The World Blog by humble servant.

US forces left behind more than $7 billion in military equipment during their chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan last August, the Pentagon reportedly revealed in a long-awaited accounting of the abandoned gear. Washington gave Afghan government forces $18.6 billion worth of military equipment from 2005 to 2021, and $7.1 billion of that gear remained in the Central Asian country after the US withdrawal was completed on August 30, CNN cited the Pentagon as saying on Wednesday. The congressionally mandated report reminded Americans of the losses incurred during the US withdrawal, which also included 13 troop deaths and the abandonment of thousands of American citizens and Afghan allies. Critics of President Joe Biden’s administration decried the Pentagon’s failure to keep US weapons from falling into Taliban hands. “Nobody ever thought such stupidity as this feeble-brained withdrawal was possible,” said former President Donald Trump, who called for sending in troops to retrieve the equ...

Iran sees its relations with China as part of an effort by like-minded powers to confront US unilateralism and create stability and order, President Ebrahim Raisi told Beijing's visiting Defense Minister Wei Fenghe on Wednesday. Raisi said that the successful implementation of the 25-year strategic cooperation agreement between the two countries, signed in 2021, was a priority for Tehran, according to the state media. “Confronting unilateralism and creating stability and order is possible through the cooperation of independent and like-minded powers,” Raisi was quoted as saying by the IRNA news agency. He added that the current “regional and global developments show more than ever the value of Iran-China strategic cooperation.” Wei said his visit was aimed at “improving the strategic defense cooperation” between Tehran and Beijing, which would have a “remarkable” impact on fighting terrorism and defusing unilateralism, “particularly in the current critical and tense situation.”...

Helsinki has rejected Moscow’s ruble-based payment scheme for gas, the local media reported on Wednesday. Russia imposed the payment mechanism last month on countries that have placed sanctions on Russia but continue to import its gas. “We have made the decision in the government’s economic policy committee that Finland will not agree to ruble payments. The decision was already made at the beginning of April,” Finland’s Minister for European Affairs and Ownership Steering Tytti Tuppurainen told the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper. She said that it could be seen as blackmail and part of “Russia's geopolitical efforts.” Russia has denied using natural gas exports as a tool to “blackmail” Europe, a charge also leveled by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “Russia has been and remains a reliable supplier, committed to its obligations” and the new terms for exporting the gas were “caused by unprecedented hostile steps against us,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said o...

The world order created after the Second World War and the Cold War isn’t working anymore, so the West needs “a global NATO” to pursue geopolitics anew, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss argued in a major foreign policy speech on Wednesday. Truss also urged the West to send more “heavy weapons, tanks” and airplanes to Ukraine, and said China would face the same treatment as Russia if it doesn’t “play by the rules.” “My vision is a world where free nations are assertive and in the ascendant. Where freedom and democracy are strengthened through a network of economic and security partnerships,” Truss said in a speech at a Mansion House banquet in London. Dubbing this arrangement “the Network of Liberty,” Truss argued it was necessary because the economic and security structures developed after 1945 – such as the UN Security Council – “have been bent out of shape so far, they have enabled rather than contained aggression.” “Geopolitics is back,” she announced. The collective West and its...

A handful of Big Tech firms have been conned into turning over user data in response to phony law enforcement requests – data that is then used to extort and sexually harass those users, several sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg on Tuesday. Companies including Google, Apple, Meta, Twitter, Snap, and Discord are duped into supplying user data to malicious actors who then use the information to extort their victims, the sources claimed. The fake law enforcement officers reportedly target specific women and minors, sometimes coercing them into creating and sharing sexually explicit material using threats of retaliation. While these scams initially appeared to focus on financially extorting their victims, sexual extortion schemes have become disturbingly popular, according to Bloomberg’s law enforcement sources. They typically begin with a hacker compromising a law enforcement agency’s email system and forging an “emergency data request” targeting a particular social media ...

US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines has reportedly lifted some restrictions on intelligence-sharing with Ukraine, sources told Bloomberg on Wednesday, adding that the expanded trade in information is aimed at helping Kiev seize the breakaway republics of the Donbass. The source claimed Haines told Congress about the expanded intel-sharing after Congressman Mike Turner (R-Ohio), the chief Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, insisted in a classified letter that the Biden administration remove any restrictions on sharing intelligence. The source claimed Haines told Congress about the expanded intel-sharing after Congressman Mike Turner (R-Ohio), the chief Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, insisted in a classified letter that the Biden administration remove any restrictions on sharing intelligence. It appears that the West doesn’t want peace in UkraineREAD MORE: It appears that the West doesn’t want peace in Ukraine Turner has long criticized the...

