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Tag Archives: rebels
Al-Shabab rebels attack Mogadishu hotel used by Somali officials | Al-Shabab News
DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,
Al-Shabab claims responsibility for the attack on the Villa Rose hotel in the Somali capital with no word yet on any casualties.
Fighters from the al-Shabab armed group have attacked a hotel used by government officials in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, according to police and government officials, with security officials saying the gunmen were wearing “suicide” vests.
There was no word yet on any casualties in the latest attack claimed by the al-Shabab armed group.
Al Jazeera could not independently verify the claims that it was a suicide attack.
The attackers stormed the Villa Rose hotel, which is close to the presidential palace, with explosives and guns, said police officer Mohammed Abdi on Sunday. It was not immediately clear how many attackers there were, he said.
Some government officials at the Villa Rose were rescued after escaping from windows, said Abdi.
The state minister for the environment, Adam Aw Hirsi, wrote on Twitter that he was safe after a “terrorist explosion targeted at my residence” at the hotel, where many government officials stay.
“We were shaken by a huge blast, followed by a heavy exchange of gunfire,” said Ahmed Abdullahi, who lives close to the scene of the explosion.
“We are just indoors and listening to gunfire.”
The attack comes as al-Shabaab has intensified its attacks in Somalia, with at least 100 people killed in twin car bombings in the Somali capital on October 30.
“Our people who were massacred … included mothers with their children in their arms, fathers who had medical conditions, students who were sent to study, businessmen who were struggling with the lives of their families,” Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said after visiting the site of the October 30 blast.
At least 21 people were killed in August when al-Shabab attacked another hotel in Mogadishu. The armed group also claimed an attack on yet another hotel in the southern city of Kismayo last month that left nine people dead.
Al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda-allied armed group fighting in Somalia for more than a decade, is seeking to topple the country’s central government and establish its own rule based on a strict interpretation of Islamic law.
The group uses a campaign of bombings both in Somalia and elsewhere, and targets have included military installations as well as hotels, shopping centres, and busy traffic areas.
Its fighters were driven out of Mogadishu in 2011 by the African Union peacekeeping forces. But it still controls swaths of Somalia’s countryside and has stepped up attacks since President Mohamud took office in May and pledged an “all-out war” against the group.
President Mohamud, with support from the United States and allied local militias, has launched an offensive against the group, although results have been limited.
Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin says he expects to return as Rebels coach
Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin said he anticipates staying with the Rebels in 2023, even if Auburn offers him the chance to fill its head-coaching vacancy.
Kiffin was asked about his status after Thursday’s 24-22 home loss to Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl, Ole Miss’ third consecutive defeat to end the regular season. Kiffin, who is in his third year as Rebels coach, has been viewed as one of Auburn’s top candidates to replace Bryan Harsin, who was fired Oct. 31.
“Yes, I do,” Kiffin said Thursday when asked if he expects to return to Ole Miss next season.
Sources told ESPN’s Chris Low that Kiffin met Tuesday with Ole Miss players and told them he hasn’t accepted a job at any other school. WCBI-TV in Columbus, Mississippi, reported Monday that Kiffin planned to step down Friday and take the Auburn job. Kiffin denied the report.
Asked after Thursday’s loss about signing a new contract extension at Ole Miss, Kiffin noted that he had signed several with the school and has been more focused on the Mississippi State game. In December 2021, he received an enhanced contract with Ole Miss that increased his salary to $7.25 million this year.
If Kiffin indeed passes on Auburn, Liberty coach Hugh Freeze is likely to be pursued by the school. Freeze is 34-14 at Liberty after coaching Ole Miss from 2012 to 2017, and going 39-25.
Kiffin is 23-12 at Ole Miss and 18-7 the past two seasons.
Lane Kiffin Breaking: Ole Miss Rebels Coach Leaving For Auburn Tigers?
OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin is expected to be the next head coach of the Auburn Tigers, reports indicated on Monday night.
Jon Sokoloff of WCBI in Columbus, Miss., was the first to report the news. According to Sokoloff, Kiffin plans to step down on Friday following the Egg Bowl against Mississippi State to become the next head coach on The Plains.
