Her sister, Pegah Eghbalzadeh, who is also a translator, paid tribute to Pante-a in an Instagram post on Tuesday.
Pante-a is the daughter of Shahram Eghbalzadeh, a well-known author and translator active in the same field.
She has translated many books such as ‘The Longest Night’ written by Marion Dane Bauer, and ‘A Family Like Ours,’ ‘Angela’s Airplane,’ among others.
Reports say Eghbalzadeh has committed suicide for unknown reasons.
The sources cited three reasons for keeping the sanctions: “Russia’s use of Iranian drones against Ukraine”; “the possibility Iran might transfer ballistic missiles to Russia”; and “depriving Iran of the nuclear deal’s benefits given Tehran has violated the accord, albeit only after the United States did so first”.
Both Iran and Russia have repeatedly denied claims that Tehran has provided Moscow with drones to be used in the war in Ukraine.
Keeping the EU sanctions would reflect Western efforts to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them despite the collapse of the 2015 agreement, which then-U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned in 2018.
Tehran has repeatedly stated that it has no intention of developing nuclear weapons, with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei even issuing religious edicts against the atom bomb and other weapons of mass destruction.
“The Iranians have been told quite clearly (of plans to keep the sanctions) and now the question is what, if any, retaliatory steps the Iranians might take and (how) to anticipate that,” said a Western diplomat on condition of anonymity.
The EU sanctions are set to expire on Oct. 18 under a U.N. resolution that enshrined the 2015 nuclear deal.
They “called upon” Iran not to do anything to develop ballistic missiles that could carry nuclear weapons, a phrase urging Iran not to do so but short of a mandatory prohibition.
They also barred anyone from buying, selling or transferring drones and their components capable of flying more than 300 km (186 miles) to or from Iran without prior authorization from the U.N. Security Council, permission that has not been granted.
It was not clear whether the E3, a group comprised of Britain, France and Germany, told Iran of their intent to retain the EU sanctions when their senior officials met Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani on June 12 in Abu Dhabi.
EU diplomat Enrique Mora, who co-ordinates talks on the 2015 deal, raised the issue of keeping the EU sanctions when he met Bagheri Kani in Doha on June 21, but the Iranian official refused to discuss the matter, an Iranian official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
A second Iranian official brushed off the possibility of the sanctions remaining, stating Tehran had advanced its nuclear and missile programs for years despite Western sanctions.
“Maintaining sanctions, in any capacity and form, will not hinder Iran’s ongoing advancements,” said this Iranian official, also on condition of anonymity.
“It serves as a reminder that the West cannot be relied upon and trusted,” the official added.
Britain’s foreign ministry did not comment on whether the E3 planned to keep the sanctions or had told Iran of any decision.
However, a British foreign ministry spokesperson said the June 12 talks in Abu Dhabi “covered the range of our concerns about Iran’s behaviour, including its continued nuclear escalation.”
France and Germany’s foreign ministries have made similar comments about those talks.
A European diplomat stated Mora had started laying the legal groundwork to retain the sanctions, which would have to be approved by all 27 EU members. Two sources said the issue had not yet been discussed among all EU states.
“The lifting of sanctions was based on the principle that 2231 would be respected,” this diplomat said, referring to the U.N. Security Council resolution that enshrined the 2015 deal.
“That has not been the case, so there is a discussion with the Iranians to make clear that we won’t lift these sanctions,” they added.
EU Spokesperson Nabila Massrali said the JCPOA sets out in some detail the commitments of different participants on the so-called Transition Day which was still several months away (Oct. 18).
“We will provide further information on EU related aspects in due course,” she added in response to detailed questions by Reuters.
Under the 2015 nuclear agreement, any party could trigger the “snapback” or return of all sanctions that it removed. Most U.S. sanctions were restored after Trump left the deal.
However, three sources stated that the E3 did not wish to do this chiefly because it would undercut a threat conveyed in a letter from their foreign ministers to Iran last year that they would trigger “snapback” if Iran enriched uranium to weapons-grade.
Iranian officials say the country’s missile activities are conventional, defensive and totally legitimate in accordance with international law.
Tehran has stressed that some western countries, which have themselves a long and clear record in trampling on their own international obligations in various fields such as nuclear tests, the non-proliferation regime, hosting nuclear missiles, and playing a destructive role in regional and international relations, do not have the right to comment on the Islamic Republic’s legitimate and totally lawful defense capabilities.
