Latest news with #RomanKostenko
Russia Today
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Ukrainian MP issues post-war terror threat
Ukrainian intelligence services plan to continue to assassinate Russian officials and public figures for decades to come, MP Roman Kostenko, the secretary of the Verkhovna Rada's Defense Committee, has said. Speaking to the newspaper Ukrainskaya Pravda on Sunday, the senior lawmaker welcomed the assassination last week of the deputy chief of operations of Russia's General Staff, Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik, and said that Kiev was behind it. Prior to pursuing a political career, Kostenko served with the Ukrainian military and the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU), taking part in the early stages of the conflict in Donbass. 'I am pleased. This is good work by our special services,' Kostenko stated when asked about his take on the assassination of the Russian general. The MP also threatened a continuous campaign of killings inside Russia for decades to come. 'Even if we manage to get to the point when the war is put on hold, the work of the special services will only just begin,' he said, adding that attacks on Russian officials and public figures will remain a priority 'for the next 10, 20, and possibly even 30 years.' The remarks were swiftly condemned by Moscow, with Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova charging that Ukraine has already turned into a full-fledged terrorist state. 'The Kiev regime has become a true terrorist cell that receives international support with weapons and money,' she stated. Moskalik was killed by a car bomb outside his residence in the suburban Moscow town of Balashikha early on Friday. Shortly after the explosion, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) detained a suspect, identified as 42-year-old Ignat Kuzin. The suspect has confessed to acting under orders from Ukrainian security services and was allegedly promised a payment of $18,000 for the attack. According to Russian investigators, Kuzin was originally recruited by the SBU in 2023, later moving to Russia to await 'specific instructions from a Ukrainian handler.' Last December, a bomb that Russian authorities similarly linked to Ukrainian special services killed Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, who served as the commander of the Russian Radiological, Chemical, and Biological Defense Forces. He was assassinated alongside an aide as they were exiting a building in Moscow, using an explosive device concealed inside an electric scooter. The scene was monitored by the perpetrators through a camera placed inside a parked car, and the bomb was detonated remotely.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Russia whittled down Ukraine's bargaining chip to a final stronghold — and it's breaching that one, too
Ukraine is on the verge of losing its final town in Kursk, the Russian region it invaded in August. Moscow has pushed hard into Kursk in recent weeks, and Putin just visited the region himself. Kyiv's loss of its northern pocket comes as the US seeks to get Russia to accept a temporary cease-fire. Eight months after launching its surprise attack on Russian soil, Ukraine's foothold in Kursk appears to be on its last legs. As of Wednesday, the town of Sudzha — about five miles from Ukraine's border — remains Kyiv's final significant position in the Russian region. Ukrainian officials have been painting a bleak picture of its defense. Roman Kostenko, the secretary of the defense committee in Ukraine's parliament, told local reporters in a Wednesday briefing that Russian troops have entered the town and are trying to cut off Ukrainian supply lines. "There is information that the Russians have entered a certain part. Fighting continues. The Russians control a certain area there, which is across the river," Kostenko said. Still, he added that he hadn't received word of a full withdrawal, a decision that Kyiv has also not confirmed. But the language used by Ukraine's top officials indicates that at least a partial pullback is already underway. Ukraine's chief commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said on Wednesday evening that he had ordered Ukrainian troops to move to "more advantageous lines" if necessary. Sudzha has been "almost completely destroyed" by Russian air strikes, Syrski added. Both he and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have said Kyiv's priority in Kursk now is to "preserve the lives" of Ukrainian troops. "The Russians are applying maximum pressure on our soldiers," Zelenskyy told reporters on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Russian military bloggers have been posting footage of the fighting in Sudzha, appearing to show Moscow's advance reaching the town's administrative buildings. The Kremlin's push comes as Russian leader Vladimir Putin visited Kursk for the first time since Ukraine breached the region. Dressed in military fatigues, he told his troops on Wednesday to clear out the remnants of Ukraine's troops in Kursk, according to state media. With Ukraine's position in Kursk now dire, it's ousted Dmytro Krasylnykov, the commander of its northern operations. National broadcaster Suspilne reported that Krasylnikov said an order for his replacement was signed on March 7. Oleksiy Shandar, who was deputy commander of Ukraine's airborne assault forces, is set to take over. Ukraine launched its surprise Kursk offensive in early August, widely interpreted as a bold effort to both draw Russian resources away from the hard-hit eastern front and to create a bargaining chip for cease-fire negotiations. Within days, Kyiv's forces seized some 500 square miles of Russian territory and threatened to encroach upon Kursk city itself. But Moscow's troops rushed to contain the advance, eventually cutting down Ukraine's pocket there to just the land around Sudzha. If the Kremlin fully retakes Kursk, it would come as President Donald Trump's administration tries to get Russia to accept a temporary cease-fire, which Ukraine has already agreed to. "We'll take this offer now to the Russians, and we hope that they'll say yes, that they'll say yes to peace," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday. "The ball is now in their court." Earlier this month, tensions with Washington also prompted the US to roll back some of its intel and weapons support for Ukraine. Shortly after the decision was made, officials in Kyiv told Business Insider's Jake Epstein that the loss of intel hampered Ukraine's ability to defend against Russian missile attacks. The Washington Post also reported that the move had prevented Ukraine from precisely targeting Russian positions with advanced American artillery systems. After Kyiv accepted the cease-fire terms, the US said on Monday that it had resumed sharing intel with Ukraine. Read the original article on Business Insider
