«Ukraine should use Western weapons to strike at Russia». No from Salvini and Conte

«The priority objective will be to bring peace to Ukraine and the Middle East. Today’s words from the NATO Secretary General signal a further military escalation. We are on the brink of World War III. We will say ‘no’. Enough with this strategy on the skin of Italians.” The leader of the M5s declares it Giuseppe Conte on the sidelines of the «Unite» event in Rome.

«Italy is not at war with anyone and if it was right to help Ukraine militarily, at the same time there is no question of lifting the ban» on Kiev «from hitting military targets in Russia, just as I reiterate that the League she is against sending even a single soldier to fight in Ukraine. We want peace, not the antechamber of the third world war.” Thus the deputy prime minister and leader of the League, Matteo Salvinitoday in Pisa for an electoral initiative, commenting on passages from an interview with the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, with the Economist.

«Russia dealt another heavy blow to our Kharkiv – on a construction hypermarket – on Saturday, right in the middle of the day. At the moment it is known that there could be more than 200 people in the hypermarket.” He writes it on Telegram Volodymyr Zelensky regarding the Russian attack that hit a megastore in Kharkiv.

«If Ukraine had enough air defense and modern fighter aircraft, such Russian attacks would be simply impossible. And this is why we appeal to all leaders, to all states: we need a significant strengthening of air defense and sufficient capabilities to destroy the Russians.”

A Russian raid hit a construction products hypermarket in Kharkiv in a residential area. Mayor Igor Terekhov reported that there are currently two deaths but added that “many people have disappeared and there are many injured” because the place was crowded.

Images published on Ukrainian social networks showed the building from which a huge column of black smoke was pouring out. The affected megastore is located in a department store area next to a parking lot.

Russian troops “took control of the village of Arkhangelskoye”, in Donetsk. This was stated by the Russian Ministry of Defense quoted by Ria Novosti. “The units of the ‘Centre’ troop group, as a result of successful military operations, liberated the Arkhangelskoye settlement of the Donetsk People’s Republic,” the ministry says. The settlement is located in the Pokrovsk district

“We are an integral part of NATO but every decision must be taken in a collegial manner.” So did the Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani on the statements of NATO secretary Stoltenberg regarding the possibility that Ukraine could strike Russia with Alliance weapons. «Kiev’s choices are Kiev’s choices. We will not send an Italian soldier to Ukraine and the military instruments sent by Italy are used inside Ukraine, we work for peace. The messages coming from Russia also cause a hybrid war that is being fought, but we must always work for peace and lower the tone.”

«In Brussels they talk about a peace summit but they are thinking about war. Inebriated as they are by the fury of war, they deny the European Constitution itself which in its fundamental principles aims to promote peace in the face of international controversies.” As Massimiliano Romeoleader of the League in the Senate, comments on the words of NATO general secretary Stoltenberg to Affaritaliani.it.

For Ukraine «the priority is to intensify diplomatic work to reach a truce. Anyone who doesn’t understand this is leading us towards a nuclear war and ever closer to the point of no return”, she concludes.

Russia says it shot down three drones in the Belgorod and Kursk regions. Moscow’s Defense Ministry accuses Kiev. “Attempts by the Kiev regime to launch terrorist attacks using drones against targets in the territory of the Russian Federation were stopped overnight,” the ministry said in a note reprinted by the Russian media, adding that “air defense systems destroyed two Ukrainian drones on the territory of the Belgorod region” and that another was “intercepted on the territory of the Kursk region”.

Jens Stoltenberg has called on NATO allies supplying weapons to Ukraine to end the ban on using them to strike military targets in Russia. This was reported by the weekly The Economist, which interviewed the Secretary General of the Alliance. Stoltenberg’s clear objective, although never named, is US President Joe Biden’s policy – writes the Economist – to control what Ukraine can and cannot attack with the systems provided by the Americans.

A high school and an apartment building in Kharkiv, in north-eastern Ukraine, were hit during the night during a Russian attack: this was announced by the mayor of the city, Igor Terekhov, as reported by Rbc-Ukraine. The high school, in the Slobid district, was partially destroyed while the apartment building was damaged, the mayor said, adding that several cars were damaged. “There is no information yet on any injuries or casualties,” Terekhov said. According to the spokesperson of the Regional Prosecutor’s Office, Dmytro Chubenko, in the attack – which took place around 1am (midnight in Italy) – Russian forces used ballistic missiles and long-range S-300 missiles and hit both Kharkiv and the district of the same name . Rbc-Ukraine reports it. In the Slobid neighborhood of Kharkiv, in the southern part of the city, the high school, apartment building and an industrial area were targeted. «There are no injuries. Fifteen cars and the facade of a 9-storey residential building were damaged,” Chubenko said. In the Kharkiv district two missiles fell in open areas without causing injuries or casualties.

Russia is intensifying the war against Ukraine with resources previously allocated to Africa, in particular with the African Corps of the Ministry of Defence, which also includes former Wagnerians: the British Ministry of Defense writes this in its intelligence update. In the last week, we read in the report published on -Oriental. Created in December 2023, the African Corps is made up of over 2 thousand soldiers and officers of the regular forces, as well as experienced mercenaries, many of whom have previously served in the Wagner group, British experts explain, adding that units of this Corps in the past have were probably deployed in Syria, Libya, Burkina Faso and Niger. The Russian Defense Ministry almost certainly deployed African Corps troops to the Ukrainian border last month in preparation for the offensive in the Kharkiv region. “It is very likely that Russia is escalating the war against Ukraine with resources previously earmarked for Africa,” the report concludes.