Latest news with #pro-Moscow
News18
2 days ago
- Politics
- News18
‘Russian Pearl Harbour': Ukraine Destroys Moscow's Nuclear Bombers In Drone Attack
Last Updated: Ukrainian drones damaged dozens of Russian nuclear bombers and other aircraft, destroying $7 billion worth in a major strike on Russian air bases. In a major drone attack, the Ukrainian Forces on Sunday damaged dozens of nuclear bombers along with other aircraft when they struck the Russian military air bases. The strike, in which drones hidden inside the trucks were used, is now being called by the pro-Moscow military bloggers as 'the Russian Pearl Harbour." The attack took place just a day before the leaders of the two countries were likely to meet in Istanbul to hold the US-backed cease-fire talks. Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) carried out the mission using first-person-view (FPV) drones that struck 41 Russian heavy bombers and other warplanes. The bombers and warplanes were placed at four separate airfields. Footage shows a Ukrainian drone allegedly hovering over Belaya airbase in Russia's Irkutsk region. The video highlights Ukraine's ability to surveil and strike deep inside Russian territory. — Geopoliti???? Monitor (@GeopolitixM) June 1, 2025 According to Kyiv, the destroyed aircraft's price is at least $7 billion and it is no longer manufactured by Russia. Russia had originally designed the doomsday bombers to destroy the atomic weapons of the United States and Europe in case an all-out war broke out. According to Ukraine, the aircraft was converted and was being used to pummel Kyiv with cruise missiles. According to the reports, Ukraine destroyed Russia's TU-95 'Bear" nuclear bombers, TU-22 'Backfire" fast-attack bombers and A-50 'Mainstay" command-and-control jets in the strike. One of the bases struck was in Siberia's Irkutsk region. Other places targeted included Murmansk in the Arctic Circle, Ryazan southeast of Moscow, and Ivanovo, which is to the northeast of Moscow. The codename of the attack was "Operation Spider's Web" and it took them around 18 months to plan this strike. In the video, a row of heavy bomber aircraft can be seen on fire at an airbase. Watch India Pakistan Breaking News on CNN-News18. Get breaking news, in-depth analysis, and expert perspectives on everything from geopolitics to diplomacy and global trends. Stay informed with the latest world news only on News18. Download the News18 App to stay updated! First Published: June 02, 2025, 10:06 IST
Sky News AU
2 days ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Ukraine wipes out dozens of Russian doomsday nuclear bombers in massive surprise attack on air bases, Kyiv says: ‘Russian Pearl Harbor'
Ukrainian forces stunned the Russian military Sunday after wiping out and damaging dozens of nuclear bombers and other aircraft with ambitious and complicated attacks that struck President Vladimir Putin's air bases deep inside the country, Kyiv says. Even pro-Moscow military bloggers are calling the strike — which used drones hidden in trucks — 'the Russian Pearl Harbor.' The attack came just a day before the leaders of Ukraine and Russia were potentially set to meet in Istanbul as part of US-backed cease-fire talks. The mission carried out by Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) using first-person-view (FPV) drones hit 41 Russian heavy bombers and other warplanes at four separate airfields thousands of miles from Ukraine. The cost of the destroyed aircraft, most of which Russia no longer even manufactures, is at least $7 billion, Kyiv said. The doomsday bombers are a critical part of Russia's nuclear deterrent — originally designed to obliterate the US and Europe with atomic weapons in the event of all-out war. Ukraine said the aircraft had been converted and were being used to pummel their country with cruise missiles. Officials claimed they had destroyed more than one-third of Russia's strategic bombers in the strike. TU-95 'Bear' nuclear bombers, TU-22 'Backfire' fast-attack bombers and A-50 'Mainstay' command-and-control jets were among the aircraft that were destroyed in the strike, according to reports. One of the bases hit was in the Irkutsk region of Siberia, almost 2,500 miles from Ukraine. Others targeted were in Murmansk in the Arctic Circle, Ryazan southeast of Moscow, and Ivanovo, to the northeast of the Russian capital. The attack, codenamed ' Operation Spider's Web,' took some 18 months of planning and will deal a huge blow to Moscow's efforts to launch long-range missile attacks on Ukrainian cities, Kyiv said. Video shows what appears to be a row of heavy bomber aircraft on fire at one of the airbases. Footage on social media shows FPV drones launching from parked trucks next to the Russian airfields. 'The SBU first transported FPV drones to Russia, and later on the territory of the Russian Federation, the drones were hidden under the roofs of mobile wooden cabins, already placed on trucks,' a source told the Kyiv Independent. 'At the right moment, the roofs of the cabins were opened remotely, and the drones flew to hit Russian bombers.' Ukraine said the attack was launched in response to Russia carrying out one of its largest drone attacks since the start of the war last week, with 472 drones and seven ballistic and cruise missiles involved, according to Ukrainian authorities, who said they had neutralized 385 aerial targets. