Russia in September to meet with Putin.
21:19 Ukraine needs to "soften its approach" in order to resume the grain deal, Erdogan said after talks with Putin: "In order to be able to take common steps with Russia, Ukraine needs to soften its approach. Especially now it is important to grain that will be sent to the least developed and poor African countries... Putin rightly disapproves if 44% of grain goes to European countries."
Erdogan said that Ankara has prepared, together with the UN, a new proposal to renew the grain agreement, which includes "important improvements."
20:26 On Monday, official Kiev said that at least one Russian Shahed kamikaze drone, fired at night at one of the Ukrainian ports in the Danube Delta, fell across the river into the territory of NATO member Romania. The situation itself means a potentially serious escalation of the war, but Bucharest categorically denies that its territory was attacked. Read more in the material Delicate situation .
19:40 Russia this night attacked the Odessa region with Shahed drones from a new batch, spokesman for the Southern Defense Forces Natalia Gumenyuk said: "We saw that before the attacks on the Odessa region, there was an intensification of air cargo traffic in the Tehran-Moscow direction, which may indicate the arrival of an additional batch "Shaheds".
According to Gumenyuk, the wreckage of the downed drones shows that this is indeed a new batch, which is marked differently. "Obviously, the Russians are saving missiles. Because this stock is not so easy to replenish and much more expensive. The enemy is trying to destroy civilian infrastructure in a cheaper way," she added.
19:23 Belgium bought eight Sea Sparrow surface-to-air missiles from Germany for Ukraine, reports the Belgian edition L'Echo. In addition to missiles, the Belgian government plans to supply Ukraine with equipment worth 150 million euros. Belgian Defense Minister Ludivine Dedonder announced new aid to Ukraine last week: "New deliveries are planned, in particular in the field of air defense, ammunition supplies and training of fighters."
18:19 Governor of the Bryansk region Alexander Bogomaz announced a drone attack on the Klintsovskaya CHPP. According to him, one UAV was suppressed by electronic warfare forces, there were no casualties or damage. Also, another drone was suppressed by electronic warfare forces in the Vygonichsky district, it fell into the field.
17:52 Kuleba said that Ukraine has photographic evidence of the fall of Shahed drones in Romania. According to him, now "there are tendencies to try not to escalate the interpretation of certain events by partners, so as not to be involved in a direct conflict."
17:36 Warsaw and Kiev allow the option of returning fugitive Ukrainian men home, but admit that the algorithm is very complicated. For more details, see the material Extradition of draft dodgers from Poland .
17:09 Putin said that Moscow is not considering the possibility of agreements with Turkey and Qatar as an alternative to a grain deal.
17:05 Erdogan said that he and Putin had extensively discussed the grain deal. According to the Turkish President, the new package of proposals may contribute to the renewal of the agreement. He also stressed that Ankara is ready to take over mediation in Ukraine.
16:54 Putin said following bilateral talks with Erdogan that Russia is ready to restart the grain deal as soon as its conditions for lifting sanctions on the export of Russian agricultural products are met. Until then, the Russian Federation intends to independently export its food and fertilizers.
16:23 The US, UK and EU are planning this week to put pressure on the United Arab Emirates to stop trade with Russia, writes The Wall Street Journal. We are talking about the supply of goods to the Russian Federation that could help Moscow in its war against Ukraine. According to the newspaper, officials from Washington and European capitals are visiting the UAE. They are working together to ensure that Russia does not receive computer chips, electronic components and other dual-use products.
15:27 A Russian Ka-52 helicopter crashed in the Sea of Azov, according to local publics. According to the preliminary version, heavy fog became the cause of the fall. Both pilots were rescued.
14:59 In Sochi, talks between Putin and Erdogan in a wide format have ended. Putin said that Moscow was allegedly open to negotiations on a grain deal. And Erdogan, in turn, announced a "very important" message on the grain deal after today's talks. After that, the presidents proceeded to the closed part of the negotiations.
13:58 The UN International Commission of Inquiry into Violations in Ukraine has not yet come to the conclusion that a genocide is taking place in the country, Eric Mese, head of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry into Violations in Ukraine, told Radio Liberty. According to him, the commission does not have sufficient evidence: "You remember that this is a matter of intent, the intent of criminals. There must be a" need "to destroy a certain group. And such destruction, according to the Convention, must be physical or biological." At the same time, he added that the investigation in Ukraine would continue.
At the same time, Mese stressed that the commission had revealed a large number of war crimes. As for the two topics - torture and attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure - "there are indications that this could be a crime against humanity."
13:31 On September 3, the Russians fired on the village of Solnechny of the Kherson community, an 11-year-old child was wounded, the head of the OVA, Alexander Prokudin, said.
12:37 Reznikov said in an interview with Ukrinform that one day of war costs Ukraine $100 million. According to him, in fact, the army is provided by citizens of Ukraine who work and pay taxes, and the contribution of volunteers is approximately 3%.
12:32 This morning, Russians fired at the civilian infrastructure of the city of Druzhba, Shostka district, Sumy region, from the territory of the Russian Federation. Seven private houses were damaged, one person was injured, the Office of the Prosecutor General said.
11:46 Attacks by Russian UAVs did not pose a direct military threat to Romania, the country's Ministry of Defense said.
11:14 Tonight, during a massive attack by the Russian Federation in the Izmail port area, Russian drones fell and detonated on the territory of Romania, Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said, citing information from the State Border Service of Ukraine. He urged partners to expedite the delivery of additional modern missile and air defense systems, as well as combat aircraft, which will strengthen the defense of the infrastructure of Ukraine, as well as neighboring states.
10:48 The Russian Federation began to use Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles from Su-34 fighter-bombers, Russian media reported, citing a source in the country's Ministry of Defense.
10:31 The head of the Bundestag Defense Committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, said that Scholz is the only one in the coalition who is blocking the supply of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine.
10:23 South African President Cyril Ramaphosa claims that the investigation did not find evidence of the supply of weapons to Russia on the ship Lady R. The ship did enter the Simonstown military base, but Ramaphosa assures that it delivered cargo for the South African army and did not carry weapons back.
09:59 At today's meeting with Putin in Sochi, Erdogan will again offer Ankara's mediation for negotiations on Ukraine, the Turkish newspaper Milliyet writes, citing sources. The transportation of Russian gas to Europe through Turkey and the situation in Syria will also be discussed.
09:32 The United States seized Russian assets worth more than $1 billion. Among the luxury goods that the Justice Department has been trying to confiscate since the start of the war are $60 million Gulfstream and $350 million Boeing jets registered to a network of five shell companies and an anonymous trust linked to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said. The Ministry of Justice is seeking permission from Congress to use blocked Russian assets for the needs of Ukraine.
08:50 The defense forces are successful on the southern front, in the Novodanilovka-Novoprokopovka area, and are gaining a foothold on the achieved lines, Anna Malyar said.
08:47 In the Donetsk region over the past day, as a result of Russian shelling, one person was killed (in Tikhonovka), five more were injured. In the Kherson region, one person died, five were injured, including one child. In the Zaporozhye region, one person was wounded in Orekhove, two more - in Malaya Tokmachka. In the Kharkiv region, one person was injured in Kupyansk, according to the IVA.