Sweden is seeking compensation from the European Union for the military equipment it has sent to Ukraine amid the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia, Swedish Radio reported on Wednesday. Stockholm approved sending assorted military supplies to Ukraine over the past two months. Late in February, it greenlit the delivery of some 135,000 field rations, 5,000 helmets, and 5,000 pieces of body armor, as well as some 5,000 shoulder-fired anti-tank Pansarskott 86 grenade launchers. Late in March, the country approved the delivery of a further 5,000 anti-tank weapons, as well as de-mining kits. The two batches had an estimated cost of 413 million kroner ($43.5 million) and 205 million kroner ($21.7 million), respectively. UK support for attacks on Russian soil triggers responseREAD MORE: UK support for attacks on Russian soil triggers response The country is now seeking compensation from the European Union for its deliveries, requesting 95 million kroner ($10 million) for the batc...

Russia on Wednesday imposed sanctions against 287 British members of Parliament, in retaliation for last month’s blacklisting of Russian lawmakers by London. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow announced the full list of Conservative and Labour MPs banned from Russia, saying that they were the most active spreaders of “Russophobic hysteria” in the UK. The UK sanctioned 386 deputies of the Russian State Duma on March 11, for their decision to vote in favor of the recognition of Donetsk and Lugansk as independent states. Citing the principle of reciprocity, Moscow has announced the blacklisting of some – though not all – members of the House of Commons. The 213 MPs of the ruling Conservative party and 74 MPs of the opposition Labour “took the most active part in the establishment of anti-Russian sanctions instruments in London, and contributed to the groundless whipping up of Russophobic hysteria in the UK,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said. The House of Commons has a total of ...

.NASA chief Bill Nelson has scolded the Chinese space program for refusing to work with the US on its operations, saying Beijing’s secrecy has created unnecessary risks. “We simply have not been able to get any kind of transparency from the Chinese space program,” Nelson told reporters on Tuesday. He made his comments in a press briefing ahead of Wednesday’s successful SpaceX launch of a rocket carrying a new astronaut crew to the International Space Station. Nelson has warned of an emerging space race with China and has frequently called for the Chinese space program to collaborate with NASA. Lamenting on Tuesday that no such cooperation from Beijing has been forthcoming, he gave the example of an April 2021 incident in which Chinese space officials declined to share tracking data with the US or other countries as a rocket booster careened back toward earth after carrying a space station module into orbit. “They didn’t reserve enough fuel to have a controlled re-entry, and thank t...

Russia’s Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Wednesday that the National Wealth Fund (NWF), which accumulates revenue from oil exports, will be the main source of financing for a budget deficit expected to reach 1.6 trillion rubles ($21.6 billion) in 2022. He noted that a spending limit would be imposed to prevent the fund from drying up. “If revenues will be higher than planned, we will spend less from the NWF. In the opposite case, we will spend more from it,” Siluanov said. According to the minister, Russia will also channel 50 billion rubles ($674 million) from the rainy-day fund to top up the capital of Gazprombank, which needs additional funds to carry out infrastructure projects. The ministry wants to adjust Russia’s fiscal rules, designed to shield the economy from swings in oil prices. “In the current conditions, the old rules cannot be implemented,” Siluanov said. “The finance ministry has made proposals for new budget rules that the government is considering.” Under...

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on Wednesday noted Russia’s success in resisting Western sanctions, expressing his regrets about the fact. “So far, we see that Russia, unfortunately, is coping well with the sanctions,” he told reporters, adding that in order to “correct” the situation, Warsaw would work on developing new penalties. Moscow has confirmed the failure of the plans by ‘unfriendly’ nations to “strangle Russia economically.” “Step by step, using all sorts of pretexts, sometimes just without any pretexts, they introduced new restrictions,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday, adding that Moscow successfully warded off the sanctions strike, withstood it, and did not crumble. ‘Stop Russia now’ campaign gets underway in EU Read more ‘Stop Russia now’ campaign gets underway in EU Russia will respond to rough and often clumsy restrictions with greater openness to entrepreneurship, honest partnership, respect, and the reliable protection of business owne...

