For his fourth visit to the country since the start of the war, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited the basement of a school in northern Ukraine on Thursday, September 7, where villagers had been crowded into inhumane conditions. He praised the “extraordinary resilience” of Ukrainians in the face of the Russian invasion.
In addition, the United States announced on Thursday a new military aid of 600 million dollars to Ukraine, including in particular demining equipment and different types of ammunition.
17 people arrested
Seventeen people have been arrested in Cuba for their alleged link to a smuggling ring operating from Russia with the aim of recruiting men to fight the war in Ukraine, the Interior Ministry announced on Thursday. The government explained on Monday that the ministry was working to “neutralize and dismantle a human trafficking network that operates from Russia to incorporate Cuban citizens living there, and even some from Cuba, into the forces military personnel involved in military operations in Ukraine.
On Thursday, the head of the investigation, César Rodriguez, indicated that 17 people had been arrested so far, without giving their nationality. However, he clarified that one of them is “the internal organizer of these activities”. Two others were identified as recruiters, he added.
No indication that debris found in Romania is a sign of a Russian attack
There is no indication that any Russian drone debris found in Romania is a sign of a deliberate Russian attack on the NATO member country, its secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said Thursday. The latter specified that Romania had informed the Atlantic Alliance of this discovery which demonstrates “the risk of incidents and accidents”, he affirmed before the European deputies in Brussels. “We have no information indicating a deliberate attack by Russia and we are awaiting the results of the ongoing investigation,” he added, during a hearing before the Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee. European.
“Beyond this result, what we have seen are heavy fighting and air strikes near the NATO borders,” added Jens Stoltenberg. For his part, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, visiting Ukraine, had a telephone conversation on the ongoing investigation with his Romanian counterpart Luminita Odobescu, according to the State Department. They also discussed the possibility of “additional cooperation to maintain airspace security,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
New US military aid of $600 million to Ukraine
This aid aims to meet “Ukraine’s needs on the battlefield” and demonstrates the “unwavering support” of the United States, the Pentagon said in a statement. However, this new aid will not be immediately available on the ground because it falls under the Security Assistance Program for Ukraine, through which Washington provides equipment to this country through its defense industry or partners rather than drawing directly in its stocks.
This announcement comes the day after that of a billion dollar program, including in particular anti-tank munitions containing depleted uranium, in order to give “new impetus” to the Ukrainian counter-offensive against Russian forces.
In “the caves of death” Blinken praises the resilience of Ukrainians
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday praised the “extraordinary resilience” of Ukrainians in the face of the Russian invasion after visiting the basement of a school in northern Ukraine where villagers had been crammed into inhumane conditions. “We have heard stories like the one that took place in this building over and over again,” he said after wandering through the maze of sordid cellars where Russian soldiers had detained almost all of the inhabitants. from the village of Iaguidné.
“But through this, we also see something incredibly powerful, namely the extraordinary resilience of the Ukrainian people,” he said while traveling in the Cherniguiv region. 367 of the approximately 400 inhabitants of Yagidné, including about 50 children, had been forcibly gathered by the Russians in these basements where they remained for 27 days between March 3 and March 30, 2022, the day when the Ukrainian forces liberated this locality. The conditions of their detention were very trying: the atmosphere in the windowless premises was stifling and they slept on the floor, without toilets. Eleven people died and these caves, nicknamed the “cellars of death”, became a symbol of war crimes committed against civilians. Since Ukraine regained these territories, several leaders of Western countries allied with Ukraine have visited these premises.