MOSCOW: The Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday that its forces had carried out 35 strikes in the last week against Ukrainian energy facilities, defense factories, railway infrastructure, air defenses, and ammunition stocks.
It said in a statement that the strikes, which spanned April 20-27, were “in response to attempts by the Kyiv regime to damage Russian energy and industrial facilities.”
Ukraine has systematically targeted Russian oil refineries and other facilities in drone attacks in recent weeks, ignoring US requests not to do so.
Ukrainian officials said Russian missiles had pounded power facilities in central and western Ukraine on Saturday, increasing pressure on the ailing energy system as the country faces a shortage of air defenses despite a breakthrough in US military aid.
The Russian Defense Ministry said its campaign of strikes had been conducted using sea- and air-launched long-range precision weapons, including Kinzhal hypersonic missiles and drones.
It said it had also targeted and hit Ukrainian troop formations as well as what it described as foreign mercenaries.
Russia says it struck Ukrainian energy plants in response to Kyiv targeting its own energy sector
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Russia says it struck Ukrainian energy plants in response to Kyiv targeting its own energy sector
- The strikes were “in response to attempts by the Kyiv regime to damage Russian energy and industrial facilities“
- Ukraine has systematically targeted Russian oil refineries and other facilities in drone attacks in recent weeks
Israel envoy criticizes Japan atomic survivor’s Gaza comparison
- Around 140,000 people were killed when the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima
Gilad Cohen congratulated Nihon Hidankyo for winning this year’s prize but said in a post on social media platform X on Sunday the comparison drawn by the group’s co-chair Toshiyuki Mimaki “is outrageous and baseless.”
“Gaza is ruled by Hamas, a murderous terrorist organization committing a double war crime: targeting Israeli civilians, including women and children, while using its own people as human shields,” Cohen said.
“Such comparisons distort history and dishonor the victims” of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel that triggered the war in Gaza, Cohen said.
Mimaki said after the prize was announced on Friday that the plight of children in Gaza was similar to what Japan faced at the end of World War II.
“In Gaza, bleeding children are being held (by their parents). It’s like in Japan 80 years ago,” Mimaki said.
A representative for the Hiroshima chapter of Nihon Hidankyo could not be reached for comment about Cohen’s post.
Around 140,000 people were killed when the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, and 74,000 more were killed in Nagasaki three days later.
Survivors of the blasts later formed Nihon Hidankyo to tell the stories of those atomic bombings and to press for a world without nuclear weapons.
Nagasaki decided not to invite Cohen to mark this year’s 79th anniversary of the bombing, citing security reasons to avoid possible protests.
That decision prompted the ambassadors of the United States, Britain and the European Union, among others, to skip the ceremony and send lower-level officials instead.
The Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says 42,175 people, a majority of them civilians, have been killed since Israel’s military campaign began there. The United Nations acknowledges these figures to be reliable.
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Taiwan says on ‘alert’ as China aircraft carrier detected to its south
- China has ramped up military activity around Taiwan in recent years
TAIPEI: Taiwan was on “alert” as it detected a Chinese aircraft carrier to its south on Sunday, the self-ruled island’s defense ministry said.
“China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier group has entered waters near the Bashi Channel and is likely to proceed into the western Pacific,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that its military “remains on alert, prepared to respond as necessary.”
China has ramped up military activity around Taiwan in recent years, sending in warplanes and other military aircraft while Chinese ships maintain a near-constant presence around its waters.
The Liaoning aircraft carrier detection comes after US State Secretary Antony Blinken warned China on Friday against taking any “provocative” action on Taiwan, following a speech by Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te during the island’s National Day celebrations a day earlier.
Lai, who China calls a “separatist,” vowed Thursday to “resist annexation” of the island, and insisted Beijing and Taipei were “not subordinate to each other.”
China warned after the speech that Lai’s “provocations” would result in “disaster” for the people of Taiwan.
Indian politician shot dead in Mumbai
- Baba Siddique, 66, was shot multiple times in the chest outside son’s office in Mumbai
- Siddique’s death takes place ahead of key state elections slated for later this year
MUMBAI: A senior politician in India’s financial capital Mumbai was shot dead on Saturday, weeks ahead of key state elections, with police probing the role of a notorious crime gang.
Baba Siddique, 66, a local lawmaker and former minister in Maharashtra state, was shot multiple times in the chest outside his son’s office in Mumbai, Indian media reported.
Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, from the same party as Siddique, said he was “shocked” by the “cowardly attack.”
The Hindustan Times newspaper reported that two suspected attackers had been arrested, and police were searching for another.
Broadcaster NDTV said the two suspects claimed they were part of a gang run by Lawrence Bishnoi, who is in jail accused of running a crime gang that has carried out multiple killings.
The shooting comes just weeks after Siddique’s security detail was upgraded after he received death threats, and ahead of elections slated for later this year.
“The incident will be thoroughly investigated and strict action will be taken against the attackers,” Pawar said in a statement. “The mastermind behind the attack will also be traced.”
Siddique was close to several Bollywood stars and was known for throwing grand parties.
Vietnam, China to boost economic, defense cooperation
- Vietnam would facilitate more high-tech Chinese investment in the country and Beijing would strengthen market access for Vietnamese agricultural products
- Both sides would prioritize cooperation in rail connectivity between the neighboring countries
HANOI: Vietnam and China said they will boost defense and economic cooperation, Vietnamese state media reported on Sunday, despite a recent fare-up in their territorial dispute in the South China Sea.
China’s Premier Li Qiang met Vietnam’s top leader To Lam in Hanoi on Saturday, the Nhan Dan newspaper reported.
The two agreed to “maintain regular high-level exchanges and cooperation in defense, security, and foreign affairs... expanding the implementation of new mechanisms,” the newspaper said.
Vietnam would facilitate more high-tech Chinese investment in the country and Beijing would strengthen market access for Vietnamese agricultural products, the newspaper said.
Both sides would prioritize cooperation in rail connectivity between the neighboring countries, Nhan Dan said.
China is Vietnam’s biggest trade partner, but the two countries share historic tensions — including in the South China Sea, a waterway through which trillions of dollars of trade pass each year.
China has for years sought to expand its presence in contested areas of the sea, brushing aside an international ruling that its claim to most of the waterway has no legal basis.
Last week Hanoi protested what it said was a “brutal” attack by Chinese vessels on Vietnamese fishermen in a disputed area of the sea.
At Saturday’s meeting Vietnam’s Lam “urged both parties to... better manage and resolve differences” in maritime issues, Nhan Dan said.
Lam took office in early August as general secretary following the death of his predecessor, Nguyen Phu Trong.
He met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing just a few weeks after during his first overseas trip.
US says Israel has narrowed down targets for strike on Iran, NBC reports
- Israel has repeatedly said it will respond to Iran’s missile attack on Oct. 1
US officials believe Israel has narrowed down targets in its response to Iran’s recent attack to military and energy infrastructure, NBC reported on Saturday.
There is no indication that Israel will target nuclear facilities or carry out assassinations, the report said citing unnamed US officials, adding that Israel has not made final decisions about how and when to act.
US and Israeli officials said a response could come during the current Yom Kippur holiday, according to the report.
Israel has repeatedly said it will respond to Iran’s missile attack on Oct. 1, launched in retaliation for Israeli strikes in Lebanon and Gaza and the killing of a Hamas leader in Iran.