Iran has cautioned the United States that the window of opportunity for an agreement on reviving the nuclear deal will not remain open forever, urging Washington to adopt a constructive approach to salvage the accord.
Iran showed to the world the peaceful nature of its nuclear program by signing the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with six world states — namely the U.S., Germany, France, Britain, Russia and China. But, Washington’s unilateral withdrawal in May 2018 and its subsequent re-imposition of sanctions against Tehran left the future of the deal in limbo.
Negotiations between the parties to the landmark agreement kicked off in Vienna in April 2021, with the intention of bringing the U.S. back into the deal and putting an end to its “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran.
The discussions, however, have been at a standstill since August 2022 due to Washington’s insistence on not lifting all of the anti-Iran sanctions and offering the necessary guarantees that it will not exit the agreement again.
Nasser Kanaani reacted to a move by Sweden to give the green light to the opponents of Islam to desecrate Holy Qur’an again.
He said it is a provocative, ill-considered and unacceptable act to pave the way for the repeated desecration of divine sanctities, especially at the same time as the holy days of the Islamic Ummah and the gathering of millions of Muslims in the World Hajj Congress.
Referring to the efforts of the international community and human rights organizations to promote respect for religions and authentic religious teachings, Kanaani said insulting the holy books is an example of violence and spreading hatred, and is contrary to the original values of human rights.
Kanaani said, “The government and people of the Islamic Republic of Iran, like other Muslims and free thinkers of the world, do not tolerate such an insult and strongly condemn it.”
“The Swedish government is expected to prevent a repetition of the desecration of sanctities and seriously pay attention to the principle of responsibility and accountability in this regard,” he added.
On Wednesday a man believed to be of Iraqi origion tore up and burned a copy of Holy Quran outside Stockholm’s central mosque following a police permission.
On Thursday morning, worshipers in the Iranian capital, Tehran, and other cities countrywide joined the mass prayers of Eid al-Adha, one of the main holidays on the Islamic calendar.
In Tehran, the Eid prayers were performed at the University of Tehran and led by senior cleric Ayatollah Seyyed Ahmad Khatami.
Many government and military officials were among the worshippers.
The festivity honors the willingness of Prophet Ibrahim to sacrifice his son, Ismail, as an act of obedience to God’s command.
However, before he could sacrifice his son in the name of God, and because of his willingness to do so, God the Al-mighty provided him with a ram to sacrifice instead.
In commemoration of this intervention, animals are ritually sacrificed. Part of their meat is consumed by the family that offers the animal, while the rest of the meat is distributed among the poor and the needy.
Muslims worldwide mark the holiday by sacrificing livestock.
“A person in a car stopped near the American consulate building in Jeddah Governorate and got out of it carrying a firearm in his hand,” a spokesperson for the Mecca Region police said, adding, “So security authorities took the initiative to deal with him as required and the exchange of fire resulted in his death.”
The Saudi Press Agency (SPA), a state news outlet, reported the death of the security guard, who was part of the consulate’s private security.
No US citizens were injured in the gunfire, the US State Department said afterwards.
But, it added, “the US Embassy and Consulate remain in contact with Saudi authorities as they investigate the incident”.
The US consulate in the Red Sea port city, home to more than 4.7 million people, has been a target of violence before, including in 2016.
That year, security personnel identified a suspicious person near the parking lot of the Dr Suleiman Faqeeh Hospital, across the street from the consulate.
When they approached the individual, “he blew himself up with a suicide belt”, according to the Saudi interior ministry. The bomber was killed and two others injured.
The explosion coincided with the US Independence Day holiday, held on July 4, as well as the end of Ramadan that year. Three other suicide bombings occurred on the same day — one in Medina, targeting the Prophet’s Mosque, and two at a mosque in the eastern city of Qatif.
The consulate in Jeddah was also targeted in an attack in 2004, which saw five people breach the building with firearms and explosives.
Four Saudi security personnel were killed outside the consulate and five staff inside. Media reports at the time say that 18 employees and visa applicants were briefly held hostage before Saudi forces could arrive.
Three of the five attackers also died at the scene. The other two were wounded. In 2013, a Saudi Arabian court sentenced one man to death for his role in the 2004 attack and 19 more to 25 years in detention. The attack was blamed on al-Qaeda.
A statement by the Iranian government’s website said Tehran wants the the International Court of Justice to compel Canada to stop violating the Iranian government’s immunities as a sovereign state in Canadian courts and avoid repeating such breaches of international law in the future.
