Punjabi: Russia and Ukraine War Like Situation

[Dalvinder Singh Grewal]

Russia tried to assassinate CEO of German arms manufacturer for sending weapons to Ukraine. The plot to kill Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger was one of a series of Russian government plans to assassinate defense industry executives across Europe who were supporting Ukraine’s war effort, according to CNN​

$ 225 million aid announced by Biden for Ukraine. F 16 are also going to reach Ukraine soon. Advanced missiles deployed by US in Germany to target Russia

 

[dalvinder45]

A shooter who allegedly attacked former United States president and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump during his election rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday was shot dead by the Secret Service, law enforcement officials said.

The US Secret Service said at about 6.15 pm, a suspected shooter fired multiple shots toward the stage from an elevated position outside of the rally venue, in Butler, Pennsylvania.

The federal agency personnel immediately escorted the former president out and took him to a safer location.

Trump, 78, is reported to be safe after the assassination attempt.

"He is fine and is being checked out at a local medical facility," Steven Cheung, Trump spokesperson said in a statement.

The attack was condemned by leaders cutting across party lines.

President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and former presidents, Barack Obama, George W Bush and Bill Clinton have condemned the attack.

"US Secret Service personnel neutralised the shooter, who is now deceased. The federal agency quickly responded with protective measures and Former President Trump is safe," Anthony Guglielmi, Secret Service spokesperson said in a statement.

"This is now an active Secret Service investigation and further information will be released when available," he said.

Blood was seen on Trump's face and ear as he reached with his right hand toward his neck. Multiple media reports said that several gunshots were heard while Trump was addressing the rally.

Trump was seen pumping his fist in the air, with the crowd cheering, as he was escorted out by the Secret Service.

Guglielmi said, "One spectator was killed, and two others were critically injured. The Secret Service has notified the FBI."

An eyewitness told the BBC he saw a "man on top of a roof" near President Trump's Pennsylvania rally.

"We noticed the guy crawling up the roof of the building beside us, 50 feet away from us," the witness, Greg, said.

"He had a rifle, we could clearly see him with a rifle. Next thing you know, I'm thinking to myself why is Trump still speaking? Why have they not pulled him off the stage? I'm standing there pointing at him... the next thing you know, five shots ring out," he said.

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have been briefed about the incident, which is receiving widespread condemnation from a shocked nation.

Biden condemned the life-threatening attack on his Republican rival and predecessor Donald Trump and said 'there is no place for this kind of violence in America'.

"Jill and I are grateful to the Secret Service for getting him to safety. There's no place for this kind of violence in America. We must unite as one nation to condemn it," he said.

Incumbent Biden faces Trump in the November presidential elections.

Vice President Kamala Harris said she has been briefed on the shooting at former president Trump's event in Pennsylvania.

"Doug and I are relieved that he is not seriously injured. We are praying for him, his family, and all those who have been injured and impacted by this senseless shooting. We are grateful to the United States Secret Service, first responders, and local authorities for their immediate action," she said.

"Violence such as this has no place in our nation. We must all condemn this abhorrent act and do our part to ensure that it does not lead to more violence," Harris said.

"I am horrified by what happened at the Trump rally in Pennsylvania and relieved that former President Trump is safe. Political violence has no place in our country," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said.

"This should horrify every freedom-loving American. Violence against presidential candidates must never be normalised. We are lifting up Donald Trump, the entire Trump family, and all in attendance in prayer," former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said.

Tesla CEO and the owner of social media platform X, Elon Musk said that he endorses Trump.

"Fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery," Musk said.

"Pray for Trump," said Indian-American Vivek Ramaswamy, and a close confidant of Trump. -- PTI

 

[dalvinder45]

Former United States president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Saturday said he was shot at during his rally in Pennsylvania and a bullet pierced the upper part of his right ear.

IMAGE: Republican presidential candidate and former US President Donald Trump is assisted by security personnel after gunfire rang out during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024, in this screen grab taken from a video. Photograph: Reuters TV/Reuters
In his first statement issued on the social media platform Truth Social, 78-year-old Trump thanked the US Secret Service for saving his life.

'I want to thank the United States Secret Service, and all of Law Enforcement, for their rapid response to the shooting that just took place in Butler, Pennsylvania,' the former president said.

Trump got injured during his election rally in Butler, Pennsylvania following an apparent series of gunshots. He was immediately escorted out of the venue by the US Secret Service.

