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Yahoo
6 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
German foreign minister says West must stop Putin from continuing war
Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has called on the West to respond decisively to a new wave of Russian attacks on Ukraine, saying that Putin must feel the true cost of the war. Source: Wadephul in an interview with German public broadcaster ARD, as reported by Deutsche Welle and Reuters Details: Wadephul stated in response to the latest Russian strikes on Ukrainian cities that additional sanctions against Russia are necessary. He emphasised that Putin is not interested in peace and is continuing the war despite diplomatic efforts, including US President Donald Trump's attempts to bring the Kremlin leader to the negotiating table. Quote: "Putin is not interested in peace, he wants to continue this war, and we must not allow this, which is why the European Union will agree additional sanctions." The foreign minister added that work is underway to implement new sanctions against Russia. He asserted that there would be a strong response from the West and, he believes, also from the United States of America. Wadephul expressed hope that the consequences of these measures would force Putin to come to the negotiating table to avoid what he described as potentially serious consequences for the Russian economy and energy sector. Background: Ukraine's Air Force reported that on the night of 24-25 May, Russia launched a combined strike using 367 aerial weapons, with a total of 13 oblasts coming under attack. More than 80 residential buildings were damaged, 12 people were killed and another 60 injured. EU Ambassador to Ukraine Katarina Mathernová stated that Russia is mocking the international community and the US's efforts to achieve peace. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged the international community, particularly the United States, to speak out and increase pressure on the Kremlin. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
DW
22-05-2025
- Politics
- DW
Trump's treatment of Ramaphosa disappoints South Africans – DW – 05/22/2025
US President Donald Trump ambushed his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, with unfounded allegations of a "white genocide." Ramaphosa's calm demeanor and measured responses drew praise. South Africans voiced disappointment at US President Donald Trump's treatment of their president, Cyril Ramaphosa, during talks at the White House on Wednesday. Repeatedly interrupted by Trump, Ramaphosa calmly challenged claims that minority Afrikaners were the targets of a "white genocide." A video aired by Trump during the meeting in Washington showed the leader of a fringe, radical opposition party chanting a song from the anti-apartheid struggle about "killing" white farmers. Trump also repeated allegations that South Africa was expropriating land from the minority white Afrikaners, descendants of Dutch settlers who own more than three-quarters of commercial farmland. A local man in Cape Town told Deutsche Welle: "I think [Ramaphosa] was treated very disrespectfully. While I may not agree with many of the things that are happening in our country there is no reason to treat our president like that." Another woman added: "That was a very immature way to deal with the situation on Donald Trump's part. He should open himself up to hearing what Ramaphosa has to say about his own country." South Africans angered by Trump's 'genocide' claims To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Ramaphosa's diplomatic approach praised Ramaphosa, 72, rose to prominence during apartheid as a mining union leader. After helping bring white minority rule to an end, he became a successful businessman before returning to frontline politics and becoming president in 2018. The manner in which he conducted himself during Trump's accusations drew the praise of his party, the African National Congress (ANC). "His conduct was in keeping with the proud diplomatic tradition of President Nelson Mandela," the ANC said, invoking the legacy of the revered liberation struggle leader and the country's first Black president. The current South African president's extensive network was evident in the Oval Office, where he was accompanied by luxury goods billionaire Johann Rupert, South Africa's richest man, and by champion golfers Ernie Els and Retief Goosen. The three men and Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen, all of whom are white, were invited by South African leader to address Trump, who listened to them without interrupting — in contrast to how he treated Ramaphosa. The South African delegation might have been braced for a hostile reception with Trump having cut aid to South Africa and threatened it with a 30% trade tariff under his "Liberation Day" regime. Trump has also expelled the South African ambassador and offered refuge to Afrikaners based on claims of persecution Ramaphosa's government says are unfounded. "There is criminality in our country. People who do get killed, unfortunately, through criminal activity are not only white people. Majority of them are Black people," said Ramaphosa. 