Iran’s filing to the court also demands compensation from Canada.
It said the violations began in 2012, when Ottawa listed Iran as a terror sponsor under “false and wrongful” allegations and then seized property and assets belonging to the Iranian government.
The statement said Canada has continued this “wrong process” in spite of repeated protests by Iran.
“Iran, through this move, once again showed [its adherence] to its principled position on the peaceful settlement of differences and commitment to the rule of law regarding relations between countries,” the statement said, expressing hope that Canada will change its “political approach” and stop violating its obligations.
Tehran said Canada had breached international law by court rulings ordering Iranian assets to be handed over to victims of various attacks that Canada blames on groups backed by Iran.
The Hague-based court confirmed in a statement that Iran had launched legal proceedings against Canada on Tuesday.
Iran said in its filing to the court that “Canada has adopted and implemented a series of legislative, executive, and judicial measures against Iran and its property [since 2012] in breach of its international obligations,” said the statement.
“Iran respectfully requests the Court to adjudge and declare that by failing to respect the immunities of Iran and its property, Canada has violated its international obligations toward Iran,” it added.
It also noted that Iran demanded compensation from Canada for the “violation of its international obligations”, and asked the ICJ to tell Ottawa to overrule any judgments against Tehran in Canadian courts.
Tehran has also filed a case against Washington over using billions of dollars in assets frozen to compensate victims of alleged terror attacks.
In March, ICJ judges ruled Washington had illegally allowed courts to freeze assets of some Iranian companies and ordered Washington to pay compensation, but left the amount to be determined later.
The statement by the Iranian government also rejected Canada’s frequent accusations that Iran supports terrorism and violates human rights.
The statement said Canada has systematically violated human rights, supported the “dominating and interventionist” foreign policies of the US, and has acted as an accomplice in the Israeli regime’s inhumane crimes in Palestine and southwest Asia.
“It shouldn’t be forgotten that the Canadian government has in its anti-human rights record the genocide of hundreds of native indigenous children at compulsory schools and the mass burial of these innocent children,” it added, referring to recent discoveries of hundreds of graves of indigenous children at former government-run compulsory boarding schools in Canada.
Canada broke off diplomatic ties with Iran and closed its Tehran embassy in a surprise move in 2012, citing various reasons including Iran’s support for Syria, its nuclear work and alleged threats to the Israeli regime.
Speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City on Wednesday, the top United States diplomat stated both Saudi Arabia and Israel are “interested” in the prospect of normalisation.
“It is incredibly challenging, hard – not something that can happen overnight,” Blinken said.
“But it’s also a real prospect, and one that we’re working on because … both the Saudis and Israelis are looking for us to play a particular role in that effort. We’re very much engaged in it,” he added.
Blinken visited Saudi Arabia earlier in June with the explicit objective of promoting normalisation after declaring it a “national security interest” of the US.
Although he did not secure a deal between the two countries during his trip to the region, his remarks on Wednesday showed that the administration of President Joe Biden is pushing on with that campaign.
The top US diplomat’s comments also came amid an apparent regional realignment after Iran and Saudi Arabia re-established their own diplomatic ties after years of animosity.
Few Arabs states have recognised Israel – a key US ally in the region – since its establishment in 1948, but former US President Donald Trump’s administration helped secure agreements to forge formal relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco in 2020.
Sudan also agreed in 2021 to join the normalisation deals, known as the Abraham Accords.
Israeli leaders have said they are seeking to include Saudi Arabia in the normalisation deals.
For their part, Saudi officials have said Riyadh is sticking by the Arab Peace Initiative, which conditions normalisation with Israel on its withdrawal from Arab territories and the establishment of a Palestinian state, as well as finding a “fair solution” to the plight of Palestinian refugees.
As the Joe Biden administration continued to encourage deeper ties between Israel and Arab states, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has raged on – with the right-wing Israeli government expanding illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and intensifying violence against Palestinians.
US officials have voiced opposition to settlement-building while also stressing “ironclad” support for Israel. The US provides at least $3.4bn in aid to Israel annually.
On Wednesday, Blinken warned that unrest between Israelis and Palestinians makes it more difficult for Washington’s normalisation drive.
“We’ve told our friends and allies in Israel that if there’s a fire burning in their back yard, it’s going to be a lot tougher – if not impossible – to actually both deepen the existing agreements as well as to expand them to include potentially Saudi Arabia,” he stated.