'Most importantly, I want to extend my condolences to the family of the person at the rally who was killed, and also to the family of another person that was badly injured. It is incredible that such an act can take place in our country,' he said.

According to Anthony Guglielmi, spokesperson of the US Secret Service, the incident happened around 6.15 pm local time when the suspected shooter fired multiple shots toward the stage from an elevated position outside of the rally venue.

'US Secret Service personnel neutralised the shooter, who is now deceased. The US Secret Service quickly responded with protective measures and Former President Trump is safe. One spectator was killed, and two spectators were critically injured,' he said, adding that this incident is currently under investigation and the Secret Service has notified the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Trump said nothing is known at this time about the shooter, who is now dead.

'I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear. I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place, so I realised then what was happening. God bless America!' Trump said.

Thousands of Trump supporters were attending the rally when the shooting, which was captured live on news channels, happened.

As the bullet hit his ears, the former president was seen ducking with the secret service surrounding him. He could be heard making a few comments on an audio feed from the stage.

Trump said, 'Let me get my shoes,' as he was escorted to the safe place. He was seen pumping his fist to the public.

The shocking incident happened two days before the start of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where Trump will formally become the party's nominee.

According to The Wall Street Journal, eyewitness Colleen Phillips, 62. said she was about eight rows from the stage when she heard the sounds of gunfire.
"We had a little prayer circle for President Trump," Phillips said. "I don't know what's wrong with people."

Another eyewitness Mark McEvoy, 50, said he thought he heard eight to 10 shots.

"I saw Trump go down, but then I saw him get up and he raised his hand that he was OK," McEvoy told the Financial Daily.

 

[dalvinder45]

A mother and her daughter were killed by Russian shelling that hit the town of Nikopol in Ukraine’s eastern Dnipropetrovsk region. Local governor Serhiy Lysak said private houses, a fire station, a college, a school and buses were damaged. Nikopol sits on the right bank of the Dnipro River

Two people were injured by debris as Ukraine repelled a Russian drone attack on the region outside Kyiv. One of those hurt was Ilya Ponomaryov, a former Russian lawmaker who has lived in Ukraine for years and is a critic of the Kremlin. He wrote on Facebook that a drone exploded outside his front door, inflicting shrapnel wounds and causing a fire.
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and a number of prominent Russian Politician and activists who were jailed for criticizing the war in Ukraine were among 26 people freed in the biggest prisoner swap between Russia and the West since the Cold War. Russia got back Vadim Krasikov, a Russian jailed in Germany for the assassination of a former Chechen rebel commander in 2019.
Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, awarded two Ukrainian athletes – rower Anastasiia Kozhenkova and diver Oleksii Sereda – with the Grand Vermeil Medal, the French capital’s highest distinction, in a show of solidarity.

The Kremlin said that Russian forces would shoot down US-built F-16 fighter jets sent to Ukraine, and claimed the aircraft would have no significant impact on the course of the war. The first planes arrived in Ukraine this week.

 

[dalvinder45]

Ukraine’s military says it attacked overnight Russia’s Morozovsk airfield and a number of oil depots and fuel storage facilities in the Russian regions of Belgorod, Kursk and Rostov.
The Ukrainian Air Force says it shot down 24 out of 29 Iranian-made Shahed drones launched by Russia during the night. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russian forces used more than 600 guided aerial bombs to attack Ukraine in the past week.

The Russian Ministry of Defence says its military destroyed at least 76 drones launched by Ukraine, including 36 over the border region of Rostov and 17 in the Oryol region, adding that it disabled eight and nine drones respectively over the regions of Kursk and Belgorod. Russian forces have retched up pressure on the eastern town of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region where the Ukrainian military has acknowledged an increasingly difficult situation, The Kyiv Independent reports.

 

[dalvinder45]

 

[dalvinder45]

Ukraine says it received 250 bodies of killed soldiers in one of the largest exchanges of remains since the start of the war, according to the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War. Ukrainian national news agency Ukrinform quoted a Chinese official as saying that more than 110 countries support a peace settlement outlined by Beijing.

Russian activist Ilya Yashin, who was freed on Friday in a major prisoner swap between Russia and Western countries has said he never gave his consent for being deported from Russia, warning that the move could encourage Russian authorities to take more political prisoners.
According to the Interfax news agency, the National Bank of Ukraine estimates that about 400,000 people would leave Ukraine this year and 300,000 the following one, an increase compared to previous predictions.