'Admiration' for Ramaphosa delegation from South Africans Ebrahim Rasool, who served as South Africa's ambassador to the United States until he was expelled earlier in 2025, told DW that Ramaphosa dealt with the televised meeting in Washington with "dignity." "On the one hand, there is anger and disappointment [in South Africa] about the way President Donald Trump handled the meeting," he said. "There is also admiration for the dignity, unity and diversity of the South African delegation. When we couldn't get our words in, the body language, diversity and dignity of the South African delegation spoke volumes." Throughout the meeting, Ramaphosa maintained a calm demeanor, complimenting Trump on his changes to the Oval Office decor and joking about having worked on his own golf so he could take on the US president, who loves the sport. Even after Trump began his attacks and played a video that falsely purported to show thousands of graves of white farmers in South Africa, Ramaphosa tried to defuse tensions with humor. Questioned on whether the South African President could have pushed back more vehemently against his counterpart's accusations, Rasool said he believed a more forceful response could have led to the backlash Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy faced in March. "Pushing back harder could have risked a Zelenskyy moment in the White House," he added. Instead, Ramaphosa attempted to point out the difficulty South Africa faces with crime across the board. "There is criminality in our country. People who do get killed, unfortunately, through criminal activity are not only white people. The majority of them are Black people," the South African president said. Additional reporting from Dianne Hawker. How South Africans see land reform To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Edited by Sean Sinico
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Russia reportedly has a new ground forces chief. He's led bloody 'meat grinder' attacks in Ukraine.
Putin has appointed Andrei Mordvichev as the new commander in chief of Russia's ground forces, multiple outlets reported. Experts reacted, saying Mordvichev was a proponent of Russia's brutal "meat grinder" assaults. The attacks involve wave after wave of infantry assaults to grind down defenders. Russian President Vladimir Putin has appointed a new commander in chief of Russia's ground forces who has been involved in some of the war's most brutal fighting, according to multiple reports. Colonel General Andrei Mordvichev replaced General Oleg Salyukov in the role on Thursday, state-controlled Russian outlet Izvestia reported. Deutsche Welle and several Russian outlets, including the government-published Rossiyskaya Gazeta, also reported the move. A list of official presidential decrees announced Salyukov's departure, but has not yet confirmed that Mordvichev is the replacement. The Institute for the Study of War said Friday that Mordvichev's reported appointment represented an endorsement of his preference for "grinding, highly attritional, infantry-led assaults," and said this suggested the Kremlin "aims to institutionalize these tactics." Military analyst Yan Matveyev credited him as one of the main initiators of the approach, in a post to Telegram after the appointment was reported. Mordvichev has previously said that Russia's invasion of Ukraine is "only the beginning." In an interview with Russian state media in 2023, Mordvichev said that the war "will not stop here," Newsweek reported at the time. As deputy commander of the Central Military District, Mordvichev also presided over Russia's capture of the coastal city of Mariupol in 2022, one of the war's most brutal sieges. That battle, which is estimated to have killed more than 8,000 people, ended with Russian forces taking the Azovstal steel plant, where Ukrainian forces had held out for two months. Mordvichev is also credited with the capture of the strategically important city of Avdiivka in February 2024. Ukrainian officials said that Russia lost more than 30,000 troops killed or wounded taking the city, using its infamous "meat grinder" approach of grinding down resistance with wave after wave of infantry attacks. Mordvichev's reputation has grown steadily, and he was embraced by Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of the Chechen Republic, as "the best commander" during his promotion to head up the Central Military District last year, The Times of London reported. In 2022, Ukraine claimed to have killed Mordvichev in an airstrike near Kherson, but he was later seen meeting with Kadyrov. He is under multiple European sanctions, according to the sanctions database OpenSanctions. Salyukov, who became the ground forces commander in 2014, is a few days away from his 70th birthday, when he will age out of military service. He's being moved to a senior post on the Russian Security Council, per a presidential decree. The reported appointment came as the two sides met in Istanbul for peace talks. The talks, which began Friday, were left to lower-level officials after Putin declined to attend in person. The Russian officials included many of those who carried out fruitless negotiations in Istanbul in 2022, according to ISW. Some of Ukraine's European allies criticized Putin for his no-show, with Estonia's Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna describing it as a "slap in the face." Read the original article on Business Insider
