Putin’s ally warns of nuclear world war as Moscow deploys new tanks

An ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Tuesday that the world was likely on the brink of a new world war and warned that the risks of a nuclear confrontation were also increasing, although neither scenario was inevitable.

“The world is sick and most likely is on the brink of a new world war,” former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who serves as vice chairman of Putin’s powerful security council, told a conference in Moscow.

He said that such a new world war was not inevitable, but said that the risks of a nuclear confrontation were growing, and were more serious than concerns about climate change.

Authorities in Ukraine have confirmed a rapid increase in drone production amid growing demand from frontline troops.

Volodymyr Zelensky’s administration relaxed import laws and eliminated taxes on drone parts and equipment, the BBC reported.

He added that the expansion of drone production is being financed by the Army of Drones campaign.

Under the initiative, which has received support from celebrities including Mark Hamill, Ukraine has raised more than $108 million (£87 million).

The money is also being spent on training new pilots for the front line.

Vladimir Putin will remain defiant in negotiations for a successful Ukrainian counteroffensive expected to start soon, senior US and EU officials have assessed, a US-based think tank said.

Citing a report from The New York Times, The Institute for the Study of War has said that a senior European official stated that the chances of Putin “backing down” in response to a successful Ukrainian counter-offensive are “less than zero.”

“The official stated that Putin would probably mobilize more soldiers to fight in Ukraine. US Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Celeste Wallander said there is “very little evidence” to suggest Putin would alter his strategic goal of subjugating Ukraine “politically, if not fully militarily,” ISW said. in his latest assessment of the continuation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

He also pointed to comments by US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby that the US is increasing security assistance to Ukraine because the US expects Russia to try to go on the offensive as improve the climate.

Russian generals responsible for war crimes in Ukraine could visit the UK without fear of prosecution unless a legal loophole is closed, lawmakers have been told.

The SNP’s Brendan O’Hara raised concerns about existing legislation when introducing his Universal Jurisdiction (Extension) Bill, which seeks to implement calls to “toughen up” existing legislation and bring to justice those responsible for “crimes most atrocious in the world”. .

The UK has sent “thousands of rounds of Challenger 2 ammunition to Ukraine, including armor-piercing depleted uranium rounds,” UK Armed Forces Minister James Heappy said.

He added: “For operational security reasons, we will not comment on Ukrainian usage rates for the rounds provided.”

Mr Heappey was responding to written inquiries from Kenny MacAskill, Member of the House of Commons for the Alba Scottish Party.

The minister said that while the UK “does not have an obligation” to clean up depleted uranium shells fired from Challenger 2 tanks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the UK remains “committed to helping Ukraine get out of this war.” safe, prosperous and free and we are supporting a variety of activities to meet Ukraine’s immediate needs, restore essential infrastructure and services, and lay the foundation for its long-term recovery and post-war reconstruction.”

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba penned a sharp op-ed and argued for a NATO place for the war-torn nation despite multiple fears, saying Finland’s entry confirms that fears in around Russian retaliation are “unjustified”.

“Russia’s war against Ukraine is about more than killing Ukrainians and stealing our land. President Vladimir Putin is trying to destroy the very foundations of the European security order formed after 1945. That is why the stakes are so high, not only for Ukraine but for the entire Euro-Atlantic community,” Kuleba wrote.

He added: “Ukraine did not choose this battle. Neither did the United States and its NATO allies. Russia started this war. But it is up to Ukraine and its Western partners to end the conflict, winning a just victory that guarantees peace and stability in Europe for generations to come.”

Volodymyr Zelensky has criticized Russia for carrying out a missile attack on a civilian neighborhood in Ukraine’s Kharkiv that killed two people.

“Throughout today, rubble in the city of Kupyansk, Kharkiv region, was cleared after a Russian attack with S-300 missiles. Attack on an ordinary civilian neighborhood. The terrorists attacked the local history museum and nearby houses. Russia killed two women with this attack,” Zelensky said.

He expressed his condolences to the families and friends of the victims, adding that 10 people were also injured in the attack.

“In total, more than 60 museums and galleries in different regions of our country have been destroyed or damaged by the occupier,” Zelensky said in his evening speech.

It was a month after Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Russian forces had withdrawn from the environs of kyiv, and in his wake, Bel Trew and his team stumbled across a body in an abandoned Russian camp.

His hands were tied. They had burned him and shot him in the back. The soldiers said that he was a teenager.

As Bel tried to figure out who she was and what had happened, she discovered a nightmare world: a nation struggling to find thousands of missing people and identify their dead.

A New York lawyer has admitted making $3.8 million in payments to maintain property owned by a Russian oligarch under US sanctions.

Washington imposed sanctions on billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, owner of the Renova group of energy companies, in 2018 over allegations of Russian interference in the US election won by Donald Trump, and again in 2022 over his ties to Vladimir Putin.

Robert Wise admitted to receiving electronic payments from a shell company controlled by a Vekselberg associate and then using the funds to pay taxes, insurance and other fees on various properties, including two Park Avenue apartments and a property in the Hamptons.

“Admission to the bar carries with it the public trust that lawyers will act with honesty and integrity, a trust that Robert Wise chose to betray in exchange for an easy and illicit paycheck,” Andrew Adams, who heads a unit of the Department of US Justice Russia-related sanctions violations, he told Reuters.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson has said he expects the Russians and the Americans to work together on the International Space Station (ISS) until it is decommissioned.

US-Russian space cooperation came into question after the invasion of Ukraine, with the head of the Russian space agency, Yuri Borisov, surprising NASA by announcing in July that Moscow intended to leave the partnership “after 2024.” , only to backtrack a day later.

During a visit to Ottawa, Nelson outlined the history of US-Soviet collaboration in space during the Cold War and said he hopes it will continue despite the war in Ukraine.

“We completely disagree with President Putin’s aggression” which is “massaging people and invading a sovereign autonomous country,” Nelson told Reuters in an interview in Ottawa.

But the collaboration aboard the ISS “continues in a very professional way between astronauts and cosmonauts without any problems,” he said, adding: “I hope it will continue until the end of the decade, when the space station will be de-orbited.”