MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that Russia’s response to any further Ukrainian attacks would be “severe,” after Moscow’s forces carried out retaliatory missile strikes across Ukraine.
“It was not possible to leave (Ukrainian attacks) unanswered. If attempts at terrorist attacks continue, the response from Russia will be severe and correspond to the level of threat,” Putin said at the start of a televised meeting of his security council.
“Let there be no doubt about it,” Putin said.
His remarks come after a huge blast on Saturday damaged a key bridge in Crimea, Putin’s flagship project and a vital transport link between Russia and the peninsula Moscow annexed in 2014.
In response to the attack, Putin said Russia carried out “a massive strike with high-precision, long-range weapons ... on energy, military command and communications facilities in Ukraine.”
Putin also accused Ukraine of launching three attacks on the Kursk nuclear power plant in Russia, about 85 kilometers (53 miles) from the Ukrainian border and of attempting to hit the TurkStream gas pipeline running from Russia to Turkey under the Black Sea.
Ukraine’s capital Kyiv was hit by multiple Russian strikes early on Monday — the first since late June, AFP journalists witnessed.
Russia also launched attacks on several other cities across Ukraine, particularly targeting energy infrastructure.
Electricity cuts were reported in several regions, including Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv and its surrounding region, plus the northeastern Sumy region, Zhytomyr region in the north and Khmelnitskyi region in the west.
Putin says response to Ukrainian attacks will be ‘severe’
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Putin says response to Ukrainian attacks will be ‘severe’
Indonesia reaffirms Yemen’s territorial integrity, backs stability efforts amid tensions
- Statement comes after Saudi Arabia bombed a UAE weapons shipment at Yemeni port city
- Jakarta last week said it ‘appreciates’ Riyadh ‘working together’ with Yemen to restore stability
JAKARTA: Indonesia has called for respect for Yemen’s territorial integrity and commended efforts to maintain stability in the region, a day after Saudi Arabia bombed a weapons shipment from the UAE at a Yemeni port city that Riyadh said was intended for separatist forces.
Saudi Arabia carried out a “limited airstrike” at Yemen’s port city of Al-Mukalla in the southern province of Hadramout on Tuesday, following the arrival of an Emirati shipment that came amid heightened tensions linked to advances by the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council in the war-torn country.
In a statement issued late on Wednesday, the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it “appreciates further efforts by concerned parties to maintain stability and security,” particularly in the provinces of Hadramout and Al-Mahara.
“Indonesia reaffirms the importance of peaceful settlement through an inclusive and comprehensive political dialogue under the coordination of the United Nations and respecting Yemen’s legitimate government and territorial integrity,” Indonesia’s foreign affairs ministry said.
The latest statement comes after Jakarta said last week that it “appreciates the efforts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as well as other relevant countries, working together with Yemeni stakeholders to de-escalate tensions and restore stability.”
Saudi Arabia leads the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen, which includes the UAE and was established in 2015 to combat the Houthi rebels, who control most of northern Yemen.
Riyadh has been calling on the STC, which initially supported Yemen’s internationally recognized government against the Houthi rebels, to withdraw after it launched an offensive against the Saudi-backed government troops last month, seeking an independent state in the south.
Indonesia has also urged for “all parties to exercise restraint and avoid unilateral action that could impact security conditions,” and has previously said that the rising tensions in Yemen could “further deteriorate the security situation and exacerbate the suffering” of the Yemeni people.
Indonesia, the world’s biggest Muslim-majority country, maintains close ties with both Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which are its main trade and investment partners in the Middle East.