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky personally oversaw the operation, the source told Kyiv Independent. Zelensky bragged that the operation HQ had operated 'right next to' the building housing Russia's secret police, the FSB, in a post on Telegram. 'These are Ukrainian actions that will undoubtedly be in history books,' he said. 'One year, six months, and nine days from the start of planning to effective execution. Our most long-range operation. Our people involved in preparing the operation were withdrawn from Russian territory in time,' he went on. Earlier, a post featuring an emoji of a spider web was posted on X by Zelensky's chief of staff, Andriy did not tell the White House in advance of the attack, sources in both capitals told Axios. President Trump has urged Moscow and Kyiv to work together on a deal to end the three-year war, and this attack could further stall the path to peace. Ukraine has said it is committed to peace, but was waiting for a memorandum from the Russian side setting out its aims before agreeing to meet with Russia on Monday.'For a meeting to be meaningful, its agenda must be clear, and the negotiations must be properly prepared,' Zelensky wrote on X on Friday. 'Unfortunately, Russia is doing everything it can to ensure that the next potential meeting brings no results,' he added. Zelensky set out his country's position on the talks in the wake of Sunday's attacks, demanding a complete and unconditional Russian ceasefire, prisoner release and the return of abducted children. Russia so far has rejected calls for an unconditional ceasefire and repeatedly made demands that Ukraine has turned down. In separate attacks, the collapse of two bridges near the Ukrainian border, killing at least seven people, has been blamed by Russian investigators on sabotage. With Post wires reporting. Originally published as Ukraine wipes out dozens of Russian doomsday nuclear bombers in massive surprise attack on air bases, Kyiv says: 'Russian Pearl Harbor'
Calgary Herald
22-05-2025
- Business
- Calgary Herald
G7 finance ministers in Banff commit to backing beleaguered Ukraine in communique tough on Moscow
Article content He said delegates discussed other ways of increasing pressure on Russia to end its invasion but added 'it's wise to keep those to ourselves.' Article content When asked about disunity among G7 delegates on the Ukraine issue and economic ones, Champagne said 'some of you questioned whether we'd come out with a communique.' Article content On Tuesday, Champagne spoke to reporters alongside Kyiv's Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko, the only non-G7 ministers to attend the Banff meeting. Prime Minister Mark Carney has also invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to next month's G7 leaders' summit in Kananaskis. Champagne said that's a sign of the commitment to the country that's been trying to roll back a full-scale Russian invasion since February, 2022 and pro-Moscow separatists' 2014 seizure of parts of its eastern Donbas region. Article content The G7 stance comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin has rejected committing to a ceasefire in the war in which his forces are on the attack. Article content Article content The war in Ukraine has largely settled into a stalemate on a 1,000-km front line along the country's eastern and southern regions while Kyiv's forces maintain a foothold in a slice of Russia that they invaded last summer. Article content Both sides trade daily air attacks meant to erode each others' military and economic capacity and their population's will to fight. Article content The Kremlin says no new direct peace talks are planned while the Ukrainians say the Russians are preparing for a summer offensive to seize more territory. Article content On Thursday, Germany pledged to defend Lithuania in the event of Russian aggression and has begun deploying an armoured brigade in the Baltic state, the first one since the Second World War. Article content A G7 expert said the language in the ministers' communique takes a harder line against Moscow than he'd expected, especially considering it was co-authored by a delegation from the U.S. that's recently been more sympathetic to Russia. Article content Article content 'It talks about ramping up sanctions, not reducing them so it's a one-way street…it replaces' illegal' invasion with the word 'brutal' and brutal is pretty tough,' said Prof. John Kirton, director of the G7 Research Group at the University of Toronto. Article content 'By saying 'unwavering support' for Ukraine is actually an important shift in Trump's position – Trump's instinct to give Putin the benefit of the doubt is clearly gone.' Article content Demanding war reparations from Russia among a G7 group with potential dissent from the U.S., he said, 'is a big deal'. Article content The group's commitment to holding onto Russian financial assets is notable, said Kirton, although it says nothing about transferring them to Ukraine itself. Article content The G7 ministers said the push for Ukraine's early reconstruction would continue at a meeting in Rome in July. Article content The communique noted there are external challenges facing the reconstruction of Ukraine while it remains under fire by its larger neighbour. Article content
The Age
20-05-2025
- Politics
- The Age
Trump dreamt of a global far right. Instead, he's driving Europe to the left