Business Insider
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Business Insider
Russia reportedly has a new ground forces chief. He's led bloody 'meat grinder' attacks in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has appointed a new commander in chief of Russia's ground forces who has been involved in some of the war's most brutal fighting, according to multiple reports. Colonel General Andrei Mordvichev replaced General Oleg Salyukov in the role on Thursday, state-controlled Russian outlet Izvestia reported. Deutsche Welle and several Russian outlets, including the government-published Rossiyskaya Gazeta, also reported the move. A list of official presidential decrees announced Salyukov's departure, but has not yet confirmed that Mordvichev is the replacement. The Institute for the Study of War said Friday that Mordvichev's reported appointment represented an endorsement of his preference for "grinding, highly attritional, infantry-led assaults," and said this suggested the Kremlin "aims to institutionalize these tactics." Military analyst Yan Matveyev credited him as one of the main initiators of the approach, in a post to Telegram after the appointment was reported. Mordvichev has previously said that Russia's invasion of Ukraine is "only the beginning." In an interview with Russian state media in 2023, Mordvichev said that the war "will not stop here," Newsweek reported at the time. As deputy commander of the Central Military District, Mordvichev also presided over Russia's capture of the coastal city of Mariupol in 2022, one of the war's most brutal sieges. That battle, which is estimated to have killed more than 8,000 people, ended with Russian forces taking the Azovstal steel plant, where Ukrainian forces had held out for two months. Mordvichev is also credited with the capture of the strategically important city of Avdiivka in February 2024. Ukrainian officials said that Russia lost more than 30,000 troops killed or wounded taking the city, using its infamous "meat grinder" approach of grinding down resistance with wave after wave of infantry attacks. Mordvichev's reputation has grown steadily, and he was embraced by Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of the Chechen Republic, as "the best commander" during his promotion to head up the Central Military District last year, The Times of London reported. In 2022, Ukraine claimed to have killed Mordvichev in an airstrike near Kherson, but he was later seen meeting with Kadyrov. He is under multiple European sanctions, according to the sanctions database OpenSanctions. Salyukov, who became the ground forces commander in 2014, is a few days away from his 70th birthday, when he will age out of military service. He's being moved to a senior post on the Russian Security Council, per a presidential decree. A provocative appointment during peace talks The reported appointment came as the two sides met in Istanbul for peace talks. The talks, which began Friday, were left to lower-level officials after Putin declined to attend in person. The Russian officials included many of those who carried out fruitless negotiations in Istanbul in 2022, according to ISW.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
From spy rings to arson — Russia's sabotage across Europe continues unpunished
Alongside Russia launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has also ramped up its hybrid attacks across Europe. In 2024 alone, Russia could be behind around 100 "suspicious incidents" in Europe, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky claimed. Last month, the Dutch intelligence said that Moscow keeps stepping up its attacks amid reports that the U.S. had scaled down efforts in countering Russian sabotage. The events had heightened tension between Russia and Europe, as Russian activities have been linked to intensifying cyberattacks, espionage, and election interference. For such attacks, Russia usually recruits foreigners, including Ukrainians living abroad. "We shouldn't really see these events in isolation, but as part of a bigger picture," EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas said in an interview with Deutsche Welle in January. "And understand that Russia has intentions towards Europe and European security architecture that haven't changed." The Kyiv Independent has compiled a list of suspected sabotage incidents across Europe since February 2022, possibly involving Russia. Since 2022, the Baltic Sea has seen a series of undersea cable disruptions, many of which are suspected to be acts of sabotage. These incidents have affected critical infrastructure, such as power and telecommunications cables, raising concerns among Baltic nations and NATO countries. While some incidents are considered accidental, others are still under investigation amid suspicions of deliberate sabotage, possibly linked to Russia's use of "shadow fleet" vessels to evade sanctions. In January, a Finnish court upheld the seizure of the Eagle S tanker carrying Russian oil, which is suspected of damaging a cable connecting Estonia and Finland in late December, potentially