Last season, Kiffin led the Rebels to their first 10-win regular season in program history. This year marks his third at the helm of the Rebels program after taking over prior to the 2020 season following the firing of Matt Luke.
Earlier Monday afternoon during his weekly press conference, Kiffin had voiced how happy he was in Oxford, and seemed to indicate his intent to stay.
“I think they know how we operate, and they’ve been in this before,” Kiffin said on Monday. “They don’t even ask. I don’t know what else to say. I’m extremely happy here. The difference in where this program is compared to three years ago, and we feel like we have really good support. I can get up here and give the ‘Pine Box’ speech and ‘I’m not going to be the next head coach at Alabama.’ I can give you those things. I don’t know what those mean. Been here three years and have been fortunate enough to have three different contracts. I don’t know why a fourth contract makes people feel better. Like I said, we’re very appreciative of everything here.”
That, however, at least according to the report, seems to have been a typical coach-speak farce.
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Lane Kiffin of Ole Miss Rebels says coach involvement in directing funds, salary cap would help solve current issues with NIL
ATLANTA — Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin believes that in an ideal world, there would be an NFL-style system for name, image and likeness in which a head coach or a general manager would have the ability to facilitate funds from collectives and donors, and every program would be held to a salary cap.
But because there’s no salary cap and because coaches can’t be involved in directing NIL funds, Kiffin said, “You’ve got a whole other set of problems.”
“If you got boosters out there deciding who they’re gonna pay to come play and the coach isn’t involved in it, how’s that work?” Kiffin said Monday at SEC media days. “Do they just go pick who they want? … And then when they don’t play, how’s that gonna work out?
“So again, this was not thought out at all, in my opinion. And it’s created a massive set of issues.”
Kiffin has been unafraid to talk about the impact of NIL on recruiting.
On signing day in February, Kiffin joked that Texas A&M, which signed the top class, “was going to incur a luxury tax in how much they paid for their signing class.”
“NIL is the most important thing in the kids’ decision-making process right now,” Kiffin said Monday. “It is. It’s their salary. So that’s for most people, let alone when you’re 17 and a lot of ’em not coming from money.”
Leveraging what Ole Miss’ donors have offered and the appeal of the football program overall, the Rebs have been active in the transfer portal, landing several high-profile players such as former TCU star running back Zach Evans and USC quarterback Jaxson Dart.
“On paper we may look like we should be decent because we filled a lot of holes with transfer portals,” Kiffin said. “… [But] we have to put them all together. It’s a blended family. So that is challenging.
“In fall camp, it should be about teaching X’s and O’s like it always is, but we have a lot of culture work to do that you don’t really have to do as much when it’s established because your best players normally have been in your program for a year or two. So we look forward to that challenge.”
Congo rebels seize eastern border town, army blames Rwanda
GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo, June 13 (Reuters) – M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo have seized the eastern border town of Bunagana, the rebel group and local activists said on Monday, sending more than 30,000 civilians fleeing into neighbouring Uganda.
The Congolese army in a statement said Rwandan troops had occupied the town. Congo has repeatedly accused Rwanda of backing the M23, whose leadership hails from the same Tutsi ethnic group as Rwandan President Paul Kagame.
The Rwandan army and government did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Rwanda has previously denied playing any role in M23’s recent attacks. read more
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The capture of Bunagana marked a major setback for Congolese forces who said a day earlier that they had the insurgents on the run.
The United Nations and African Union voiced alarm about the mounting violence in a region where conflicts in the 1990s and 2000s cost millions of lives, mostly from disease and hunger, and spawned dozens of militias that remain active to this day.
Bunagana was an M23 stronghold during a 2012 insurrection that briefly overran the major city of Goma before Congolese and U.N. forces chased the rebels into neighbouring Rwanda and Uganda the following year. read more
The office of North Kivu’s military governor on Sunday said Congolese forces had “routed” the M23 following attacks near Bunagana, which is one of the main crossings into Uganda. read more
But the M23 issued a statement on Monday saying they controlled the town. Two local activists confirmed that it had fallen to the rebels, while the army said it had fallen to Rwanda.