08:42 At night, air defense destroyed 23 out of 32 strike drones, the Air Force command reported. The enemy attacked the Odessa and Dnipropetrovsk regions with Shahed-136/131 attack UAVs from the south and southeast (Cape Chauda, Crimea, and Primorsko-Akhtarsk, Russia).
08:38 Ukrainian troops liberated 3 square meters last week. km in the Bakhmut direction, said Deputy Defense Minister Anna Malyar. She clarified that the fighting is taking place on the southern and northern flanks of the city of Bakhmut, in particular, in the areas of Kleshcheevka, Kurdyumovka and Ozaryanovka. In total, since the beginning of the offensive of Ukrainian troops in the Bakhmut direction, 47 sq. km.
08:16 The General Staff announced the approximate losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of September 4:
personnel - about 265 120 (+460) people,
tanks - 4480 (+4),
armored combat vehicles - 8663 (+14),
artillery systems - 5611 (+29),
MLRS - 741 (+2),
air defense systems - 503 (+1),
aircraft - 315 (+0),
helicopters - 316 (+0),
UAV operational-tactical level - 4481 (+37),
cruise missiles - 1447 (+0),
ships/boats - 19 (+1),
automotive equipment and tankers - 8149 (+47),
special equipment - 847 (+6).
07:39 In the morning, the Russians attacked the Dnipropetrovsk region with drones. Six drones destroyed the air defense forces, there is also a hit on an infrastructure facility in the Dnipro region. Previously, no dead or injured, said the head of the OVA Sergei Lysak.
07:34 At night, the Russians attacked the south of the Odesa region with strike drones for three and a half hours, managed to destroy 17 drones, Oleg Kiper, head of the OVA, said. There are also hits: warehouse and industrial buildings, agricultural machinery and equipment of industrial enterprises were damaged in several settlements of the Izmail district. As a result of the fall of debris, several fires broke out on the territory of civilian facilities; as of 07:00, the fire was extinguished. There are no dead or injured.
07:25 Over the past day, 30 clashes took place at the front, the General Staff said in the morning summary. In particular, the enemy unsuccessfully tried to advance in the areas of Avdiivka and Maryinka in the Donetsk region, as well as in the Priyutnoye of the Zaporozhye region.
06:26 The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced the destruction of two "Ukrainian UAVs" over the Black Sea near the Crimean Peninsula and over the territory of the Kursk region. In addition, four high-speed military boats were allegedly destroyed in the northwestern part of the Black Sea, heading towards Cape Tarkhankut. Meanwhile, dozens of flights were again delayed at Moscow airports.
00:23 The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense released the film Downed Pilots of Russia , in which for the first time they showed a Russian pilot who had flown a Mi-8 helicopter to Ukraine. Also in the film, Budanov said that in the first days of a full-scale invasion, the Russians managed to hit about 20% of the aircraft of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, so they could not gain complete dominance in the air.
Text taken from Russian ministry of defense website (available only through a VPN
[EngMilRu] Russian Defence Ministry report on the progress of the special military operation (4 September 2023)
Last night, the Black Sea Fleet naval aviation aircraft have destroyed 4 U.S.-manufactured Willard Sea Force high-speed military boats with landing groups of AFU special operations forces units in the north-western part of the Black Sea.
In addition, UAVs have struck a Ukrainian shipbuilding facility, where unmanned boats were assembled from imported components.
In Donetsk direction, units of the Yug Group of Forces, in cooperation with aviation, artillery, and heavy flamethrower systems, have repelled three attacks by AFU assault groups close to Artyomovsk and Severnoye (Donetsk People's Republic).
The enemy losses were up to 285 Ukrainian servicemen killed and wounded, five armoured fighting vehicles, seven motor vehicles, U.S.-manufactured M109 Paladin and 122mm Gvozdika self-propelled artillery systems, as well as two U.S.-manufactured M105 howitzers.
In Zaporozhye direction, as a result of active actions by units of the Russian grouping of troops, supported by aviation, artillery, and heavy flamethrower systems, the tactical situation has been improved close to Rabotino and Verbovoye (Zaporozhye region). The servicemen have also repelled one counterattack by an assault detachment of the 82nd Airborne Assault Brigade of the AFU.
The enemy losses were up to 115 Ukrainian servicemen, two armoured fighting vehicles, four motor vehicles, two M777 artillery systems, two M109 Paladin self-propelled howitzers, two U.S.-manufactured M119 howitzers, as well as two 122mm D-30, and one 152mm D-20 guns.
In Kupyansk direction, units of the Zapad Group of Forces, aviation and artillery have repelled four counterattacks by assault groups of 32nd and 43rd Mechanised Brigades of the AFU north of Sverdlovka (Lugansk People's Republic).
In addition, Russian troops have struck AFU manpower and hardware close to Vyssheye Solenoye, Ivanovka, Timkovka, and Sin'kovka (Khar'kov region), as well as near Novosyolovskoye (Lugansk People's Republic).
The enemy losses were up to 60 Ukrainian servicemen, three motor vehicles, and one Polish-manufactured Krab self-propelled artillery system.
In Krasny Liman direction, units of the Tsentr Group of Forces, in cooperation with aviation and artillery, have hit manpower and hardware concentration areas of 63rd and 67th Mechanised Brigades, and the 12th Special Forces Brigade of the AFU near Yampolovka (Donetsk People's Republic), Chervonaya Dibrova (Lugansk People's Republic), and near Serebryansky forest.
The enemy losses were up to 40 Ukrainian servicemen, three pickup trucks, and one 122mm D-30 gun.
In South Donetsk direction, as a result of actions by units the Vostok Group of Forces, aviation, artillery, and heavy flamethrower systems, enemy units have been hit close to Novomikhailovka and Urozhaynoye (Donetsk People's Republic.)
The enemy losses were over 120 Ukrainian servicemen, two armoured fighting vehicles, and nine motor vehicles.
One ammunition depot of the AFU 79th Air Assault Brigade has been destroyed near Novomikhailovka (Donetsk People's Republic).
In Kherson direction, the enemy losses were up to 35 Ukrainian servicemen, eight motor vehicles, one U.S.-manufactured M777 artillery system, and one 152mm Msta-B howitzer.
One ammunition depot of the AFU 124th Brigade of the Territorial Defence of Ukraine has been hit near Ponyatovka (Kherson region).
Operational-Tactical and Army aviation, Missile Troops and Artillery of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have neutralised manpower and military hardware in 126 areas.
In addition, two depots of missile and artillery ammunition of 118th Mechanised and 82nd Airborne Assault Brigades of the AFU have been hit close to Verkhnyaya Tersa (Zaporozhye region).
Fighter Aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces has shot down one Mi-8 of Ukrainian Air Force near Brusovka (Donetsk People's Republic).
Air defence facilities have shot down three projectiles launched by HIMARS MLRS.
In addition, 24 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles have been intercepted and suppressed by electronic warfare means close to Volcheyarovka, Shipilovka (Lugansk People's Republic), Berestovoye, Vodyanoye, Spornoye (Donetsk People's Republic), Skelevatoye, Pshenichnoye, Ocheretovatoye (Zaporozhye region), and near Proletarka (Kherson region).