Blinken went on to suggest that settlement expansion is not in Israel’s interest.
“If Israel were to find itself – either by intent or by accident – responsible for the West Bank with three million Palestinians and 500,000-plus settlers, what is that going to mean in terms of the allocation of resources, including security resources, that Israel otherwise needs to be concerned about when it comes to Gaza, when it comes to Lebanon, when it comes to Iran?” Blinken asked.
As the occupying power that controls the West Bank’s ports of entry, air space, imports and exports and security, Israel is already responsible for the territory, according to international law.
Leading rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have accused Israel of imposing a system of apartheid on Palestinians.
Khalil Jahshan, executive director of the Arab Center Washington DC, a think tank, told Al Jazeera earlier this month that prioritising Saudi Arabia-Israel normalisation was a “distorted interpretation” of US national interest.
He added the Biden administration is “weak” and looking for a boost before the presidential elections next year, so it is reinforcing the normalisation push despite its unpopularity among Arab people.
“Maybe those who advocate that line are basically telling us the absence of war and enmity between those two countries is cheaper and more secure for the United States. But frankly, when was the last time Saudi Arabia and Israel clashed militarily? Never,” Jahshan continued.
Despite the violence in Israel and Palestine and the Saudi-Iranian rapprochement, Blinken said on Wednesday that the Middle East is seeing a “de-escalation of conflict and crisis with one notable exception – Iran”.
US media reports have recently outlined a looming US-Iran informal understanding to ease tensions and partly curb Tehran’s nuclear programme, but Blinken said there is “no agreement in the offing” between the two countries.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has been weakened by the Wagner rebellion over the weekend which shows that he is “not the only master in town” and “has lost the monopoly of force,” the European Union’s foreign policy chief said Thursday.
The global community has to be “very much aware of the consequences,” Josep Borrell cautioned as he spoke to journalists at a scheduled high-level meeting of European leaders in Brussels.
“A weaker Putin is a greater danger,” he added, explaining why an unstable Russia is also “a risk.”
“Until now, we were looking at Russia as a threat because it was force,” Borrell continued, stating, “Now we have to look at Russia as at risk because of the internal instability.”
Western officials have privately acknowledged that Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russia is not going well, and that future military assistance to Kiev may diminish as a result, the Financial Times has reported.
“Russia still has the advantage of mass,” General Christopher Cavoli, NATO’s top commander in Europe, told a private gathering last week. He reportedly added that Ukraine has not achieved any significant success in its operation.
“For better or worse, the outcome [of the operation] is going to impact everything we do regarding Ukraine, and we are all aware of that,” a senior European diplomat told the FT on condition of anonymity.
“Funding, support, political engagement… and most importantly the peace talks that are coming whether we like them or not,” the diplomat added.
Publicly, Western officials have pledged to support Ukraine for “as long as it takes” to defeat Russia. However, Moscow has warned that by arming and training Ukrainian troops, the US and its allies are prolonging the conflict and will not alter its outcome. The Western approach amounts to “fighting to the last Ukrainian,” Russian officials have stated.
The FT cited the assessments to illustrate internal discussions in the West. EU leaders are set to offer formal security commitments to Ukraine, and the newspaper said it had obtained a draft copy of the final statement being considered at an ongoing summit in Brussels.
EU members France and Germany, along with the UK and the US, are seeking to provide bilateral security arrangements. The deal would serve as a “stopgap” to give Kiev “confidence in enduring Western support” and ensure that the EU is not sidelined by NATO, the daily added. Ireland, Malta and Austria are reportedly against extending vaguely defined commitments.
Ukrainian officials have insisted they will pursue military action until they have reclaimed all the territory lost to Russia. A Ukrainian law also bans any negotiations with Moscow as long as Russian President Vladimir Putin remains in office.
Moscow has said it is prepared for peace talks under certain conditions, and that Kiev’s uncompromising stance, calcified by continued Western support, stands in the way of diplomacy.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, has been told that he will be deprived of financing if his fighters do not sign contracts with the defense ministry, the RIA news agency cited a senior lawmaker as saying on Thursday.
Colonel-General Andrei Kartapolov, an influential lawmaker who chairs the lower house of parliament’s defense committee, said Prigozhin had refused to sign the contracts and was subsequently told that his mercenaries would no longer fight in Ukraine, TASS reported.
A group of EU member countries led by France is working on a draft of a declaration on “security commitments” to Ukraine and would like to approve it at the June 29-30 EU summit, Financial Times (FT) reported on Thursday.
