China’s president Xi Jinping has arrived in Russia for the start of a three day state visit. The aim of the trip, according to the Chinese, is to strengthen relations between the two countries in a world threatened by ‘acts of hegemony, despotism and bullying’.
It’s no secret that there has been an increase in the number of Americans who oppose feeding an endless supply of weapons and cash into Ukraine to support the war against Russia or are at least skeptical about the process. Such people are regularly decried in the media as being “Putin stooges” or supporters of Russia. But who are these people?
Xi Jinping is not going to Moscow to make peace.
His meetings with President Putin on Monday and Tuesday and his virtual talks with President Zelensky are clearly intended to look like an effort to end the war in Ukraine. And indeed the
Chinese leader would surely prefer the conflict to be over than to see it continue. Already, in just over a year, it has damaged China’s interests in various ways: by reinvigorating Nato, by undermining Beijing’s efforts to mend diplomatic ties with Europe, by weakening demand in crucial export markets, by galvanising the rearmament of Japan, by prompting the United States to rush weapons to Taiwan.
But Xi has a more urgent priority: his aim is to ensure that Russia does not lose.
An American assessment of Ukrainian fighter pilots has revealed they would be ready to fly F-16 jets after fewer than six months of training, their commander has told The Times.
In his first interview since President Putin’s tanks crossed the border last year, General Serhii Holubtsov, chief of aviation of Ukraine’s air force, said that two of his pilots had returned to the country last week after a rigorous assessment by the US military.
#Ukraine: The moment that a Russian Ka-52 attack helicopter was shot down by a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile, as filmed by a Russian soldier.
Unfortunately, the precise date and location is unclear. pic.twitter.com/jVnmJWIojY
— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) March 19, 2023
Furniture shops in Moscow have started selling Wagner Group-branded sledgehammers as home decorations.
The metal sledgehammers are etched with the mercenary fighters’ logo, as well as a pile of skulls – and come in a presentation box that resembles a coffin.
The Russian Telegram channel Caution, Moscow quoted home decorations managers as saying that there was “high demand” for the sledgehammers, which are described as “perfect accessories in loft conversions”.
In a surprise move, the Slovak government has announced that it will supply 13 MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine. Bratislava has been mulling sending the planes for weeks, but appears to have been spurred into action by Poland’s announcement yesterday that it would send four of its own MiGs to Ukraine in the coming days, with more to follow.
Chinese companies, including one connected to the government in Beijing, have sent Russian entities 1,000 assault rifles and other equipment that could be used for military purposes, including drone parts and body armor, according to trade and customs data obtained by POLITICO.
The shipments took place between June and December 2022, according to the data provided by ImportGenius, a customs data aggregator.
China North Industries Group Corporation Limited, one of the country’s largest state-owned defense contractors, sent the rifles in June 2022 to a Russian company called Tekhkrim that also does business with the Russian state and military. The CQ-A rifles, modeled off of the M16 but tagged as “civilian hunting rifles” in the data, have been reported to be in use by paramilitary police in China and by armed forces from the Philippines to South Sudan and Paraguay.
THE HAGUE (AP) — The International Criminal Court said Friday it has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes because of his alleged involvement in abductions of children from Ukraine.
The court said in a statement that Putin “is allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.”
Infamous Russian mercenaries the Wagner Group put a $15 million bounty on the head of Italy’s defence minister, Guido Crosetto. After Crosetto publicly accused Wagner of contributing to the Mediterranean migrant crisis, the bounty suggests he may have hit a nerve.
News of the hit was communicated to Crosetto by the Italian intelligence services, Il Foglio reported on Wednesday, March 15th. The intelligence officials believe the hit may be carried out by Wagner itself, which allegedly has two cells in Europe, one in the Balkans and one in the Baltic. However, Crosetto has not increased his security.
Poland will send four Soviet-era Mig fighter jets to Ukraine – becoming the first Nato country to send planes since Russia invaded last year.
Polish President Andrzej Duda said they would be sent in the coming days, with others handed over in the future.
Though a welcome boost to Ukraine’s air defence, the extra jets are not expected to be decisive in the war.
The deputy speaker of Ukraine’s parliament Olena Kondratyuk said she hoped more countries would follow.
ROSTOCK, Germany—The small marina on the edge of this north German city is a popular summertime spot for recreational sailors. German intelligence believes it was also the jumping-off point for the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, an assault on Europe’s civilian energy infrastructure unprecedented since World War II.
On Sept. 6, a small group set out from Rostock aboard a rented yacht, the Andromeda, a slender 50-foot-long, single-masted sloop, ostensibly on a pleasure cruise around Baltic Sea ports. Within two weeks, the group returned the boat and disappeared.
DESPERATE Vladimir Putin is attempting to use adverts on Pornhub in a frantic bid to recruit more men to fight in Ukraine.
The tyrant is desperate to get more troops onto the battlefield to replenish ranks as he continues to suffer huge losses.
US military officials have released a dramatic video of the moment a Russian fighter jet collided with a US drone over the Black Sea earlier this week.
The footage shared Thursday morning by the US European Command (EUCOM) was captured by the underside camera of the MQ-9 Reaper drone as one of two Su-27 fighter jets attempted to spray it with jet fuel.
On the second try, the jet collides with the drone’s rear propeller, and the screen pixelates as communication goes down.
BREAKING:
The Armed Forces of the U.S. have released a video of the moment two Russian fighter jets downed a U.S. MQ-9 drone worth USD 30 mln while it was flying over international waters of the Black Sea.
The Russians attacked the drone 19 times. pic.twitter.com/e4IKFl7sr6
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) March 16, 2023
A ‘suspicious object’ has been discovered beneath the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in the Black Sea, Danish investigators have said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said a ship rented by Russian energy company Gazprom had found an antenna-like object about 19 miles from where the Nord Stream pipelines exploded last year.
He claimed that the object could be an explosive device as he warned that a new explosion could occur on the pipelines.
Planted or sloppy or untraceable?
Russia said on Wednesday that it would try to retrieve the remnants of a US drone that crashed into the Black Sea.
The large MQ-9 Reaper drone plunged into the water on Tuesday.
The US said it brought down the damaged drone after it became “unflyable” when a Russian jet clipped its propeller – but Moscow has denied these claims.
Speaking on state television, Russian security council secretary Nikolai Patrushev confirmed Moscow was attempting to find the aircraft.