In total, 467 airplanes, 248 helicopters, 6,376 unmanned aerial vehicles, 435 air defence missile systems, 11,643 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,147 fighting vehicles equipped with MLRS, 6,214 field artillery cannons and mortars, as well as 12,694 special military motor vehicles have been destroyed during the special military operation.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[NewsFrontInfo] 23:55 Official summary of the DPR Representative Office in the JCCC from 00:00 09/04/2023 to 00:00 09/05/2023
Over the past day Representation reported about 37 facts of firing by the VFU.
Over the past day, information was received about the death of two civilians in Mironovskoye.
A total of 11 civilians received injuries of varying severity, incl. three children born in 2012, 2006, 2012 in the Voroshilovsky district of Donetsk, the Central City district of Makeevka, Mironovsky.
A total of 18 houses were damaged in Voroshilovsky, Kievsky, Petrovsky, Kuibyshevsky districts of Donetsk, Chervonogvardeysky district of Makeevka, Mironovsky.
Nine civil infrastructure facilities were damaged in Voroshilovsky, Kuibyshevsky districts of Donetsk, Mironovsky.
Under enemy fire were areas of six settlements of the Republic: Mironovsky, Gorlovka (Nikitovsky district), Yasinovataya, Yasinovatsky district, the capital city of Donetsk (Voroshilovsky, Kuibyshevsky, Kirovsky, Kievsky, Petrovsky districts), Makeevka (Chervonogvardeysky district).
In the Donetsk direction, the enemy made 29 artillery attacks from 152mm and 155mm artillery, incl. with a cluster warhead.
On Gorlovsky four artillery attacks from 122mm artillery.
On Yasinovatsky three artillery attacks from 155mm artillery.
On Svetlodar one artillery attack from MLRS. By releasing 110 units of various ammunition.
A previous 75 artillery attacks were recorded from the VFU side in 24 hours.
22:00 Zaporozhye Front:
Today, around 21:00 in the Stepnogorsk area destroyed MLRS APU.
21:20 Enemy comes, head-on battles are underway: the Russian army counterattacks near Rabotino and Verbovoy on the Zaporozhye front
Direction of the main attack of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: Orekhovsky section of the Zaporozhye Front, defense zone of the 58th Army of the Southern Military District.
Before attacks, the enemy conducts artillery preparation using cluster munitions.
In the early morning, afternoon and evening, the Armed Forces of Ukraine again and again throw infantry into the attack in small groups in attacks on our positions at the Rabotino-Verbove line.
“Heavy fighting continues in the Rabotino-Verbovoye and Rabotino-Novoprokopovka sectors. The situation is dynamic. Positions during the day move from one side to another. Counterattacks of the RF Armed Forces continue southeast of the village of Rabotino, northeast of the village of Novoprokopovka and southwest of the village of Verbovoye,” the enemy military analysts said in the evening report.
The enemy still fails to take control of the outskirts of Rabotino, a village under heavy fire from our troops.
Battles near Verbovoye: attack aircraft of the Armed Forces of Ukraine seek to break through to the outskirts, where short-lived battles break out.
Between Rabotino and Verbov, several attacks were again repelled by our paratroopers.
20:20 "The enemy is attacking strongly and seriously, but we are fighting back"
Calculations of 122mm BM-21 Grad multiple launch rocket systems of artillery units of the 155th Separate Naval Infantry Brigade of the Pacific Fleet continue deal effectively tasks of fire support for assault units of the naval infantry.
Artillerymen effectively destroy manpower and firepower of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
“The enemy is attacking strongly and seriously, but we are fighting back. Don't let us get crushed... Mostly now there is infantry, well, artillery is working with the enemy. Recently, cluster munitions have been working very hard,” says the commander of the MLRS crew with the call sign “Hedgehog”.
19:50 MO RF: On September 4, at about 17.00 Moscow time, another attempt by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack by an aircraft-type UAV on objects on the territory of the Russian Federation was thwarted.
Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle intercepted over the territory of the Bryansk region.
19:25 MO RF: On September 4, at about 4:30 pm Moscow time, an attempt by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack by an aircraft-type UAV on objects in the territory of the Russian Federation was thwarted.
Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle intercepted over the territory of the Bryansk region.
18:50 Trophies scouts of the 36th Brigade in the Nikolsky area in the Ugledar direction.
18:21 Service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine - one way ticket -video
A captive Ukrainian soldier says that he was called to the mobilization service. The military commissars threatened with criminal liability and prison in case of refusal.
There was practically no preparation. According to the prisoner, they “at best fired one or two horns at the training ground,” and only a few recruits from his platoon were allowed to throw a grenade.
Arriving at the front, the Ukrainian soldiers realized that they did not want to fight, and they did not know how. However, “experienced” commanders, through beatings and threats of execution, forced the servicemen to get into boats and go across the Dnieper to the territory controlled by the RF Armed Forces. The servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were well aware of the complexity of their situation.
“I had only two options - either die or surrender. I chose to surrender,” said the captive soldier of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
18:17 The FSB of Russia in the Kherson region detained a resident of the city of Genichesk, born in 1973. involved in the activities of an illegal armed formation -video
In 2014 the detainee voluntarily joined and took an active part in the activities of the Crimean Tatar Battalion named after I. Noman Chelebidzhikhan”, whose goals, in addition to the implementation of the food, energy and water blockade of Crimea from the Ukrainian border, are to violate the integrity of the Russian Federation, as well as to fight, including armed, for the return of the peninsula to Ukraine.
In addition, while heading a cell of the extremist organization "Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people", the detainee recruited its members to participate in the illegal activities of the battalion, and also provided obscenities free of charge. and fin. funds for equipping his base on the territory of the CW used for the “blockade” of the peninsula.
With regard to the detainee of the Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for X, a criminal investigation was initiated on the grounds of a crime under Part 2 of Art. 208 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
17:29 Law enforcement officers in Kherson region discovered cache with artillery rounds
In the Kherson region, the police received operational information about the possible presence of ammunition in the vicinity of the village. Maxim Gor'ky, Kalanchaksky district. Police officers, in cooperation with colleagues from the National Guard, using aerial reconnaissance equipment, at a distance of about 1.5 kms from the specified settlement in the field, discovered a cache with 29 artillery rounds of 122mm caliber.
According to the results of the inspection of ammunition, it was found that they are unsuitable for further use. In this regard, it was decided to destroy them. The rounds were moved to a safe location and detonated with an overhead charge of TNT.
Currently, the police continue to work to identify and suppress the illegal distribution of weapons, explosives and ammunition in the Kherson region.
17:27 A young Donetsk woman spoke about the artillery attack -video
A young Donetsk mother must be able to swaddle her child, change diapers, teach him to eat from a spoon, and also must know where the nearest bomb shelter is and how to determine by sound what kind of shell flew into your house.
The video shows the results of the artillery attack of residential areas of Donetsk. There are more than ten arrivals along Rosa Luxembourg Street. There is still no information about civilian casualties. We hope it works out this time.
But it is easy to appreciate what it is like to leave the house after the shelling.
