President Vladimir Putin exhorted Russians to battle in a
defiant Victory Day speech on Monday, but was silent about plans for any
escalation in Ukraine, despite Western warnings he might use his Red Square
address to order a national mobilisation.
In Ukraine, there was no letup in fighting, with missile
strikes destroying buildings in the southern port of Odesa and a renewed push
by Russian forces to defeat the last Ukrainian troops holding out in a
steelwork in ruined Mariupol.
Monday's annual parade in Moscow - with the usual ballistic
missiles and tanks rumbling across the cobblestones - was easily the most
closely watched since the 1945 defeat of the Nazis that it celebrates.
Western capitals had openly speculated for weeks that Putin
was driving his forces to achieve enough progress by the symbolic date to
declare victory - but with few gains so far, might instead announce a national
call-up for war.
The Russian president did neither, but repeated his
assertions that his forces were again fighting Nazis.
"You are fighting for the Motherland, for its future,
so that no one forgets the lessons of World War Two. So that there is no place
in the world for executioners, castigators and Nazis," Putin said from the
tribune outside the Kremlin walls.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in his own speech,
promised Ukrainians would triumph.
"On the Day of Victory over Nazism, we are fighting for
a new victory. The road to it is difficult, but we have no doubt that we will
win," said Zelenskiy, wearing plain army garb with his shirt sleeves
rolled up.
In Washington, where sources say Democratic lawmakers have
agreed on a $40 billion aid proposal for Ukraine, including a massive new
weapons package, US President Joe Biden said he was worried Putin did not have
a way out of the war.
The White House had earlier described Putin's remarks as
"revisionist history that took the form of disinformation."
Russia's war has killed thousands of civilians, sent
millions of Ukrainians fleeing and reduced cities to rubble. Moscow has little
to show for it beyond a strip of territory in the south and marginal gains in
the east.
Sheltering in a metro station in Kharkiv - Ukraine's mainly
Russian-speaking second city which has been bombed relentlessly since the war's
first days - World War Two survivor Vira Mykhailivna, 90, buried her
tear-stained cheeks in her hands.
"I didn't think this could ever happen to us," she
said. "This day was once a great celebration."
Kateryna Grigoriyevna, 79, a retired bank manager who has
spent 10 weeks underground in the cavernous station, sat eating an ice cream
she had ventured out to buy for Victory Day.
"We hate Putin," she said, glancing around the
platform where some 200 people cluster in tents and on thin mattresses.
"I would kill him myself if I could."
'ONLY DISHONOUR, AND SURELY DEFEAT'
The Soviet victory in World War Two has acquired almost
religious status in Russia under Putin, who has invoked the memory of the
"Great Patriotic War" throughout what he calls a "special
military operation" in Ukraine.
Western countries consider that a false analogy to justify
unprovoked aggression.
"There can be no victory day, only dishonour and surely
defeat in Ukraine," said British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace.
In Poland, the Russian ambassador was surrounded by
protesters at a memorial ceremony and doused in red paint. Ambassador Sergei
Andreyev, his face dripping and his shirt stained, said he was "proud of
my country and my president".
After an assault on Kyiv was beaten back in March by strong
Ukrainian resistance, Russia poured more troops in for a huge offensive in the
east last month.
Russian gains have been slow at best, and Western arms are
flooding into Ukraine for an expected counter-attack.
Western military experts - many of whom initially predicted
a quick Russian victory - now say Moscow could be running out of troops. A full
declaration of war would let Putin activate reservists and send conscripts.
"Without concrete steps to build a new force, Russia
can't fight a long war, and the clock starts ticking on the failure of their
army in Ukraine," said Phillips O'Brien, a professor of strategic studies
at Britain's University of St Andrews.
The war still seems to enjoy strong public support in
Russia, where independent journalism is effectively banned and state television
says Russia is defending itself from NATO. Conscription would test that
support.
Olga, participating in St Petersburg's "immortal
regiment" commemoration march, said she feared for her student son.
"I'm really worried about him. I know many mothers
whose sons are now of conscription age ... They're trying to find any way to
save their children from going to this war."
COMBING WRECKAGE
In Ukraine's port city of Odesa, missiles struck tourist
sites, destroying five buildings and injuring two people, its city council
said. Fire and rescue workers combed through piles of rubble and doused still
smoking wreckage.