“Our troops have taken control of the city of Bunagana since the morning of Monday, June 13,” M23 spokesperson Willy Ngoma said in a statement.
He said that taking the city had not been their goal but that they decided to do it after repeated attacks by the Congolese army and allied groups.
“We ask once again for President Felix Tshisekedi to seize this opportunity to put an end to the violence caused by this useless war and to open direct negotiations with our movement,” the M23 statement said.
A government spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment. Congo’s government broke off negotiations with the M23 that had been taking place in Kenya in April.
‘DESPERATE SITUATION’
The fighting caused more than 30,000 Congolese asylum seekers and 137 Congolese soldiers to cross into Uganda on Monday, Shaffiq Sekandi, Uganda’s resident district commissioner for Kisoro district, told Reuters.
“They are all over, the streets are full, others have gone to churches, they are under trees, everywhere. It’s a really desperate situation,” he said.
The United Nations had previously said that 25,000 people fled the violence on Sunday.
A spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was concerned about deteriorating security in eastern Congo, including M23 attacks. The region has seen near-constant conflict since Rwanda and Uganda invaded twice in the 1990s.
African Union Commission Chair Moussa Faki Mahamat called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and for talks between Congo and Rwanda to resolve the growing diplomatic crisis.
General Sylvain Ekenge, the spokesman for North Kivu’s military government, said that the takeover of Bunagana constituted an “invasion” by Rwanda which would incur consequences.
Tensions have risen between the neighbours in recent weeks, with accusations of strikes on both sides. read more
While Rwanda denies supporting the M23, it accuses Congo of collaborating with another militia group, the FDLR, founded by ethnic Hutus who fled Rwanda after participating in the 1994 genocide. Congo denies this charge.
During the 2012-2013 conflict, Congo and U.N. investigators accused Rwanda and Uganda of supporting the M23, which they denied.
On Monday, two senior Congolese security sources, who asked not to be named, also accused the Ugandan military of supporting the M23’s offensive.
Uganda army spokesman Brigadier Felix Kulayigye denied any involvement.
“We are only closely watching what’s going on from across the border and we have been in that position for months,” he said.
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Reporting by Djaffar Sabiti in Goma and Stanis Bujakera in Kinshasa; Additional reporting by Erikas Mwisi Kambale in Beni and Elias Biryabarema in Kampala; Writing by Sofia Christensen and Nellie Peyton; Editing by Aaron Ross, Alison Williams and David Evans
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Thai rebels excluded from talks take responsibility for Ramadan bombings
Separatist graffiti is seen on a road near Pattani June 6, 2014, one of three southernmost provinces of Thailand where government troops have fought Muslim insurgents since 2004. Graffiti reads “Hey Siamese – bring back our rights” REUTERS/Andrew RC Marshall
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BANGKOK, April 16 (Reuters) – Thai rebels sidelined from peace talks claimed responsibility on Saturday for deadly bombings in the country’s Muslim-majority deep south that broke a Ramadan holiday agreed between the main rebel group and the government.
The two explosions on Friday, which killed a civilian and injured three policemen, were carried out by “G5”, a militant group of the Patani United Liberation Organisation (PULO), its president, Kasturi Mahkota, told Reuters.
More than 7,300 people have been killed since 2004 in the fighting between the government and shadowy groups seeking independence for the Malay-Muslim provinces of Narathiwat, Yala, Pattani and parts of Songkhla. The area was part of the Patani sultanate that Thailand annexed in a 1909 treaty with Britain.
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Mahkota said by telephone the blasts in Pattani province represent “business as usual” for PULO, left out of the talks between the government and the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), which agreed two weeks ago to stop violence during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan through May 14. read more
A spokesman for the Thai security forces in the south, Colonel Kiatisak Neewong, said without naming PULO that a group not included in the peace talks were likely responsible for bombings aimed at disrupting the Ramadan truce.
The Thai team at the peace talks and the BRN declined to comment.
“The talks are not inclusive enough and it is going too fast,” said Kasturi, whose group objects to the agreement that would exclude the possibility of independence from Buddhist-majority Thailand.
The talks seek a political solution to the decades-long conflict under the framework of the Thai constitution. Talks have been frequently disrupted since beginning in 2013. The latest round started in 2019.