16:25 Accurate blows Russian artillery in the Lisichansk direction:
Artillerymen of the Lugansk 2nd Army Corps with precise strikes suppress the firing points and strongholds of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in forest plantations and wooded areas. Artillery fire is corrected by UAV calculations.
16:00 Enemy shelled center of Donetsk: direct hits on residential high-rise buildings.
15:25 Eloquent results "counteroffensive" of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the summer campaign of 2023 in the Zaporozhye direction.
For three months, the Armed Forces of Ukraine were able, at the cost of hundreds of armored vehicles and thousands of lives of their soldiers, to advance in two sectors for 7-10 kms into the depths of the forefield of the first line of defense of the RF Armed Forces in the area of the villages of Rabotino and Urozhaynoye, without reaching the main fortifications of our troops.
The total territorial acquisitions of the “counter-offensive guard” of the Armed Forces of Ukraine amounted to about 200 km2 or 0.4% of the almost 50,000 km2 controlled by the RF Armed Forces in the south in Kherson, Zaporozhye and the DPR.
APU counterattack in obvious zugzwang. Driven forward by Western sponsors, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine pushed a large number of troops into the “Rabotinsky meat grinder”, which are melting under the blows of the RF Armed Forces, being constrained by the relief in the lowland in the area of ????the village. Rabotino.
The classic said: "History repeats itself twice - once as a tragedy, the second time as a farce."
Borodino 1812
Borodino 1941
Rabotino 2023
And if Bonaparte and von Bock were attracted by warm winter apartments in Moscow, then Zelensky’s wards (the same Bonaparte, but there is a nuance) are waiting for a plowed forest belt in a field or a destroyed cellar in Rabotino.
14:55 FPV drones of the 1st Donetsk Army Corps destroy militant hideouts:
The first blow fell on a group of militants hiding in the house, the second - on the position in the forest belt.
14:35 Rybar:
Sortie DRG of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Bryansk region
This morning, the Ukrainian DRG tried to penetrate the territory of the Bryansk region near the village of Podyvot'e. This was preceded by mortar training in the vicinity of the settlement.
The attack of the Ukrainian sabotage group was planned a few days ago. In the border areas, small-sized UAVs were actively working, monitoring the situation in this zone. And field artillery guns were pulled into the Middle-Buda.
The concentration of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Chernihiv and Sumy regions has been maintained for quite a long time. DRGs with copters roam along the border, kamikaze drones are periodically launched across Russian territories.
The enemy contingent essentially remains the same, and the mobilized are even being trained near Novgorod-Seversky. So the attacks of the DRG are unlikely to stop, especially considering how the Armed Forces of Ukraine use such newsbreaks to divert attention from failures in the offensive.
13:55 The Armed Forces of Ukraine open fire on their own, after they leave their positions -video.
A captured Ukrainian militant told how his own people opened fire on them after they left their positions on one of the islands near Kherson
12:50 FPV drone of the “Brave” special forces destroyed the enemy stronghold:
The anti-drone gun did not save the militants from our kamikaze drones -video.
12:20 Didn't let a single step: combat work of airborne assault and reconnaissance units of the Airborne Forces on the western outskirts of Artemovsk
The calculations of unmanned aircraft of the Airborne Forces revealed the advancement of several groups of Ukrainian infantry to the positions of our units. Having allowed the enemy to reach a certain point and allowed him to leave the forest plantation to open areas, the paratroopers destroyed the advancing enemy infantry with massive fire from heavy machine guns.
In addition, air defense units of Russian paratroopers destroyed enemy attack unmanned aerial vehicles by launching missiles from the Verba MANPADS.
The bold and decisive actions of the Russian paratroopers did not allow the Ukrainian units to approach the defended city even a meter.
11:45 Telegram-channel Kirill Fedorov of War, History, Weapons:
Fake: At Rabotino, the Armed Forces of Ukraine broke through the first, most important line of defense of the Russian Armed Forces, on which 60 percent of all the resources of the Russian army were spent. Ukrainian media write about this.
Truth: None of the three Russian lines of defense was broken, despite the fact that the total depth of the defensive structures reaches that three attacks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were repelled in the areas of Rabotino and Verbovoye in a day. The enemy failed to take these settlements. According to a source close to the situation, the losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are about two companies per day.
An interesting statement by Ukrainian propagandists is that the main efforts of the Russian army were spent on the first line of defense, which the Ukrainian Armed Forces allegedly managed to break through, and, they say, everything will go on easily. This statement is contrary to military science.
Ever since the First World War, lines of defense have been created in this order: the first line of defense is the foreground, the second line is the line of resistance - the main position, the third line is the last position. And by the time the enemy breaks through the first line, the fourth is already being built, with the goal that the third turns into the second.
The first line of defense is not the main one also because its very construction is hampered by proximity to the front line and enemy artillery shelling, while subsequent positions can be built in a much safer mode.
For the success of its summer “counterattack” and access to Melitopol, the Ukrainian army had to break through the first line of Russian defense very quickly, preferably in the first day. The fact that in Kyiv they started talking about breaking through the first line only after three months means a complete failure of the offensive. This information is also confirmed by Russian military correspondents: “Now it is impossible to enter the operational space, as we advance, it will be filled with new lines and fortified areas, new impregnable workers.”
11:25 Ukrainian formations once again fired upon Bryansk region.
The village of Podyvot'e, Sevsk District, was hit: the administrative building and outbuildings were partially damaged. There were problems with the electricity supply in the village. There were no casualties.
10:45 Stole BMP of the enemy, from which the crew escaped! It is for this brave act that our fighter with the call sign "Izyum" was awarded. He serves in the Kherson direction, where he detects and destroys enemy DRGs. Not even a fly will fly on our shore!
10:20 Rybar: another Ukrainian PR outing to the coast of Crimea
On the night of September 4, units of the GUR and SOF of Ukraine again tried to land at Cape Tarkhankut in the Crimea. Only unlike previous attacks, the DRG slightly changed the route: five boats with personnel left the Zatoka region, and not Vilkovo.
Enemy reconnaissance groups by midnight passed the Golitsyn gas production plant and headed for the peninsula. At that moment, south of Tarkhankut, the Tekever UAV from Snigirevka was already operating, providing guidance for Willard-type boats and their escort.
Units of the 31st Division of the Air Force and Air Defense of the Russian army first shot down a Portuguese-made drone from the Pantsir air defense missile system, leaving the DRG GUR of Ukraine without eyes, and then lifted the aircraft of the naval aviation of the Black Sea Fleet into the air.
Ukrainian boats turned around and moved back to Zatoka. The first three boats were discovered by a Su-24M bomber 43 kms northwest of Tarkhankut, where four RBC-500 cluster bombs were dropped on them.
The boats went down with the people on board. Another was at that moment to the west of the gas producing environment. A Russian Su-30SM plane dropped two RBC-500 bombs on it. Another boat managed to reach the coast of Ukraine and return to Zatoka.
As we said earlier, the Ukrainian authorities will continue their PR attacks on the peninsula, despite the suicidal nature of such actions. The successful attack on the S-300 air defense system and the landing near Olenevka for the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine seemed to be beneficial in terms of information, so no one is going to reckon with losses.
