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Austria expels four Russian diplomats under suspicion of espionage

2Feb

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Intelligence, Austria, Diplomacy, Military Magazine

Austria expels four Russian diplomats under suspicion of espionage

Austria is expelling four Russian diplomats for behaving in a manner inconsistent with international agreements, a reason often invoked in spying cases, the Austrian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday without giving specifics. The move brings to nine the number of Russian diplomats Austria has expelled since 2020, though any connection between the three separate decisions is unclear. Austria has generally been more reluctant than many other western European countries to expel Russian envoys. Two of the four diplomats declared personae non gratae on Thursday and ordered to leave the country by February 8 are stationed at the Russian Embassy to Austria while the other two work at the Russian mission to the United Nations in Vienna, the ministry said in a statement. “Two diplomats at ...

Russian missiles target civilian areas as EU officials visit Kyiv

2Feb

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Ukraine, Military News, Ukraine

Russian missiles target civilian areas as EU officials visit Kyiv

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian missiles hit residential areas in an eastern Ukrainian city Thursday for the second time in 24 hours, while top European Union officials held talks with the government in Kyiv as the war with Russia approaches its one-year milestone. The latest strikes in Kramatorsk came as rescue crews searched for survivors in the rubble of an apartment building hit late Wednesday by a Russian missile that killed at least three people and wounded 21 others. At least one more victim was thought to be under the debris, Ukraine’s presidential office said. “Kramatorsk again shattered by explosions — the Russians made two more rocket strikes,” regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko wrote in a Telegram post. He said at least five civilians were wounded in the latest strikes, which ...

Ukrainian tank unit fights Russians, exhaustion and the cold

25Jan

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Military Magazine, Military News, Ukraine

Ukrainian tank unit fights Russians, exhaustion and the cold

A freezing wind swept across the steppe near Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. The thermometer showed minus 17 degrees Celsius (1.4 degrees Fahrenheit). The frontline of the war against Russia, where fighting is taking place for the towns of Bakhmut and Soledar, is just a few kilometers away. Soldiers from a Ukrainian tank unit were training here in the middle of a field, just a few days after being pulled from the fighting near Bakhmut for a short break. To reach the spot, they had to walk several kilometers crosscountry. "So, is it hard to walk in a bulletproof vest? Are your arms and legs freezing yet?" asked Ihor, an officer in the armored unit, who accompanied DW to where the troops was deployed. "Imagine the guys lying in the frozen trenches, where you're not even allowed to light stov...

Top U.S. spy agency says more security assistance from allies is crucial for Ukraine to prevail

25Jan

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Intelligence, Military News

Top U.S. spy agency says more security assistance from allies is crucial for Ukraine to prevail

WASHINGTON – The director of America’s top spy agency described Russia’s war in Ukraine as a “grinding conflict” that will require the West to continue to provide security assistance packages in order for Kyiv to prevail. U.S. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria during a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum that both Ukrainian and Russian militaries are facing significant challenges but the war had not reached a stalemate. “It’s not a stalemate but really, a grinding conflict where quite literally, we’re talking about hundreds of meters being fought over in the context of the frontlines,” Haines said in Davos, Switzerland. “It will be extremely important for Ukraine to receive essential military assistance and economic assistance moving for...

Finland ‘re-thinking’ NATO bid without Sweden causes storm

25Jan

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NATO, Military News

Finland ‘re-thinking’ NATO bid without Sweden causes storm

Comments from Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto that Finland could pursue NATO membership without its partner Sweden after Turkey said it would not support Stockholm’s bid, has ruffled many feathers in Sweden and Finland. Finland and Sweden, who have sought NATO membership in a joint bidding move, have seen their applications stalled by Turkey and Hungary – the only two NATO states that have not yet ratified the membership in their respective laws. Sweden, for its part, saw its membership hopes dashed even further on Monday after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, reacting to protesters in Stockholm hanging an effigy of him and burning a copy of the Quran, said the country should not expect Turkish backing. Commenting on the turn of events, Haavisto told YLE in an interview...

