2023-09-15 13:35:50
The Ukrainian army announced Friday morning that it had retaken the village of Andriïvka, some ten kilometers south of the devastated town of Bakhmut on the eastern front, on one of the axes of the difficult counter-offensive by Kiev’s troops.
“The Defense Forces had partial success in the Klichchiivka area during offensive operations. During their assault, they liberated Andriivka in the Donetsk region (and) inflicted significant losses on the enemy in terms of of personnel and equipment”, communicated the Ukrainian general staff in its daily report posted on Facebook.
Residents of the Kherson region no longer have a choice: they must evacuate. Faced with incessant Russian bombings, Ukrainian authorities on Thursday ordered compulsory evacuations of civilians in the region in the south of the country, partly controlled by Russian forces.
Kim Jong Un in Russian Far East to visit aircraft factory
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived Friday morning in Komsomolsk-on-Amur in the Russian Far East to visit an aircraft factory, continuing his trip to Russia, a country that Washington suspects of wanting to buy weapons from Pyongyang to support its assault in Ukraine. On Wednesday, during his first official trip abroad since the Covid pandemic, the leader of Pyongyang met Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Vostochny cosmodrome (East), with the aim of strengthening ties between their two countries , particularly military.
“No agreement has been signed, and this was not planned,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Friday. The United States suspected Russia of wanting to buy weapons from Pyongyang for the conflict in Ukraine, while North Korea is suspected of wanting to acquire technology for its nuclear and missile programs.
Meeting with Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, Kim Jong Un declared that rapprochement with Moscow would constitute the “absolute priority” of North Korean foreign policy. The Russian president, who accepted an invitation from Kim Jong Un to visit North Korea, for his part praised the “future strengthening of cooperation” with this country, evoking “prospects” of military cooperation despite international sanctions targeting Pyongyang because of its nuclear programs and missiles in development.
In addition, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un gave each other a rifle during the current visit, the Kremlin said on Thursday, confirming that the Russian president had agreed to visit Pyongyang. These gifts appear to be highly symbolic, at a time when the United States suspects Russia of wanting to buy weapons from Pyongyang to support its assault in Ukraine.
Ukraine: authorities order evacuations in the Kherson region
“The Kherson Regional Defense Council has decided to compulsorily evacuate families with children from localities subject to constant enemy fire,” Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said on Telegram. In the Kherson region, Russian troops control areas south of the Dnieper River, after their withdrawal last year from the city of Kherson, the regional capital, regularly targeted by bombings.
The Ukrainian authorities had already recommended in August the evacuation of civilians from around ten localities in the Kharkiv region, in the North-East, in the face of a local offensive by Russian forces. However, these evacuations were not obligatory.
Weak ruble: the Russian Central Bank further raises its key rate
The Russian Central Bank (BCR) announced this Friday to raise its key rate from 12% to 13%. This is the third consecutive increase in less than two months to counter inflation and the weakening of the ruble, which despite its efforts remains at very low levels against the dollar and the euro. Faced with “inflationary pressure in the Russian economy (which) remains high” and “the weakening of the ruble this summer”, “additional monetary tightening is necessary”, explained the BCR in a press release.
Thus, “the board of directors of the BCR decided to increase the key rate by 100 basis points to bring it to 13%,” indicated the monetary institution. For several weeks, the free fall of the ruble has been inexorably accompanied by a return of inflation (+ 5.15% in August), which adds to the growing cost of the Ukrainian conflict, causing many Russians to fear for their standard of living. The cause in particular is the considerable drop in revenues linked to the sale of hydrocarbons, under the effect of sanctions and the declared determination of Europeans to end their energy dependence on Moscow.
Washington considers Moscow’s expulsion of its diplomats “unfounded”
The United States denounced on Thursday Moscow’s “unjustified” decision to expel two of its diplomats stationed in the Russian capital and promised to retaliate in due course. “This unjustified expulsion of our diplomatic personnel is without any basis,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters. “We regret that Russia has taken this path and you can certainly expect us to respond to these measures appropriately,” he added.
Russia announced Thursday the expulsion of two American diplomats, accused of having served as “liaison” agents for a former Russian employee arrested at the beginning of the year and suspected of having transmitted information to the United States on the conflict in Ukraine. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the two diplomats declared “persona non grata” are the first and second secretaries of the American embassy in Moscow, Jeffrey Sillin and David Bernstein.
The two diplomats “carried out illegal activities by liaising with a Russian citizen, Robert Chonov, accused of confidential cooperation with a foreign state” and who “was given tasks in exchange for financial remuneration with the aim of of undermining Russia’s national security,” the ministry accused. These expulsions come at a time when relations are at their lowest point between Russia and the United States, one of the main financial and military supporters of Ukraine, where Moscow has been leading an offensive since February 2022.
Gazprom says it delivered LNG to China via Northern Sea Route for the first time
Russian giant Gazprom announced on Friday that it had delivered liquefied natural gas (LNG) to China for the first time via the Northern Sea Route in the Arctic, now more easily navigable due to melting ice caused by global warming. climatic.
The Russian authorities hope that this route will make it possible to increase the transport of hydrocarbons to Asia, at a time when the Europeans, historical clients of Moscow, say they want to end their energy dependence on Russia.
“Gazprom delivered LNG from its own production for the first time along the Northern Sea Route,” the Russian state company said in a statement.
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