Russian sailors and air defense units, without the slightest problem, were able to detect and destroy the threat even before approaching the Crimea. The level of Russian military personnel has increased many times over a year and a half of the NWO.
And yes, such an outing on the day of negotiations on a grain deal quite clearly shows that it is definitely not worth negotiating with the Ukrainian side on some kind of settlement in the Black Sea.
10:00 MO RF: On September 4, 2023, at night in the northwestern part of the Black Sea, naval aircraft of the Black Sea Fleet destroyed four high-speed military boats manufactured by the United States Willard Sea Force with landing groups of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, heading towards Cape Tarkhankut of the Crimean coast.
09:08 The criminal Kiev regime continues to shell the civilian infrastructure of the settlements on the left bank of the Kherson region, yesterday during the day the Armed Forces of Ukraine were fired from barrel artillery:
During the night, the Kiev regime continued to shell civilian infrastructure in the settlement of Nova Kakhovka, the settlement of Kakhovka, Vasil'yevka, Krynki, Golaya Pristan, firing a total of 30 rounds from cannon artillery.
Civilian casualties and destruction of infrastructure are being specified
09:07 Crews of combat helicopters Ka-52 and Mi-35 of the Central Military District destroyed the stronghold of the Armed Forces of Ukraine -video
Krasnoliman direction
The defeat of manpower, as well as the destruction of armored combat vehicles and enemy strongholds, was carried out by guided and unguided missiles.
After destroying the target, the crews of the attack helicopters performed an anti-fire maneuver and returned to their base airfield.
To bypass enemy air defense systems, the pilots approached the zone of combat use at an extremely low altitude with enveloping the terrain.
08:20 Summary on the morning of September 4, 2023
For the second night in a row, the Russian Armed Forces are striking at the port infrastructure in the Odessa region on the border with Romania: Geran UAVs exploded in the cities of Izmail and Reni, just on the eve of today's meeting between Putin and Erdogan. Explosions also sounded at night in the Dnepropetrovsk and Zaporozhye regions.
On the Zaporozhye Front, at the Rabotino-Verbove line, several units of enemy armored vehicles were destroyed, attacks by the Armed Forces of Ukraine in “waves” on our positions continue constantly. To the east, in the area of the Green Field, artillery duels are taking place. Over Bekarovka, 38 kms from the LBS (enemy rear), a Ukrainian MiG-29 was shot down.
The Kherson sector of the front in recent days has been characterized by an increase in the activity of both sides on the islands in the floodplain of the river. Dnieper.
In the Yuzhnodonetsk direction in the Staromayorsky area, mutual artillery artillery attack is underway.
After lengthy positional battles, the activity of the Russian Armed Forces resumed on the flanks of the Maryinsky direction: there are reports of successful attacks by our troops near Krasnogorovka and Novomikhailovka. On the Avdeevsky direction, the work of heavy artillery of the Russian Army is heard.
South of Artemovsk (Bakhmut) the Armed Forces of Ukraine are attacking in Kleshcheevka and near Kurdyumovka. Several enemy armored vehicles were destroyed, however, the presence of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the western part of Kleshcheevka is reported. To the north of Artyomovsk - positional battles near the Berkhovsky reservoir.
West of Svatovo, the Russian Armed Forces are taking active steps to expand the zone of control near Novoegorovka.
Explosions sounded all night long in Kupyansk and its environs: places of concentration of enemy personnel and equipment were being destroyed.
At night, the Ministry of Defense reported the destruction of drones flying to the Crimea and the Kursk region (the city of Kurchatov - 4 downed UAVs). The city of Kurchatov is attacked by the enemy for the third day: the Kursk nuclear power plant is located there. In the evening, an uninhabited building was on fire in the city after an attack by an enemy drone. Also in the region under enemy fire n.p. Tetkino, two drones were shot down in the Rylsokm and Sudzhan regions.
The Belgorod region is under constant shelling: yesterday, the Urazovo village of the Valuysky urban district was under fire from the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and an UAV was shot down near Belgorod.
In the morning, the defense department announced the destruction of four enemy landing boats with personnel, which followed in the direction of Cape Tarkhankut (Crimea, western coast).
08:07 Frontline summary on the morning of 09/04/2023
In the Zaporizhia direction, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, with the support of artillery, attacked east of Novprokopovka in the direction of Ocheretovaty. There is progress in the gray zone. They carried out similar actions in the Dorozhnyanka area. This is a new active site of hostilities. The RF Armed Forces shelled Ukrainian units in the settlements of Plavni, Kamenskoye, Rabotino, Novodanilovka, Malaya Tokmachka, Charovnoye and Ol'govskoye. Artillery of the Armed Forces of Ukraine worked on Zherebyanka, Nesternyak, Kopany, Il'chenkov, Novoprokopovka, Pshenichny, Verbovoy and Novopokrovka.
In the Ugledar sector, Ukrainian troops, after artillery preparation, tried to attack near Priyutnoye. No success. The RF Armed Forces carried out strikes against the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Novodarovka, Rivnopol, Staromayorsky, Urozhaynoye, Zolotoy Niva, Novoukrainka and Vugledar. They themselves found themselves under artillery attack in Volodin, Zavetnie Zhelani, Staromlynovka, Kermenchik, Novodonetsk, Novomayorsk and Pavlovka.
On the Donetsk front, Russian troops, supported by artillery, conducted assault operations in the area of Novomikhailovka, the city of Krasnogorovka and Severny (a settlement west of Avdievka). No promotion. Artillery of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation worked for the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Yekaterinovka, Mar'yinka, Ostrom, Nevelskoye, Berdychi, Keramika, Novoaleksandrovka, N'yu York and Druzhba. Ukrainian - in Donetsk and Gorlovka.
In the Luhansk direction, Russian units attacked near Novogorovka after shelling. There is relative calm in the area of Sin'kovka and Petropavlovka. Ukrainian positions in Belogorivka, Nevsky, Makeevka, Cherneshchina, Myasozharovka and Berestovo are under attack.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Denis Davydov
[REGNUM] The candidacy of the new Minister of Defense of Ukraine Rustem Umerov in numerous publications regarding the reshuffle is considered mainly linearly, based on the official biography and the fact that this not very public Crimean Tatar has long been “in the cage”. And he got there straight from the unregistered "Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people" (an organization recognized as extremist in the Russian Federation), which entered into an alliance with Western Ukrainian nationalism in the early 2000s.
Being involved in the financing and activities of the "Mejlis" through the family, being an assistant to its leader Mustafa Dzhemilev on human rights and international activities, Umerov was completely consciously tested in politics. He is, as they say, a “cadre officer”, specially nurtured for this work from the moment when our hero got to the Crimean boarding school for gifted children in the village. Tank, Bakhchisarai region.
A number of sources mention an alleged incident in which Turkish media questioned Umerov about his ties to FETO, the movement of Islamic preacher Mohammed Fethullah Gülen , classified as a terrorist organization by Turkey, Pakistan, Northern Cyprus and the Gulf Cooperation Council.