Germany and US set to send Leopard 2 and Abrams tanks to Ukraine in potential gamechanger as war drags on

24Jan

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Military Magazine, Military News

Germany and US set to send Leopard 2 and Abrams tanks to Ukraine in potential gamechanger as war drags on

‘This is what is going to become a real punching fist of democracy,’ Ukrainian officials vow. Germany is to join other countries in sending tanks to Ukraine, ending a days-long impasse that had sparked tensions among Western allies. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is expected to send at least 14 Leopard 2 tanks to help Ukraine push back against Russia’s illegal invasion in the east of the country, having previously expressed fears that doing so could “provoke” Vladimir Putin. Germany will also give permission to other countries including Poland to send their own Leopard tanks to the country – after days of tense negotiations in which German authorities were accused of withholding the required assent that needs to be sought for German-made military assets to be sent to non-Nato countries...

Ex-German spy chief under pressure over far-right leanings

24Jan

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Intelligence, Germany

Ex-German spy chief under pressure over far-right leanings

A former German spy chief jockeying for influence in Berlin faces possible expulsion from his party over what it called his embrace of far-right language and conspiracy theories. Hans-Georg Maassen is running to lead a hard-right faction of Germany’s main opposition party, the Christian Democratic Union, which nominated him in a failed bid to become an MP in 2021. He has become an increasing embarrassment to the party after raging against migration, alleging a range of left-wing conspiracies, sowing doubts about vaccines, and recently speaking of “racism against white people”. The CDU’s general secretary Mario Czaja said on Tuesday that Mr. Maassen should resign from the party amid calls for a formal disciplinary process. He said Mr. Maassen was moving closer to the far-right Alterna...

Poland reviews security after divers found near key port

20Jan

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Military News, Poland

Poland reviews security after divers found near key port

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s prime minister said Thursday that the country was reviewing the supervision of its gas and oil installations and other strategic locations after a weekend incident in which three foreign divers had to be rescued from near a key oil port where they had no authorization to be. Premier Mateusz Morawiecki also said he had requested the secret security services to produce a detailed report on the incident. Police in northern Poland are facing questions over why they released the three divers rescued from near the Gdansk oil port without conducting a detailed interrogation of them. Security experts say the presence of the divers in the sensitive area of the Gulf of Gdansk last weekend raised concerns, given the high tensions with Russia over its energy deliver...

President Zelensky pleads for tanks to stop Russian ‘evil’

20Jan

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Military News

President Zelensky pleads for tanks to stop Russian ‘evil’

Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky pleaded for more tanks in order to stop the Russian 'evil' as defence leaders from 50 countries - including all 30 NATO members - gathered in Germany to discuss the next stage of support for Kyiv. He accused Russia of wanting the power to destroy nations, insisting that 'the Kremlin must lose' the war for not just Ukraine, but the whole world. The war time leader's virtual address at the Ramstein Air Base came as Germany was accused of displaying 'unacceptable weakness' in the face of Vladimir Putin's on-going invasion of Ukraine, which is approaching the one-year mark. The US and Germany have so far stopped short of granting Zelensky's requests for their most modern battle tanks, which the Kremlin warned would amount to an 'extremely dangerous' ...

Heinrich XIII: the prince suspected of plotting to overthrow the German government

8Dec

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Crime & Law, Germany, In News, Military News, Terrorism

Heinrich XIII: the prince suspected of plotting to overthrow the German government

Thousands of police officers have carried out raids across much of Germany against suspected far-right extremists who allegedly sought to overthrow the state in an armed coup. Heinrich XIII Prince Reuss is one of the last descendents of a dynasty that once ruled over swathes of eastern Germany. He is suspected of hoping to become the country's new leader in a violent coup to overthrow the democratic order. The 71-year-old was one of 25 members and supporters of a far-right group planning the alleged putsch who were arrested early on Wednesday in nationwide raids, according to the authorities. The real estate developer has for years publicly advocated the theory life was better worldwide under monarchy. He stems from House of Reuss, which for centuries ruled over parts of present-d...