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Reporting by Panu Wongcha-um in Bangkok; Editing by William Mallard
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Yemen rebels strike oil depot in Saudi city hosting F1 race
JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Yemen’s Houthi rebels attacked an oil depot on Friday in the Saudi city of Jiddah ahead of a Formula One race in the kingdom — their highest-profile assault yet that threatened to disrupt the upcoming grand prix.
The attack targeted the same fuel depot that the Houthis had attacked in recent days, the North Jiddah Bulk Plant that sits just southeast of the city’s international airport and is a crucial hub for Muslim pilgrims heading to Mecca.
The Saudi Arabian Oil Co., known as Saudi Aramco, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Saudi authorities acknowledged a “hostile operation” by the Houthis targeting the depot, without describing the weapon used in the attack.
The attacks came as Saudi Arabia still leads a coalition battling the Iran-backed Houthis, who seized Yemen’s capital of Sanaa in September 2014. The kingdom, which entered the war in Yemen in 2015, has been internationally criticized for its airstrikes killing that have killed scores of civilians — something the Houthis point to as they launch drones, missiles and mortars into the kingdom.
Brig. Gen. Turki al-Malki, a spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, said the fire damaged two tanks and was put out without injuries.
“This hostile escalation targets oil facilities and aims to undermine energy security and the backbone of global economy,” al-Malki said, according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency. “These hostile attacks had no impact or repercussions in any way, shape or form on public life in Jiddah.”
An Associated Press photojournalist covering practice laps at the F1 track in Jiddah saw the smoke rising in the distance to the east, just after 5:40 p.m. As the flames rose, the tops of the tanks of the bulk plant were clearly visible some 11.5 kilometers (7 miles) away.
Drivers raced on into the evening even as the fire burned.
The second-ever Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jiddah is taking place on Sunday, though concerns had been raised by some over the recent attacks targeting the kingdom.
The F1 said in a statement that: “The position at the moment is that we are waiting for further information from the authorities on what has happened.” The F1 did not elaborate.
The al-Masirah satellite news channel run by Yemen’s Houthi rebels later claimed they had attacked an Aramco facility in Jiddah, along with other targets in Riyadh and elsewhere.
Meanwhile, Saudi state TV also acknowledged attacks in the town of Dhahran targeting water tanks that damaged vehicles and homes. Another attack targeted an electrical substation in an area of southwestern Saudi Arabia near the Yemeni border, state TV said.
The North Jiddah Bulk Plant stores diesel, gasoline and jet fuel for use in Jiddah, the kingdom’s second-largest city. It accounts for over a quarter of all of Saudi Arabia’s supplies and also supplies fuel crucial to running a regional desalination plant.
The Houthis have twice targeted the North Jiddah plant with cruise missiles. One attack came in November 2020. The last came on Sunday as part of a wider barrage by the Houthis.
At the time of the 2020 attack, the targeted tank, which has a capacity of 500,000 barrels, held diesel fuel, according to a recent report by a U.N. panel of experts examining Yemen’s war. Repairing it after the last attack cost Aramco some $1.5 million.
The U.N. experts described the facility as a “civilian target,” which the Houthis should have avoided after the 2020 attack.
“While the facility also supplies the Saudi military with petroleum products, it is mostly supplying civilian customers,” the panel said. “If the plant had been out of service of a significant period, the impact on the kingdom’s economy as well as on the welfare of the residents of the Western region would likely have been significant.”
Cruise missiles and drones remain difficult to defend against, though the U.S. recently sent a significant number of Patriot anti-missile interceptors to Saudi Arabia to resupply the kingdom amid the Houthi attacks.
In September, the AP reported that the U.S. had removed its own Patriot and THAAD defense systems from Prince Sultan Air Base outside of Riyadh.
The attacks have renewed questions about the kingdom’s ability to defend itself from Houthi fire as a yearslong war in the Arab world’s poorest country rages on with no end in sight. It also comes as Saudi Arabia issued an unusually stark warning that it is unable to guarantee its oil production won’t be affected by further attacks — which could push global energy prices even higher amid Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Benchmark Brent crude prices briefly rose above $120 a barrel in trading Friday.