Historically, the eastern corners of Europe are not where we expect democracy to be staunchly defended. But this weekend, there was a dramatic finale to a chaotic six months of Romanian politics, with a centre-left candidate winning the two-round election battle. Last November, the highest court in Romania annulled the results of the first round of voting in the 2024 presidential election after allegations came to light of Russian interference to support a pro-Moscow candidate. When the first round of voting was run again earlier this month, another right-wing provocateur, George Simion, took the lead, and many believed Romania was reflecting gains by far-right parties in Germany and Italy and headed further to the right. And yet, in this past weekend's final round, Romanians chose Nicusor Dan, the centre-left mayor of Bucharest, who has made a name for himself battling corruption in the capital city. Compared with Simion, who modelled himself after Hungary's authoritarian leader, Viktor Orban, and called himself a 'natural ally' of Donald Trump (he attended Trump's inauguration alongside Orban), Dan became the rallying point for a Romania that looks west to democratic allies across Europe. Where Simion echoed other right-wing autocrats, targeting minority groups under the banner of upholding 'family values', Dan attracted votes from the young and from Romanians living abroad who saw the choice in stark contrast. After Simion's initial results, voters coalesced around Dan, either shifting from other pro-democracy candidates or jumping in after sitting out the first round. Loading Across Europe, far-right parties are on the rise – Germany's AfD garnered 20.8 per cent of the vote in the February election, while similar anti-immigrant, anti-EU parties continue to make gains in the UK, Italy, and the Netherlands. It is worth noting that Simion garnered huge support among Romanian voters living in all of those countries in the first round, but fell behind in the United States, where Romanians could see firsthand what a turn back towards a corrupt autocracy looks like. Instead, Romanian voters rejected a rightward march, aligning with countries like Australia and Canada in bolstering democracy in the face of threats inside and out of the West. Romanians have spent decades losing out, suffering the hangover of corruption and economic decline since the fall of communism in 1989. Like many former communist regimes, Romania's dictatorship maintained economic stability by suppressing minorities and denying basic rights, which sent millions of Romanians abroad to find work. About 20 per cent of those who remain live in poverty. Against this backdrop and the cost-of-living crisis being felt across the Western world, Romanians were looking for an alternative.
Sydney Morning Herald
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
Trump dreamt of a global far right. Instead, he's driving Europe to the left
Historically, the eastern corners of Europe are not where we expect democracy to be staunchly defended. But this weekend, there was a dramatic finale to a chaotic six months of Romanian politics, with a centre-left candidate winning the two-round election battle. Last November, the highest court in Romania annulled the results of the first round of voting in the 2024 presidential election after allegations came to light of Russian interference to support a pro-Moscow candidate. When the first round of voting was run again earlier this month, another right-wing provocateur, George Simion, took the lead, and many believed Romania was reflecting gains by far-right parties in Germany and Italy and headed further to the right. And yet, in this past weekend's final round, Romanians chose Nicusor Dan, the centre-left mayor of Bucharest, who has made a name for himself battling corruption in the capital city. Compared with Simion, who modelled himself after Hungary's authoritarian leader, Viktor Orban, and called himself a 'natural ally' of Donald Trump (he attended Trump's inauguration alongside Orban), Dan became the rallying point for a Romania that looks west to democratic allies across Europe. Where Simion echoed other right-wing autocrats, targeting minority groups under the banner of upholding 'family values', Dan attracted votes from the young and from Romanians living abroad who saw the choice in stark contrast. After Simion's initial results, voters coalesced around Dan, either shifting from other pro-democracy candidates or jumping in after sitting out the first round. Loading Across Europe, far-right parties are on the rise – Germany's AfD garnered 20.8 per cent of the vote in the February election, while similar anti-immigrant, anti-EU parties continue to make gains in the UK, Italy, and the Netherlands. It is worth noting that Simion garnered huge support among Romanian voters living in all of those countries in the first round, but fell behind in the United States, where Romanians could see firsthand what a turn back towards a corrupt autocracy looks like. Instead, Romanian voters rejected a rightward march, aligning with countries like Australia and Canada in bolstering democracy in the face of threats inside and out of the West. Romanians have spent decades losing out, suffering the hangover of corruption and economic decline since the fall of communism in 1989. Like many former communist regimes, Romania's dictatorship maintained economic stability by suppressing minorities and denying basic rights, which sent millions of Romanians abroad to find work. About 20 per cent of those who remain live in poverty. Against this backdrop and the cost-of-living crisis being felt across the Western world, Romanians were looking for an alternative.
