Category Archives: Russia

Kremlin Claims Attack On Hezbollah’s Pagers Was Meant To ‘Provoke A Major War’

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A Russian official claimed the attacks on Hezbollah’s pagers were intended to “provoke a major war”.

Nine people died and thousands more were wounded in Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday after communication devices, used by the militant group Hezbollah, abruptly exploded.

A similar event unfolded on Wednesday when two-way radios and more pagers were detonated again across Lebanon.

There are fears these acts of violence could escalate tensions in the region.

The Iranian-backed militants in the Lebanese group are already blaming Israel, as the two have been exchanging fire over their border for months.

Israel is yet to comment on the incident.

According to the Russian news agency TASS, the foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said the act was a “gross violation of its sovereignty”, but avoided blaming any one party.

She continued: “We strongly condemn the unprecedented attack on friendly Lebanon and its citizens, which constitutes a gross violation of its sovereignty and a serious challenge to international law with the use of unconventional weapons.

“We offer our sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wish prompt recovery to the injured.”

Zakharova claimed it was “another act of hybrid warfare against Lebanon, which has affected thousands of innocent people.”

“In all likelihood the organisers of this high-tech attack purposefully sought to foment a large-scale armed confrontation with the aim to provoke a major war in the Middle East,” she speculated.

The Kremlin official added: “Such irresponsible actions are fraught with extremely dangerous consequences, as they provoke a new round of escalation.”

Zakharova took the chance to take a dig at the West, too, saying: “It is necessary to conduct a comprehensive investigation into this crime and bring all those responsible to justice to ensure that this act of terrorism should not be swept under the carpet, which the Western countries have been trying to do in relation to the investigation of the Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions.”

The Nord Stream pipelines exported natural gas from Russia to Germany for distribution across Europe, but were attacked in 2022.

The Kremlin also said on Wednesday that it was “necessary to get to the bottom” of what happened with the pagers in Lebanon.

“What happened – whatever it is – is certainly leading to an escalation of tensions. The region is in a volatile state. Of course, each of these incidents can become a trigger for the situation to get out of control,” the Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

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Why Does The UK Need US Backing To Send Long-Range Missiles To Ukraine?

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No matter how much Ukraine asks for help from the UK, reports suggest Downing Street will only allow Kyiv to use its long-range missiles once it has the US’s support.

Though the weapons could end up being a pivotal moment in Ukraine’s ongoing conflict with Russia, here’s why the UK cannot act without the US – and why the White House is being so hesitant.

Why does Ukraine want long-range missiles?

Ukraine has been pleading for the West’s permission to use long-range missiles to strike beyond Russian borders for some time.

Known as Storm Shadow cruise missiles, the £767,000 Anglo-French weapons can reach 155 miles and fly close to the speed of sound.

The US also has some long-range missiles, American ATACMs ,which have a superior range of 186 miles.

Ukraine does actually have some access to a few long-range missiles already.

The problem comes down to the West’s refusal to allow Kyiv to fire the missiles into Russian territory.

Kyiv’s Western allies only allow Ukraine to use the weapons to fire at targets within its own borders, as a form of defence rather than offence.

And Ukraine has used the weapons effectively to hit Crimea, the peninsula occupied by Russia since 2014, which has made it difficult for Vladimir Putin’s troops to stay there.

But, as Kyiv has hit a wall when it comes to driving Russian troops out of the 18% of Ukrainian land they continue to occupy, it recently pivoted to a new strategy – occupying a part of Russia.

Last month, Ukraine surprised everyone by seizing the Russian region of Kursk.

Although it ended up holding just a fraction of the land Russia has seized in Ukraine, Kyiv’s actions caused fury within the Kremlin and appeared to give Ukraine more hope of winning the overall war.

In the meantime, Russia is still launching devastating attacks against Ukraine from behind Russian borders.

Kyiv says not being able to target the place these attacks are coming from is seriously hindering it.

Zelenskyy said on Sunday: “This terror can be stopped. But to stop it, the fear of making strong, objectively necessary decisions must be overcome. Only decisiveness can bring a just end to this war. It is decisiveness that most effectively protects against terror.”

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A rescue operation is underway in Kharkiv following a Russian strike with aerial bombs. An ordinary residential high-rise building has been damaged. There is a fire and debris between the 9th and 12th floors. So far, nearly 30 people have been reported injured, including… pic.twitter.com/3ngKkfcb1U

