Russia-Ukraine war LIVE: Russia’s Belgorod governor says Ukraine shelling kills one, wounds 29

Russia-Ukraine war LIVE: Russia’s Belgorod governor says Ukraine shelling kills one, wounds 29

the Russian foreign Ministry has also described the deployment of f-16s as a purposeful provocation by the United States and NATO the Ukrainian Pilots are completing their training to fly the war planes and the pilots and ground staff been trained by Ukraine’s Western partners for many months the Ukrainian military has had to rely on a relatively small Fleet of Soviet era Jets as it had fought to hold backk Russia’s fullscale Invasion that started in February 2022 and I earlier spoke with Miss tsana kovich she’s an associate professor in the school of interdisciplinary Global Studies at the University of Florida listening to what she have to [Music] say well um as I see it it is not a new uh development we we have been hearing about uh potential presence of nat NATO um NATO Representatives let’s say uh since last year in April 2023 this current uh uh announcement was made actually in March not in we are in May right now and um president of Czech Republic Peter pav clarified that this uh uh NATO Representatives that U may may be or are located in Ukraine as a Russia Ukraine war rages on Ukrainian forces are pulling out all stops to prevent Russian troops from progressing deeper into the country on your screen are visuals from Eastern y Ukraine’s thees region where Russian forces are creeping in taking the front lines deeper into Ukrainian territory the Ukrainian soldiers are scrambling at sunrise in order to build fortified defense lines and fend off Russian attacks we can see them shelling somewhere between 6:00 and 8: in the morning they are preparing for an assault after 8 the Infantry units started advancing given the developments on the Eastern Front Line Ukraine’s President Vladimir zilinski said on Thursday that the Army is facing a quote unquote really difficult situation in eastern regions it is important that we are not just living but we are fighting we are fortifying strengthening we are reaching agreements we apply maximum pressure on our partners for increased weapons delivery if the weapons delivery is increased we will be able to stop in the East where they have the advantage which is not a secret we need to stop them and take over the advantage while vadir zi was addressing a joint presser with European Parliament president Roberta metsola air sirens were heard in the background what you live through every day now will meanwhile Ukraine has also ramped up its attack on Russian territory in the latest Ukrainian shelling on Border villages in Russia is belgaro and KK oblast regions respectively now as per governors of both the regions the attack kills two people on Thursday now tensions are rising over the potential for a direct clash between NATO and Russia recent statements by Poland France and Lithuania suggest in NATO troop presence in Ukraine point to a dangerous escalation while NATO denies these claims the krelman has responded with Stark warnings raising the Spectre of a wider [Music] conflict the shadow of a protracted Ukraine war is igniting Regional fears of a NATO Russia confrontation polish prime minister Donald Tusk admits as much even as he expresses concern over a direct [Music] War there are some troops there I mean soldiers there are some soldiers there observers Engineers they’re helping them out we’ll see how it goes but you know nobody wants a direct War the Kremlin is unequivocal in its warnings stating that any deployment of NATO forces within Ukraine’s borders will be seen as a direct threat to Russia’s national security tensions have been further heightened by Russia cautioning France that any troops to Ukraine will be considered legitimate targets macroon has more than once insisted that he has no objections on deploying French boots in Ukraine Lithuania too has joined the korus it says it is prepared to send its soldiers on a training mission to Ukraine the NATO leadership along with us and UK has strongly spoken out against any deployment of troops in Ukraine as it will bring the alliance in direct conflict with Moscow the situation is flau with Danger [Music] President Vladimir Putin has announced Russia will conduct tactical nuclear weapons rules Moscow calls the Mover a direct response to NATO’s potential troop deployment signaling the gravity of the threat perceived by Russia B report we on world is one outlining plans for continuity in government amidst the ongoing war in Ukraine and subsequent quent geopolitical and economic challenges Russian President Vladimir Putin endorsed Mikel mishustin named for appointment as the prime minister of Russia Putin recently secured for another six-year term following a landslide re-election Victory a victory which was deemed a foregone conclusion this decision is being seen as a way for puin to maintain stability within his cabinet which has included the likes of Defense Minister SEI Shu and foreign minister SEI lavro for over a decade however it is the name of Mel misten that has grabbed the attention of international observers Putin’s decision to retain misten a technocrat credited with managing Russia’s economy through turbulent times as a result of Western sanctions imposed after the invasion of Ukraine signals a strategy of steady governance but who is Mel mtin M mtin was first appointed the head of government in January 2020 and has since been regarded as the chief technocrat in Putin’s ruling ruling apparatus or the Duma he was appointed as Putin as a replacement of Dimitri medev in the aftermath of the invasion of Ukraine mtin took a central