Engineers inspect the bombed bridge connecting Kyiv with Ukraine’s Irpin on Wednesday. Russian authorities have accused Ukrainian forces of launching airstrikes in the Russian region of Bryansk bordering Ukraine, the latest in a series of allegations of cross-border attacks by Kyiv on Russian soil. Russia’s Investigative Committee says two Ukrainian military helicopters entered Russian airspace on Thursday and “deliberately flew at least six airstrikes on residential buildings in the village of Klimovo,” about 11 kilometers (30 miles) from the Russian border. borders. He said at least six houses in the village were damaged and seven people, including a small child, were injured. The Commission of Inquiry has launched an investigation into the attack. Earlier on Thursday, Russia’s state security service, the FSB, also accused Ukrainian forces of firing on a border crossing in the Bryansk region on Wednesday. The reports could not be independently verified. Earlier this month, Ukraine’s top security officials denied that Kyiv was behind an airstrike on an oil depot in the Russian city of Belgorod, 35 miles from the border. LVIV, Ukraine – The Russian Defense Ministry says the fire on the cruiser Moskva, the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, has been contained. He says the ship remains afloat and will be towed to port. The ministry said in a statement on Thursday that there was no more open fire on the ship and that the explosions had stopped. “The main missiles were not damaged,” the statement said. Ukrainian officials, however, claimed that the ship sank, saying it was a “loud slap” to Moscow forces. The conflicting accounts could not be settled immediately. Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to the Ukrainian president’s office, said in a Facebook post that 510 crew members were aboard the Moskva cruiser as it sank in the Black Sea after being severely damaged by a Ukrainian rocket attack. Military analyst Oleg Zhdanov said the destruction of Moskva significantly boosted the morale of Ukrainian forces on the eve of a new wave of Russian attack on Donbas. In the early hours of Thursday morning, the Russian Defense Ministry said the ship had suffered “serious damage” after its munitions exploded “as a result of a fire”. The ministry did not attribute the fire to a rocket attack. GENEVA – The International Committee of the Red Cross says it is implementing the largest cash aid program it has ever had to help more than 2 million people in Ukraine or who have fled abroad to cope with the effects of the Russian invasion. Nicole Robicheau, a spokeswoman for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said on Thursday that the organization intended to distribute “much more than 100 million” Swiss francs – about $ 106 million – to people affected by the Russian-led invasion of Russia. lasts seven weeks. . Humanitarian groups such as the IFRC have recently promoted the effectiveness of cash assistance programs for people affected by disasters such as natural disasters, droughts, famines and conflicts, as a way to “enable people to decide what they need” and ” “They are putting money back into the local economy,” Robicheau said by telephone. The program aims to help approximately 360,000 people within Ukraine and many more in refugee countries. The IFRC says it and national Red Cross organizations have already helped more than 1 million people with items such as blankets, food, mats and kitchen equipment. LONDON – The British Foreign Office says it is freezing assets worth up to 10 10 billion ($ 13.1 billion) belonging to two Russian oligarchs described as longtime business associates of Russian billionaire Officials said Thursday that Eugene Tenenbaum had taken control of Evrington Investments Ltd., an investment company linked to Abramovich, shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24. Tenenbaum, who is also the director of the Chelsea Football Club, was hit by a freeze on assets. The other Russian to be sanctioned is David Davidovich, who is subject to asset freezing and travel bans. The move comes after the Channel Islands of Jersey said this week it was seizing some $ 7 billion in assets suspected of links to Abramovich, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The British government said the measures “cut off key sources of revenue for Putin’s war machine” amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that efforts by Western countries to phase out Russian gas imports will have a negative impact on their economies. Speaking on Thursday, Putin said that European efforts to find alternatives to Russian gas shipments would be “quite painful for the instigators of such policies.” He argued that “there is simply no reasonable replacement for this in Europe right now.” “Supplies from other countries that could be shipped to Europe, mainly from the United States, will cost consumers many times more,” Putin said. He added that it would “affect the living standards of the people and the competitiveness of the European economy”. The European Union is dependent on Russia for 40% of its gas and 25% of its oil. KYIV, Ukraine – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he is “sincerely grateful” to the United States for a new $ 800 million military aid round. In his daily midnight address to the nation, Zelensky also said he was grateful for Wednesday’s visit by the presidents of Poland, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. He said that these leaders “helped us from day one, those who did not hesitate to give us weapons, those who did not question whether they would impose sanctions”. In a telephone conversation with US President Joe Biden, Zelensky said they discussed a new arms shipment, even tougher sanctions against Russia and efforts to bring to justice Russian soldiers who committed war crimes in Ukraine. Zelensky also said work was under way to clear tens of thousands of unexploded ordnance, mines and wires left behind by retreating Russians in northern Ukraine. He urged people returning to their homes in these cities to be careful with any unknown object and report it to the police.