According to the newspaper’s sources, the draft was prepared by France. It “is aimed at sending a very clear political signal to Ukraine and Russia.”
It is presumed that the declaration would allow the EU to participate in creating a security system for Ukraine, including in cooperation with NATO. The draft mentions that EU countries “stand ready to contribute, together with partners, to future security commitments to Ukraine, which will help Ukraine defend itself in the long term, deter acts of aggression and resist destabilization efforts”.
The newspaper reports that the text of the declaration may change while its authors will take account of “defense policy of certain member states,” referring to the neutral status of some EU countries. For instance, the current project met resistance from Austria, Ireland and Malta, which want clarity on what the “security commitments” to the Kiev regime would entail.
“For better or worse the outcome [of the Ukrainian counteroffensive] is going to impact everything we do regarding Ukraine, and we are all aware of that,” said an anonymous senior European diplomat.
“Funding, support, political engagement… and most importantly the peace talks that are coming whether we like them or not,” he added.
Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated on Thursday he had no information about current whereabouts of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of Wagner private military company.
“I do not have this information,” Peskov told journalists in response to a relevant question.
Peskov also refused to comment whether it should be expected to witness resignations of law enforcement and military officials, who either spoke directly with Prigozhin or maintained other sources of connection with him.
“This question simply goes beyond my authorities,” he added.
A failed mutiny by the Wagner mercenary group in Russia over the weekend shows “cracks and divisions” within the country, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday.
“At the same time, it is important to underline that these are internal Russian matters and it’s too early to draw any final conclusions,” he stated, speaking before a two-day European Council summit in Brussels that will take place on Thursday and Friday.
“What matters for NATO is that we will continue to support Ukraine,” Stoltenberg added, noting that EU countries have begun training Ukrainian pilots how to use F-16 fighter jets.
“The most important thing and the most immediate and urgent task is to support Ukraine to ensure that Ukraine prevails as a sovereign independent nation in Europe,” he continued.
The Kremlin says there was a constant threat of “provocations” from the Ukrainian side regarding the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said inspectors had recently been at the site to check on the safety of the plant.
The UN atomic energy agency has frequently appealed to both sides to avoid shelling near Europe’s largest nuclear plant.
Questions are still swirling around the future of Yevgeny Prigozhin following his short-lived insurrection on Saturday.
The owner of the Wagner private military group has not been seen in public since late on Saturday night. He released an audio message on Monday, but has not appeared in any videos or photos that would confirm his whereabouts.
According to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, the Wagner chief arrived in Belarus Tuesday. Satellite imagery showed two planes linked to Prigozhin landed at an airbase outside the country’s capital.
Lukashenko said he brokered a deal that allowed Prigozhin to go to Belarus without facing criminal charges in Russia, but details of this deal remain scarce.
Prigozhin, a former ally of Vladimir Putin, made his millions the founder and bombastic leader of Russia’s private military group Wagner.
The Wagner chief became a wealthy oligarch by winning lucrative catering contracts with the Kremlin, earning him the moniker “Putin’s chef.”
Once a shadowy figure, he rose to prominence as the founder of Russia’s private military group Wagner which has played a key role in multiple battles in Russia’s war on Ukraine.
General Sergey Surovikin, the commander of the Russian air force, has not been seen in public since overnight on Friday when he issued a video appeal to Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin to cease his rebellion.
Rumors about his whereabouts — and his potential role in the short-lived insurrection — have been swirling in recent days.
On Wednesday, the Russian-language version of the Moscow Times cited two anonymous defense sources as saying that Surovikin had been arrested in relation to the failed mutiny. CNN has not been able to independently verify that claim.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that he was unable to answer questions about the speculation around Surovikin and referred journalists’ inquiries to the Russian defense ministry.
Asked whether Russian President Vladimir Putin continued to trust Surovikin, Peskov added: “He [Putin] is the supreme commander-in-chief and he works with the defense minister, [and] with the chief of the General Staff. As for the structural divisions within the ministry, I would ask you to contact the [Defense] Ministry.”
The video released on Friday has raised more questions than answers about Surovikin’s whereabouts and state of mind. He appears in the footage unshaven and with a halting delivery, apparently reading from a script.
A popular blogger going by the name Rybar noted on Wednesday that “Surovikin has not been seen since Saturday [and] it is not known for certain where ‘General Armageddon’ [a nickname Surovikin was given by the Russian press] is. There is a version that he is under interrogation.”