as an act of sabotage. Multiple incidents have been reported involving damaged undersea cables between Estonia and Finland, Finland and Germany, and Latvia and Sweden. No suspects have been prosecuted so far. A massive fire destroyed the Marywilska shopping center in Warsaw, which houses approximately 1,400 stores, on May 12 in 2024. A year later, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that Russian intelligence services were behind the sabotage. "We have in-depth knowledge of the order and course of the arson and the way in which the perpetrators documented it," Polish Justice Minister Adam Bodnar and Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said. "Their actions were organized and directed by an identified person staying in the Russian Federation." Among those involved in the group acting on behalf of Russia are two Ukrainians. They were detained. Lithuanian authorities suspect Russia's intelligence services of orchestrating arson attacks on an IKEA warehouse in Vilnius on May 9 last year, which is also linked to the Warsaw shopping center incident. The attack on the IKEA warehouse caused an estimated damage of 500,000 euros ($545,000). Officials did not provide additional details about the suspects detained. The Lithuanian prosecutor's office alleges that Russia's military intelligence (GRU) formed a special group to carry out arson attacks across Lithuania, Poland, and Latvia. Russia is suspected of organizing and funding a failed arson attack on Prague buses in June 2024. "It is part of a hybrid war waged against us by Russia, against which we have to defend ourselves and which we must stop," Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said. He described Russia's involvement as "not only possible, but very likely." Czech police arrested a man of South American origin after he tried to ignite a fire in a garage belonging to Prague's transport company. He has been taken into custody and charged with terrorism. In July 2024, intelligence agencies from the U.S. and Germany foiled a Russian-backed plot to assassinate Armin Papperger, CEO of German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall. Papperger has been a vocal supporter of Ukraine, and his company plays a key role in supplying Kyiv with weapons and equipment throughout Russia's full-scale invasion. The Rheinmetall chief said that Russia targeted him due to its dissatisfaction with Western arms support. In response to the incident, Germany provided Papperger with the same top-level security as then-Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Several U.K. citizens have been charged with an arson plot against a Ukrainian-linked business in London in March 2024 after being recruited by Russian intelligence. The attackers targeted two sites at an industrial estate in Leyton, East London, owned by British-Ukrainian Mykhailo Boikov and his wife, Jelena Boikova. Their delivery services, Odyssey and Meest UK, have been active in sending aid to Ukraine since the start of Russia's all-out invasion in 2022. Twenty-year-old U.K. man Dylan Earl is accused of orchestrating the attack on behalf of the Wagner mercenary group, and allegedly recruited and paid others to carry out the attacks. The case marked the first time the U.K. has brought charges under the National Security Act, a new legislation passed in 2023 to address hostile activity orchestrated by foreign states. In another instance, a London court earlier sentenced six Bulgarian nationals to prison terms for operating a Russian espionage network in Britain. Orlin Roussev, 47, identified as the ringleader, was sentenced to 10 years and 8 months for conducting six espionage operations that threatened U.K. national security. Judge Nicholas Hilliard described Roussev's actions as posing a serious threat to the country. Prosecutors said the network acted not directly as part of the Russian intelligence network but rather for financial gain. Police uncovered thousands of communications linking Roussev to fugitive Jan Marsalek, a former executive at Wirecard, accused of coordinating the Bulgarian network from abroad. Marsalek, suspected of being an agent of Russian intelligence, fled to Belarus and reportedly remains in Russia under Federal Security Service (FSB) protection. In July 2024, a fire broke out at a DHL-operated airport hub in Leipzig, Germany. A parcel went aflame. German intelligence officials stated that if the parcel had ignited mid-flight, it could have caused a catastrophic crash. The package, which came from Vilnius, Lithuania, was disguised as an electric massager containing a magnesium-based incendiary device. Later that month, a similar parcel caught fire at a DHL warehouse near Birmingham in the U.K. The package had also arrived from Lithuania and was disguised in the same way. Media reported, citing Western officials, that Russia may be behind the dispatches of flammable packages via cargo planes in Europe in preparations for similar operations in North America. Almost a year later, in May 2025, German authorities accused three Ukrainian nationals of participating in a separate, allegedly Russian-backed plot to send out parcels with explosives across Europe. We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