___
Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Ukraine rebels order troop mobilization amid invasion fears
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A separatist leader in eastern Ukraine ordered a full military mobilization Saturday, a move that comes amid a spike in violence in the war-torn region that the West fears could be used as a pretext for an invasion by neighboring Russia.
Denis Pushilin, the head of the pro-Russian separatist government in the Donetsk region, released a statement Saturday announcing a full troop mobilization and urging reservists to show up at military enlistment offices.
The announcement came as a mass evacuation of women, children and the elderly from the rebel-held territories in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions to neighboring Russia was underway.
U.S. President Joe Biden said Friday he was now “convinced” Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided to invade Ukraine and assault the capital.
After weeks of saying the U.S. was not sure if Putin had made the final decision, Biden said that his judgment had changed, citing American intelligence.
“As of this moment, I’m convinced he’s made the decision,” Biden said. “We have reason to believe that.” He reiterated that the assault could occur in the “coming days.”
The president’s comments at the White House followed a day of rising violence that included a humanitarian convoy hit by shelling and a car bombing in the eastern city of Donetsk. Pro-Russian rebels began evacuating civilians from the conflict zone with an announcement that appeared to be part of Moscow’s efforts to paint Ukraine as the aggressor instead.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin announced massive nuclear drills to flex its military muscle, and Putin pledged to protect Russia’s national interests against what it sees as encroaching Western threats.
Biden reiterated his threat of crushing economic and diplomatic sanctions against Russia if it does invade, and pressed Putin to reconsider. He said the U.S. and its Western allies were more united than ever to ensure Russia pays a steep price for any invasion.
As further indication that the Russians are preparing for a major military push, a U.S. defense official said an estimated 40% to 50% of the ground forces deployed in the vicinity of the Ukrainian border have moved into attack positions closer to the border. That shift has been underway for about a week, other officials have said, and does not necessarily mean Putin has decided to begin an invasion. The defense official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal U.S. military assessments.
The official also said the number of Russian ground units known as battalion tactical groups in the border area had grown to as many as 125, up from 83 two weeks ago. Each group has 750 to 1,000 soldiers.
Lines of communication remain open: The U.S. and Russian defense chiefs spoke Friday. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov agreed to meet next week.
Immediate worries focused on eastern Ukraine, where Ukrainian forces have been fighting pro-Russia rebels since 2014 in a conflict that has killed some 14,000 people. With an estimated 150,000 Russian troops now posted around Ukraine’s borders, the long-simmering separatist conflict could provide the spark for a broader attack.
Fears of such escalation intensified amid Friday’s violence. A bombing struck a car outside the main government building in the rebel-held city of Donetsk, according to an Associated Press journalist there. The head of the separatist forces, Denis Sinenkov, said the car was his, the Interfax news agency reported.
There were no reports of casualties and no independent confirmation of the circumstances of the blast. Shelling and shooting are common along the line that separates Ukrainian forces and the rebels, but targeted violence is unusual in rebel-held cities.
Adding to the tensions, two explosions shook the rebel-controlled city of Luhansk early Saturday. The Luhansk Information Center said one of the blasts was in a natural gas main and cited witnesses as saying the other was at a vehicle service station. There was no immediate word on injuries or a cause. Luhansk officials blamed a gas main explosion earlier in the week on sabotage.
Overall, monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe reported more than 600 explosions in the war-torn east of Ukraine on Friday.
Separatists in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions that form Ukraine’s industrial heartland known as the Donbas announced they were evacuating civilians to Russia.
Pushilin, the head of the Donetsk rebel government, said women, children and the elderly would go first, and that Russia has prepared facilities for them. Pushilin alleged in a video statement that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was going to order an imminent offensive in the area.
Metadata from two videos posted by the separatists announcing the evacuation show that the files were created two days ago, The Associated Press confirmed. U.S. authorities have alleged that the Kremlin’s disinformation campaign could include staged, prerecorded videos.
Authorities began moving children from an orphanage in Donetsk, and other residents boarded buses for Russia. Long lines formed at gas stations as more people prepared to leave on their own.