Odesa officials separately said explosions had set fire to a
shopping centre in the city. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Four people were killed and several homes were destroyed in
Russian attacks in the town of Bogodukhov, northwest of Kharkiv, local media
quoted Kharkiv officials as saying.
Ukraine's defence ministry said Russian forces backed by
tanks and artillery were conducting "storming operations" at
Mariupol's Azovstal plant, where hundreds of Ukrainian defenders have held out
through months of siege. Civilians sheltering there were evacuated in recent
days.
The Russians were trying to blow up a bridge used for
evacuations, to trap the last defenders inside, said Mariupol mayoral aide
Petro Andryuschenko.
Mariupol lies between the Crimean Peninsula, seized by
Moscow in 2014, and parts of eastern Ukraine under the control of Russia-backed
separatists. Capturing the city would allow Moscow to link the two areas as it
pushes for more eastern gains.
"Mariupol remains the most difficult part of our
region," said Pavlo Kyrylenko, regional governor of Donetsk, which
includes Mariupol.
Despite the recent evacuation from Azovstal, "civilians
remain in the city itself," he said. "All of them are in effect being
held in handcuffs by Russia. We will fight on for each one of them."
- REUTERS
Putin Victory Day speech Russia Ukraine war
Comment
American and British forces carried out a fresh wave of strikes Saturday against 18 Huthi targets in Yemen, following weeks of unrelenting attacks on Red Sea shipping by the Iran-backed rebels.
The strikes "specifically targeted 18 Huthi targets across eight locations in Yemen" including weapons storage facilities, attack drones, air defense systems, radars, and a helicopter, a joint statement said.
It was co-signed by Australia, Bahrain, Denmark, Canada, the Netherlands and New Zealand, who gave unspecified "support" to the new round of strikes, the second this month and fourth since the rebels began their attacks on ships in the region.
"The Huthis' now more than 45 attacks on commercial and naval vessels since mid-November constitute a threat to the global economy, as well as regional security and stability, and demand an international response," the statement said.
Huthi-run Al-Masirah television reported "a series of raids on the capital Sanaa," while AFP correspondents in the rebel-controlled city in western Yemen said they heard several loud bangs.
"The United States will not hesitate to take action, as needed, to defend lives and the free flow of commerce in one of the world's most critical waterways," Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said in a separate statement after the strikes.
"We will continue to make clear to the Huthis that they will bear the consequences if they do not stop their illegal attacks, which harm Middle Eastern economies, cause environmental damage, and disrupt the delivery of humanitarian aid to Yemen and other countries."
Huthi military spokesman Yahya Saree was defiant, vowing in a social media statement that the rebels would "confront the American-British escalation with more qualitative military operations against all hostile targets in the Red and Arab Seas."
The UK Ministry of Defence said four Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s targeted "several very long-range drones, used by the Houthis for both reconnaissance and attack missions," on Saturday, at a site north-east of Sanaa.
Saturday's operation comes after several merchant vessels were struck this week in the region, including the fertilizer-filled Rubymar, whose crew had to abandon ship after it was hit Sunday and began taking on water.
Apart from the joint operations with Britain, the United States has also carried out unilateral strikes against Huthi positions and weaponry in Yemen, and downed dozens of missiles and drones in the Red Sea.
- Anti-ship missile downed -
Earlier on Saturday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that an American Navy ship had shot down an anti-ship ballistic missile "launched into the Gulf of Aden from Iranian-backed Huthi controlled areas of Yemen."
The missile "was likely targeting MV Torm Thor, a US-Flagged, owned, and operated chemical/oil tanker," CENTCOM said on X, formerly Twitter.
US forces on Friday also shot down three attack drones near commercial ships in the Red Sea and destroyed seven anti-ship cruise missiles on land, CENTCOM said.
The Huthis say they are targeting Israel-linked vessels in support of Palestinians in Gaza, which has been ravaged by the Israel-Hamas war.
Following previous US and UK strikes, the Huthis declared American and British interests to be legitimate targets as well.
The Huthis will "persist in upholding their religious, moral and humanitarian duties towards the Palestinian people, and their military operations will not stop unless the aggression stops and the siege on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is lifted," military spokesman Saree said.
