Russia condemns Ukraine’s attacks on its territory
MOSCOW: Russia on Monday accused Ukraine of attacking its territory, including launching a drone against an air base on Russian territory hundreds of kilometers from the front, the second such operation this month.
Russian security services (FSB) also claimed to have “destroyed” Ukrainian “saboteurs” trying to enter the Bryansk region of Russia from Ukrainian territory.
As usual, the Ukrainian authorities have not commented on these two incidents.
According to Russian news agencies, a Ukrainian drone was shot down overnight while approaching the Engels base in Saratov region, 600 km from Ukraine.
According to the information of TASS agency referring to the Ministry of Defense, 3 Russian technicians at the airfield were fatally injured as a result of the fall of the remains of the unmanned aircraft.
The governor of the region, Roman Boussarguine, confirmed the news of the three dead soldiers on his Telegram account.
Ukrainian saboteurs were destroyed
On December 6, the same Engels base, home to Russian strategic bombers, was targeted by Ukrainian drones, indicating the ability of some Ukrainian installations to deceive Russian anti-aircraft defenses.
The FSB also said on Monday that a group of Ukrainian “saboteurs” attempted to enter Russian territory with weapons and explosives in the Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, on Sunday.
“Four saboteurs were destroyed after the armed clashes that took place on December 25,” said the FSB, which is also responsible for border protection.
The video, released by the Ria-Novosti news agency and attributed to the FSB, shows corpses covered in blood, surrounded by weapons and dressed in winter camouflage uniforms.
AFP could not independently confirm this information.
In recent months, Russia has accused Kiev of numerous attacks on military facilities and critical infrastructure.
A 2014 truck bombing that partially destroyed the Crimean bridge linking the Moscow-annexed Ukrainian peninsula with Russian territory in early October set off a chain of battlefield setbacks for the Kremlin.
Kyiv has never confirmed its involvement in the viaduct bombing, but it has prompted Vladimir Putin to step up attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Today, millions of civilians have to live with only a few hours of electricity a day in the middle of winter. A large part of the population also faced interruption of heating and water supply.
Get Moscow out of the UN
It is in this context that Ukraine asked for Russia’s withdrawal from the UN on Monday.
“Ukraine calls on the UN member states (…) to deprive the Russian Federation of its status as a permanent member of the UN Security Council and to expel it from the UN as a whole,” the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine says.
On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin once again tried to justify his military offensive against Ukraine, which has lasted for more than 10 months and continues at the cost of heavy casualties.
According to him, the West used Ukraine as a bridge to threaten Russia.
“Everything is based on the policy of our geopolitical enemies, which aims to divide Russia, historical Russia,” Vladimir Putin said, adding that he wants to “unite the Russian people,” including Ukrainians.
According to him, despite the disastrous autumn for Moscow, the Russian army is “moving in the right direction” despite the resumption of counteroffensive operations in Ukraine in the north, east and south of the territories occupied by Russian forces.
Ukrainians surprised Russia by fiercely resisting the Russian army for 10 months. Ukrainian forces have also been able to consolidate military gains since September thanks to increased military and financial aid from the West.
“Dark and Hard”
For Moscow, this is proof that Europeans and Americans are waging a proxy war against Russia.
Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy left his country for the first time since the conflict began and went to Washington, where his American counterpart, Joe Biden, promised him the Patriot air defense system and a new $45 billion envelope.
As there was no ceasefire to mark the end of the year, bombings and fighting continued in Ukraine.
In recent days, the city of Kherson, which was recaptured by the Ukrainian army on November 11, has been particularly targeted, particularly the bombing of the city center that killed 10 people on Saturday.
According to the information of the presidency of Ukraine, on Sunday, attacks were made on surrounding areas, but there were no deaths.
Returning to the bloody casualties in Kherson, Mr Zelensky stressed that Ukrainians “must know” that Russia is trying to impose on them a “dark and difficult” end to the year.