A well-known Russian journalist Alexey Venediktov – former editor of the now shuttered Echo Moscow radio station – also claimed on Wednesday that Surovikin had not been in contact with his family for three days.
Other Russian commentators have suggested the general was not in custody.
A former Russian member of Parliament Sergey Markov said on Telegram that Surovikin had attended a meeting in Rostov on Thursday, although he did not say how he knew this.
“Surovikin appeared at a meeting in Rostov,” he continued, adding, “As I wrote above, the rumors about the arrest of Surovikin are dispersing the topic of rebellion in order to promote political instability in Russia.”
Citing US officials who it said were briefed on American intelligence, the New York Times reported on Wednesday that Surovikin “had advance knowledge of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s plans to rebel against Russia’s military leadership.”
Who is General Surovikin?
Surovikin, whose military career began in 1983, has a checkered history and a reputation for alleged brutality.
Surovikin first served in Afghanistan in the 1980s before commanding a unit in the Second Chechen War in 2004. He was the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces during Russia’s operations in Syria, which saw Russian combat aircraft causing widespread devastation in rebel-held areas.
In 2004, according to Russian media accounts and at least two think tanks, he berated a subordinate so severely that the subordinate took his own life.
And a book by the Washington DC-based Jamestown Foundation, a think tank, said that during the unsuccessful coup attempt against former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev in August 1991, soldiers under Surovikin’s command killed three protesters, leading to Surovikin spending at least six months in prison.
In a 2020 report, Human Rights Watch named him as “someone who may bear command responsibility” for the dozens of air and ground attacks on civilian objects and infrastructure in violation of the laws of war” during the 2019-2020 Idlib offensive in Syria.
The attacks killed at least 1,600 civilians and forced the displacement of an estimated 1.4 million people, according to HRW, which cites UN figures.
The Kremlin says its data suggests there is continued strong support among Russians for the “special military operation” in Ukraine and President Vladimir Putin.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was responding to a question about a survey suggesting an equal number of people supported negotiations to end the conflict to those who favoured continuing it.
“The data we have show something quite different – dominant support for the special military operation and for the president,” stated Peskov.
“The main thing for Russians is achieving the goals before us which were formulated by the president,” Peskov added.
Russia has opened a criminal case against 160 foreign mercenaries fighting in Ukraine, the Russian Tass news agency reported, citing the investigative committee.
A report by the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation said, “As a result of interaction with the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation and other operational services, evidence of the participation of mercenaries from Georgia, the United States, Latvia, Sweden and other states has been collected. Currently, 160 foreigners from 33 countries are being prosecuted.”
The committee added that investigations of those involved in recruitment and the participation of mercenaries on the side of the Ukrainian forces are continuing.
The death toll from Tuesday’s Russian missile strike on a busy area of the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk has risen to 12, Ukrainian officials announced Thursday.
Search and rescue operations amidst the rubble have ended as of Thursday morning, Ukraine’s Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko said.
Three children were among the 12 people that died, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said. The strike hit a popular city center lined with restaurants, businesses and apartment buildings.
Thursday’s announcements came a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said police detained a person suspected of coordinating the deadly attack.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed that the target hit in the strike was a temporary command post of a Ukrainian army unit.
Ukrainian forces are advancing “slowly but surely” on the front lines in the east and southeast of the country as well as around the longstanding flashpoint of Bakhmut, senior military officials have said.
Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief General Valery Zaluzhny told Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley that his forces had “succeeded in seizing the strategic initiative”.
“Ukraine’s defence forces are proceeding with their offensive action and we have made advances. The enemy is offering strong resistance, while sustaining considerable losses,” Zaluzhny wrote on Telegram.
Since launching an anticipated counteroffensive this month, nearly 16 months into the war, Ukraine says it has reasserted control over clusters of villages in the southeast and along the flanks of Bakhmut.
Some 65% of Americans support continued military aid to Ukraine, up from 46% in May, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll published on Wednesday. Other surveys, however, show a fall in support for President Joe Biden’s promise of unlimited weapons for Kiev.
Conducted earlier this week, the poll found bipartisan support for arming Ukraine, with 81% of Democrats and 56% of Republicans in favor. This result mirrors the situation in Congress, where Biden’s Democrats are almost unanimous in backing arms deliveries, while the GOP is split between an establishment that backs the weapons shipments and a pro-Trump, isolationist wing in opposition.