Anger over Israel's devastating campaign in Gaza -- which began after an unprecedented Hamas attack on October 7 -- has grown across the Middle East, stoking violence involving Iran-backed groups in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.
Comment
Israel launched air strikes Thursday on southern Gaza's Rafah after threatening to send troops into the city, where around 1.4 million Palestinians have sought shelter from around the territory.
Global powers trying to navigate a way to end the Israel-Hamas war have so far come up short, but a US envoy was expected in Israel on Thursday to try to secure a truce deal.
International concern has spiralled over the high civilian death toll and dire humanitarian crisis in the war sparked by Hamas's October 7 attack against Israel.
More than four months of relentless fighting and air strikes have flattened much of the Hamas-run coastal territory, pushing its population of around 2.4 million to the brink of famine, according to the UN.
International concern has in recent weeks centred on Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah, where more than 1.4 million people forced to flee their homes elsewhere in the territory are now living in crowded shelters and makeshift tents.
The last city untouched by Israeli ground troops, Rafah also serves as the main entry point via neighbouring Egypt for desperately needed relief supplies.
Israel has warned it will expand its ground operations into Rafah if Hamas does not free the remaining hostages held in Gaza by next month's start of the Muslim holy month Ramadan.
- 'My daughter' -
The war started when Hamas launched its attack on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.
Hamas militants also took about 250 hostages -- 130 of whom remain in Gaza, including 30 presumed dead, according to Israel.
Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 29,313 people, mostly women and children, according to the latest count by the Hamas-run health ministry in the territory.
War cabinet member Benny Gantz said Israel's operation in Rafah would begin "after the evacuation of the population", although his government has not offered any details on where civilians would be evacuated to.
In the early hours of Thursday, AFP reporters heard multiple air strikes on Rafah, particularly in the Al-Shaboura neighbourhood.
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said early Thursday that 99 people had been killed around Gaza during the night, most of them women, children and elderly people.
Abdel Rahman Mohamed Jumaa said he lost his family in recent strikes on Rafah.
"I found my wife lying in the street," he told AFP. "Then I saw a man carrying a girl and I ran towards him and.... picked her up, realising she was really my daughter."
He was holding a small shrouded corpse in his arms.
- 'Possibility of progress' -
Brett McGurk, the White House coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, was expected to arrive in Israel Thursday -- his second stop in the region after Egypt as part of US efforts to advance a hostage deal and broker a truce.
Hamas's chief Ismail Haniyeh was in Cairo for talks as well, according to the group.
Israel's Gantz said there were efforts to "promote a new plan for the return of the hostages".
"We are seeing the first signs that indicate the possibility of progress in this direction."
Matthew Miller, US State Department spokesman, said Washington was hoping for an "agreement that secures a temporary ceasefire where we can get the hostages out and get humanitarian assistance", but declined to give details on ongoing negotiations.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted the army will keep fighting until it has destroyed Hamas and freed the remaining hostages.
Israel's parliament on Wednesday overwhelmingly backed a proposal by Netanyahu to oppose any unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state.
The vote came days after the Washington Post reported that US President Joe Biden's administration and a small group of Arab nations were working out a comprehensive plan for long-term peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
It included a firm timeline for the establishment of a Palestinian state, the report said.
Separately, a report by an Israeli group that fights sexual violence said Hamas's October 7 attack also involved systematic sexual assaults on civilians, based on witness testimonies, public and classified information, and interviews.
The report came the same week UN rights experts called for an independent probe into alleged Israeli abuses against Palestinian women and girls -- which Israel rejected as "despicable and unfounded claims".
Israeli officials have repeatedly alleged the militants committed violent sexual assaults during the attack -- something Hamas has denied.
- 'Waiting for death' -
Combat and chaos have stalled sporadic aid deliveries for civilians in Gaza, while in Khan Yunis -- a city just north of Rafah -- medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said an Israeli tank had fired on a house sheltering their employees and families.
Two relatives of MSF staff were killed and six others injured, it said, condemning the strike in the "strongest possible terms".
When contacted by AFP about the incident, the Israeli army said its forces had "fired at a building that was identified as a building where terror activity is occurring", adding that it "regrets" harm to civilians.