role in the war effort and in fact has also been the subject of Western sanctions some pivotal moments of his tenure have been the covid-19 pandemic Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for which he was majorly responsible for logistical Solutions talking off his professional background before becoming prime minister he headed the federal tax service where he was credited with more than doubling revenues during his decade in charge mtin was named as the head of the new coordination Council in 2022 where he was tasked with working with regional leaders and Industry to better Supply the armed forces and improve medical and logistical support his communication style is often described as confident and stoic and his task with handling direct inquiries from the president Mr sin is also predicted to play an important role in future transitional governments given that under the Constitution the prime minister is first in line to take over as acting president until new elections should the need arise mastin’s reappointment is expected to go ahead without significant opposition and this proposal comes at a time when Putin has announced intentions to push forward with significant governmental tasks these include bolstering economic and Regional development and enhancing Russia’s defense capabilities hello and welcome to this special edition of broadcast and my name is mohammmad s the Russian forces are advancing taking the front lines deeper into the Ukrainian territory the Ukrainian solders this moment are scrambling in order to build fortified defense lines and to try and fend off the Russian attacks according to reports that have coming Russia wants to make use of this interval from now till the US military aid reaches the front lines to gain as much Advantage as it can on the battlefield so to tell us us to which way this war in Ukraine is going we joined by Professor David Don who’s a professor of international politics at the University of Birmingham and is joining us live on this broadcast now Professor Don this this is is what the general Charter has been that because the Western military aid to Ukraine over the course of the last 6 months had been very party the Russians have managed to clearly push the ukrainians onto the backf and now even though the Western military Alliance that is that is the United States has passed the military aid bill for Ukraine there is still a bit of time that would take for these Western American weapons to reach the Ukrainian Battlefield and the Russians want to take full advantage of it how much Advantage do you thing the Russians could press forth in this case well the interesting thing is that the Russian gains despite the lack of Western support have been incredibly modest uh what they have not done is take the major towns that they have been pushing for uh Putin asked off his armed forces that they take more of the dones or he announc it on the anniversary military parade on May 9th but they hadn’t got that uh to claim because they haven’t done done that uh the Russians have been throwing uh huge amounts of Manpower and what I refer to is met attacks whereby they actually through human waves forward uh the Russians have lost at least 50,000 dead and 300 casualties 300,000 casualties overall but actually the gains they have made have been relatively modest the ukrainians have have despite the lack of of uh um Western support despite the fact that the Russians have mobilized 400 70,000 troops into the field uh the this war is showing to itself to be remarkably static uh and and indeed the conflict is taking place elsewhere with Ukraine striking deep 700 miles into Russia to destroy oil and gas refining uh plants and actually denying Russia the ability to operate in the Black Sea by sinking a third of its Naval units in the Black Sea so the war has taking place on many fronts and the central front is as I say rather static right it’s interesting that you pointed out you know as to how this war is unfolding in many fronts and on the Black Sea front the ukrainians even though they do not have a naval Force to speak of a mar to SN almost about a third of the Russian Black Sea Fleet but on the ground though the Russians have made slow but steady progress and the Ukrainian commanders are now saying that it is literally impossible for them to hold the positions that they hold at this moment and therefore in the course of the next few weeks if the American military weapons do not reach them quickly enough they say that they would have to fall back what’s your assessment on that front yes that again most assessments most military assessments uh say that and in fact the um American White House spokesman Jake Sullivan said that the the Ukrainian counter offensive will not start until 2025 so there will be a bit of fluidity uh on the battlefield uh but what there isn’t is a major breakthrough this war has been going on now for years and the the uh the characteristics of that war is a huge Russian gains initially massive uh push push back by the ukrainians and then a largely static Battlefield uh with a a bit of movement back and forth there may well be the expectation that the Russians will gain some ground uh in the summer months uh but that’s not regarded as either strategically significant or actually a permanent loss of that territory uh because once the Western support comes in once uh UC Ukraine finishes its second round of mobilization the the expectation is that the Russians will be uh pushed back further but this is likely to happen over several years and therefore we shouldn’t be over fixated about the next few weeks you know as you are saying that this could drag on for the next