Kyiv [Ukraine], March 9 (ANI): As the Russia-Ukraine war completed two weeks, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has sent F-35B Lightning aircraft to Amari airbase in Estonia on Wednesday to provide air policing of NATO airspace. This comes at a time when Russian aggression in Ukraine continues and NATO is aiming to further strengthen and defend its eastern flank.
As the Western nations continue to work out plans to target Russia’s economy, European Union on Wednesday announced new sanctions against Russia and Belarus targeting Russian leaders, oligarchs, their family members, and the maritime sector. The measures will also disconnect three Belarus banks from the SWIFT financial messaging system.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs shared the details of the losses that Russia has incurred since the invasion of Ukraine started noting that more than 12,000 Russian troops are killed till now. According to Ukraine’s MFA data on Wednesday, 1070 armored vehicles of different types, 49 aircraft, 81 helicopters, 317 tanks, 120 artillery pieces, and 56 MLRs were hit during the combat. Furthermore, the destroyed facilities also include 60 cisterns, 482 vehicles, 3 vessels, 7 UAVs and 28 Russian anti-aircraft warfare systems.
Moreover, Ninety per cent of Ukraine’s military aerodromes containing the majority of the country’s Air Force have been knocked out of operation, said Russian Defence Ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov. He further added that part of Ukraine’s fleet of aircraft has flown to Romania and is not taking part in any combat. “At the start of the special operation, the Ukrainian Air Force had as many as 250 serviceable combat aircraft and helicopters. Russia’s Aerospace Forces have destroyed 89 combat aircraft and 57 helicopters on the ground and in the air,” Konashenkov said in a briefing.
Russia skipped the hearing at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) which was taking the case of Ukraine regarding the act of genocide by Russia in the ongoing war and Russia termed the lawsuit as ‘absurd’.
Furthermore, US President Joe Biden on Tuesday (local time) lambasted Russian President Vladimir Putin for assaulting global peace and stability amid a continued war between Russia and Ukraine. Biden, speaking from the White House said that it is necessary to respond to Putin as the cost to freedom will be even greater tomorrow. As the neighboring countries of Ukraine step up to help the refugees evacuate the war-torn country, India’s second tranche of humanitarian aid to Ukraine arrived in Romania by IAF flight on Wednesday which will be further transported to Ukraine.
Taking to Twitter, Indian Embassy in Romania wrote, “Second tranche of humanitarian aid from India to Ukraine which arrived in Bucharest today by IAF flight handed over to Romanian authorities for onward transmission to Ukraine. Acknowledging strategic partnership between India and Russia, Sviatoslav Yurash, Ukraine’s youngest Member of Parliament on Wednesday asserted that in light of the Ukraine crisis India needs to reconsider its position on Moscow. (ANI)
Russia-Ukraine conflict: Biden lambasts Putin for assault on global stability
US President Joe Biden on Tuesday (local time) lambasted Russian President Vladimir Putin for assaulting global peace and stability amid a continued war between Russia and Ukraine.
Biden, speaking from the White House said that it is necessary to respond to Putin as the cost to freedom will be even greater tomorrow. “If we do not respond to Putin’s assault on global peace and stability today, the cost to freedom and to the American people will be even greater tomorrow. We will not be part of subsidizing Putin’s war against the Ukrainian people,” said Biden.
Speaking about the horrors of the war, he said that President Putin has already turned two million Ukrainians into refugees. He also lauded the fightback efforts of Ukraine against Russia, Biden said, “He has already turned two million Ukrainians into refugees. Russia may continue to grind out its advance at a horrible price, but this much is already clear: Ukraine will never be a victory for Putin. Putin may be able to take a city, but he will never be able to hold the country.” In a fierce attack on the Russian President, he said, “Putin is now targeting cities and has been targeting cities and civilians, schools, hospitals, apartment buildings.”
The US President also lambasted Putin for attacking the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. “Last week, he attacked the largest nuclear power plant in Europe with an apparent disregard for the potential of triggering a nuclear meltdown,” said Biden. On March 4, Russian forces took control of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Ukraine informed the IAEA that a projectile had hit a training building in the vicinity of one of the plant’s reactor units, causing a localized fire that was later extinguished.
IAEA had informed that the Russian forces at the Zaporizhzhya NPP had switched off some mobile networks and the internet so that reliable information from the site could not be obtained through the normal channels of communication.
Meanwhile, Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) is no longer transmitting data from safeguards monitoring systems installed at the facility, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi informed in a statement on Tuesday. The Director-General indicated that remote data transmission from safeguards monitoring systems installed at the Chornobyl NPP had been lost, the IAEA press release said, adding that, the Agency is looking into the status of safeguards monitoring systems in other locations in Ukraine and will provide further information soon.
The Director-General also raised deep concerns about the rotation of staff at the nuclear facility which was also the site of one of the world’s worst nuclear disasters in 1986. Addressing the escalating humanitarian crisis, Biden promised the United States would stand by its allies. “So, we are going to continue to support the brave Ukrainian people as they fight for their country,” said Biden. (ANI)
