British intelligence believes “with a large margin of certainty” that Russia is stepping up arms receipts from Iran and North Korea, countries subject to severe international sanctions.
The British Ministry of Defense said in a statement on Wednesday that the loss of an Iranian Shahed-136 unmanned aerial vehicle (drone) near Ukraine’s frontline “suggests the realistic possibility that Russia is attempting to use these systems to conduct tactical strikes.” .
London emphasizes that such devices – a drone with a range of 2,500 kilometers – have already been deployed in the Middle East in the past, including an attack on the oil tanker MT Mercer Street off the coast of Oman in 2021.
In early August, the US newspaper The New York Times revealed that Moscow was buying projectiles and missiles from North Korea, information backed by the Pentagon.
This data comes at a time when the withdrawal of Russian troops from northeastern Ukraine in the face of a counter-attack from Kiev has increased political pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russia adds 30 Britons to blacklist for ‘anti-Russian news’
However, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that 30 Britons remain on the blacklist of people not allowed to enter the country, accusing them of supporting Ukraine and spreading anti-Russian news.
“The decision has been taken to blacklist 30 leaders of British entities responsible for the coordinated promotion of an anti-Russian intelligence agenda and representatives of the British defense ‘lobby’,” Russian diplomacy said in a statement. declaration.
The ministry justified the measure due to the “unfriendly” course of the United Kingdom, “in which London is taking steps to discredit Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine and provide consistent aid to the Nazi regime in Kiev”.
Under the sanctioned The statement from the Russian multinational named the director of the Public Relations and Communications Association, Francis Ingham, the co-founder of the PR Network, Nicky REgazzoni, and the chemical weapons expert Hamish of Bretton-Gordon.
The Russian Foreign Ministry accuses Ingham of calling on British companies to cut economic ties with Russia and of coordinating anti-Russian information campaigns with Regazzoni.
Russian diplomacy criticized Bretton-Gordon for “providing expert opinions” on Russia’s intention to use chemical weapons in Britain and Ukraine.
The Russian invasion – justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin, with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security – was condemned by the generality of the international community, which has responded by sending arms to Ukraine and impose it on Russia. political and economic sanctions.
The UN has confirmed more than 5,800 dead civilians and about 8,400 injured since the start of the war, stressing that these numbers are far below the actual number.
Russia’s military offensive launched into Ukraine on Feb. 24 has already led to more than 13 million people fleeing — more than six million internally displaced persons and more than seven million to neighboring countries — according to the latest UN ranking data. refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945).
The Russian invasion was condemned by the international community at large, which responded by sending arms to Ukraine and imposing political and economic sanctions on Russia.
News updated at 21:20
Source: DN