several years but this is the kind of battle that Russians would want to fight this is a war of attrition where Russia is hoping because the Western support for Ukraine has been on and off um you know at the best of times that Russia is hoping that as the months go by the Western support for Ukraine will Wayne again and then Russia will gain its Advantage do you think that actually plays into the Russian hands well the big question here is is Mr Trump and what what he would do if he was uh elected uh in November but what’s interesting about the U Aid package passed through the US Congress is that it went through largely with Trump’s blessing uh and what that indicates is that support for Ukraine in the country is such that many a huge majority of members of Congress actually in the end supported that Aid package and Trump who has no prin has no principles actually recognized that that actually it was popular to support the war in Ukraine and therefore the the Western support for Ukraine in Europe and America is now established and and and this this uh blip in support is likely to to uh be an exception rather than the rules so the Strategic aspects of this are that that support in Europe and America financial support and Military Support and Superior economic support and Superior military technology will mean ultimately that Russia will not Prevail I mean Russia has many advantages including the fact that that India and China buy its oil and break sanctions and therefore its economy is keeping going in a way in which that wasn’t expected before the war But ultimately if I can just interject there you know the fact that the Europeans have been purchasing oil and they’ve only now started talking about sanctioning LG that is purchased by the Europeans from Russia it’s the European economy that has been financing the Russian war machine would you not agree to that no purchasing the Russian hydrocarbons now Europeans been talking L to have China and India have been purchasing oil and gas from the Russians but the fact is Europeans have been doing way more purchase of the the Russian gas and um uh Russian oil than India and China have we can dispute that the uh most of of oil exports to Europe and gas exports to Europe have stopped there’s one or two countries that are are still reliant on Russian hydrocarbon s but most analysts and and uh would say that the biggest issue is China and India particular India refining petrol and selling that on as ref oil and selling that on as diesel that actually are effectively sustaining the ability of Russia to to wage uh this aggression it may not be a a thing that the Indians want to hear but that’s what most analysts are arguing but you know that’s that’s of course a point of debate the Indians would of course turn around and say the Europeans are still purchasing even though the Europeans are the ones who are imposing sanctions on Russia not to purchase Russi energy and gas the fact is Europe still continues to make purchases from the Russians of LNG and this this is something that’s been very on a tiny scale but let let let let me on a tiny scale you know Professor D let’s in fact come back to what is happening on the battlefield in Ukraine now when you say that Donald Trump did agree to send this TR of military aid to the ukrainians the fact is a lot of the Ukrainian Defenders would be looking at the way Donald Trump has behaved in the past let’s say assuming that there’s a change of guard of the White House later this year in the month of November how confident do you think the ukrainians would be to rely on Donald Trump as a reliable partner in taking on and fighting off the Russians what there two things here I mean yeah it would require Donald Trump to win and that’s uh a by no means a certainty his trials and him being portrayed as a sleazy individual through the process in New York will undoubtedly affect his popularity in America but if he were to win in November and take office in January uh there are many people who have concerns about this but as I say the in interesting thing with regard to Trump is that he actually has switched position on most issues including abortion and a whole varid of other things uh when he see sees what is popular and what is clear from this time is that actually support for Ukraine is popular so despite the concerns that many have it may well be that if Trump were to take office in January actually he would follow uh the uh the popularity of support for Ukraine rather than necessarily uh being someone who was opposed to that but we these are many many many speculations uh with six or or nine months uh uh to wait in the meantime the Europeans have pledged long-term commitments the both the EU and the UK have said that they will give billions of dollars and pounds and and and Euros uh to Ukraine for however long the war takes and that that commitment is what Ukraine wants to hear all right now the French President Emanuel macron has been repeatedly saying that French soldiers may have to fight in the Ukrainian battle field if that would happen do you think this is a contest that would directly become a contest between Russia and the NATO military allines that’s a real possibility uh what macron has done is is actually uh try and raise a area of uh ambiguity with regard to what uh the European States should do and there is a debate whether European States uh could send their armed forces in a way not necessarily to to fill Frontline positions but to give supporting role to Ukraine and international law Ukraine is entitled to actually ask for support for from its its allies uh and from from uh to act in Collective self-defense and call for Collective