Putin ordered the government to offer a payment of 10,000 rubles (about $130) to each evacuee, equivalent to about half of an average monthly salary in the war-ravaged Donbas region.
By Saturday morning, more than 6,600 residents of the rebel-controlled areas were evacuated to Russia, according to separatist officials, who have announced plans to evacuate hundreds of thousands of people.
The explosions and the announced evacuations were in line with U.S. warnings of so-called false-flag attacks that Russia could use to justify an invasion.
Around the volatile line of contact, a United Nations humanitarian convoy came under rebel shelling in the Luhansk region, Ukraine’s military chief said. No casualties were reported. Rebels denied involvement and accused Ukraine of staging a provocation.
Ukraine denied planning any offensive.
“We are fully committed to diplomatic conflict resolution only,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the threat to global security is “more complex and probably higher” than during the Cold War. He told a security conference in Munich that a small mistake or miscommunication between major powers could have catastrophic consequences.
Russia announced this week that it was pulling back forces from vast military exercises, but U.S. officials said they saw no sign of a pullback and instead observed more troops moving toward the border with Ukraine.
In other developments, the White House and the U.K. formally blamed Russia for recent cyberattacks targeting Ukraine’s defense ministry and major banks. The announcement was the most pointed attribution of responsibility for the intrusions, which barraged websites with junk data to make them unreachable. Russia rejected the accusations.
The Kremlin sent a reminder to the world of its nuclear might, announcing drills of its nuclear forces for the weekend. Putin will monitor the exercise Saturday that will involve multiple practice missile launches.
Asked about Western warnings of a possible Russian invasion on Wednesday that did not materialize, Putin said: “There are so many false claims, and constantly reacting to them is more trouble than it’s worth.”
“We are doing what we consider necessary and will keep doing so,” he said. “We have clear and precise goals conforming to national interests.”
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Isachenkov reported from Moscow, Madhani from Munich and Miller from Washington. Associated Press writers around the world contributed to this report.
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More AP coverage of the Ukraine crisis: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Ukrainian rebels to evacuate civilians to Russia amid crisis
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Separatists in eastern Ukraine announced Friday they are evacuating civilians to Russia, as spiking tensions in the region aggravated Western fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine and a new war in Europe.
It was the latest in a cascade of developments this week that have brought East-West relations to their lowest point in decades. U.S. and European officials, focused on an estimated 150,000 Russian troops posted around Ukraine’s borders, fear the long-simmering separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine could provide the spark for a broader attack.
Russia announced massive nuclear drills Friday to flex its military muscle, while the West sought ways to keep the peace. U.S. leaders issued their most dire warnings yet that Moscow could order an invasion of Ukraine any day.
Immediate worries focused on the volatile front lines of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions in the east, where a surge of shelling Thursday tore through the walls of a kindergarten and basic communications were disrupted.
The separatist conflict between Ukrainian government forces and Moscow-backed separatists erupted in 2014 and has killed over 14,000 people.
Denish Pushilin, the head of the separatist government in the Donetsk region, said women, children and the elderly will be evacuated first, and that Russia has prepared facilities to accommodate them.
The drumbeat of warnings that a larger conflict could start at any moment continued Friday after U.S. President Joe Biden warned that Washington saw no signs of a promised Russian withdrawal — but instead saw more troops moving toward the border with Ukraine.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the U.S. believes Russia could launch an attack “any time” and also said he still had seen no sign of the promised Russian pullback. He will hold a call Friday with Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
Even as Russia claimed to be pulling back troops from extensive military exercises that had sparked fears of invasion, the Kremlin sent a reminder to the world that it has one of the world’s biggest nuclear arsenals, by announcing drills of its nuclear forces for the weekend. The muscle-flexing overshadowed Russian offers this week of continued diplomacy to defuse the Ukraine crisis.
NATO allies are also flexing their might, beefing up military forces around eastern Europe, but insist the actions are purely defensive and to show unity in the face of Russian threats.
The U.S. announced the $6 billion sale of 250 tanks to Poland, a NATO member that has been occupied or attacked by Russia over past centuries. Announcing the deal, Austin said Russia’s military buildup had only reinvigorated NATO instead of cowing it, as Moscow had hoped.