 

[dalvinder45]

Ukraine adds another Turkish corvette to its navy for the war with Russia​

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, people react during the launching ceremony of the Ukrainian Navy’s Ada class corvette “Hetman Ivan Vyhovskyi” in Istanbul, Turkey, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. This vessel was constructed for the Ukrainian Navy at a shipyard in Turkey. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska, center, participates in the launching ceremony of the Ada class corvette “Hetman Ivan Vyhovskyi” in Istanbul, Turkey, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. This vessel was constructed for the Ukrainian Navy at a shipyard in Turkey. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)
Ukraine has taken delivery of a second Turkish-built navy corvette, officials said Friday, although they did not say specifically how the warships might be used in the war against Russia.

Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, attended the launching ceremony of the Ada-class corvette during a visit to Turkey, the Ukrainian presidency announced on its website.
The corvette Ukraine already had is currently undergoing sea trials.
Turkish Ada-class ships are typically able to strike planes, other ships and submarines.
Ukraine, which has coastlines on the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov, had a small navy at the time of Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion.
But it has developed deadly pilotless sea drones that have severely limited Moscow’s Black Sea naval capability.
The Ukrainian presidency said the corvettes would help protect the country’s interests in the Black and Azov seas “but also, in particular, in the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.”

 

[dalvinder45]

Ukrainian pilots have started flying F-16s for operations within the nation, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said, confirming the long-awaited arrival of the US-made fighter jets more than 29 months since Russia's invasion.​

The Ukrainian leader announced the use of F-16s, which Kyiv has long lobbied for, as he met military pilots at an air base flanked by two of the jets with two more flying overhead.
"F-16s are in Ukraine. We did it. I am proud of our guys who are mastering these jets and have already started using them for our country," Mr Zelensky said.

 

[dalvinder45]

Ukraine says it struck Russia’s Morozovsk airfield Ukraine accuses Russia of dismembering war prisoner
Kyiv targets occupied Crimea with ‘massive’ strike Ukraine launched more drone attacks than Russia in July

 

[dalvinder45]

Russia sent multiple missiles and drones at Kyiv as air raid warnings sounded in the capital from about 11pm (20:00 GMT). “Air defence forces and equipment operated in the capital and on the outskirts of the city. According to preliminary data, enemy missiles were hit,” Serhiy Popko, the head of the city’s military administration, said on social media. “As of now, no damage or casualties have been recorded in Kyiv.”
Ukraine’s Air Force chief said the military shot down all 24 Russian drones launched at targets across Ukraine. There were no reports of injuries or damage.
One person was killed and three more were injured after a drone struck a bus for an agricultural enterprise in the village of Vyazovoe in Russia’s Belgorod region, according to local Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.
Ukraine said it conducted an exchange of soldiers’ bodies with Russia in a deal mediated by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Kyiv handed over the remains of 38 Russian soldiers while Ukraine received the bodies of 250 of their servicemen on August 2.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian told Sergei Shoigu, the secretary of Russia’s security council and a former defence minister, that Tehran was determined to expand relations with its “strategic partner Russia”, according to Iranian state media. Russia has cultivated closer political and military ties with Iran since starting its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and has said it is preparing to sign a wide-ranging cooperation agreement with the country. The Reuters news agency reported in February that Iran had provided Russia with a large number of powerful surface-to-surface ballistic missiles.
Ukraine denied any involvement in northern Mali fighting last month that led to the deaths of Malian soldiers and mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner group. Mali cut diplomatic ties with Ukraine after a senior official from Ukraine’s military intelligence agency said the rebels behind the attack had all the “information” they needed. Kyiv expressed regret over the decision and stressed its commitment to the “norms of international law, the inviolability of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other countries”.
Pavel Kushnir, a 39-year-old Russian pianist and antiwar activist, died in prison after going on hunger strike, his mother said. A Telegram channel with links to Russia’s security services reported in May that Kushnir had been arrested and accused of inciting “terrorist” activity after posting antiwar material online. The European Union called Kushnir’s death a shocking case of political repression.
Ukraine’s newly-crowned Olympic high jump champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh urged Russian athletes to speak up against the invasion, saying she was disappointed they remained silent in Paris where a small squad of about 15 athletes is competing as “neutrals”. Athletes from Russia and its ally Belarus were banned from world sport following the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

 

[dalvinder45]

