Author: Steven Sahiounie

Holland agrees to supply Ukraine with Stinger air defense missiles following a request by the Ukrainian government. The Netherlands has agreed to ship 200 Stinger air defense missiles to Ukraine, in response to a request by the Ukrainian government. “There was a careful but, given the circumstances, shortened check to make sure this meets weapons exports criteria,” Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra and Defense Minister Kasja Ollongren said in a briefing to MPs. Stinger missiles can be used against aircraft at a range of up to five kilometers. The Dutch army has two types of Stinger missiles: portable missiles that can…

The cargo vessel is suspected of being linked to “Russian interests” hit by Western sanctions A Russian cargo ship has been intercepted in the English Channel by French authorities on suspicion of violating EU sanctions imposed following Moscow’s military offensive in Ukraine. The vessel, which departed from Rouen, was transporting cars to St. Petersburg when it was redirected to the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer in northern France in the early hours of Saturday morning. The press office for the Maritime Prefecture of the Channel confirmed to the media that the ship was “strongly suspected of being linked to Russian interests targeted…

Chinese state media accused the US of stirring up “trouble on two sides of the world” The USS Ralph Johnson, a guided-missile destroyer of the US Navy’s Seventh Fleet, sailed through the Strait of Taiwan on Saturday. The Pentagon said the exercise was a “routine” one, but amid heightened tension in Europe over Ukraine, China’s state media accused the US of fomenting conflict “on two sides of the world.” The USS Ralph Johnson transited the strait through waters controlled by neither mainland China or Taiwan, a statement from the Seventh Fleet read. “The United States military flies, sails, and operates anywhere international law allows,” the…

Dozens of Palestinians were injured yesterday in confrontations with the Israeli occupation throughout the occupied West Bank. Dozens of Palestinians were injured in confrontations with the Israeli occupation throughout the occupied West Bank. In Nablus, the Red Crescent Society reported that its crews dealt with 22 injuries, 10 of which were caused by teargas, five by rubber-coated metal bullets, and six by falling, in addition to one other unspecified injury, all of which were treated by field medics. Confrontations erupted on Friday between local youths and Israeli occupation forces in Jabal Sbeih in the town of Beita, south of Nablus.…

According to AP’s assessment, footage claiming to be the Ukrainian air force shooting down a Russian air force fighter jet in Kiev is actually a Digital Combat simulator video from Youtube. On Thursday, social media users falsified video game footage depicting a close battle between two fighter aircraft, saying the film showed the Ukrainian air force shooting down a Russian fighter jet. One tweet read, “Footage of a MiG-29 of the Ukrainian Air Force shooting down a Su-35 fighter jet of #Russia’s Air Force over Ukraine’s capital #Kyiv today.” The Ukrainian Defense ministry also posted the clip with the false…

Russia and its allies from the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics launched a military operation in Ukraine on Thursday aimed at “demilitarising and denazifying” the country in the face of a security crisis of a scale unseen in Europe in decades. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a temporary halt to the Russian military operation in Ukraine on Friday afternoon in connection with the expectation of negotiations with Kiev, but the operation was resumed Saturday afternoon after the Ukrainian leadership refused to talk, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said. “Yesterday afternoon, in connection with the expected negotiations with the Ukrainian leadership,…

The tit-for-tat move followed the “unfriendly” response to Russia’s military operation in Ukraine Russia shut down its airspace for passenger airlines owned by or registered in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Bulgaria on Saturday after the three European countries banned Russian flights over their territory, citing conflict in Ukraine as the reason. The ban takes effect from 3pm Moscow time, Russia’s state aviation agency said, citing “unfriendly decisions” by Warsaw, Prague, and Sofia. Estonia and Latvia also announced on Saturday that they are closing their airspace to Russian planes. However, Moscow’s retaliatory move on them is yet to be announced. Several European…

Earlier, local media reported that the Ukrainian military had left the frontline Lugansk region city on Friday, taking their heavy military equipment with them.Ukrainian nationalist forces have shelled residential areas in the city of Starobelsk using heavy Grad artillery, killing civilians, the Russian Defence Ministry has reported. “At 10:30 am on the 26th of February, Ukrainian nationalists shelled residential areas of the city of Starobelsk using Grad multiple launch rocket systems. The attack resulted in a fire breaking out in the city; there is destruction of residential buildings; there are civilian casualties,” the Ministry said. The MoD said further that…

Near Kiev, the offensive stopped at the Irpen-Bucha line, fighting resumed by midnight. The north-western regions of the capital, the areas of Bucha, Irpen, Vorzel and Gostomel, are now the main battlefield. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Gostomel Airport remains under Russian control. At the same time the level of insecurity in Kiev was significantly increased by the decision of the local authorities to distribute weapons to civilians. The military mainly did not ask for any documents or permissions to carry weapons. Various spots of distribution were almost robbed by scared civilians as well as angry nationalists. Long queues…

“The crucial moment has come,” the Ukrainian leader has claimed amid Russia’s operation in his country Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for an urgent decision on EU membership for his country, saying “the crucial moment has come.” On Saturday morning, the third day of Russia’s attack on Ukraine, Zelensky said he had discussed “further effective assistance and heroic fight of the Ukrainians for their free future” with the president of the European Council, Charles Michel. “The crucial moment has come to close the long-standing discussion once and for all and to make a decision on Ukraine’s membership in the…