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Pushin Putin hard to start WW3
Russian nationals said to be on plane downed in Africa
An ‘Egyptian bomber’ shot down in western Sudan turned out to be an Il-76 cargo carrier
Russian citizens may have been on board an Il-76 cargo plane that was reportedly shot down over the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan, one of the factions in the Sudanese civil war has said.
A conflict between the Sudanese Sovereign Council and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia has raged since 2023. The RSF called off peace talks with Khartoum earlier this month, vowing to pursue victory on the battlefield.
The cargo plane shot down in western Sudan may have had Russian nationals on board, Moscow’s embassy in Khartoum said on Monday, citing RSF claims posted on social media.
The embassy said it was “taking all necessary steps to clarify the circumstances of this incident,” in collaboration with Sudanese authorities, adding that the situation is complicated by the fact that the crash site is in Darfur.
Photos and videos posted on X from the crash site showed the wreckage of what appeared to be an Il-76 transport plane, and a Russian passport. Another post showed a corporate ID card of Airline Transport Incorporation FZE, based in the UAE, issued to a person with a Russian-sounding name. The card also says ‘Manas International Airport’, which is in Kyrgyzstan.
According to the outlet Sudan War Monitor, another document retrieved at the crash site was a safety manual belonging to New Way Cargo Airlines, a Kyrgyz carrier.
Ali ‘Savannah’ Rizkallah, a RSF commander in North Darfur, appeared in one video circulating on social media and said his troops used “guided missiles” to bring down the “Egyptian Antonov,” even though the plane in question appears to be an Ilyushin. RSF leader Mohammed Hamdan Daglo had previously accused Egypt of bombing his forces on behalf of Khartoum.
The Sovereign Council has accused the UAE of smuggling weapons to the RSF, which the Emirates have denied. A US-funded NGO has claimed that UAE-based Il-76 transports have brought weapons to Amjarass in neighboring Chad, from where they were delivered to the RSF. According to the Emiratis, however, the flights to Amjarass were bringing supplies to a field hospital, set up to treat the many Sudanese refugees.
The RSF rebelled against the Sovereign Council, led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, in April 2023. According to a recent report from a UN fact-finding mission, the conflict has left tens of thousands dead or injured, internally displaced nearly eight million people in the country of roughly 47 million, and forced two million more into neighboring countries as refugees. The UN has described the humanitarian situation in Sudan as one of the most severe in the world.
https://www.rt.com/africa/606049-sudan-darfur-plane-russians/
UK commando who trained Ukrainian troops dies during exercise
The MOD described the death of the British ranger in Wales as “non-operational”
A British Army commando who was involved in training Ukrainian and Afghan forces died last week in Wales, officials have announced.
Corporal Christopher Gill, who was a member of the 4th Battalion of the Ranger Regiment, died last Wednesday during a military exercise in the Crickhowell area of Powys county, according to local law enforcement. Dyfed-Powys Police are jointly investigating the incident with the Health and Safety Executive, the force said in a statement to the press.
The Ministry of Defense (MOD) confirmed Gill’s death last Friday, saying it was caused by a non-operational incident in Brecon. The Barracks, a historic military base that serves as HQ for the British Army’s 160th Brigade, is located in the town.
Gill was a remarkable soldier and a natural leader, according to a statement from the MOD. He joined the army in 2011 and served in Afghanistan, where he and “a small, close-knit team” of military personnel provided training to the forces of the Western-backed national government of the time.
He later was stationed in Belize, the US, Kenya, and Morocco, before volunteering in 2021 for Army Special Operations, according to his bio. In that capacity, he contributed to the training of Ukrainian soldiers on British soil to fight Russia.
The Barracks in Brecon operates an infantry fighting school which prepares soldiers and officers for “high-intensity, light-role war fighting” during “conventional war, counter insurgency, security sector reform, peacekeeping or supporting civil authorities,” according to the British Army’s website. Ukrainian troops have received training at the facility.
The military base had faced potential closure by 2024, but the MOD in 2021 decided to keep it operational.
The UK has been one of Ukraine’s key backers in its confrontation with Russia. Then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson reportedly convinced the Ukrainian government not to seek a truce with Moscow in 2022 and to pursue a military victory instead. The UK has on several occasions been the first donor of new military capabilities for Ukraine, such as main battle tanks and long-range missiles, which prompted other Western nations to provide similar weapons.
Moscow considers the Ukraine conflict to be a Western proxy war against Russia, in which Ukrainian troops serve as ‘cannon fodder’.
https://www.rt.com/news/606022-british-commando-trainer-dies/
Putin grants Russian citizenship to American refugee
John Anthony Robles arrived in the country in 1990s and has since worked as a teacher and international journalist
Russian President Vladimir Putin granted citizenship on Monday to a man once dubbed by the nation’s media as “the first US political refugee.” John Anthony Robles was given a Russian passport together with more than a dozen others, including journalists, businessmen, and athletes.
Robles arrived in Russia back in 1996, where he was granted refugee status. The American claimed he was being persecuted by the US security services because of his attempts to contact Russian officials and his staunch opposition to “imperialism,” as well as his sympathy to communist ideas.
He was believed to have been one of the very first foreign nationals to get asylum in modern Russia. Since his arrival, he has worked as a schoolteacher and an international journalist with the Voice of Russia broadcaster.
The list of other foreign nationals granted Russian citizenship under the presidential decree on Monday includes Brazilian professional football player Douglas Santos, who currently plays for the Russian Zenit team based in St. Petersburg, as well as Canadian hockey player and a 2020 Stanley Cup winner Cedric Paquette, who currently plays with the KHL Dynamo Moscow club.
Three Lebanese nationals were given Russian citizenship as well. One of them is Fadi Boudiya, the editor-in-chief of the Miraya International Network. He was injured in an Israeli bombardment in late September while preparing for an on-air interview. The other two are artist and art historian Nizar Daher, an honorary member of the Russian Academy of Arts, Jacques Sarraf, a prominent businessman, who has also acted as an honorary Russian consul in Lebanon since 1993.
Finnish criminologist, social scientist and publicist Erkki Johan Backman have also been given citizenship. Backman, who worked at the Helsinki University as well as several other scientific and educational facilities in Finland, founded the Anti-fascist Committee of Finland in 2008.
He is also known for his criticism of Estonia’s treatment of the Soviet World War II memorials and also published a book about Estonia’s and Finland’s cooperation with Nazi Germany during the WWII. Tallinn declared him persona non-grata in 2009.
https://www.rt.com/russia/606046-russia-citizenship-us-political-refugee/
WATCH helicopter slam into radio tower in US
The accident in Houston, Texas claimed the lives of four people, including a child, according to local officials
A helicopter crashed into a radio tower in the US city of Houston, Texas, on Sunday evening, leaving four people including a child dead, the local authorities have said, adding that were no casualties on the ground.
Nearby security camera caught the crash as it happened. Multiple videos made by locals also appear to show the aftermath of the accident.
The fatal accident occurred just before 8pm local time, when a privately owned R44 helicopter struck a radio tower in the city’s Greater East End neighborhood after taking off from Ellington Field, about 24km away, Houston Police Chief J. Noe Diaz said at a press conference.
According to Houston mayor John Whitmire, it is fortunate that the tragic incident wasn’t worse, given that there was gas tank and residential buildings near the crash site.
https://x.com/UpToDateNewsSvc/status/1848222624469409956
https://abc13.com/post/helicopter-crashes-radio-tower-houstons-ward-officials-say/15448160/
https://x.com/MichaelSCollura/status/1848204228571037865
https://www.rt.com/news/606009-helicopter-radio-tower-crash-houston/