Meanwhile, world leaders meeting at the Munich Security Conference warned that Europe’s security balance is under threat. Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said that the situation is “calling into question the basic principles of the European peace order.”
“Even steps, millimeters toward peace are better than a big step toward war,” she said.
Moscow has denied any intention of attacking its neighbor, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov mocked the Western warning of an imminent invasion as “fakes” that “cause a smile” in remarks broadcast Friday.
Despite the Russian denials, Washington and its allies are concerned the longtime separatist conflict simmering in eastern Ukraine could provide an excuse for an invasion, though they have not provided details.
With tensions already at their highest level since the Cold War, the Russian military announced that President Vladimir Putin will monitor a sweeping exercise of the country’s nuclear forces Saturday that will involve multiple practice missile launches — a stark reminder of the country’s nuclear might amid the showdown with the West.
While the Kremlin insists it has no plans to invade, it has urged the West to keep Ukraine out of NATO and roll back alliance forces from Eastern Europe — demands roundly rejected by Western allies.
Biden planned to speak by phone Friday with trans-Atlantic leaders about the Russian military buildup and continued efforts at deterrence and diplomacy.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken revealed some conclusions of U.S. intelligence in Thursday’s speech at the U.N. Security Council, warning that Russia could create a false pretext for an invasion with a “so-called terrorist bombing” inside Russia, a staged drone strike, “a fake, even a real attack … using chemical weapons.” He charged that invasion would open with cyberattacks, along with missile strikes and bombs across Ukraine, describing the entry of Russian troops and their advance on Kyiv, a city of nearly 3 million, and other key targets.
Despite the stark U.S. warnings, Ukrainian officials sought to project calm, with Oleksii Danilov, head of the National Security and Defense Council, saying late Thursday that there were no signs a massive Russian invasion was imminent.
“We don’t undermine the threat in any case, but the possibility of escalation is considered to be relatively low regarding large-scale invasion of Ukraine,” Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov told lawmakers Friday.
Nevertheless, U.S. and European officials were on high alert for any Russian attempts at a so-called false flag operation, according to a Western official familiar with intelligence findings. Ukrainian government officials shared intelligence with allies that suggested the Russians might try to shell the areas in the Luhansk region controlled by separatists as part of an effort to create a false reason to take military action, according to the official who was not authorized to comment publicly.
On Thursday, monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe reported more than 500 explosions before the tensions eased in the evening. Ukrainian authorities and separatists traded accusations of violations of a shaky truce in the nearly 8-year-old conflict in the eastern industrial heartland known as the Donbas. The conflict erupted shortly after Russia’s 2014 annexation of the Ukrainian Crimean Peninsula.
The Ukrainian military command said shells hit a kindergarten in Stanytsia Luhanska, wounding three people, and cut power to half the town. The rebels said nearly 19 houses were damaged by Ukrainian fire.
Early Friday, separatist authorities in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions reported more shelling by Ukrainian forces along the tense line of contact. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the situation is “potentially very dangerous.”
Ukrainian officials charged that the rebels intensified the shelling in the hopes of provoking a retaliatory attack by government forces.
The Ukrainian military chief, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, said that it’s “not planning any offensive operations or shelling of civilians,” adding that “our actions are purely defensive.”
But amid the fears a wider conflict could still come, a flurry of diplomacy is expected this week.
In addition to the call between the Russian and American defense chiefs, Blinken is expected to meet his Russian counterpart next week.
Meanwhile, Putin met Friday with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to discuss the ongoing joint drills in Belarus that borders Ukraine to the north. The massive exercise involving Russian forces moved from the Far East fueled Western fears that they could use it to cut a short way to the Ukrainian capital.
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Isachenkov reported from Moscow and Superville from Washington. Lorne Cook in Brussels, Matthew Lee and Karl Ritter in Munich, Angela Charlton in Paris, Jill Lawless in London, Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations, Frank Jordans in Berlin, Aamer Madhani and Ellen Knickmeyer in Washington, and Vanessa Gera in Warsaw contributed.
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More AP coverage of the Ukraine crisis: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine