From RFE/RL's News Desk:
Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused the Ukrainian Army of acting as “NATO’s foreign legion” whose main purpose is to "contain" Russia.
Putin indicated he was referring to volunteer battalions fighting within the Ukrainian Army during a speech to university students in St. Petersburg on January 26,.
"Essentially, it is not the army at all but a foreign legion -- in this case it is a foreign NATO legion, whose goal has nothing to do with the national interests of Ukraine," he said.
Putin claimed that "many" Ukrainian men were trying to "dodge the mobilization" and sought to leave for Russia.
He added: "And they are doing the right thing because they are simply being used there [in eastern Ukraine] as cannon fodder."
Putin said the period of stay in Russia could be increased for Ukrainian citizens, primarily those of conscription age.
From RFE/RL's News Desk:
NATO's secretary-general has dismissed as "nonsense" accusations made by the Russian president that the Ukrainian Army is acting as the Western alliance’s “foreign legion.”
Jens Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels on January 26 that the foreign forces in Ukraine are Russian.
He spoke after Vladimir Putin told university students in St. Petersburg, "Essentially it is not the army at all but a foreign legion -- in this case, it is a foreign NATO legion,” whose main purpose is to "contain" Russia.
Putin indicated he was referring to volunteer battalions fighting within the Ukrainian Army.
Putin claimed that "many" Ukrainian men were trying to "dodge the mobilization" and sought to leave for Russia.
Putin said the period of stay in Russia could be increased for Ukrainian citizens, primarily those of conscription age.
Worth noting for the record...
The world's largest aircraft -- a Ukrainian-registered Antonov An-225 -- landed in the Czech city of Ostrava today after taking off from Kyiv. The purpose, as noted in various Czech media, is to deliver unspecified military equipment from an unmentioned supplier to an undisclosed African nation.
Photos published online and also shared on Twitter clearly show at least four tanks of unknown provenance on four Polish flatbed trucks before presumably being loaded onto the Antonov.
The reports quote a spokesman from the Excalibur Group -- "a holding enterprise promoting activities of a group of industrial and trade companies from the fields of defence and civilian industries, residing mainly in the Czech and Slovak Republic" -- as saying the plane is scheduled to make two more return flights.
From RFE/RL's News Desk:
Standard & Poor's has cut Russia’s credit rating to junk level, putting it below investment grade for the first time in a decade.
The international ratings agency announced on January 26 it had lowered its rating for Russian government debt to BB+ from BBB-.
It added a negative outlook on the rating, saying, "The downgrade reflects our view that Russia's monetary policy flexibility has become more limited and its economic growth prospects have weakened."
The ratings agency last downgraded Russia in April.
Earlier this month, Fitch Ratings cut Russia’s credit rating to BBB- and added a negative outlook on the rating.
The world’s biggest energy exporter is on the brink of a recession after crude prices fell to the lowest since 2009 and the West imposed sanctions following Russia’s annexation of Crimea in March, curbing investor appetite for the ruble.