Ukraine live briefing: Russia says drones swarmed Crimea overnight; U.S. sanctions Russian elite
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Russia’s Defense Ministry said Saturday that forces intercepted 20 drones targeting Crimea during the night, the third day in a row that Russia has reported an attempted drone attack. The Kremlin has accused Ukraine of ramping up attacks on the capital, Moscow, and the Crimean Peninsula that Russia illegally annexed. While Kyiv has not officially claimed responsibility for the swarms of drones, a Ukrainian officials have suggested that Moscow residents should expect daily attacks.
In the United States, the Department of Treasury has imposed sanctions on four men who have served on the board of Alfa Group, one of Russia’s largest financial and investment giants.
Here’s the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said air defenses shot down 14 of the latest drones over Crimea and electronic warfare systems blocked the rest. It said there were no casualties or major damage. The Washington Post could not independently verify the claim.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fired all heads of regional military recruitment centers in a sweeping move he described as a crackdown on corruption. He said officials faced accusations such as taking bribes or the “illegal transportation” of people across the border to Ukraine’s western neighbors to avoid the military draft. Last week, Zelensky said an audit of the centers found “disgusting” malfeasance.
The new round of U.S. sanctions includes two Russian billionaires behind Alfa Group, Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven, who have been fighting European Union and British sanctions imposed on them during the war. Russian elites “should disabuse themselves of the notion that they can operate business as usual,” Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo said in a statement.
Shelling killed an elderly woman early Saturday in Ukraine’s Kupiansk, said the regional governor, Oleh Syniehubov, who has accused Russian forces of intensifying attacks there. Moscow and Kyiv have reported a recent escalation in fighting in Kupiansk, in the Kharkiv region of northeast Ukraine, and Kupiansk authorities ordered a mass evacuation of civilians.
Security is becoming “increasingly distant” for Moscow residents, Andriy Yusov, a spokesman for Ukraine’s military intelligence, said in an interview with the Kyiv Post as Russia reports an uptick in attempted drone attacks in recent weeks. He said it would be “it would be logical to assume an increase in daily attacks.”
Tensions between Ukraine and Poland over grain hint at exhaustion from the war, Post journalists report. While Poland has been among Ukraine’s staunchest supporters, the two neighbors face a growing dispute over Ukrainian grain imports, which Poland is allowed to ban to protect its farmers under a deal brokered by the European Union.
Zelensky spoke with the president of Zambia about the importance of the Black Sea grain deal, the Ukrainian presidential office said Friday. Russia’s withdrawal last month from the U.N.-backed deal halted the safe export of grain from Ukraine, raising worries for countries struggling with food insecurity. In Zambia, 48 percent of people are unable to meet their minimum calories requirements, according to the World Food Program.
Some critics contend the campaign is aimed at appeasing Western allies and has not targeted corruption at the highest levels, he writes.
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