British soldiers are “on the ground” in Ukraine helping Kyiv’s forces fire long-range Storm Shadow missiles, Russian media revealed this week following the leak of a top-secret call involving German air force officers.
The Kremlin said the move demonstrated the direct involvement of the “collective west” in the war in Ukraine, while former British defense ministers expressed frustration with the German military in response to the revelations.
Released on Friday by the editor of the Kremlin-controlled news channel RT, Margarita Simonyan, the audio recording, confirmed as authentic by Germany, captures Luftwaffe officers discussing how Berlin’s Taurus missiles could be used to try to blow up the Kerch Bridge connecting Russia with occupied Crimea.
During the conversation, Lt Gen Ingo Gerhartz, the head of the Luftwaffe, describes how Britain is working with Ukraine on deploying Storm Shadow missiles against targets up to 150 miles behind Russian lines.
“When it comes to mission planning,” the German commander says, “I know how the English do it, they do it completely in reach-back. They also have a few people on the ground, they do that. The French don’t.”
Reach-back is a military term to describe how intelligence, equipment and support from the rear is brought forward to units deployed on the front, but Gerhartz suggests the British approach is deeper, involving support on site.
The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said the leaked conversation “once again highlights the direct involvement of the collective West in the conflict in Ukraine,” although on Sunday Germany’s defense minister, Boris Pistorius, accused Moscow of waging “an information war” against the West.
The authenticity of the 38-minute conversation, which took place a fortnight ago on the relatively insecure Webex platform, is not in doubt. It appears to have been hacked and recorded by Russian actors who passed it on to the editor of RT to release on Telegram on Friday.
Germany’s defense minister said on Sunday that Russia was conducting an “information war” aimed at creating divisions within Germany and called it an apparent act of eavesdropping and said it was investigating.
Britain has been urging Germany to supply long-range Taurus missiles to the Ukrainian military despite the embarrassing leak of the top-secret call involving German air force officers. However, the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said on Monday he would not donate missiles that could strike at the strategic Kerch Bridge linking Russia and occupied Crimea.
Another Russian warship sunk in Black Sea, says Ukrainian intelligence
A Russian warship in the Black Sea, the Sergei Kotov, was sunk by Ukrainian special forces, Ukraine’s defense intelligence directorate announced Tuesday morning. “On the night of March 4-5, the special unit of the GUR of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine ‘Group 13’ attacked the patrol ship of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation ‘Sergei Kotov’ … As a result of the attack by Magura V5 naval drones, the Russian ship of project 22160 ‘Sergei Kotov’ suffered damage to the stern, right and left sides. The ‘Kotova’ was damaged by fire in the territorial waters of Ukraine, near the Kerch Strait. The cost of the sunken ship is about 65 million dollars.”
The claim from Ukraine came after the Kerch Bridge, which runs from Russia to illegally occupied Crimea, was reportedly closed to traffic overnight and explosions were reported in the area. Social media channels suggested Ukrainian aerial and/or naval drone attacks had taken place. The announcement by Ukrainian intelligence appeared to confirm events.
Russia launched 22 attack drones against Ukraine, with air defense systems destroying 18 of them over the Odesa region, Ukraine’s air force said on Tuesday morning.
Ukraine’s military said it contained a Russian advance outside Avdiivka, the city captured last month, but Russian troops were regrouping further south around Novomykhailivka. Ukraine’s emergency services reported that two firefighters were killed near the eastern Ukrainian town of Kramatorsk, north of Avdiivka, when they came under Russian shelling at the scene of a fire.
Russian missile explodes just 500 meters from President Zelensky and Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis
A Russian missile exploded just 500 meters from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis during a deadly attack on the Black Sea port city of Odesa on Wednesday.
Five people were killed in the strike and more were wounded, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian Navy, Dmytro Pletenchuk, told CNN, though neither Zelensky or Mitsotakis were injured.
Zelensky frequently makes high-risk trips to the front lines, and has welcomed dozens of world leaders to Ukraine over the more than two years of war with Russia, but Wednesday’s attack may represent one of the closest calls for the president. The strike’s proximity to Mitsotakis – the leader of a NATO member state – also underlines the dangers of such visits and potential global repercussions of the conflict.
Zelensky said he was close enough to see and hear the strike.
“We saw this strike today. You can see who we are dealing with, they don’t care where they strike. I know that there were victims today, I don’t know all the details yet, but I know that there are dead and wounded,” Zelensky said from Odesa on Wednesday.
“We need to defend ourselves first and foremost. The best way to do that is with an air defense system,” he added.
Russia “Kidnaps” Indian Tourists and Forces them to Enlist in Ukraine War
Seven Indian citizens say they went to Russia as tourists in late December 2023 but were tricked by a Russian guide into traveling to Belarus, where they were arrested for being in the country without visas and deported to Russia, where they are now being forced to fight for Russia in Ukraine. According to the men, they were made to sign some documents without a translator present and ended up at a military training site.
One of them, a 30-year-old Indian man identified as Mohammed Asfan, died in Russia, officials said on Wednesday. Indian officials have not provided any details on the circumstances of his death.
Last week, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in New Delhi that authorities are trying their best to secure an “early discharge” of around 20 Indian nationals who are working as “support staff to the Russian army.”
Jaiswal said, “It is our understanding that there are some 20 Indians who have gone there to work as support staff or as helpers with the Russian army. We are trying our level best for their early discharge.”
Jaiswal had said that the Indian citizens had contacted the Indian embassy in Moscow.
Compiled by Ana Dumbadze
