26 Dec, 2023

Russian warship damaged in Ukrainian strike on Crimea – MoD

One person was killed and several others were injured in Feodosia, civilian authorities have said

Ukrainian forces have damaged the Russian landing ship Novocherkasskat its home base in Feodosia with an overnight missile strike, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed on Tuesday morning.

The engagement also resulted inthe downing by Russian anti-aircraft weaponry of two Ukrainian Su-24 jetsnear the city of Nikolaev by Russian anti-aircraft weaponry, the military said.

The attack on the Crimean port city was also confirmed by the region's governor, Sergey Aksyonov, who reported that one person had been killed and two others injured. Blast waves from explosions at the military facility also damaged windows in nearby buildings, but otherwise civilian infrastructure remained intact, the official stated. Local emergency services later told the media that five people had been reported injured and that 250 rescue workers were responding to the situation.

The regional railroad operator later said in a statement that windows had been shattered at the terminal station in Feodosia. Train schedules have been adjusted to allow for repairs, the statement added.

Ukrainian General Nikolay Oleshchuk, who commands the nation’s Air Force, claimed that the Novocherkassk “went the way” of the Moskva, the former flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet that sank after a reported Ukrainian attack last year. He thanked the military pilots involved in the operation, but didn’t confirm any losses on Kiev’s side.

Landing ships are primarily meant for transportation of large military cargoesand the deployment of land forces during amphibious operations. The Novocherkassk can carry, for example, 10 main battle tanks and 340 troops. The ship belongs to the Ropucha class, which was produced in Poland from the 1970s through the 1990s.

Neither Russia nor Ukraine identified the weaponry used in the night strike, but some military experts believe thatthey were the Storm Shadow air-to-surface cruise missiles, which the UK provided to Kiev earlier this year.

The same type of weapon was reportedly deployed during the September attack on a military dock in Sevastopol, in which the Kilo-class diesel-electric attack submarine Rostov-on-Don and the Ropucha-class landing ship Minsk were hit.

On Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry reported the liberation of Maryinka in the Donetsk People’s Republic. For years, the town remained a major stronghold for the Ukrainian army. A Ukrainian military spokesman claimed in response that the fighting was ongoing. Kiev’s Tuesday update on the frontline situation didn’t mention the town at all, contrasting statements made in previous days.

https://www.rt.com/russia/589680-attack-crimea-warship-death/

26 Dec, 2023 08:15

Ukraine now ‘a European Somalia’ – exiled opposition leader

Ukrainians find themselves in a “madhouse” run by the most dangerous patients, Viktor Medvedchuk has said

Ukraine has become “a European Somalia,”exiled opposition leader Viktor Medvedchuk has said in response tothe country being placed on a list of the world’s most dangerous places.

In an opinion piece for the Drugaya Ukraina outlet published on Monday, Medvedchuk noted that Ukraine has found itself alongside Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, and Somalia on the‘Risk Map’ released by the International SOShealth and security service firm last week. The company evaluates countries annually based on four risk criteria: Security, medical, climate change, and mental health.

The opposition leader stressed that in terms ofsafety and mental health, “the regime of [Ukrainian President Vladimir]Zelensky beats even the most underdeveloped countries. After all, such Russophobic cannibalism introduced into the state policies of modern Ukraine can’t be found even among the most backward and aggressive tribes of Africa.”

He mentioned reports of forced conscription, the destruction of Russia-linked monuments, aggressive anti-Russian rhetoric by the Ukrainian media, and videos showing suspected looters being tied to lampposts as punishment among the signs of what he called“mass madness” in Ukraine.

According to Medvedchuk, it began long before the launch of Russia’s military operation in the country in February 2022. “Ukraine… had been driven crazy;people were forced to forget their roots, faith, history, language, and traditions. All this was done at the behest of the West, and billions had been spent on it, which the Western politicians openly acknowledged,” he wrote.

And when the conflict between Moscow and Kiev escalated, “the Western politicians didn’t rush to extinguish it but began to ignite it, supplying weapons and money in huge quantities [to Ukraine],” the 69-year-old politician wrote. Due to this backing by the US and its allies, “Zelensky’s deranged regimeimagined itself the center of the universe and completely lost touch with reality,”he added.

“The Ukrainian people found themselvesin a madhouse where the most dangerous patients have seized power,” Medvedchuk wrote. Staying in Ukraine is “dangerous for mentally healthy people,” and that’s why all of them are trying to flee the country, he insisted.

Medvedchuk used to be the head of the Opposition Platform – For Life party, formerly the largest opposition faction in the Ukrainian parliament. But after the outbreak of the conflict with Russia, he was branded a traitor and arrested. The opposition figure spent months in detention before being handed over to Moscow in a prisoner swap in September last year.

https://www.rt.com/russia/589682-ukraine-madhouse-somalia-medvedchuk/