MOSCOW: The Russian defense ministry said on Saturday its air defense forces shot down four US-produced long-range missiles over the Crimea peninsular, weapons known as Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) that Washington has shipped to Ukraine in recent weeks.
The ministry said later that Russian aircraft and air defense systems had downed a total of 15 ATACMS in the past week.
On Tuesday, Russian officials said Ukraine had attacked Crimea with ATACMS in an attempt to pierce Russian air defenses of the annexed peninsula but that six had been shot down.
A US official said in Washington last month that the United States secretly shipped long-range missiles to Ukraine in recent weeks.
The ATACMS missiles, with a range up to 300km were used for the first time in the early hours of April 17, launched against a Russian airfield in Crimea that was about 165 km (103 miles) from the Ukrainian front lines, the official said.
The Pentagon initially opposed the long-range missile deployment, concerned that taking the missiles from the American stockpile would hurt US military readiness.
There were also concerns that Ukraine would use them to attack targets deep inside Russia, a step which could lead to an escalation of the war toward a direct confrontation between Russia and the United States.
Separately on Saturday, the Russian defense ministry said that in the last week its forces had destroyed a military train carrying equipment and arms produced in the West and supplied to Ukraine by NATO.
The scale of the damage, exact date and location were not disclosed.
Reuters is not immediately able to corroborate battlefield accounts from either side.
On Thursday, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron promised 3 billion pounds ($3.7 billion) of annual military aid for Ukraine for “as long as it takes,” adding that London had no objection to its weapons being used inside Russia, drawing a strong rebuke from Moscow.
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Russia says it shot down four US-made long range missiles over Crimea
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Russia says it shot down four US-made long range missiles over Crimea
- The ATACMS missiles, with a range up to 300km were used for the first time in the early hours of April 17
Brazil moves closer to curbing Indigenous land claims in constitution
BRASILIA: Brazilian lawmakers moved closer Tuesday toward changing the constitution to limit Indigenous peoples’ rights over their ancestral lands, despite expert claims that they are a key bulwark against global warming.
Land rights for native peoples have been a point of contention in Brazil for years due to the country’s powerful agricultural sector and its allies in the predominantly conservative parliament.
The country has already curbed land claims through the so-called “time frame” rule that means Indigenous peoples can only have protected reserves on lands they physically occupied when the constitution was enacted in 1988.
Proponents say the measure will resolve uncertainty about land demarcation, while opponents say it will open native peoples’ lands to economic exploitation.
The Senate advanced Tuesday a proposed amendment, by 52 votes to 15, that would enshrine the time frame rule in the constitution itself.
The text now moves to the Chamber of Deputies for approval.
The vote came ahead of the start of a Supreme Court case centered on the application of the time frame rule in demarcating Indigenous lands.
The court declared the rule unconstitutional in 2023, in a victory for Indigenous movements.
But Congress passed it into law anyway, despite that decision and the vetoes of leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Brazil is home to 1.7 million Indigenous people, out of a total population of over 200 million.
Indigenous communities argue that many of Brazil’s native inhabitants were expelled from ancestral homelands throughout the country’s history, particularly during its military dictatorship of 1964 to 1985.
Since returning to power in 2023, Lula has approved 16 Indigenous territories, granting native peoples the right to occupy and exclusively use their natural resources.
Experts say that such territories work as a shield against climate-related threats like deforestation and fires.
Land rights for native peoples have been a point of contention in Brazil for years due to the country’s powerful agricultural sector and its allies in the predominantly conservative parliament.
The country has already curbed land claims through the so-called “time frame” rule that means Indigenous peoples can only have protected reserves on lands they physically occupied when the constitution was enacted in 1988.
Proponents say the measure will resolve uncertainty about land demarcation, while opponents say it will open native peoples’ lands to economic exploitation.
The Senate advanced Tuesday a proposed amendment, by 52 votes to 15, that would enshrine the time frame rule in the constitution itself.
The text now moves to the Chamber of Deputies for approval.
The vote came ahead of the start of a Supreme Court case centered on the application of the time frame rule in demarcating Indigenous lands.
The court declared the rule unconstitutional in 2023, in a victory for Indigenous movements.
But Congress passed it into law anyway, despite that decision and the vetoes of leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Brazil is home to 1.7 million Indigenous people, out of a total population of over 200 million.
Indigenous communities argue that many of Brazil’s native inhabitants were expelled from ancestral homelands throughout the country’s history, particularly during its military dictatorship of 1964 to 1985.
Since returning to power in 2023, Lula has approved 16 Indigenous territories, granting native peoples the right to occupy and exclusively use their natural resources.
Experts say that such territories work as a shield against climate-related threats like deforestation and fires.
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