13 Oct, 2023 21:16

Putin comments on Ukrainian weapons in Hamas hands

Kiev’s endemic corruption was most likely to blame, the Russian president has said

That some of the weapons sent to Ukraine ended up in the hands of Hamas militants probably has more to do with corruption than deliberate deliveries, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.

“I doubt that there were deliveries of weapons from Ukraine, but I have no doubt there were leaks of weapons from Ukraine,”Putin explained at a press conference in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek.

“We know the level of corruption in Ukraine is very high. The black market arises when there are many who want to buy, and in Ukraine there are many who want to sell,” he added, noting that Ukrainians were “definitely selling” weapons on the international market through countries in Africa and the Middle East.

“Why, they even sell [weapons] to Russia, and if they can sell them to Russia, nothing surprises me anymore,” the Russian president said.

The issue of Hamas using weapons the US and its allies had sent to Ukraine was first raised by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who claimed such equipment was “being actively used in Israel.” Kiev’s military intelligence responded by accusing Russia of sending Western weapons captured in Ukraine to Hamas in a “false flag” operation designed to make Kiev look bad to its backers.

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied Medvedev’s weapons claim, but rejected the Ukrainian insinuations of Russian involvement in the Hamas attack as “complete nonsense.”

Hamas militants fired hundreds of rockets into Israel on Saturday, followed by raids into nearby Israeli settlements, villages, and towns. Israeli authorities said more than 1,300 people died in the surprise attack. West Jerusalem has responded by declaring a “war” against Gaza.

Speaking about the escalating conflict, Putin noted that Israel is facing an unprecedented attack but that its response has been “quite brutal.”

He also offered Russian mediation, given that Moscow had “very good relations” with Israel, as well as traditional ties with the Palestinians, “so no one can suspect that we want to play some kind of games.”

https://www.rt.com/russia/584859-putin-weapons-hamas-ukraine/

13 Oct, 2023 19:24

Ukraine’s counteroffensive is over – Moscow

Kiev has achieved nothing and Russian troops have now taken the initiative

The four-month “counteroffensive” by Ukrainian forces has failed to reach any of its objectives, the Russian ambassador to the United Nations, Vassily Nebenzia, told the Security Council on Friday.

“For several days now, Russian troops have switched to combat operations, practically along the entire front line. Therefore, we can consider the so-called Ukrainian counteroffensive formally over,” Nebenzia said.

According to the Russian envoy, four months of Ukrainian attacks resulted only in “hundreds of units of destroyed Western equipment” and “tens of thousands of lives of those conscripted by the Kiev regime, most of whom did not want to fight.” Some of the lucky ones surrendered and stayed alive, Nebenzia added.

Ukraine’s casualties have amounted to “over 90,000 people,” 557 tanks and 1,900 armored vehicles, Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed last week at the Valdai Discussion Club in Sochi.

Instead of putting an end to the “massacre” of Ukrainians on the frontline, the West “continues to feed them weapons,like a drug to an addict, thus prolonging his agony,”Nebenzia told the UN Security Council.

“Let me emphasize that Russia is opposed not by the armed forces of Ukraine, whose resources are almost exhausted, but by the collective military machine of the NATO countries and their combined defense industry,” the Russian envoy added.

“The cynicism of our former Western partners is simply amazing,” he said, bringing up the recent statement of Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren that armingUkraine is “a very cheap way” to confront Russia.

A Ukraine that lives in peace with its neighbors and respects the rights of all of its citizens “had and still has a future,” the Russian envoy concluded.“The criminal neo-Nazi regime of [Vladimir] Zelensky does not.”

The head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, Kirill Budanov, admitted on Thursday that the offensive wasn’t just “behind schedule” but “off the schedule entirely,” adding that the explanation for that is classified.

https://www.rt.com/russia/584853-ukraine-offensive-failed-nebenzia/