However, it is unlikely that the real Turkish press did not know that FETO has been in a tactical alliance with the Justice and Development Parties of the current President Erdogan since 2002 . Thanks to this, the AKP showed an unprecedented result in the history of the Republic of Turkey, having formed governments three times following the results of elections in 2002, 2007 and 2011. Thanks to Erdogan, the Gulen movement gained influence in the Turkish police and judiciary, hundreds of supporters of one of the most influential Muslims in the world were appointed to government positions.
Back to Istanbul. Türkiye wants to revive two profitable processes
The Gulen movement used its influence to actively work in the field of education, it had private schools and universities in more than 180 countries. And in the aforementioned gymnasium, founded in 1993, even as of autumn 2014, Turkish citizens worked as teachers. But if the tank gymnasium even entered Gülen's orbit, then Erdogan enjoys the fruits of its work.
The current candidate for Ukrainian ministers can be seen in photographs from the official meetings of the Turkish president with the head of the Crimean Tatar "Mejlis" Mustafa Dzhemilev . And there were many such meetings, and here it should be noted that Turkey's strong connection with the Crimean Tatars, in principle, deserves attention. There they are a political factor, weighing several million (different sources show a figure of 3-6 million) people.
More kyrymly historically live on the territory of the Republic of Turkey than in Crimea itself. Until the beginning of the 20th century, they immigrated from there in six counted waves, the main of which occurred after the annexation of the southern lands to the Russian Empire in 1783, after the Crimean War of 1853-1856 and after the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878. About 20 thousand people moved to Turkey from Crimea even in 2022.
Tatars played a very significant role in the socio-political, economic and cultural life of the Ottoman Empire, occupied high positions in the structure of government, among the clergy, their representatives are known for their achievements in culture and science.
So there is nothing surprising, for example, in the fact that Noman Chelebidzhikhan and Jafer Seydamet , leaders of the Milli Firka national party, which claimed autonomy for Crimea during the Civil War, studied and lived in Turkey. In the spring of 1918, Seydamet returned to the Crimea occupied by the German army and became Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Crimean regional government of General Matvei Sulkevich ("Suleiman Pasha"). A Tatar by birth, Sulkevich immediately established diplomatic relations with Istanbul, hoping to proclaim the independence of Crimea under his wing. And he sent his minister on a diplomatic mission to Berlin. Seydamet and Turkish journalist Mustejib Ulkusaltraveled in 1942, insisting on the creation of a national Crimean Tatar government in Crimea.
Actually, the special attitude towards the Crimean Tatars (as well as, in principle, towards Muslims) on the part of Nazi Germany was dictated by the desire to please Turkey, to stir up pan-Turkist sentiments. In World War I, she was an ally. In the Second, the Germans wanted the same, realizing that Turkey still had its own interests, coming from those times when the Black Sea was an inland reservoir of the Ottoman Empire.
Such interests exist to this day, as well as the theme of the autonomy of the Crimea, the conductors of which were and remain the Crimean Tatars. Turkey promoted it in the 30s under the Bolsheviks, and in the 90s under Ukraine, when the young Rustem Umerov studied at the gymnasium, and the Tatars returned from Central Asia and bought houses with the money that the Mejlis took from the Turks.
Back in the early 2000s, the author personally recorded Turkish television broadcasting to the peninsula, where the basic political theses “whose Crimea” were brought to the audience in Turkish. Subsequently, Mustafa Dzhemilev and his colleagues became a "pro-Ukrainian party" in the sense that they pursued a common goal with Bandera's Galicia: to eliminate Russian influence and take Crimea under control. Under whose - the parties planned to decide later, and in 2014 the Tatars supported the Maidan and actively joined the struggle "for the Ukrainian Crimea."
And when this struggle was lost, the leadership of the "Mejlis" moved to Kyiv, where the goal of the Crimean Tatar movement was already accepted by default - the creation of a national territorial autonomy of an ethnocratic nature. Crimea was “given away” to the “Mejlis” in absentia. That is why he remains faithful to the Kyiv regime and the Crimean Tatars, in fact, are the only national minority in the country that has the right to public linguistic and cultural manifestations.
At the same time, this lobby maintains close ties with both Turkey and the Sunni states of the Middle East. Umerov also made a career not just anywhere, but in the Life :) mobile communications company, owned by the Turkish operator Turkcell. In the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, he was the co-chairman of the parliamentary friendship groups with Turkey and Saudi Arabia. And he accompanied President Zelensky to the Saudis and his wife during a visit to the UAE on his own. Long-standing connections there were established by the same Dzhemilev, who passed them on to his pupil.
That is, following the general logic, the new Minister of Defense entered the quota from old comrades-in-arms and symbolizes the main interest of Ukraine's military efforts. It is also a guarantee of agreements on who will actually own the “Ukrainian Crimea”. One can state a deep curtsey towards Turkey, which, according to the old tradition, the true masters of the Ukrainian situation want to get into allies.
At the same time, Mr. Umerov agreed with them.
The FLEX Future Leaders Exchange Fellow, funded by the US Department of State, was selected for a reason.
From a Turkish company, he stepped onto the career ladder in the system of Ukrainian government, on which by the age of 41 he had reached significant heights. The ASTEM investment company was allocated to feed him, which through the ASTEM Foundation funded the Ukrainian New Leaders program, a 10-month internship at Stanford University. The program's website reports that faculty members include leading political scientists " who conduct research on democracy, development and the rule of law": Michael McFaul, Larry Diamond, Francis Fukuyama, Anna Grzymala-Busse, Eric Jensen. Basically - prominent experts on the problem of pacification of Russia.
It is curious that ICG Investments and iCapital, which are indicated everywhere as Rustem's places of work, are affiliated with ASTEM, whose chief adviser and member of the Advisory Board is his respected dad, Enver Umerov, a resident of Boca Raton, Florida, USA. And this firm has a connection with the Florida company Surfside, owned by Rustem's older brother, one of the main sponsors of the Mejlis, Aslan Enverovich Omer Kirimli.
So whether Umerov will cope with the duties of the head of the military department is not a question.
First, he is not very worried about the result. Secondly, the minister in Ukrainian realities is primarily a communicator, and Umerov, who speaks English and Turkish and has been tested in negotiation groups, can speak. A completely loyal specialist in general and should not have any specific knowledge in the field of state property management or the army economy.
Like other similar agents of influence (for example, former Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk), they move from position to position simply to gain experience in new conditions. And all the necessary decisions are sent down to them from above and assisted in the implementation through the institute of assistants and advisers accompanying key departments.
Quite a typical personnel decision for “independent Ukraine”, where, along with visible power, there is a parallel structure that regulates and guides. The growth of its influence only confirms the simple fact that all the actions taken in recent years are agreed upon by senior comrades and are part of a plan that has nothing to do with the interests of Ukraine itself. So this word in the new position of Rustem Umerov should be considered very conditionally.
[Regnum] Ukraine does not intend to make concessions on the resumption of the grain deal, despite the call for such a step by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan . This statement was made by the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Dmitry Kuleba , according to the publication “Strana. ua".
As Kuleba clarified, he considers the position of the Ukrainian authorities fair, and Kiev, according to him, should not become a hostage to "Russian blackmail" .
