15 Jul, 2023 10:42

Ukrainian plot to assassinate RT editor-in-chief thwarted – FSB

Detained 'Neo-Nazis' also planned to kill Ksenia Sobchak, another prominent female journalist

Russian law enforcement has thwarted assassination attempts on RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan and journalist Ksenia Sobchak, which were prepared by Ukrainian intelligence, the Federal Security Service (FSB) has announced.

Those detained were caught carrying out reconnaissance on Friday in Moscow and the Ryazan region.

In a statement on Saturday, the agency said that together with the Interior Ministry and the national Investigative Committee, it hadarrested an unspecified number of “neo-Nazis from the Paragraph 88 groupwho were gathering information at the work and home addresses of Simonyan and Sobchak.”

During the operation, law enforcement personnel seized a Kalashnikov assault rifle and 90 cartridges for it, rubber hoses, knives, brass knuckles and handcuffs, the FSB said. Officials added that "computers with information confirming criminal intentions" were also found.

It added that operatives have also confiscated chevrons and flags along with Nazi paraphernalia and Nazi literature, as well as communications equipment and computers with information confirming their criminal intentions.

“The detainees confirmed that they were preparing assassinations on the instructions of the Security Service of Ukrainefor a reward of 1.5 million rubles ($16,600) for each murder,”the statement said.

Simonyan has been chief editor of RT since its foundation in 2005. Born and raised in the southern city of Krasnodar, she is married with three children.

Sobchak is a well known celebrity in Russia and a former presidential candidate. The daughter of a former St Petersburg mayor, she has known President Vladimir Putin since her childhood. Regarded as a liberal, Sobchak currently hosts a popular YouTube channel. She previously fronted the country's most popular reality TV show, Dom 2. She is married, with a child.

In April, it was reported that six alleged members of the banned terrorist group National Socialism / White Power, were arrested on suspicion of preparing an assassination attempt on the prominent Russian journalist Vladimir Solovyov. The investigation claimed that they were also acting on behalf of the SBU.

The same month Russian military blogger Maxim Fomin (Vladen Tatarsky) was murdered in a bomb attack in St Petersburg. A local activist Darya Trepova was arrested for the crime. She reportedly admitted that she had been recruited by a man linked to Ukrainian intelligence.

Last year, another Russian journalist, Darya Dugina, was assassinated in car bomb on the outskirts of Moscow. The FSB claimed that Ukrainian special services were behind the killing. The New York Times has reported that US government officials also believe Kiev was responsible.

https://www.rt.com/russia/579751-attempt-to-assassinate-rt-editor-chief-thwarted/

15 Jul, 2023 07:25

UK depot supplying missiles to Ukraine goes on strike – media

Key defense employees earn less than supermarket workers, the Daily Mirror reports

British deliveries of cutting-edge missiles to Ukraine could be in jeopardy due to a strike at a key military facility where workers earn around minimum wage, the Daily Mirror reported on Friday, citing sources.

The strike was reportedly backed by 50 key employees at the Defence Equipment and Support depot in Beith, Scotland. The facilitysupplies Storm Shadow and Brimstone missiles– which Moscow says have been used to strike civilian targets – to Ukraine.

As a result, British defense officials are said to be scrambling to take “contingency measures”to keep the weapons flowing.

The dispute between the UK Defence Ministry and the workers revolves around the pay gap between those who assemble the weapons and those who move them. The first category is paid £16.82 ($22) an hour, along with bonuses and allowances, which totals £38,000 ($50,000) a year.

However, the second category – non-craft workers – earn just £10.42 an hour and receive no bonuses, putting their annual salary at just £20,500. The living wage in the UK is £10.90 an hour.

“Basically the non-Craft workers could earn more at Lidl, at around £11 an hour,” a source told the Daily Mirror, adding that the current arrangement means thatpeople driving explosives are paid less than those moving groceriesaround a supermarket.

The source noted that if the strike continues for long, it “could eventually have implications for missiles going to Ukraine or Faslane,” a UK military base hosting nuclear submarines.

The strike, the first since the depot’s creation in 1943, was supported by 93% of GMB union members. Strike organizer Chris Kennedy called on Defence Secretary Ben Wallace to intervene, warning that otherwise, “supplies of the crucial missiles manufactured at Beith will soon run low.”

A Defence Ministry spokesperson said, however, that the development will not affect deliveries.