self-defense so international law and international politics would make this feasible but but macron’s suggestion is not one that’s widely supported in Europe or within NATO so it’s unlikely to happen in the short term but he’s raising it as a a possibility more than actually a plan now Professor Don my final question to you is is twofold firstly the Russians have said that it has become necessary for them to find this warn Ukraine because the West has not recognized the security concerns of Russia because they’ve been trying to push the NATO military Alli his Frontier as Eastward as possible that the reason why the Russians say they are in Ukraine in the first place secondly considering what’s been happening in the last forthnight where Russia has carried out Military drills of tactical nuclear weapons that CA may come into picture if this war continues to drag on half concerned do you think the military strategies in the west would be of this war in fact resulting in the use of tactical nuclear weapons well first of all the question of NATO expansion uh the reason why many of Russia’s neighbors sought as sovereign states to join NATO was their security concerns about the behavior of Russia and in annexing part of Georgia in 2008 and illegally occupying the Crimea in 2014 and of course the latest two countries to join NATO Sweden and Finland did so as a direct result of the full skill Invasion uh of uh Ukraine in 200 21 so so what we see there is is uh not a case of the West expanding NATO to threaten Russia but actually sovereign states being concerned for their security and seeking an alliance from like-minded Democratic states next to them so the idea that that that Russia is the victim in this is is a a Topsy Turvy view of the situation the reason why they have sought that that security is because of the aggressive uh territorial expansionist imperialist aim of Russia with regard to the nuclear question uh this is same old same old from Russia we’ve heard this from the very start of this illegal Invasion that that actually if you respond to this in any way I I reserve the right to use nuclear weapons what’s interesting is that uh despite initial concerns about supplying anything to Ukraine as Russia has escalated in a whole variety of ways in its aggression against Ukraine the West has been emboldened to a Ukraine and increasingly increasing ways with different levels of of technology and other forms of military and economic aid that hasn’t triggered Russian use of nuclear weapons and inde the the Chinese have made it clear to the Russians that to do so would mean that they would withdraw any support for them because that would be to cross a bridge too far so that the threats I think from Russia are ones that that you seen in that wider context and a saber rattling rather than anything else all right we’ll have to leave that we’re completely out of time thank you very much much indeed Professor Don for joining us and getting us that perspective there always a pleasure all right now to give us more perspective in terms of how these developments are in fact viewed by Russia we being joined by Miss taana kulakevich she’s an associate professor at the school of interdisciplinary Global Studies at the University of Florida U ma’am thank you very much indeed for joining us here on this broadcast and let’s in fact start off by this statement that was put out by the Polish prime minister Donald tush where he admitted in as many words that NATO troops are operating on the battlefield in Ukraine how do you see this to be perceived by Moscow uh hi nice to be here thank you for having me well um as I see it it is not a new uh development we we have been hearing about uh potential presence of NATO NATO um NATO Representatives let’s say uh since last year in April 2023 this current uh uh announcement was made actually in March not in we in May right now and um uh president of Czech Republic Peter P clarified that this uh uh NATO Representatives that may may be or are like if I could just interject that these are not just NATO Representatives so to speak Donald Tas was pretty categoric he said NATO troops are on the battlefield in Ukraine later he went on to state that they are perhaps advisors engineers and other instructors but he mentioned NATO troops so how does this impact the Russian perspective on this war yes so uh NATO troops but these are not in they are not in combat but as you yourself mentioned they are engineers and they are helping in training so they are not in combat and um that perceived by Russia as it’s always perceived by Russia as a tool for propaganda informational Warfare is called Warfare for a reason because it works and the reaction from Russia is expected they are threatening uh with um retaliations every time and as we hearing about the nukes tactical nuclear weapons this has been an ongoing conversation for the past two years so I would not be or um worried too much because again NATO troops uh discussion is not new all right and also the fact that this moment the breaking news that has come that Ukraine will receive its first batch of the F-16 fighter jets sometime in the middle of June to July Russia has been categorical it has said that the F-16 fighter jets are nuclear capable and therefore they will see the F-16 figh Jets operated by the ukrainians as a clear nuclear threat in the war theater how do you think Russia would respond well uh now we see this still conversations and we should not forget that Russia is allies with China which uh does not want any nuclear retaliations and as we see now um uh you know she uh is meeting with European union leaders and is not interested in um escalations uh China