Russia thwarted a new nighttime drone attack in the Moscow region on Friday, said the mayor of the Russian capital, who did not report casualties or damage.
On Friday, “the air defense forces near Lioubertsy (east of Moscow, in the Moscow region, editor’s note) foiled a new attempt to direct a drone” against Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram.
“There were no injuries or damage, according to initial information,” added the elected official, adding that the emergency services were on site.
Turkish Foreign Minister pleads for the resumption of the grain agreement
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, visiting Moscow, deemed this Thursday, August 30 “essential” the resumption of the agreement on the export of Ukrainian cereals by the Black Sea. As a reminder, Moscow withdrew, on July 17, from this important agreement for the world food supply, criticizing in particular the fact that exports of Russian cereals and fertilizers were hampered by Western sanctions.
“We reiterated our conviction that the resumption of the agreement will restore stability,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan pleaded during a press conference with Sergei Lavrov. The latter explained that Russia would no longer be satisfied only with “promises” for its own exports, but wanted “guarantees with a concrete result that can be put into practice tomorrow”. And to specify: “in this case, the implementation of (the agreement) will resume in its entirety tomorrow”.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has accused the West of “interfering” with exports of agricultural products and fertilizers from Russia, which is like Ukraine a major world producer. He said he discussed with his Turkish counterpart the possibility of supplying Russian cereals to Turkey at knockdown prices. These Russian cereals would then be redirected to “the countries that need them most in the world”.
US arrests suspected trafficker of microchips to Russia in Cyprus
American justice announced, this Thursday, August 30, the arrest in Cyprus of a Russian-German suspected of having illegally exported to Russia electronic components for military use in violation of Washington sanctions against Moscow linked to the conflict in Ukraine . Arthur Petrov, 33, with dual German and Russian nationality, was arrested in Cyprus on August 26 at the request of US authorities and is being prosecuted for “violations of export rules, smuggling, fraud and money laundering”, announced in a press release the federal prosecutor’s office in Manhattan, under the authority of the Department of Justice.
“Arthur Petrov organized a smuggling of American microelectronic technologies into Russia, intended for military application, the kind of components used by the Russian armed forces in their illegal invasion of Ukraine,” thundered Deputy Justice Minister Matthew Olsen. Under U.S. export control laws and sanctions against Moscow, the U.S. official said his government would “not tolerate any attempt […] to feed the Russian war machine”.
kyiv announces development of a missile capable of traveling 700 kilometers
Two days after a drone attack on Russia’s Pskov airport in northwestern Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky and Oleksi Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s national security and defense council, announced on their social networks to be developing a weapon capable of hitting a target 700 kilometers away. They specify that tests have been “successful and effective”.
After the wave of drones at Pskov airport, attributed by Moscow to Kiev, this Wednesday, August 30, Russia claimed on Thursday to have destroyed a new Ukrainian drone in the Moscow region, the attack of which caused no casualties according to the mayor of the capital. In the morning, a drone “was destroyed by […] air defense over the territory of the Voskresensky district of the Moscow region”, located southeast of the capital, the Russian Defense Ministry reported on Telegram, accusing Kiev of conducting the attack.