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) September 15, 2024

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So far, nearly 30 people have been reported injured, including… pic.twitter.com/3ngKkfcb1U— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) September 15, 2024\n\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_maxwidth":{"label":"Adjust width","placeholder":"220-550, in px","value":""},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","title":"Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський on Twitter / X","type":"rich","url":"https://twitter.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1835307542148186534","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"desktop","editionInfo":{"id":"uk","name":"U.K.","link":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk","locale":"en_GB"},"originalEdition":"uk","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"66e83051e4b0a3751fa1e6d7","entryPermalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/uk-cannot-send-long-range-missiles-to-ukraine-without-us-approval_uk_66e83051e4b0a3751fa1e6d7","entryTagsList":"us-news,russia,ukraine,@ai_seo_headline","sectionSlug":"politics","deptSlug":null,"sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"uk.politics","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc140cf94592c45d7390c","disabledWithMapiEntries":false,"overrides":{"all":"60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4"},"whitelisted":["56c5f12ee4b03a39c93c9439","56c6056ee4b01f2b7e1b5f35","59bfee7f9e451049f87f550b","5acccbaac269d609ef44c529","570278d2e4b070ff77b98217","57027b4be4b070ff77b98d5c","56fe95c4e4b0041c4242016b","570279cfe4b06d08e3629954","5ba9e8821c2e65639162ccf1","5bcd9904821576674bc55ced","5d076ca127f25f504327c72e","5b35266b158f855373e28256","5ebac2e8abddfb04f877dff2","60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4","60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","60d0d8e09340d7032ad0fb1a","60d0d90f9340d7032ad0fbeb","60d0d9949340d7032ad0fed3","60d0d9f99340d7032ad10113","60d0daa69340d7032ad104cf","60d0de02b627221e9d819408"],"playlists":{"default":"57bc306888d2ff1a7f6b5579","news":"56c6dbcee4b04edee8beb49c","politics":"56c6dbcee4b04edee8beb49c","entertainment":"56c6e7f2e4b0983aa64c60fc","tech":"56c6f70ae4b043c5bdcaebf9","parents":"56cc65c2e4b0239099455b42","lifestyle":"56cc66a9e4b01f81ef94e98c"},"playerUpdates":{"56c6056ee4b01f2b7e1b5f35":"60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4","56c5f12ee4b03a39c93c9439":"60d0d8e09340d7032ad0fb1a","59bfee7f9e451049f87f550b":"60d0d90f9340d7032ad0fbeb","5acccbaac269d609ef44c529":"60d0d9949340d7032ad0fed3","5bcd9904821576674bc55ced":"60d0d9f99340d7032ad10113","5d076ca127f25f504327c72e":"60d0daa69340d7032ad104cf","5ebac2e8abddfb04f877dff2":"60d0de02b627221e9d819408"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"8b034f64-513c-4987-b16f-42d6008f7feb","clickToPlayPlayer":"5a777b9b-81fe-41a6-8302-59e9953ee8a2","videoPagePlayer":"19654b65-409c-4b38-90db-80cbdea02cf4"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mNkYAAAAAYAAjCB0C8AAAAASUVORK5CYII=","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":10},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":0},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"66e83051e4b0a3751fa1e6d7","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"desktop","page_edition":"en-uk"},"tags":[{"name":"us news","slug":"us-news","links":{"relativeLink":"news/us-news","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/us-news","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/us-news"},"relegenceSubjectId":981465,"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/us-news/"},{"name":"Russia","slug":"russia","links":{"relativeLink":"news/russia","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/russia","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/russia"},"relegenceId":3691301,"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Ukraine","slug":"ukraine","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/ukraine/"},{"name":"Ukraine","slug":"ukraine","links":{"relativeLink":"news/ukraine","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/ukraine","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/ukraine"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Ukraine","slug":"ukraine","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/ukraine/"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["

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A rescue operation is underway in Kharkiv following a Russian strike with aerial bombs. An ordinary residential high-rise building has been damaged. There is a fire and debris between the 9th and 12th floors. So far, nearly 30 people have been reported injured, including… pic.twitter.com/3ngKkfcb1U

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) September 15, 2024

Claiming there were around 30 missiles launched at Ukraine over the last week – along with more than 800 guided aerial bombs and nearly 300 strike drones, the Ukrainian president said: “Ukraine needs strong support from our partners to defend lives against Russian terror-air defence, long-range capabilities, support for our warriors. Everything that will help force Russia to end this war.”

Ukraine has its own long-range drone programmes which have occasionally hit within Russia but they cannot carry much and are frequently intercepted.

Five former defence secretaries and former PM Boris Johnson encouraged Starmer to give the go-ahead for Ukraine to use the Storm Shadow missiles, saying a delay to Ukraine’s request will only end up helping Putin.

Indeed Russia has already started to build up its defences in case the West does agree to the request, moving bombers, missiles and infrastructure further from the border so Storm Shadows cannot reach it.

The Storm Shadow cruise missile is on display during the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, north of Paris, France, Monday, June 19, 2023.
The Storm Shadow cruise missile is on display during the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, north of Paris, France, Monday, June 19, 2023.

via Associated Press

Why does the UK need the US to allow Ukraine to have it?

The UK has already indicated that it is considering a shift on its stance on long-range missiles. But it all rests on the US.

The Times has been told the UK will not go “alone” in providing these weapons to Ukraine because the American guidance systems are crucial to making sure the missiles hit intended targets such as airfields and oil depots.

Foreign secretary David Lammy did not say this specifically, but he told the BBC that it was important to have a “shared strategy” among Ukraine’s allies.

Why is the US being hesitant?

Biden and Starmer met in Washington last week, but did not announce any new plans to issue long-range missiles.

The US is particularly worried about escalating the Ukraine-Russia war into an international conflict – or a nuclear battle.

If, say, Putin decided to attack Poland, that would turn it into a Russia vs Nato conflict.

The US has allowed Ukraine to use missiles to target occupied parts of its land, including the areas Russia has illegally annexed and claims as it’s own – however, these regions are not internationally recognised as part of Russia.

Putin also claims that Ukraine cannot use long-range missiles without Western specialists’ support.

He said the “only servicemen of countries can input flight missions into these missile systems”.

The Russian president also claimed if Ukraine used the West’s long-range missiles would put the defence alliance “at war with Russia”.

He claimed Kyiv needs the West’s satellite intelligence, which neither the West nor Kyiv have commented on.

But the White House has shrugged off these threats so far.

Biden told reporters on Friday: “I don’t think much about Vladimir Putin.”

The US could end up changing its mind over the permissions surrounding the long-range missiles later this month, when UN general assembly meets in New York.

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