Drone attacks continue on the Ukrainian front… and in some Russian regions. kyiv claimed responsibility for a drone attack on a refinery in southwestern Russia on Monday, while Moscow claimed to have destroyed 80 Ukrainian drones during the night and early morning.
Key information to remember
⇒ Attack on a refinery in Russia claimed by kyiv
⇒ Olympic Games: Kremlin deems refusal of accreditation of Russian journalists “unacceptable”
⇒ Kremlin notes Kamala Harris’ “unfriendly rhetoric” toward Russia
Russia: 6.5 years in prison for Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva
Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva was sentenced Friday to six and a half years in prison for spreading false information about the Russian army in Ukraine, the Russian judiciary said Monday, after not announcing the trial. “This secret trial and conviction are a travesty of justice. The only just conclusion would be Alsu’s immediate release,” said Stephen Capus, president of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the American media outlet that employs the journalist.
Olympic Games: Kremlin denounces refusal to accredit Russian journalists
Less than five days before the opening ceremony of the Paris Games, the Russian government has deemed “unacceptable” the refusal of accreditation reported by the Ria Novosti news agency for five of its sports journalists, who were to cover the 2024 Olympics in France. “We consider this decision unacceptable and a violation of freedom of the press,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said during his daily briefing. According to the Russian news agency, the Olympic committee justified this refusal for security reasons, after the unfavorable opinion of the “competent administrative body”, relying on the French “internal security code”.
In an interview with the Sunday Journalthe tenant of Beauvau, Gérald Darmanin, confirmed that Paris had refused to authorize access to the Olympic Games to certain individuals: “less than a hundred people”, he put into perspective, all suspected of wanting to carry out interference activities. These rejected people presented themselves “under different covers – journalists, technical staff, physiotherapists, etc.”, the minister affirmed, specifying that they came from Russia, Belarus, “but also from other countries”. And Gérald Darmanin specified: “In addition to intelligence and traditional espionage, there is the possibility of accessing entry points into computer networks to carry out a cyberattack”.
Kamala Harris’s “unfriendly rhetoric” toward Russia
As she is in pole position to take over the reins after Joe Biden withdrew from the US presidential campaign, Kamala Harris was the target of criticism from the Kremlin on Monday. The current vice president is accused of maintaining “unfriendly rhetoric” towards Russia. “We cannot assess Harris’ potential candidacy […] “Because so far her contribution to our relations has not been significant. She has made statements with rather unfriendly rhetoric towards our country,” Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman mocked to the press.
Asked again about President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the race for the White House, Dmitry Peskov was lapidary. “It is not for us to judge President Biden’s decision,” he said, “the development of Russian-American relations is important, but the main thing is to achieve the objectives of the special military operation,” the spokesman added, using the expression de rigueur in Russia to describe the assault on Ukraine.
kyiv claims attack on Russian refinery
While the Russian army announced that it had shot down 80 Ukrainian drones during the night and early morning, kyiv claimed responsibility for a drone attack on a refinery in southwestern Russia on Monday.
A source in the Ukrainian defense ministry said several drones had attacked the Tuapse refinery, a city on the Black Sea coast in the Russian region of Krasnodar (southwest), causing a fire. “The extent of the damage is being clarified,” said the source, who added that it is a refinery of the Russian giant Rosneft equipped with a port terminal and that nearly 90% of its production is intended for export.
For their part, the Russian regional authorities stated on the encrypted messaging platform Telegram that the fire at the refinery had started due to “the fall of drone debris”. And they castigated “the Kiev regime” which “has once again tried to attack a civilian infrastructure in Tuapse with drones”.