Russia and Ukraine attack each other's territories heavily with drones. In a surprising shift in strategy, Ukrainian forces launched attacks. to Russian territory this week, catching Moscow off guard and opening a new front in the prolonged conflict Ukrainian soldiers have entered western Russia in a move that has bewildered Moscow, successfully tested its weak border defences and may deal a blow to its natural gas supplies to Europe. Kyiv dispatched hundreds of servicemen backed by armoured vehicles, artillery and drones to the Kursk region on Tuesday, according to Russian officials, Ukrainian servicemen and media reports. The raid follows several incursions by Russian nationalsfighting for Ukraine who briefly raided Kursk and neighbouring Belgorod in 2023 and heavy Ukrainian shelling of Belegorod this year. On Tuesday morning, Ukrainian forces fought through the border and approached Sudzha, a sleepy town of 5,000 people whose central square is still dominated by a statue of Soviet Union founder Vladimir Lenin. But Sudzha is important as the location of the only pumping station that delivers Russian natural gas to Europe via Ukraine.​

By Wednesday afternoon, Ukrainians surrounded Sudzha, seized three villages and were spotted near 10 more, Russian officials and media reported. “In the past 24 hours, our region has been heroically countering the attacks of Ukrainian Nazis,” Kursk acting Governor Aleksey Smirnov wrote on Telegram on Wednesday, repeating the Kremlin’s narratives about the “Nazi junta” in Kyiv.
At least three civilians – two drivers and a woman – have been killed, and 24 have been wounded, including six children, according to Smirnov and health officials. The governor urged locals to donate blood for the wounded and said “the situation is controllable”. But even the dry, legalese tone of the Kremlin’s statements cannot hide the gravity of the situation.
President Vladimir Putin called the raid a “full-scale provocation by the Kyiv regime” and accused Ukrainian servicemen of indiscriminately firing at residential areas and civilians.
The Ministry of Defence in Moscow claimed on Wednesday that Ukrainians lost up to 260 servicemen, seven tanks and 42 armoured vehicles, two air defence vehicles and a radio jamming station. “The operation to annihilate Ukrainian military formations is ongoing,” it said. Officials in Kyiv have not commented on the attack, but Ukrainian reports claim heavy losses on the Russian side.

Ukrainian forces killed a group of Russian servicemen holed up in a walled Orthodox monastery, shot down a Ka-52 helicopter and destroyed two tanks, Deep State, a Ukrainian Telegram channel known for verified reports, wrote on Wednesday.

 

[dalvinder45]

Ukraine and Russia need to engage with each other to find a solution to the ongoing conflict between them, India said on Friday after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held wide-ranging talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv under the shadow of the raging war.

IMAGE: Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister Narendra Modi attend a meeting, in Kyiv, on August 23, 2024. Photograph: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters
In the discussions, Modi reiterated the need for 'practical engagement' between all stakeholders to develop an innovative solution that will help build broad acceptability and contribute towards peace and stability in the region.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the prime minister conveyed to Zelenskyy India's willingness to contribute in 'all possible ways' to facilitate an early return of peace to Ukraine.

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Earlier Modi met Putin and held discussions with him about the conflict​

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It was a very detailed, open and in many ways constructive discussion, he said, adding the talks revolved around to some extent the military situation, on concerns like food and energy security, and on 'conceivable pathways to peace'. The Ukrainian side wanted continued involvement of India with the Global Peace summit, he said.
Jaishankar said there was also a discussion on what could be effective ways of taking the discussions forward. "It is India's view that the two sides (Ukraine and Russia) need to engage with each other to find a solution," he said.
The external affairs minister said the two leaders reiterated their readiness to continue cooperation to uphold principles of international law such as respect for territorial integrity and protect the sovereignty of states. Modi also spoke about his discussions recently with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
Jaishankar said the prime minister sought the president's assessment both of the ground situation as well as the diplomatic scenario and Zelenskyy spoke on both issues.
The external affairs minister described Modi's visit to Kyiv as a 'landmark' trip.
The prime minister arrived in Kyiv on a special train on Friday morning and he was received by the first deputy prime minister of Ukraine
Jaishankar said a significant part of discussions between Prime Minister Modi and President Zelenskyy was devoted to the bilateral relations. There were discussions on trade, economic issues, defence, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, education, he said. Modi and Zelenskyy also tasked the India-Ukraine inter-governmental commission to specifically focus on rebuilding trade and economic relations. PTI MPB