The poll is an outlier among other recent surveys, which show a steady decline in support for Biden’s Ukraine policy. Figures published by Pew Research last week show that 28% of Americans now think the US is giving “too much” money to Ukraine, up from 7% last March, when Russia launched its military operation. The share of respondents who think that the current level of aid is “not enough” has fallen from 42% to 16% in that same timeframe.
Pew found that 39% of Americans “strongly” or “somewhat” approve of Biden’s response to the conflict, while 35% disapprove.
A poll conducted by the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy late last month found that 50% of US adults still favor sending weapons to Ukraine, compared with 61% in May 2022. Just 26% of US adults believe their government should play a “major role” in the conflict, down from 40% in March 2022, the poll revealed.
In the time between the two most recent Reuters surveys, the US has announced four weapons packages for Ukraine, worth a combined $1.5 billion. The Pentagon said the contents of these packages would be drawn from US military stocks, while an additional $2.2 billion would be spent procuring weapons for Kiev from arms manufacturers.
As of Tuesday, the US has committed more than $40.5 billion in direct military aid to Ukraine since last February.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated the coordinator involved in Tuesday’s deadly attack on Kramatorsk was detained by police.
“Today, the Security Service of Ukraine together with the police special forces detained the person who coordinated this terrorist attack,” Zelensky said in his nightly address on Wednesday.
According to the Ukrainian president, the detained person is being charged with treason and might face life imprisonment.
Zelensky called people involved in the Kramatorsk attack “betrayers of humanity.”
“Everyone who helps Russian terrorists destroy life deserves the maximum punishment,” Zelensky added.
“And this applies not only to some collaborators. Everything is clear about them. These are people without humanity. Anyone in the world who does not understand that one cannot be an accomplice of a terrorist state must be held accountable by the entire international community,” he continued.
Zelensky did not give further details of who the alleged coordinator is or their nationality.
More than 100 people have died following the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam in Kherson earlier this month, according to an update Wednesday from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
More than 60 bodies were found on Saturday and Sunday alone, according to the update.
The collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam is one of the biggest industrial and ecological disasters in Europe for decades. The catastrophe has destroyed entire villages, flooded farmland, deprived tens of thousands of people of power and clean water, and caused massive environmental damage.
It’s still impossible to say whether the dam collapsed because it was deliberately targeted or if the breach could have been caused by structural failure. The dam and hydroelectric power plant are under Russian control and therefore inaccessible to independent investigators, leaving experts around the world trying to piece together what happened based on limited visual evidence.
Several Western officials have blamed Russia for the disaster, either directly accusing Moscow of targeting the dam or saying that Russia is responsible simply because it is the aggressor in the war on Ukraine.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said he “did not doubt” the support of Russian citizens during the Wagner rebellion over the weekend, according to a Kremlin readout on Wednesday.
“There is no person in Dagestan who would not support the decisions of the leadership of the Russian Federation, which were adopted on June 24 this year,” Dagestan’s President Sergey Melikov said at a working meeting with Putin.
“I had no doubts about the reactions in Dagestan and throughout the country,” Putin replied.
Putin visited the Dagestan region on Wednesday and was met by excited supporters in the streets of the city of Derbent, according to video posted by the Kremlin.
The State Department said the United States “unequivocally condemns” the Russian missile strike on the Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk on Tuesday.
“The US unequivocally condemns the targeting of civilians and offers our sincere condolences to those lost in this most recent strike in the city center. We are appalled by this, but unfortunately not surprised by Russia’s conduct. This is another example of Russia’s continuing escalation and the sheer brutality of its war of aggression in Ukraine,” according to Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel.
“While others are focused on pursuing a way to end this war, Russia is again undertaking strikes, sending drones and missiles into residential areas of a neighboring country,” Patel added.
At least 14 servicemen from the Pskov region in Russia were killed in early June during an incursion that happened in the Belgorod region, said Pskov Gov. Mikhail Vedernikov in a video message posted on his Telegram on Wednesday.
“A difficult event that needs to be mentioned is the farewell to servicemen from Velikiye Luki, Pskov, Novosokolniki, Pustoshka and Opochka districts. They died at the beginning of the month during the attack of the sabotage and reconnaissance group on the Belgorod region. The funerals took place both last week and this week. Unfortunately, these are not the last mourning events. At the moment, we know of at least 14 who died in those days,” said Vedernikov.
According to Vedernikov, at least 10 Pskov military personnel were also captured during the incursion.