is all about Economic Development and economic ties they are looking how to kind of benefit and develop the relationships so I would say for now it’s still a conversations and f-16s may may be carrying nukes but they are not there for that reason they are there to stop and push back Russians which are in the East pushing Ukraine right now all right we’ll have to leave you there thank you very much indeed Miss taana kovich for joining us in us that perspective then no problem thank you for having me all right so let’s start with the big story that we tracking on view on this Russia’s launched a surprised ground offensive into KV region in Ukraine the northeastern city is Ukraine’s second largest and Moscow here could be eying its biggest land operation in the region since the War Began civilians in karia were told to flee amidst heavy fighting and Ukraine’s outgunned Army has now tried to rush reinforcements to try and defend the region which has been mostly under Ukrainian in control since September 2022 the president V zinski has said that there is a fierce battle that is ongoing in the area Russia started a new wave of offensive actions in this direction Ukraine met them with troops brigades and artillery it is important to understand that they can increase and bring more forces in this direction it is a fact but our military and Military commanders were aware of it and considered its forces in order to meet the enemy with artillery fire according to reports that site senior Ukrainian officials Russia had Advanced into Ukraine by 1 kilometer and was then trying to create a sort of a buffer zone in both KV and in neighboring regions to prevent attacks into the Russian territory now if this Advance is confirmed then it would represent the kremlin’s biggest land operation in this part of the battlefield so far in the war there was massive shelling that was reported in the region overnight resulting in the killing of at least about three including children while residential buildings were engulfed in fire in the attack which Ukraine said was carried out with two anti-aircraft guarded missiles meanwhile Moscow has denied targeting civilians in what it said are legitimate strikes in Ukraine’s military energy and transport infrastructure the tensions arising of the potential for a direct confrontation between the NATO military Alliance and Russia recent statements that have been put forth by Poland France and Lithuania suggest that NATO troops are already present in the Ukrainian War Theater which of course points towards a dangerous escalation officially NATO has been denying these claims the Kremlin however is responded with a pretty Stark warning raising the Spectre of a wider and a bigger conflict that no one really wants our next report get you more [Music] details the shadow of a protracted Ukraine war is igniting Regional fears of a NATO Russia confrontation polish prime minister Donald tusk admits as much even as he expresses concern over a direct War there are some troops there I mean soldiers there are some soldiers there observers Engineers they’re helping them out we’ll see how it goes but you know nobody wants a direct War the Kremlin is unequivocal in its warnings stating that any deployment of NATO forces within Ukraine’s borders will be seen as a direct threat to Russia’s national security tensions have been further heightened by Russia cautioning France that any troops to Ukraine will be considered legitimate targets macro has more than once insisted that he has no objections on deploying French boots in Ukraine Lithuania too has joined the koras it says it is prepared to send its soldiers on a training mission to Ukraine the NATO leadership along with us and UK has strongly spoken out against any deployment of troops in Ukraine as it will bring the alliance in direct conflict with Moscow the situation is flocked with [Music] danger President Vladimir Putin has announced Russia will conduct tactical nuclear weapons Moscow calls the Mover a direct response to NATO’s potential troop deployment signaling the gravity of the threat perceived by Russia bu report we on world is one all right now to give us more perspective in terms of how these developments are in fact viewed by Russia we’re being joined by Miss taana kulakevich she’s an associate professor at the school of interdisciplinary Global Studies at the University of Florida uh ma’am thank you very much indeed for joining us here on this broadcast and let’s in fact start off by this statement that was put out by the Polish prime minister Donald Tusk where he admitted in as many words that NATO troops are operating on the battlefield in Ukraine how do you see this to be perceived by Moscow uh hi nice to be here thank you for having me well um as I see it it is a a new uh development we we have been hearing about uh potential presence of NATO NATO um Nat Representatives let’s say uh since last year in April 2023 this current uh announcement was made actually in March not in we are in May right now and um uh president of Czech Republic Peter pav clarified that this uh uh NATO Representatives that may may be or are if I can just interject that these are not just NATO representative so to speak Donald task was pretty categorical he said NATO troops are on the battlefield in Ukraine later he went on to state that they are perhaps advisors engineers and other instructors but he mentioned NATO troops so how does this impact the Russian perspective on this war yes so uh NATO troops uh but these are not in they are not in combat but as you yourself mentioned they are engineers and they are helping in training so they are not in combat and um that perceived by Russia as