“Our position is fair – we should no longer be hostages of Russian blackmail, when Russia creates problems and then invites everyone to solve them,” the Ukrainian edition quotes Kuleba.
The head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry specified that before the meeting of Turkish President Erdogan with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Sochi, Ukrainian diplomats contacted the Turkish side and "clearly explained everything." Kuleba stressed that before making a decision in Kyiv, they want to hear from their Turkish colleagues after their return from Sochi and find out all the details of the summit.
Kuleba noted that the Ukrainian side intends to defend its positions on the grain deal, including sanctions pressure on Russia.
Earlier , IA Regnum reported that, as Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba said, the Kiev authorities hope for a conversation between Turkish President Erdogan and Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky after a meeting with Russian President Putin in Sochi.
According to Kuleba, there is "trust" in relations between the Turkish and Ukrainian presidents.
In turn, Erdogan said that alternative proposals failed to provide a sustainable, safe and long-term model, which was the grain deal. He stressed that Ankara has repeatedly said that the requirements put forward by Russia on the grain deal must be fulfilled.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agrees with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that Kiev needs to change its approach to Moscow in order to extend the grain deal. The Turkish president stated this on September 4 at a press conference in Sochi after talks with the Russian leader.
“Yes, as Mr. President said, of course, Ukraine needs to soften its approach in order to take joint steps with Russia ,” Erdogan said.
He also called Moscow's expectations from the grain deal fair. The Turkish leader hopes that Ankara's package of proposals will help revive this Black Sea initiative.
Negotiations between Erdogan and Putin in Sochi lasted about three hours . In front of them, the Turkish president said that the grain deal is the most important issue for him, which he plans to discuss.
At the same time, after the talks, Putin said at a press conference that the West had deceived Russia about the humanitarian goals of the grain deal. He noted that they promised to export grain from Ukraine to the poorest countries, but 70% of the goods went to wealthy states, mainly members of the EU. Only 3% was exported to countries in need of food, the President noted.
The grain deal has been in effect since July 22, 2022. After the Russian part of the agreement had not been fulfilled for almost a year, the Russian Foreign Ministry on July 17, 2023 announced Moscow's withdrawal from the agreement. The Russian ministry also pointed out that the corridors intended for the export of grain from Ukraine were used for terrorist attacks on Russian facilities.
Putin has repeatedly noted that Russia is ready to return to the Black Sea initiative. But for this there must be a real fulfillment of the conditions of the Russian side.
A good grain harvest is expected in Russia this year - 130 million tons, President Vladimir Putin said on September 4 following a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan .
“We will have a good harvest this year, somewhere last year it was 158 million tons, this year it will be somewhere around 130,” Putin said.
He also noted that Russia's export potential will remain at the level of 60 million tons of grain. The head of state added that Turkey is a big partner of Russia with a large-scale flour-grinding industry.
“We will fully meet the needs of the Republic of Turkey,” Putin said.
He added that Moscow is ready, meeting the needs of Ankara, to return to the grain deal, subject to Russia's conditions. Regardless of this, Russia is ready to supply grain to the poorest countries along with Turkey and Qatar.
“From 25,000 to 50,000 tons will be delivered to six African countries free of charge. Right in the coming days,” Putin said.
As IA Regnum reported , on September 4, at a meeting in Sochi, Putin and Erdogan discussed the possibility of resuming the grain deal. Following the talks, the Russian President said that Moscow was ready to agree to revive the agreement, but on the condition that the West fulfill all promises.
The President of Russia recalled that Moscow three times went towards the West and extended the Black Sea initiative. Since Russia's conditions were never met, the deal ended on July 18. In addition, the West deceived Russia, declaring that the grain will go to the poorest countries.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu called the drones of the Ukrainian army one of the reasons for Moscow's withdrawal from the grain deal. He announced this on September 4th.
“Oddly enough, this has a direct correlation with the grain deal. Because this is one of those violations, as a result of which we withdrew from this deal, ” said the head of the Ministry of Defense, speaking of the destruction of the base for the production of Ukrainian naval drones.
As Shoigu explained, it followed from the initial agreements that Ukrainian ports would not be used against Russia, including for the creation of drones.
At the same time, Shoigu announced the destruction of seven Ukrainian maritime drones in the Black Sea in recent days. According to him, such boats are produced in the Black Sea, Yuzhny and Odessa ports.
“As for unmanned boats, you have probably seen everything, covered it all more than once. Over the past week, seven of these have been destroyed, not even in a week, but in five days, ” he said.
The minister also noted that the issue of strengthening Turkey's role in the Black Sea was not discussed at the talks in Sochi. According to Shoigu, this was not and is not discussed, since there are established rules for navigation and the passage of ships through the straits.
As IA Regnum reported , the Ministry of Defense announced Ukraine's violation of guarantees not to use the humanitarian corridor for military purposes and the attack on the bases of the Black Sea Fleet and the civilian infrastructure of Crimea on March 23 and April 24.
The grain deal between Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN was valid from July 22, 2022 to July 17, 2023. The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly stated that there are no grounds for a further extension of the deal, since it has turned into a purely commercial export of food from Ukraine to “well-fed” countries.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin on July 13 allowed the suspension of Russia's participation in the grain deal, after the deadline, on July 17, the Kremlin announced the suspension of Russia's participation in the grain deal. Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that the Black Sea agreements had actually ceased to be valid.
Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Sergei Vershinin announced the absence of negotiations on the resumption of the grain deal, the head of the department, Sergei Lavrov , said on June 14 that the future of the agreement depends on the fulfillment of the conditions of the Russian side.
Endemic in that part of the world, unfortunately. In the early days of the Russian invasion we had reports of unclothed, unfed, and unpaid soldiers whose officers had pocketed the budget for such items. Also warehouses of war materiel sitting empty, the tanks, guns, and bullets having been sold long since by the officers who had signed off for their readiness....
[DNYUZ] The removal of Ukraine’s minister of defense after a flurry of reports of graft and financial mismanagement in his department underscores a pivotal challenge for President Volodymyr Zelensky’s wartime leadership: stamping out the corruption that had been widespread in Ukraine for years.
Official corruption was a topic that had been mostly taboo throughout the first year of the war, as Ukrainians rallied around their government in a fight for national survival. But Mr. Zelensky’s announcement Sunday night that he was replacing the defense minister, Oleksii Reznikov, elevated the issue to the highest level of Ukrainian politics.
It comes at a pivotal moment in the war, as Ukraine prosecutes a counteroffensive in the country’s south and east that relies heavily on Western allies for military assistance. These allies have, since the beginning of the war, pressured Mr. Zelensky’s government to ensure that Ukrainian officials were not siphoning off some of the billions of dollars in aid that was flowing into Kyiv.
Just last week, the United States’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, met with three high-ranking Ukrainian officials to discuss efforts to stamp out wartime corruption. It comes as some lawmakers in the United States have used graft as an argument for limiting military aid to Ukraine.
Mr. Zelensky has responded to the pressure from allies and criticism at home with a flurry of anticorruption initiatives, not all of them welcomed by experts on government transparency. The most controversial has been a proposal to use martial law powers to punish corruption as treason.