Russia has denied using natural gas exports as a tool to “blackmail” Europe, a claim voiced by the European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the switch to gas trade in rubles stems from the EU's own actions. “This is not blackmail. Russia has been and remains a reliable supplier, committed to its obligations. The conditions that were outlined in the presidential decree, the need for them was caused by unprecedented hostile steps against us,” Peskov stated, adding that the decision was communicated to natural gas buyers long before it took effect. We've been robbed of a significant amount of our reserves. And this required a transition to a new system. Earlier on Wednesday Von der Leyen accused Moscow of using natural gas trade as a "blackmail" tool following Gazprom's decision to halt exports to Poland and Bulgaria. The EU Commission president described the move as “unjustified...

Four European countries have already made gas payments to Russia using Moscow’s new ruble-based mechanism, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday citing a source close to Russian gas exporter Gazprom. Also, according to the publication, at least 10 countries have set up ruble accounts with Russia’s Gazprombank, through which the payments for the Russian commodity will be made from now on. This was done to facilitate payments due at the end of May. Bloomberg’s source said that Russia is unlikely to halt supplies to any more European countries, should they refuse the new payment requirement, until then. Russia introduced the new ruble-based payment mechanism for natural gas exports last month, after the EU and several other countries imposed sanctions on Moscow over its military operation in Ukraine. Under the new scheme, gas buyers from those countries are required to set up ruble accounts with Gazprombank. They are allowed to make payments in their currency of choice, but through this ac...

Russian president Vladimir Putin has warned outside forces against interfering into the Ukrainian conflict, promising a ‘lightning-speed’ response from Moscow to such actions, with the use of its most advanced weaponry.

The euro plummeted to a five-year low against the US dollar during Wednesday’s trading, amid heightened fears of a possible energy crisis and an economic slowdown in Europe. As of 11:01am GMT, the euro/dollar exchange rate was down to $1.061 from the previous closing level of $1.0636. Earlier in the day’s trading, the index fell to $1.0586, dropping below $1.06 for the first time since April 2017. The euro weakened further after Russian energy giant Gazprom cut off gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria over their refusal to pay in rubles, leading to uncertainty about the bloc’s energy security. READ MORE: Russia urges allies to dump dollar and euro in trade In March, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that payments for natural gas supplies to the European Union and other countries, that had imposed sanctions on Russia, were to be made in the Russian currency. The new payment mechanism has now been implemented, the Kremlin announced on Tuesday.

Russia’s heroes from the Beijing Winter Olympic Games were honored at the Kremlin on Tuesday, where President Vladimir Putin handed out a host of awards and piled praise on their achievements. But the Russian leader also took the opportunity to attack the sporting sanctions imposed on his country’s athletes, while handing out advice to the likes of teenage figure skating star Kamila Valieva on how to handle pressure. We select some of the best comments from Putin as he surveyed a sporting landscape which has changed considerably as a result of the military offensive in Ukraine. ‘Discrimination and degradation’ Russian athletes across a wide range of sports have been slapped with bans even since an International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommendation at the end of February that they should not be invited to competitions. Agonizingly, Russia’s Paralympic team was banned just one day before the Winter Games were due to begin in Beijing, having initially been told that they could com...

Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, has accused Russia of using natural gas supplies as an “instrument of blackmail” following Gazprom's decision to halt exports to Poland and Bulgaria on Wednesday. Warsaw and Sofia failed to pay for Russian gas deliveries in April in rubles, Russia's state-owned energy corporation explained. In a statement released on Wednesday, Von der Leyen claimed that the "announcement by Gazprom that it is unilaterally stopping delivery of gas to customers in Europe is yet another attempt by Russia to use gas as an instrument of blackmail." The Commission president went on to describe the decision as “unjustified and unacceptable,” adding that it further highlighted the “unreliability of Russia as a gas supplier.” Brussels has been “working to ensure alternative deliveries and the best possible storage levels across the EU,” Von der Leyen insisted. The EU leader added that contingency plans had been developed for ...

