Russia & Ukraine

A parade of Western visits to China highlight efforts by the U.S. and its allies to reduce tensions with Beijing. The U.S. commerce secretary and the U.K. foreign secretary made separate trips to the country, each insisting they did not want their country to decouple from China, though the former pointedly said American companies increasingly viewed China as “uninvestable.” It is unclear whether moves to calm rhetoric will be successful. Views towards Beijing have hardened in Washington and London, with the U.K. Parliament’s foreign affairs committee labeling Taiwan — which China regards as a renegade province — as “an independent country.” Beijing, too, may be unmoved: Chinese leader Xi Jinping has reportedly invited Russian President Vladimir PooPooPutin to visit in October.
 
gwb-trading said:
Add one more Colonel to the already lengthy list...

Russian lieutenant colonel blown up by drone while mowing lawn at his country home
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/worl...d?cvid=7c497e3243f14371a961df75fa6ef57f&ei=21

A Russian police lieutenant colonel has been killed in a drone strike while mowing his lawn in a settlement near the Ukrainian border, according to local reports.

Alexei Chernykh, deputy chief of a local branch of the anti-corruption police, was doing yard work at his country residence in the village of Schetinovka, Belgorod region, on Sunday when a drone dropped a bomb onto his property, reported the Telegram channel Baza, which has known ties to Russian security services.

“Alexei had a day off and was mowing the lawn,” the channel reported.

Chernykh would have turned 40 years old Tuesday, according to information on his social media account.

Chernykh’s home was said to be located just a third of a mile from the border with Ukraine, according to a report by another Telegram channel, Bedgorod.

Lieutenant Colonel Alexei Chernykh, 39, pictured right, was killed in a drone strike while mowing the lawn in his yard in a Russian village. MVD Belgorod.

The drone strike took place over the weekend in the Belgorod region on the border with Ukraine, which has been experiencing attacks on a nearly daily basis. Telegram

Earlier, Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov accused Ukraine of launching a drone that killed a “civilian” in Schetinovka.

The governor did not name the victim in his Telegram post commenting on the strike.

Gladkov said the man died of shrapnel wounds after an explosive fell onto his “summer cottage” while he was mowing the grass.

Chernykh served as deputy chief of a local branch of the anti-corruption police and would have turned 40 years old Tuesday.OK

Ukraine has not commented on the deadly incident in Belgorod and almost never claims public reasonability for attacks inside Russia, which have significantly intensified in recent months.

Due to its close proximity to the border, the Belgorod region has been experiencing drone strikes on a nearly daily basis.
More...
Cutting his grass??!!!! Rotfl---

I read that and I thought there's gotta be a joke here somewhere.
This is the best I could do. :cool:
---
So Mr Chernykh finds himself outside the gates of hell, the Devil comes out and says "Wtf are you doing here? It's not your time. What were you doing?"

"I dunno, I was just out front cutting my grass and here I am."

"Hmmmm" says the Devil. That doesn't make any sense.

Suddenly out of the darkness God's voice booms:

>>>>"IT WAS ME... AND I DECIDED IT WAS YOUR TURN TO GET 'MOWED' DOWN." :p:thumbsup:
 

The Associated Press
Zelenskyy says Ukraine has developed a long-range weapon, a day after a strike deep inside Russia
3h

upload_2023-8-31_12-6-47.png



This image made from a social media and and provided by Ostorozhno Novosti shows smoke billowing over the city and a large blaze in Pskov, Russia, on Aug. 29, 2023. Russian officials accused Ukraine of targeting six Russian regions early Wednesday in what appeared to be the biggest drone attack on Russian soil since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine 18 months ago. (Ostorozhno Novosti via AP)© Provided by The Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday his country has developed a weapon that hit a target 700 kilometers (400 miles) away, in an apparent reference to the previous day’s strike on an airport in western Russia.


This photo taken from video provided by the official telegram channel of Pskov region governor Mikhail Vedernikov, shows smoke billowing over the city and a large blaze in Pskov, Russia, on Aug. 29, 2023. Russian officials accused Ukraine of targeting six Russian regions early Wednesday in what appeared to be the biggest drone attack on Russian soil since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine 18 months ago. (Pskov region governor Mikhail Vedernikov official telegram channel via AP)© Provided by The Associated Press

Zelenskyy said on his Telegram channel the weapon was produced by Ukraine’s Ministry of Strategic Industries but gave no other details.

On Wednesday, a four-hour wave of drones that Moscow blamed on Ukraine hit an airport near Russia’s border with Estonia and Latvia, damaging four Il-76 military transport planes, according to local reports.

The airport is in Russia’s Pskov region, about 700 kilometers (400 miles) north of the Ukrainian border.

In all, six Russian regions were targeted in the barrage amid the 18-month war.

The Associated Press was unable to determine whether the drones were launched from Ukraine or inside Russia.

Kyiv officials normally neither claim nor deny responsibility for attacks on Russian soil, though they sometimes refer obliquely to them. Zelenskyy’s remark was the clearest hint that Ukraine was behind the strike.



Embed-Map-Russia-Ukraine-War© Provided by The Associated Press

The attack forced the closure of Pskov airport, though it reopened Thursday, according to Russian transport officials.

Another drone intercepted overnight near Moscow resulted in flight delays at several airports around the Russian capital, officials said Thursday. No injuries were reported.

Russian news agency Interfax reported, meanwhile, that security services killed two people and detained five members of a Ukrainian sabotage group in the Bryansk border region on Wednesday.



APTOPIX Russia Ukraine War© Provided by The Associated Press

The apparent Ukrainian drones reaching deep into Russia and cross-border sabotage missions are part of Kyiv’s efforts to heap domestic pressure on the Kremlin, militarily and politically. Meantime, a Ukrainian counteroffensive launched in June is chipping away at some parts of the front line, Kyiv officials claim.

Ukraine is aiming to “erode Russian morale and increase pressure on its commanders,” the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a think tank, said in an assessment.

The strategy is “to bring Russian forces to a tipping point where combat power and morale may begin to break,” the IISS said in the analysis late Wednesday.

___

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
 
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