Russian military said on Saturday it had destroyed a major consignment of Western arms in Ukraine’s Zhytomyr region, west of Kyiv, using sea-launched Kalibr cruise missiles.
The defence ministry said in a statement the strike took out “a large batch of weapons and military equipment delivered from the USA and European countries” and intended for Ukrainian troops in the eastern Donbas region where the fighting is concentrated.
Reuters could not independently verify the report, which also said Russian missiles had struck fuel storage facilities near Odesa on the Black Sea coast and shot down two Ukrainian Su-25 aircraft and 14 drones.
In its latest update on the war, which Russia calls a “special military operation”, the defence ministry also said Russia had struck numerous Ukrainian command posts.
The West has stepped up weapons supplies to Ukraine since Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion and Russia’s military is trying to intercept and destroy them. Moscow says Western arms deliveries for Kyiv, and the imposition of drastic sanctions against the Russian economy, amount to a “proxy war” by the United States and its allies.
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‘Stop raping us’: Woman strips on Cannes red carpet against violence in Ukraine
A woman stripped off on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival to reveal her body painted in the colours of the Ukrainian flag with the words “Stop Raping Us” in a solo protest on Friday. The stunt briefly interrupted the parade of guests in evening wear, including Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba, attending the premiere of their film “Three Thousand Years of Longing” by George Miller.
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Monkeypox: List of nations with confirmed and suspected cases
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Russia losing ‘UAVs’ in Ukraine, says UK; explains why it could be a setback
Even as Russia claimed a big win and said it had seized the last holdout in Ukraine’s Mariupol – the Azovstal iron and steel works plant – the United Kingdom on Saturday said the country is fast losing UAVs (Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles) that will hit its operational effectiveness. Kyiv estimates its losses to be around $100 billion. Another impact is the fuel and gas shortage.
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Facebook slammed for ‘spreading Putin’s Propaganda’ in NATO member Slovakia
A flood of posts pushing misinformation in Slovakia is putting the spotlight on Facebook for facilitating the spread of pro-Russian theories on the war in neighboring Ukraine, ranging from claims that Kyiv is secretly developing biological weapons to questioning whether President Vladimir Putin’s invasion even happened at all. According to the GLOBSEC security think tank, the intensity of false messages is worse here than anywhere else in ex-communist central Europe.
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Biden says US has offered North Korea Covid vaccines but ‘got no response’
US President Joe Biden said Saturday that America had offered North Korea Covid vaccines but “got no response” despite a spiralling epidemic in the isolated country. READ MORE: North Korea sees 219K new ‘fever’ cases, US offers help: 10 global Covid updates “We’ve offered vaccines, not only to North Korea but to China as well and we’re prepared to do that immediately,” he said at a press conference in Seoul.