The European Union plans to significantly increase the purchase of Russian natural gas through countries that are ready to pay for the commodity in rubles, TASS news agency reported on Wednesday citing a government source in Brussels. “An emergency meeting of the Gas Coordinating Group took place today in view of the situation in Poland and Bulgaria. A temporary decision was made to significantly increase gas purchases from Russia through the remaining channels, which will allow Poland and Bulgaria to purchase additional volumes of gas on the European market. The EU is also working with all partners to ensure an increase in gas supplies, primarily liquefied natural gas (LNG),” the source was cited as saying. The move is aimed to compensate for the lack of supplies to Poland and Bulgaria after Russian energy giant Gazprom announced that it would no longer deliver gas to the two countries due to their refusal to adhere to the new ruble-based gas payment mechanism. Last month, Russia d...

French President Emmanuel Macron sailed to a re-election victory on April 24 with 58.5% of the vote over populist challenger Marine Le Pen’s 41.4%. But his mandate to govern France has taken a hit. According to a voting day Ipsos Sopra Steria poll, 42% of second-round voters who ultimately chose Macron, only did so to block Le Pen – routinely portrayed as dangerously far-right in the mainstream French press – and not because they overtly support Macron and his program. The President even acknowledged this phenomenon in his victory speech. The math therefore suggests that Macron’s actual support among the French who bothered to vote in the final round (with a 53-year record high of 28% of them choosing not to) was only about 41%. Hardly the resounding victory portrayed in the fawning praise of European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “Together, we will move France and Europe forward,” said the bureaucrat, who was elected by even fewer French than Macron (that is, ze...

Russia is looking at a “very tough” couple of years ahead, the head of the Audit Chamber and former finance minister Alexey Kudrin warned on Wednesday, as cited by RIA Novosti. “This is a crisis that is bigger than the crisis of 2009, bigger than the crisis caused by the pandemic... For about two years we will be living in a very tough situation,” Kudrin said during a meeting of the Council of Legislators in St Petersburg, referring to the current economic pressure on Russia due to Western sanctions. The Russian economy is expected to contract by 8.8% this year, with more conservative estimates seeing a possible decline of 12.4%, Kudrin said, citing the forecast by the Economic Development Ministry. Core inflation rate in Russia will stand at 20.7% this year and at more than 6% in 2023, he added. According to the former finance minister, all of Russia’s oil and gas revenues received in 2022 – an estimated 6.3 trillion rubles ($85 billion) – will be spent, and the budget will need ...

The Chinese military on Wednesday condemned the latest US patrol mission in the Taiwan Strait, calling the arrival of the warship a “provocation.” The USS Sampson guided-missile destroyer sailed through the strait on Tuesday and, according to a statement by the People's Liberation Army's Eastern Theater Command, was “tracked and monitored” by Chinese vessels along its entire route. “The US frequently carries out such provocative actions, sending wrong signals to ‘Taiwan independence’ forces, and deliberately undermining the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait,” the statement read, adding that the Chinese military “firmly opposes” such moves. The US 7th Fleet spokesperson, Nicholas Lingo, said earlier that the USS Sampson's mission “demonstrates the US commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.” Despite China's objections, the US sends warships to patrol the area once a month as part of freedom of navigation exercises. Washington regards the Taiwan Strait as i...

German energy firm Uniper is admitting to the possibility of paying for Russian gas in rubles, Tiina Tuomela, the company’s financial director said during a teleconference on Wednesday. “To date, the flow of Russian gas under our existing long-term contract remains untouched. We are in ongoing discussions with Gazprom regarding the implementation of the Russian decree on payment in rubles, given the statements of the European Commission on sanctions,” she said, as cited by TASS. According to Tuomela, the new ruble-based gas payment mechanism does not undermine sanctions, placed by the EU on Russia amid the crisis in Ukraine. The scheme, however, is still being discussed with German authorities. Austria will pay in rubles for Russian gas – officialREAD MORE: Austria will pay in rubles for Russian gas – official Berlin’s next payment for Russian gas is due at the end of May. Uniper expects the crisis in Ukraine to dent its profits in 2022, mainly due to the sanctions-induced halt to...

Several shots were fired from across Ukraine’s border with Transnistria into the territory of the self-proclaimed republic and in the direction of a huge arms depot, its interior ministry said on Wednesday. Two drones were also sighted in the area. “At 8:45 in the morning on April 27, shots were fired from Ukrainian territory in the direction of Kolbasna village,” the ministry’s statement reads. Transnistrian officials said that no casualties had been reported as a result. In a separate incident preceding the alleged shooting on Wednesday, “several drones were spotted over the village of Kolbasna” overnight, according to the ministry. The Transnistrian authorities also claim that the drones “had been launched into Transnistrian territory from Ukraine.” Since the predominantly Russian-speaking region became de facto independent from Moldova following a war in 1992, Russian peacekeepers have been stationed there. US wants no ‘spillover’ of Ukraine conflict to Moldova – PentagonREAD ...

