Russia “will do everything to avoid a global confrontation” but “will not allow anyone to threaten it”, and will maintain the operational readiness of its nuclear “strategic forces”. Vladimir Putin’s words are in tune with the gray skies and winter temperatures hanging over Red Square.
Cold War statements, uttered by the Kremlin leader at the parade for the anniversary of the victory over Hitler while tensions with the West over the conflict in Ukraine reach levels never reached before. Almost at the same time, it was up to Deputy Foreign Minister Serghei Ryabkov to warn that Russia is “strengthening nuclear deterrence measures” to respond to the “policy of escalation” of which Moscow accuses the Europeans and the USA. And this is as Putin confirms that Belarus will join exercises to test the readiness of tactical nuclear weapons.
ANSA Agency Zelensky removes his security chief – News – Ansa.it Volodymyr Zelensky has fired, with a decree, the head of State Security (Udo), Serghei Rud, who is also responsible for the personal protection of the president. This was reported by the Ukrainian media. (HANDLE)“Nothing unusual, it’s a planned job”, minimizes the president. But when announcing the tests in recent days, the Ministry of Defense said that it was a response to Western “threats”. The main threat that military leaders are talking about is the hypothesis put forward by French President Emmanuel Macron of sending troops to Ukraine in the event of a collapse of the defenses of Kiev, which is in serious difficulty. Words that raised little enthusiasm among Western allies. But today the Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, in an interview with the Guardian, evoked a possible ad hoc coalition of Western countries that would send military training personnel to Ukraine with the support of air defense. An initiative that would bring the possibility of a direct confrontation with Moscow closer.
“It could be a first step in Macron’s initiative,” Landsbergis underlined. While Russian agencies quoted the words of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, according to whom “soldiers, observers and technicians” from NATO countries are already in Ukraine. Statements that his Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski had already made in March, probably referring to advisors who support the Ukrainians in the use of sophisticated weapons supplied by the Alliance. Tusk would have added, however, that direct involvement in the conflict must be avoided. Putin’s warning about nuclear weapons was visually accompanied by the presence of strategic missile launchers in today’s parade, which was attended by 9,000 military personnel, including many fighters from the conflict in Ukraine, whom the president hailed as “heroes.”
According to tradition, a T-34 tank from the Great Patriotic War, as the war against the Nazis is called in Moscow, in which, according to official estimates, no less than 27 million Russians died, including soldiers and civilians. And, as is now customary, Putin made a comparison between that fight and the one against the current “followers of Nazism”, among whom he includes the Kiev leadership. Against them and their Western supporters, former president Dmitry Medvedev even went so far as to predict a future international trial, a “Nuremberg 2.0”, as he called it. The celebrations began, after a snowfall, at 10 in the morning, with the chiming of the clock on the Kremlin’s Spasskaya tower. The presence of guest heads of state was limited. Next to Putin in the stands sat the presidents of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Cuba, Laos and Guinea-Bissau, who after the parade accompanied him to pay homage to the nearby monument to the Unknown Soldier. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, however, was absent, confirming the cooling of relations between Moscow and Yerevan.
In the afternoon, the traditional march of the Immortal Regiment was cancelled, where Russian citizens parade showing photographs of fathers, grandfathers or great-grandfathers who fought against Nazism. A decision motivated by security fears, both for possible Ukrainian attacks and terrorist attacks after the attack on Crocus City Hall last March. Alarms that turned out to be unfounded. A drone attack instead took place, and was claimed by Kiev’s intelligence services, against a refinery located 1,200 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, in the Republic of Bashkiria. The head of the republic, Radiy Khabirov, reported that the unmanned aircraft hit a Gazprom plant in the city of Salavat, where there was damage to a pumping station but no deaths or injuries.
Video Moscow, military parade celebrates Russia’s victory over Nazism
ANSA Agency Kiev: ‘At least 1,300 Russian soldiers dead or wounded in the last 24 hours’ – News – Ansa.it The total since the beginning of the invasion thus rises to 478,730 (ANSA) ANSA Agency Iran: ‘If threatened, ready to change nuclear doctrine’ – News – Ansa.it “There are no decisions about building a nuclear bomb but if Iran’s existence is threatened there will be no choice but to change our military doctrine.” (HANDLE)Media, ‘Kiev drone on Russian refinery after 1,500 km flight’
The Ukrainian Security Service SBU organized an attack on an oil refinery in the Russian region of Bashkiria with a drone that flew a record distance of 1,500 km before striking. Rbc Ukraine writes this, citing Kiev sources. The claim comes after the head of Bashkiria, Radiy Khabirov, reported that a Gazprom oil refinery in the city of Salavat was attacked by a drone. According to regional authorities cited by Ria Novosti, the attack damaged the structure of a pumping station at the plant but there were no victims.
“The SBU has once again demonstrated that it has powerful technological solutions that help deliver painful blows to the enemy. This means that Russian refineries and oil depots operating in the military industrial complex of the Russian Federation cannot feel safe even in the rear” , the source told RBC Ukraine. The affected plant, “Gazprom Naftokhim Salavat”, is considered one of the largest oil refining and petrochemical production complexes in Russia.
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