Home » Russia and Belarus hold joint military exercise after Dnipro city in Ukraine is attacked | Ukraine War News

Russia and Belarus hold joint military exercise after Dnipro city in Ukraine is attacked | Ukraine War News

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The death toll from a devastating missile attack in the city of Dnipro is rising as more bodies are found beneath the rubble. It was one of the deadliest attacks since Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine 11 months ago.

Some residents of the central Ukrainian city watched as cranes removed the collapsed part of a local Soviet-style residential building – which was destroyed in an attack two days earlier – on Sunday.

Ukrainian emergency services said 40 people had died, including three children, and 34 people were still missing.

Kyiv blamed Moscow for the attack, but the Kremlin said Russian forces were not responsible, pointing to an unsubstantiated claim circulating on social media that Ukraine’s air defenses were responsible for the damage.

“Russian armed forces do not attack residential buildings or civilian infrastructure. They attack military targets,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who also suggested that Ukrainian air defenses had hit caused by a Russian missile.

Ukrainian President Zelensky said late on the 15th that search and rescue operations would continue as long as necessary. He also condemned Russia’s “cowardly silence” on the attack, but as of the afternoon of the 16th, more survivors had been found. The chances of the latter appear to be very slim.

Russia and Belarus hold joint military drills

Russia and its close ally Belarus have held joint military exercises amid the rising cost of airstrikes.

Belarus is one of the only countries that unquestionably supported Russia during the Russia-Ukraine conflict. In February last year, Belarus also allowed Russian troops to launch military operations against Ukraine from its own territory.

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The Belarusian Ministry of Defense stated that the air force exercise will include joint “tactical” flights and that every airport in Belarus will participate.

Pavel Muraviko, First Deputy State Secretary of the Belarusian Security Council, pointed out in a speech released by the Ministry of Defense of the country on the 15th that “this exercise is purely defensive in nature.”

Al Jazeera’s reporter from Moscow said the focus of the exercise was “focused on patrolling and resupplying during the operation”.

“It’s seen as a defensive exercise, not an offensive exercise, and that’s the perspective we’re taking in general when we talk about these exercises,” the reporter noted.

He also said, “But the question of Belarus’ role in this war and whether this will have an impact on the current war remains a concern.”

Emergency workers find dozens of dead and injured amid the rubble of an apartment complex in Dnipro city, which was hit on Jan. 14, 2023 (Reuters)

At the same time, Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, plans to deploy an observer mission to nuclear power plants across Ukraine on the 16th. Securing nuclear facilities has been a critical issue during Russia’s military operations against Ukraine.

Grossi tweeted, “I am proud to lead this delegation to Ukraine, where we will be deploying personnel at all nuclear power plants in the country to help maintain nuclear safety and security.”

And there is another thing that can show that the impact of this war has gone far beyond Ukraine, that is, German Defense Minister Lambrecht has resigned on the 16th-in the past few months, she has been criticized by Berlin. has been criticized for its slow response to the Ukraine war.

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Russo-Ukrainian War
UK pledges 14 Challenger 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine (Al Jazeera)

Against the backdrop of a nearly year-long war that continues, Ukraine is pressuring its Western backers to supply its army with tanks, especially the German-designed Leopard.

The UK pledged over the weekend to supply Ukraine with 14 Challenger 2 main battle tanks, which would make the UK the first western country to supply Ukraine with heavy tanks.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov predicted the tanks would have little impact on Ukraine’s war effort.

“These tanks are being burned and will be the same in the future,” Peskov said.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in an interview with German media on the 15th, “The recent commitment to heavy combat equipment is very important, and I expect that there will be more commitments in the near future.”

Polish Prime Minister Morawiecki urged the German government to provide Ukraine with a variety of weapons on the 16th, and expressed the hope that Berlin will soon approve the supply of main battle tanks.

The Institute for War Research, a think tank based in Washington, D.C., reported that there were signs that the Kremlin was trying to turn the military operation into “a major routine operation” after months of embarrassing military setbacks. war”.

Over the past few months, Russia has been forced to withdraw from many of its occupied territories as a result of the successful Ukrainian counteroffensive.

In a report late on the 15th, the Institute of War Research pointed out that “the Kremlin is likely to be ready to take decisive strategic actions within the next six months to regain the initiative and end Ukraine’s current series of operational successes.”

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The report pointed to reports that the Russian military command is “seriously preparing” to expand mobilization efforts, retaining mobilized personnel for future use, while Russia also seeks to boost its military-industrial production and restructure its command structure.

The think tank pointed out that this means that Ukraine’s Western allies “need to continue to support Ukraine in the long run”.

On the other hand, Ukrainian officials said on the 16th that Russian troops continued to shell the southern city of Kherson, which Ukraine captured late last year.

The governor of the region, Yaroslav Yanusevich, said a woman was killed in an attack on a residential building, while Russian troops damaged an empty children’s hospital.

In Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, the Moscow-appointed head of the military city of Sevastopol said Russian forces shot down seven drones in 24 hours.

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