Several shots were fired from across Ukraine’s border with Transnistria into the territory of the self-proclaimed republic and in the direction of a huge arms depot, its interior ministry said on Wednesday. Two drones were also sighted in the area. “At 8:45 in the morning on April 27, shots were fired from Ukrainian territory in the direction of Kolbasna village,” the ministry’s statement reads. Transnistrian officials said that no casualties had been reported as a result. In a separate incident preceding the alleged shooting on Wednesday, “several drones were spotted over the village of Kolbasna” overnight, according to the ministry. The Transnistrian authorities also claim that the drones “had been launched into Transnistrian territory from Ukraine.” Since the predominantly Russian-speaking region became de facto independent from Moldova following a war in 1992, Russian peacekeepers have been stationed there. Pentagon Speaking to Russia’s Interfax media outlet, the Russian conti...

A large batch of weapons and ammunition shipped to Kiev by Western countries was destroyed in southeastern Ukraine on Wednesday, Russia's Defense Ministry has said. A military warehouse set up on the territory of the Zaporozhye industrial aluminum plant was struck by Kalibr missiles, fired from Russian Navy vessels in the Black Sea. The facility hosted "a large batch of foreign weapons and ammunition, supplied by the US and European countries to the Ukrainian army," the ministry said. Russian warplanes hit 59 Ukrainian military targets overnight, while artillery performed 573 strikes against Kiev forces; 18 drones were also shot down, it added. On Monday, Moscow announced the destruction of six railway hubs in western Ukraine, saying they were used to deliver "foreign weapons and military hardware to the Ukrainian forces." Russia has repeatedly warned the US and its allies in the UK and EU against sending lethal aid to Ukraine, saying it only destabilizes ...

Natural gas prices in Europe skyrocketed on Wednesday after Poland and Bulgaria were hit by a supply freeze from Russia in response to the countries' refusal to pay for deliveries in rubles. May futures on the Netherlands-based TTF trading hub climbed to $1,374 per 1,000 cubic meters on Wednesday morning, or nearly $125 per megawatt-hour in household terms, according to data from London’s ICE exchange. Russian state energy giant and major gas exporter Gazprom said earlier on Wednesday it had completely halted gas flows to Bulgaria and Poland after the two countries failed to pay for April supplies in the Russian currency. According to Gazprom, the suspension will remain in force until payment is received in rubles. READ MORE: Russia halts gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland Russia demanded in March that its natural gas exports to “unfriendly” countries be paid for in rubles, as Western sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine severely restricted Moscow’s ability to conduct transa...

Austria has accepted the new ruble gas payment mechanism, introduced by Russia earlier this month, and will abide by it, Chancellor Karl Nehammer announced on Wednesday. “We, that is, [state energy company] OMV, accepted the terms of payment, as did the German government. They [the terms] were found to be in line with the terms of the sanctions. For us, this was important,” Nehammer said at a press conference. He added, however, that Austria still supports Ukraine-related anti-Russia sanctions. “Before the fake news of Russian propaganda steps in,” he stressed, “of course, OMV continues to pay for gas supplies from Russia in euros. Austria adheres to the point of view and supports the jointly adopted EU sanctions.” Ruble payment mechanism in effect – KremlinREAD MORE: Ruble payment mechanism in effect – Kremlin According to the official, Austrian oil and gas company OMV has already opened an appropriate account with a Russian bank for transferring payments. Nehammer noted that dur...

