LIVE – A burning oil depot in Russia after a strike on Ukraine’s border

The head of German diplomacy warned this Saturday against a hybrid war waged by Russia, which seeks to divide Europe by encouraging the influx of refugees into its territory.

The minister fears that refugees will come from countries other than Ukraine in particular, because the war is hybrid and other countries are participating in it, accusing Serbia of contributing to a sharp increase in migrant arrivals in Europe.

EU member states collectively criticize the Balkan country as a gateway to the Union for Turkish, Indian, Tunisian, Cuban and Burundian migrants who do not need visas to enter.

Rejecting the situation of “people being used as a weapon”, Germany is particularly in contact with the Czech Republic and Slovakia to find solutions against the practical reactivation of the “Balkan Corridor”.

A local official said Saturday’s strike took place at an oil depot in the Russian region of Belgorod on the border with Ukraine, an area that has seen an increase in gunfire in recent days.

“Another explosion at home. One of the projectiles hit an oil depot,” regional governor Vyacheslav Kladkov said in his account. telegram. He posted a photo showing heavy black smoke billowing from the burning structure.

He said that the emergency services are currently trying to extinguish the fire. “There is no risk of contagion,” assured Vyacheslav Klatkov.

Iran on Saturday denied supplying Russia with weapons for use in the war in Ukraine, a country occupied by the Russian military.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said his country “does not supply and has not supplied weapons for use in war in Ukraine,” according to a statement from his ministry.

Kyiv and its Western allies accuse Moscow of using Iranian-made drones in attacks on Ukraine in recent weeks. The matter is expected to be discussed at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg on Monday.

The first Russian soldiers of a new military group between Moscow and Minsk have arrived in Belarus, Belarusian officials said Saturday, after this week’s announcement of the creation of the force to defend the country’s borders against a Ukrainian threat.

“The first trains of Russian soldiers forming the regional military group have arrived in Belarus,” the Belarusian Defense Ministry said in a statement, without specifying the number of Russian soldiers deployed in the formation.

SpaceX boss Elon Musk vowed on Friday that his company has no way to continue funding the Starlink internet network in Ukraine, prompting a US government takeover bid.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, SpaceX has provided thousands of terminals there that provide Internet connectivity through the cluster of satellites that make up the Starlink network.

On Friday, he warned that the space agency “cannot continue to fund the existing system indefinitely and send thousands of additional terminals (…). This is not fair.”

>> Our article can be found here.

BFMTV crews managed to get to Novovorontsovka, in the area. Gerson, and look at the progress of the Ukrainian military in the region. Exceptional pictures.

On the spot, uniforms, ammunition and canned goods were abandoned, witnesses of Russian setbacks.

“I think we won this war. Anyway, it’s a matter of time. You see, they left everything, they can’t manage,” said a Ukrainian soldier who participated in the counterattack.

>> read more In our article.

The United States will maintain an armored battalion in Lithuania until at least early 2026, a senior Lithuanian official said in Washington on Friday, amid continued threats from Russia.

The battalion has been stationed in Babret near the border with Belarus since 2019, but Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has raised fears of a Russian attack on NATO’s eastern flank.

“The actions we are seeing in Ukraine and attempts to further involve Belarus in a military offensive against Ukraine are unlikely to convince us,” said Kestudis Butris, national security adviser to the Lithuanian president.

Russia is acting “correctly” in Ukraine. Vladimir Putin sounded a note of self-satisfaction on Friday after nearly eight months of war, despite his military’s record of repeated setbacks against Ukrainian forces.

“What is happening now is not good, but (if Russia had not attacked Ukraine on February 24) a little later we would have been in the same situation, the conditions would have been worse for us. So we are doing everything right,” the Russian president replied to a journalist who asked if he regretted it.

Saudi Arabia on Saturday announced $400 million in humanitarian aid to Kyiv, the official SPA news agency reported.

The latter said Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke by phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and took the opportunity to “underline the Kingdom’s stance of supporting all that contributes to escalation and the Kingdom’s willingness to continue mediation efforts.”.

In September, Riyadh acted as an unexpected mediator, leading to a prisoner exchange between Moscow and Kiev.

>> article should be found Here.

The Pentagon and the State Department announced Friday that the United States will provide $725 million in military aid to Ukraine’s defense against a Russian invasion.

“This payment brings to an unprecedented $18.3 billion in U.S. military aid to Ukraine since Joe Biden took office,” U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in a statement.

Joe Biden on Monday pledged to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to “continue to provide Ukraine with what it needs to defend itself,” including advanced air defense systems.

>> Our full article on this announcement.

Welcome to this live stream dedicated to the conflict in Ukraine on Saturday, October 15, 2022.