President Putin slams growing Western arms deliveries to Ukraine
Published: 05:01 PM,Jan 16,2023 | EDITED : 09:01 PM,Jan 16,2023
Moscow: President Vladimir Putin on Monday slammed Kyiv’s “destructive” policies and growing Western arms supplies to Ukraine in a phone call with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Kremlin said.
“Vladimir Putin drew attention to the destructive line of the Kyiv regime, which has bet on the intensification of hostilities with the support of Western sponsors, who are ramping up the supplies of weapons and military equipment,” the Kremlin said after the phone talks.
Meanwhile, the toll from a devastating Russian strike on Dnipro rose to 40 on Monday, as more bodies were pulled from the debris of one of Russia’s deadliest attacks since its invasion.
Residents gathered to watch as cranes removed collapsing sections of the Soviet-style residential building that was ripped open by the strike in central Ukraine on Saturday.
The emergency services gave the new toll specifying that three children were among those dead and that 34 people were still unaccounted for.
The Kremlin claimed to reporters its forces were not responsible and pointed to an unsubstantiated theory circulating on social media that Ukrainian air defence systems had caused the damage.
“The Russian armed forces do not strike residential buildings or social infrastructure. They strike military targets,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Ukraine leader Volodymyr Zelensky said late Sunday that search operations would go on as long as necessary and condemned Russia’s “cowardly silence” over the attack.
EU presidency holder Sweden condemned “in the strongest terms” the attack, with Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson telling reporters that “intentional attacks against civilians are war crimes”. The rising cost of the strike came as Russia and its close ally Belarus announced the beginning of new joint military drills. Belarus, which has been a key ally to Russia throughout the conflict, allowed Moscow’s forces to launch their invasion from Belarusian territory last February. — Reuters
“Vladimir Putin drew attention to the destructive line of the Kyiv regime, which has bet on the intensification of hostilities with the support of Western sponsors, who are ramping up the supplies of weapons and military equipment,” the Kremlin said after the phone talks.
Meanwhile, the toll from a devastating Russian strike on Dnipro rose to 40 on Monday, as more bodies were pulled from the debris of one of Russia’s deadliest attacks since its invasion.
Residents gathered to watch as cranes removed collapsing sections of the Soviet-style residential building that was ripped open by the strike in central Ukraine on Saturday.
The emergency services gave the new toll specifying that three children were among those dead and that 34 people were still unaccounted for.
The Kremlin claimed to reporters its forces were not responsible and pointed to an unsubstantiated theory circulating on social media that Ukrainian air defence systems had caused the damage.
“The Russian armed forces do not strike residential buildings or social infrastructure. They strike military targets,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Ukraine leader Volodymyr Zelensky said late Sunday that search operations would go on as long as necessary and condemned Russia’s “cowardly silence” over the attack.
EU presidency holder Sweden condemned “in the strongest terms” the attack, with Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson telling reporters that “intentional attacks against civilians are war crimes”. The rising cost of the strike came as Russia and its close ally Belarus announced the beginning of new joint military drills. Belarus, which has been a key ally to Russia throughout the conflict, allowed Moscow’s forces to launch their invasion from Belarusian territory last February. — Reuters