Poland on Wednesday significantly raised its bid for reverse gas supplies from Germany after Russia halted deliveries due to Warsaw’s refusal to pay for the commodity in rubles, data from the German operator of the gas transmission network Gascade shows. According to the company, the bid for April 27 was 1.232 million cubic meters per hour, while the day before it was just 237,000 cubic meters. The fivefold increase in gas demand comes after Russia’s state energy giant and major gas exporter Gazprom announced a complete halt of gas exports to Poland due to Warsaw’s failure to pay for the fuel in rubles in accordance with the new payment mechanism, launched earlier this month. According to a Gazprom, supplies will not resume until Warsaw complies with the new terms. Deliveries were also halted to Bulgaria, for the same reason. Gazprom warned that if Bulgaria and Poland try to tap into Russian transit gas intended for other countries, the producer will reduce supplies by the amount ...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has criticized the ban imposed on swimmer Evgeny Rylov as “absurd,” after the double Olympic champion was punished for attending a concert in Moscow. International swimming federation FINA hit Rylov with a nine-month ban last week for appearing at the event which celebrated the reunification of Russia and Crimea and was partly held under the slogan of 'A World Without Nazism'. Putin was also present at the spectacle held at Luzhniki Stadium, and in a meeting with Russian Olympic Committee's (ROC) medal-winning athletes from Beijing 2022 on Tuesday, the leader criticized Rylov's ban amid broader sanctions placed on Russian athletes as a response to the military operation in Ukraine. "We called for the cleansing of sports from politics, which turns sport into [a form of] manipulation. We are being met with cases that are brought to the point of absurdity," Putin said, according to Match TV. Olympic champion’s ban is ‘Russoph...

A surveillance drone was shot down, early on Wednesday, by Russian air defenses outside the city of Voronezh, deep inside Russia's territory and around 250km from the Ukrainian border, according to the regional governor. The city has a population of over one million people and is a major strategic hub. “The air defense systems detected and successfully destroyed a small-sized reconnaissance UAV in the skies near Voronezh,” Aleksandr Gusev wrote on Telegram. He gave assurances that there was “no threat to the life and health of the region’s residents.” The governor did not specify the origin of the drone, but some parts of the Voronezh Region have been on a heightened terrorist alert since April 11 due to possible action from Ukraine. On Monday, two drones apparently operated by Kiev were shot down in the nearby Kursk Region, one of which was a Turkish-made Bayraktar UAV, according to local media. Since the start of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, numerous settlement...

Gazprom, Russia’s main natural gas supplier, has announced a complete halt in gas exports to Bulgaria and Poland on Wednesday after the two countries refused to make payments in rubles. According to a statement, supplies will not resume until Sofia and Warsaw comply with the new terms. The Saint Petersburg-based energy giant warned that should Bulgaria and Poland start siphoning off Russian transit gas intended for other countries, it will reduce supplies by the amount Sofia and Warsaw has illegally withheld. In a statement early on Wednesday, the company explained that “as of the end of the working day on 26 April, Gazprom Export had not received ruble payments for gas deliveries in April from the companies ‘Bulgargaz’ (Bulgaria) and PGNiG (Poland),” as required under President Vladimir Putin’s decree dated 31 March. It noted that “payments for gas delivered since 1 April must be made in rubles,” and that both companies had been notified of this “in a timely manner.” Last month, P...

A series of explosions have rocked an ammunition depot south of the Russian city of Belgorod, close to the Ukrainian border, a day after several villages in the same region came under attacks which have been blamed on Kiev's forces. The first powerful blasts were heard across the region around 3:30am local time, with some reports claiming air defenses had been activated. Several photos and videos showing a fire, followed by secondary explosions, soon started making the rounds on social media. There were no reports of casualties or damage to civilian infrastructure, according to the regional governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, who said a local official had confirmed that an ammunition depot was burning near the village of Staraya Nelidovka, some 12 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. The blaze was reportedly contained by 6:30am, but the exact cause of the incident remains unknown. Since the beginning of the Russian attack on Ukraine on February 24, numerous settlements in the Belg...

The Chinese defense minister has said Beijing stands opposed to foreign intervention in Kazakhstan, warning of “color revolutions” launched under the guise of protests while also vowing to support the country’s efforts to “safeguard national security.” Following a meeting with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in Nur-Sultan on Monday, Defense Minister Wei Fenghe touted the “bright future prospects” offered by bilateral ties, also touching on the threat posed by foreign interference. “China firmly opposes external forces deliberately instigating a ‘color revolution’ in Kazakhstan, and supports Kazakhstan in taking effective measures to safeguard national security and social stability,” Wei said, as cited by the Defense Ministry. “We must be alert to some major powers interfering in Central Asia and disrupting the security of Central Asia.” Though the minister did not elaborate, his remarks come around three months after mass protests erupted in Kazakhstan, initially triggered ...