Mr. Reznikov, who has held a range of positions during Mr. Zelensky’s tenure, submitted his resignation Monday morning. He has not been personally implicated in the allegations of mismanaged military contracts. But the widening investigations at his ministry posed a first significant challenge for the government on anti-corruption measures since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
“The question here is, ‘Where is the money?’” said Daria Kaleniuk, the executive director of the Anti-Corruption Action Center in Ukraine, a group dedicated to rooting out public graft that is now focused on war profiteering.
“Corruption can kill,” Ms. Kaleniuk said. “Depending on how effective we are in guarding the public funds, the soldier will either have a weapon or not have a weapon.”
At one point this year, about $980 million in weapons contracts had missed their delivery dates, according to government figures, and some prepayments for weapons had vanished into oversees accounts of weapons dealers, according to reports made to Parliament. Though precise details have not emerged, the irregularities suggest that procurement officials in the ministry did not vet suppliers, or allowed weapons dealers to walk off with money without delivering the armaments.
Ukrainian media reports have pointed to overpayments for basic supplies for the army, such as food and winter coats.
The public revelations of mismanagement so far have not directly touched foreign weapons transferred to the Ukrainian Army, or Western aid money, but they are nonetheless piercing the sense of unquestioning support for the government that Ukrainians had exhibited throughout the first year of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Two officials with the Defense Ministry — a deputy minister and the head of procurement — were arrested during the winter over the reports of the purchase of overpriced eggs for the army. Mr. Zelensky fired the heads of military recruitment offices last month after allegations emerged that some took bribes from people seeking to avoid the draft.
His proposed initiative to treat corruption as treason set off a wave of criticism that it could lead to an abuse of martial law powers.
Oleksii Goncharenko, a member of Parliament in the opposition European Solidarity party, said of Mr. Zelensky’s record, “I cannot praise his efforts in fighting corruption during the war period.”
Government officials acknowledge that some military contracts failed to produce weaponry or ammunition, and that some money has vanished. But they say that most of the problems arose in the chaotic early months of the invasion last year and have since been remedied.
Mr. Reznikov, the departing defense minister, said last week that he was confident the ministry would return prepayments to suppliers that have gone missing.
Military spending now accounts for nearly half of Ukraine’s national budget, and the reports of contracting scandals point to a shift in the sources of public corruption.
Before the full-scale invasion, the primary source of embezzlement had been poorly run state companies, of which there were more than 3,000 on the government’s balance sheet. Money was siphoned off through myriad schemes by wealthy insiders, while the national budget, propped up by foreign aid, absorbed the losses.
Anticorruption groups say the huge influxes of funds to support the war has prompted them to shift their focus to military spending.
Ukrainian investigative journalists have highlighted overpayment for basic supplies for the army, like eggs for 17 hryvnia, or 47 cents, each — far above prevailing prices, according to a report in Dzerkalo Tyzhnia, a Ukrainian newspaper. Canned beans were bought from Turkey at more than the price for the same cans in Ukrainian supermarkets, the newspaper reported, even though the military would be expected to purchase at less than retail prices.
The ministry also bought thousands of coats that turned out to be insufficiently insulated for Ukraine’s bitter winters.
Western donors are closely watching how Ukraine tackles the problem, the chairwoman of the Ukrainian Parliament’s anticorruption committee, Anastasia Radina, said in an interview.
Particularly worrying is the proposal to punish corruption as treason because it could allow the domestic intelligence agency, the S.B.U., which is under direct control of the president, to investigate official corruption.
The meeting last week with Mr. Sullivan, the American national security adviser, included the heads of a specialized investigative agency, a prosecutorial office and a court that were set up after Ukraine’s Western political pivot in 2014, with help from the United States and international lenders such as the International Monetary Fund. These are the Ukrainian agencies that could lose power under Mr. Zelensky’s treason proposal.
Western governments are wary of the agencies’ potential weakening, Ms. Radina said, adding that if the proposal goes forward, “most likely they will object.”
But, overall, Ms. Radina, a member of Mr. Zelensky’s governing Servant of the People party, defended the government’s efforts to fend off graft in wartime.
The arrest this past weekend of Ihor Kolomoisky, one of Ukraine’s richest men, was seen as a sign of the drive to curb oligarchs’ political influence. Suspected of fraud and money laundering, Mr. Kolomoisky supported Mr. Zelensky’s 2019 election campaign, but since the war began, the president has appeared to break all ties with him.
In other crackdowns this year, investigators pursued one of their highest-profile prosecutions ever for bribery, against the chief of Ukraine’s Supreme Court, who was ousted and arrested in May. In addition, a deputy economy minister is on trial, accused of embezzling from humanitarian aid funds.
That high-level cases of corruption are coming to light is positive, said Andrii Borovyk, director of Transparency International in Ukraine, rather than an indication of a nation bogged down by insider dealing; it shows that the country can fight the war and graft at the same time, he said.
“Scandals are good,” he said. “The war,” Mr. Borovyk added, “cannot be an excuse to stop fighting corruption.”
Posted by: NoMoreBS ||
09/05/2023 00:00 ||
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#1
Military Graft Becomes a Headache for Ukraine
Really? Betcha nobody would mention this if their counteroffensive didn't flounder.
#4
How easily Americans fall for the latest Russian propaganda offensive. 1) "Mass mobilization"
2) "Ukrainian partners' disbelief in the possibility of victory"
3) "The Ukrainian counteroffensive is not successful"
4) "Total corruption"
5) "Beautiful" life in the occupied territories
The Ukrainians are cleaning up corruption. Investigating and arresting the accused, even oligarchs that helped elect Zelensky. Do you think that could happen in the USA?
Meanwhile in mafia Russia, soldiers and their families don't get paid, the dead are disappeared and their salaries stolen. Any sellable weapons and parts disappear. Soldiers have to pay their commanders for food, clothing, weapons and ammo or time off. Food and supplies are stolen, expired, adulterated and maggot infested.
1. September, 2020
[BBC] Beneath some of the world’s busiest fisheries, radioactive submarines from the Soviet era lie disintegrating on the seafloor. Decades later, Russia is preparing to retrieve them.
Kiev has been spending around $100 million a day on the conflict with Russia, the outgoing Ukraine Defense Minister Aleksey Reznikov has said. The official made the remarks in an interview with state-run media outlet Ukrinform, published on Monday, in which he rejected corruption allegations and defended the ministry’s procurement policies during his tenure.
Reznikov also dismissed the claims that the country’s military has been largely supplied by volunteers and crowdfunding, stating such take was simply "unfair," given that the government has been spending some $100 million daily on the conflict.
"I know all the budgets spent on supplies for the army — those provided by volunteers and officially by the state. I can tell you that supplies from volunteers from February 24, 2022 to date are 3% of everything that went to the war," Reznikov stated.
Posted by: Grom the Reflective ||
09/05/2023 04:13 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[DNYUZ] The removal of Ukraine’s minister of defense after a flurry of reports of graft and financial mismanagement in his department underscores a pivotal challenge for President Volodymyr Zelensky’s wartime leadership: stamping out the corruption that had been widespread in Ukraine for years.