The UK announced plans to send 600 Brimstone missiles to Ukraine in January, with Russian officials claiming that Kiev has used them to target civilian facilities. The same could be said of Storm Shadow missiles with a range of 250km, which were fired at two civilian plants in the Russian city of Lugansk in May, injuring several people, including six children, according to Moscow.

https://www.rt.com/news/579737-uk-depot-ukraine-missiles-strike/

15 Jul, 2023 10:03

US delaying approval of F-16 training for Ukraine – Politico

Russian FM Lavrov has said that deliveries of Western jets capable of carrying nuclear weapons pose a threat to Russia

European countries have yet to receive formal approval from Washington to train Ukrainian pilots to fly US-designed F-16 fighter jets, Politico reported on Friday, citing sources.

The ‘international coalition’ seeking to help Kiev procure F-16s and train Ukrainian pilots was first announced by the UK and the Netherlands in mid-May, with the US coming on board a few days later.A total of 11 countries have supported the initiative, with a training center expected to be set up in Romania.

However, the US State Department has not approved the request to transfer instruction manuals, flight simulators, and other materials required for training, Politico said, adding, however, that there is no indication that the US will not eventually greenlight the move.

Pentagon spokesman Garron Garn said the request “is still being reviewed.”

William LaPlante, the department’s acquisition chief, told the outlet that the Pentagon has to “make sure we’re ready to go with the technical manuals being translated and the tech data packages and a sustainment plan”before approving the transfer.

In recent months, Ukraine has repeatedly demanded that its Western backers send F-16 jets, saying they could play a key role in countering Russian air power. Earlier this week, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said Kiev could deploy the first F-16s by late March 2024.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that if F-16s are sent to Ukraine, they “will burn” just like other Western hardware. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has described the potential deliveries as an escalatory move, noting that the aircraft can carry nuclear weapons.

In early June, Politico reported that senior US officials believe that future support for Ukraine hinges on the success of its much-hyped counteroffensive, and should Kiev fail to deliver, the military assistance “will likely dry up.” Later the same month, the Financial Times reported, citing sources, that Western officials are not impressed by the results of the counteroffensive.

The Russian Defense Ministry said the Ukrainian counteroffensive, which has been underway for more than a month, has failed to gain any ground. According to Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, since the start of the push,Kiev has lost more than 26,000 soldiers and around 3,000 units of heavy military equipment.

Ukrainian officials, including President Vladimir Zelensky, attempted to shift the blame for the slow progress onto the West, citing delays in military aid.

https://www.rt.com/news/579749-us-delay-f16-training-ukraine/

13 Jul, 2023 18:31

Ukrainian ambassador criticizes Zelensky

The president should not have been sarcastic when responding to NATO’s demand for gratitude, Kiev’s UK envoy told Sky News

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s reaction to a demand for gratitude from one of its Western backers was misplaced,Kiev’s ambassador to London, Vadim Pristayko, told Sky News on Thursday. Zelensky had responded sarcastically to a call by UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace for Kiev to show some gratitude for all the Western aid it receives.

“I do not believe that this sarcasm is healthy,”the diplomat said, referring to the fact that Zelensky had suggested supposedly waking up every morning and thanking Wallace for what he had done. Such public displays only demonstrate that Kiev and its Western backers are not as united as they would like to appear, the ambassador added.

“We do not have to show… Russians that there is… something between us.They have to know that we are working together,”Pristayko said, advocating a more discreet way of sorting out differences. “If anything happens, Ben [Wallace] can call me and tell me everything he wants,” he said.

The brief spat between Zelensky and the American and British officials came after the Ukrainian president attacked NATO on Monday for not providing Kiev a timeline for membership, and accused the US-led bloc of not showing Ukraine proper respect. According to the Washington Post, the US leadership was “furious” about Zelensky’s remarks.

Wallace then said that some gratitude on the part of Kiev was in order, adding that its Western backers “are not Amazon.” He also mentioned complaints from some American officials, who told him Ukraine sometimes treated the US as an online retailer.

Zelensky then said at a press conference that Ukraine had “always been grateful” and called on Wallace to “write to me how to be grateful,”and vowed to heed his advice in a response that Pristayko described as sarcastic.

(Look for this ambassador to be recalled or suddenly have an accident in the next couple of weeks. Criticism of Ukraine to the media will not be tolerated by the Neo-nazies!)

https://www.rt.com/russia/579667-ukrainian-ambassador-criticize-zelensky/