In the same town, the Palestinian Red Crescent said another hospital was also hit by "artillery shelling".
Israel has repeatedly said Hamas militants use civilian infrastructure including hospitals as operational bases -- claims that Hamas has denied.
Comment
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today stressed the need for expanding business between Bangladesh and India using their own currencies.
"We can do our business through exchanges of Bangladeshi Taka and Indian Rupee. It has already started, but we have to expand it further so that we can increase our businesses," she said while Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar paid a call on the Prime Minister.
The meeting was held at Hotel Bayerischer Hof, the conference venue, here on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference (MSC) 2024, this morning.
Foreign Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud briefed newsmen about the outcome of the meeting upon its completion.
The Foreign Minister said the Bangladesh Premier and Jaishankar attached importance to doing business between the two friendly countries through their own currencies to reduce dependency on other currencies like the US dollar.
He said Bangladesh and India have excellent bilateral relations and it has elevated to another height under the leadership of the prime ministers of the two countries.
"The relations between the countries are getting stronger day by day," he said, adding that the two leaders discussed the issues during the meeting.
Quoting Jaishankar, Hasan said, "Our relations will further be closer in the days ahead."
Bangladesh Ambassador to Germany Md Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan and PM's Deputy Press Secretary Md. Noorelahi Mina were present during the briefing.
Bangladesh Prime Minister arrived in Munich on February 15 evening on a three-day official visit to join the Munich Security Conference 2024.
Upon completion of the tour, Sheikh Hasina will leave Munich tomorrow night and is scheduled to reach Dhaka on February 19.
(BSS)
Comment
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has called upon all concerned to find ways to stop Russia-Ukraine war while holding a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy here.
"Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina always says we are against all kinds of war. Today, she discussed time and again about how the war can be stopped while holding talks with Zelenskyy," said Foreign Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud at a news briefing after the meeting.
The meeting between the two leaders was held at Hotel Bayerischer Hof here on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference (MSC) 2024, this morning.
Hasan also said that they also discussed how the attacks on innocent men and women in Gaza can be stopped.
The Premier reminded all that war can't bring wellbeing for any one.
"Others can be benefitted from the war. But the war cannot bring welfare for the countries involved in war and their people have to be affected by the war," said Sheikh Hasina.
In this connection, the Prime Minister recollected her memories about the sufferings of the countrymen and she herself faced during the Great War of Liberation in 1971.
She recalled her inhuman sufferings and the birth of her only son Sajeeb Wazed Joy under the captivity of the Pakistani occupation forces during the War.
"Bangladesh's foreign policy - 'Friendship to all, malice to none’ - prominently came up in the discussion between Prime Minister and Zelenskyy," the foreign minister said.
Replying to a query, Hasan said the friendly relations between Bangladesh and Russia which got foundation during the Liberation war , will not hamper at all.
"Our relationship with Russia is very wonderful. Russia stood beside us during the Liberation War and played a pivotal role in rebuilding Bangladesh after the war," he said.
He said they only discussed how to stop the war.
Bangladesh Ambassador to Germany Md Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan and PM's Deputy Press Secretary Md. Noorelahi Mina were present during the briefing.
Bangladesh Prime Minister arrived in Munich on February 15 evening on a three-day official visit to join the Munich Security Conference 2024.
Upon completion of the tour, Sheikh Hasina will leave Munich tomorrow night and is scheduled to reach Dhaka on February 19.
(BSS)
Comment
Comment
American and British forces carried out a fresh wave of strikes Saturday against 18 Huthi targets in Yemen, following weeks of unrelenting attacks on Red Sea shipping by the Iran-backed rebels. The strikes "specifically targeted 18 Huthi targets across eight locations in Yemen" including weapons storage facilities, attack drones, air defense systems, radars, and a helicopter, a joint statement said.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today stressed the need for expanding business between Bangladesh and India using their own currencies. "We can do our business through exchanges of Bangladeshi Taka and Indian Rupee. It has already started, but we have to expand it further so that we can increase our businesses," she said while Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar paid a call on the Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has called upon all concerned to find ways to stop Russia-Ukraine war while holding a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy here. "Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina always says we are against all kinds of war. Today, she discussed time and again about how the war can be stopped while holding talks with Zelenskyy," said Foreign Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud at a news briefing after the meeting.