“They were shown by Ukrainian propaganda and its accomplices from among the treacherous armed formations. At the same time, a resonant video appeared with a proposal to the governor of the Belgorod region Vyacheslav Gladkov about an exchange on neutral territory. As we now know, there is no fair exchange with militants from pseudo-Russian terrorist organizations. It was a banal trap. We did everything possible to speed up negotiations on the exchange of our prisoners,” he added.
According to the Pskov governor, three Russian servicemen have already been exchanged.
“This did not happen yesterday. Relatives were notified long ago. But we decided not to make sensational news out of this because the moment is very difficult for everyone. There are procedures that are carried out by counterintelligence,” said Vedernikov.
The region of Belgorod has seen a growing incidence of cross-border fire, in both directions, as well as incursions from Ukraine by groups calling themselves anti-Putin Russian partisans.
The death toll from Tuesday’s attack on the eastern city of Kramatorsk has risen to 11, the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs said on Telegram Wednesday.
The Ukrainian Security Service said it detained a man who allegedly scouted a Kramatorsk pizzeria in the city’s center and sent a video of the site to the Russian Armed Forces prior to the strike Tuesday.
The head of the Donetsk region military administration, Pavlo Kyrylenko, said Russia carried out the attack using Iskander missiles. The strike damaged 32 buildings, he added.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed that the target hit in the strike was actually a temporary command post of the Ukrainian army unit.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday that there have been no serious proposals from the West to resolve the conflict in Ukraine.
“There were no serious proposals from anyone at all. I mean the West,” said Lavrov in an interview with the Big Game program, excerpts of which were published on the official website of the foreign ministry.
According to Lavrov, the longer Ukraine and the West delay a peaceful settlement, the more “difficult it will be to negotiate.”
Last year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky presented a 10-point peace plan to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to G20 leaders that included a path to nuclear safety, food security, a special tribunal for alleged Russian war crimes, and a final peace treaty with Moscow.
The Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, said that the failed Wagner insurrection destroyed the myth of the invincibility of the Russian army, in an interview with CNN’s Chief International Anchor Christiane Amanpour.
Yermak, speaking from Kyiv, stated the events of recent days had “destroyed the myth of the invincibility of the Russian Army…it’s finally destroyed the myth, that everything in Russia is under control.”
The rebellion was just “one more [piece of] evidence that Putin’s attempt to revive the USSR has finally failed. I think it’s a very strong signal that the war in Ukraine is terrible, barbaric, illegal invasion,” Yermak added.
He also said, “Everything which has happened in Russia [these] last days is the result of this war,” adding, “I think after this even, more people in the world are sure about Ukrainian victory.”
Ukraine’s leadership says they have made gains “on all fronts” since the weekend.
Amanpour then pressed Yermak, as to whether the insurrection was the first serious chink in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s armor, or if it would only cause the longtime leader to double-down on his views and control of the nation.
Yermak said, “These last days they were confirmed that they don’t control the situation, they are not living in reality, and of course they can’t make the real decisions.” He also said he thought “we all over the world are seeing this show…I think it will have historical and very serious influence for everything which will be in the future.”
“I’m sure that many people in the world, especially many world leaders will change his opinion and trust of everything said,” Yermak added.
The statement by the Russian Defense Ministry added that Bagheri and Shoigu expressed willingness to increase their talks over defense issues.
The top Iranian general invited Russia’s defense chief to visit Tehran.
The conversation between the two comes days after a military mutiny in Russia which did not lead to a serious escalation after the rebellious group of militias agreed to stand down to avoid bloodshed in Russia and in return they were spared by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Following the mutiny, Iran announced its support for Russia’s sovereignty
Nasser Ashoury however said sometimes, due to major repairs, gasoline production fluctuates.
Ashoury added that now around 115 million liters of gas is consumed per day nationwide, which of course will increase with the beginning of the holidays and then consumption decreases.
He proposed that the government find solutions that would manage consumption with the same amount of gas output.
One solution, Ashoury said, is to develop the CNG industry and increase its share in the fuel basket, which can replace gasoline.
He noted that Iranian cars’ gas consumption is twice the world standard.
According to Ashoury, this amount needs to be halved by reforming the auto industry.
He also underlined that this year, Iran’s gas production has not only not decreased but also increased compared to the past, but naturally with the current capacity, Iran cannot meet the daily demand of 150 million liters of gasoline, unless other refineries such as Mehr Persian Gulf Project are put into operation.
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