THE borders of the Kherson region are securely protected by the Russian military, and any attempts by the Ukrainian armed forces to advance towards Kherson will be prevented, Sergey Eliseev, chairman of the regional government, said on Wednesday.
‘The situation in the Kherson Region is quite stable, the region’s borders are reliably secured by the Russian armed forces.
‘We have enough forces and the means to prevent any attempts by the Ukrainian side to advance towards the city of Kherson,’ he said during a Rossiya-24 TV broadcast.
Eliseev also noted that the regional authorities are doing everything possible to prevent the spread of panic among the population. ‘I don’t see any grounds for panic. Everything is OK,’ he added.
Last night, the Ukrainian military attempted to mount an offensive near the villages of Davydov Brod and Kiselevka, but the attacks were repelled by the allied forces.
In mid-March, the Russian Defense Ministry said that the Kherson Region was under full control of Russian troops. In late April, a military-civilian administration was formed. The region’s authorities have repeatedly announced plans to become part of the Russian Federation.
- Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday said that Ukraine should eliminate threats to Russia that are emanating from that country if it wants guarantees for its own security.
He said Moscow will react negatively if Kiev’s proposal for international security guarantees for Ukraine, which was released on Tuesday, is ever signed.
‘Given the status quo, the current situation, it’s unlikely that anyone can give Ukraine a greater security guarantee than the leadership of that country. The leadership of that country should only take actions that, accordingly, will eliminate the threat to Russia. Kiev knows perfectly well what these actions should be,’ Peskov said.
On Tuesday, the Ukrainian president’s office released a draft document titled: The Kiev Security Compact International Security Guarantees for Ukraine: Recommendations.
Under the document, a binding agreement should be signed between Ukraine and the United States, on the one hand, and between the EU and a number of other countries.
Despite previously voiced proposals, the document does not envisage either Kiev’s abstention from joining NATO, or a neutral status for Ukraine or Russia’s participation as a security guarantor.
- Kiev’s ‘filtration measures’ on the territories vacated by the allied forces in fact imply killings of civilians and absolute lawlessness from the standpoint of international law, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said.
‘Particularly alarming are the numerous reports of filtration measures being carried out by the Ukrainian special services and neo-Nazi armed groups on the territories from which the allied forces were withdrawn for regrouping,’ Zakharova told a news briefing on Thursday.
‘It is scary to imagine what the Ukrainian military is doing to thousands of people now. It does everything. First of all, these people get killed,’ Zakharova stated.
‘This is not a matter of doing some kind of justice. It’s absolute lawlessness, which in principle, does not fit in with any norms of any humanitarian law. I emphasize once again that thousands of people, peaceful civilians, are forced through these filtration measures,’ Zakharova said.
Earlier, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov slammed the Ukrainian forces’ punitive operations against civilians in the Kharkov Region as outrageous.
- Meanwhile, Russia and India are actively switching to mutual settlements in national currencies, Russian ambassador to India Denis Alipov said in an interview with TASS in Wednesday.
‘This process has been progressing steadily and for a long time – it started long before the special military operation, when they began to impose first sanctions against Russia.
‘Strictly speaking, national currencies were widely used by us back in the days of Soviet-Indian relations.
‘Now both sides are interested in adjustable settlement patterns which meet the needs of our cooperation in the long term,’ Alipov said.
He added that financial institutions and the banking community of the two countries are in constant professional dialogue for these purposes.
‘It is important that the Indian leadership has begun to consistently encourage the use of the rupee in international settlements, including at the legislative level.
‘This gives confidence to business, for which the current crisis opens up many opportunities related to Russia, including the prospects for expanding its presence in our market after the departure of Western companies.
‘In other words, India is purposefully integrating into the trend of de-dollarisation of the world economy,’ Alipov stressed.
‘The general approach, however, remains quite flexible. The use of currencies of third countries is also allowed. We do not completely abandon the dollar and the euro – when, for example, it concerns entities engaged in foreign economic activities or goods that are not subject to sanctions,’ the Russian ambassador said.
- Military-technical cooperation between India, Russia developing steadily, ambassador says
Countries are working together on production, research, and export of defence products
Denis Alipov, Russia’s ambassador to India, on Wednesday said military-technical cooperation between Russia and India is steadily developing in accordance with the new requirements.
‘Our cooperation in this area is steadily progressing in accordance with the new requirements,’ he told TASS in an interview. ‘We see in them many opportunities for expanding the practice of joint production and advanced research and development.’
The diplomat said the sides had already begun to talk about this substantively at the 2019 summit in Vladivostok, when an intergovernmental agreement was signed on the joint production of spare parts and components and maintenance of military equipment of domestic origin, including with the prospect of providing such services to the markets of third countries.
According to Alipov, the distinctive features of Russian-Indian military-technical cooperation include mutual readiness to take into account each other’s interests, as well as a high degree of adaptability to changing conditions.
‘It’s a truly time-tested partnership. Russia is the only country that is ready to share advanced technologies with New Delhi,’ he said.
The Russian ambassador added that the two countries had joint ventures and agreements on the localisation of production long before India adopted a state policy to achieve self-sufficiency of its military-industrial complex through cooperation with other nations.
‘We are talking about the assembly of T-90 tanks, Su-30MKI fighter jets and other areas. Moreover, one of our most successful joint ventures for the production of BrahMos supersonic missiles is confidently entering the markets of third countries.
‘These weapons will be supplied to the Philippines, while other countries are also showing interest in them. That means we are also helping our Indian friends to follow a course of boosting exports of defence products,’ Alipov said.