it’s always perceived by Russia as a tool for propaganda informational Warfare is called Warfare for a reason because it works and uh the reaction from Russia is expected they are threatening uh with um retaliations every time and as we hearing about the nukes tactical nuclear weapons this has been an ongoing conversation for the past two years so I would not be surprised or um worried too much because again NATO troops uh discussion is not new all right and also the fact that this moment the breaking news that has come that Ukraine will receive its first batch of the F-16 fighter jets sometime in the middle of June to July now Russia has been cap orical it has said that the F-16 F jets are nuclear capable and therefore they will see the F-16 F Jets operated by the ukrainians as a clear nuclear threat in the war theater how do you think Russia would respond well uh now we see this still conversations and we should not forget that Russia is allies with China which does not want any nuclear retaliations and as we see now um uh you know she uh is meeting with European union leaders and is not interested in um escalations uh China is all about Economic Development and economic ties they are looking how to kind of benefit and develop the relationships so I would say for now it’s still conversations and F16 may maybe carrying nukes but they are not there for that reason they to stop and push back Russians which are in the East pushing Ukraine right now all right we’ll have leave there thank you very much indeed Miss taana kich for joining us and getting us that perspective then no problem thank you for having me the tensions are rising over the potential for a direct clash between NATO and Russia recent statements by Poland France and Lithuania suggesting NATO troop presence in Ukraine point to a dangerous escalation while NATO denies these claims the krelman has responded Ed with Stark warnings raising the Spectre of a wider [Music] conflict the shadow of a protracted Ukraine war is igniting Regional fears of a NATO Russia confrontation polish prime minister Donald Tusk admits as much even as he expresses concern over a direct [Music] War there are some troops there I mean soldiers there are some soldiers there observers Engineers they’re helping them out we’ll see how it goes but you know nobody wants a direct War the Kremlin is unequivocal in its warnings stating that any deployment of NATO for forces within Ukraine’s borders will be seen as a direct threat to Russia’s national security tensions have been further heightened by Russia cautioning France that any troops to Ukraine will be considered legitimate targets macro has more than once insisted that he has no objections on deploying French boots in Ukraine Lithuania too has joined the koras it says it is prepared to send its soldiers on a training mission to Ukraine the NATO leadership along with with us and UK has strongly spoken out against any deployment of troops in Ukraine as it will bring the alliance in direct conflict with Moscow the situation is fraught with danger President Vladimir Putin has announced Russia will conduct tactical nuclear weapons drills Moscow calls the Mover a direct response to NATO’s potential troop deployment signaling the gravity of the threat perceived by Russia B report we on world is one in a pretty big development Ukraine has now said that it expects to get its very first F-16 fighter jets from Western allies in June July months according to a high ranking Ukrainian military Source Ukraine has sought us made F-16 F Jets to help it counter Russia’s air superiority for a period of 2 years now according to reports the source is not said as to which country will supply these F Jets so far Denmark the Netherlands Norway and Belgium have committed to sending the American made F-16 F Jets to Ukraine remember Russia has St again warned that Ukraine’s acquisition of F-16 F Jets will be viewed as a nuclear capable threat the Russian foreign Ministry has also described the deployment of f-16s as a purposeful provocation by the United States and NATO the Ukrainian Pilots are completing their training to fly the war planes and the pilots and ground staff been trained by Ukraine’s Western partners for many months the Ukrainian military has had to rely on a relatively small Fleet of Soviet era Jets as it had fought to hold back Russia’s fullscale Invasion that started in February 2022 our earlier spoke with Miss tsana kovich she’s an associate professor in the school of interdisciplinary Global Studies at the University of Florida [Music] L well um as I see it it is not a new uh development we we have been hearing about uh potential presence of n Nat um Nat Representatives let’s say uh since last year in April 2023 this current uh announcement was made actually in March not in we in May right now and um uh president of Czech Republic Peter pav clarified that this uh uh NATO Representatives that U may may be or are located in Ukraine as the Russia Ukraine war rages on Ukrainian forces are pulling out all stops to prevent Russian troops from progressing deeper into the country on your screen are visuals from Eastern y Ukraine’s thees region where Russian forces are creeping in taking the front lines deeper into Ukrainian territory the Ukrainian soldiers are scrambling at sunrise in order to build fortified defense lines and fend off Russian attacks we can see them shelling somewhere between 6:00 and 8: in the morning they are preparing for an assault after eight the Infantry units started advancing given the developments on the Eastern Front Line Ukraine’s President Vladimir zalinsky said on Thursday that the Army is facing a quote unquote really difficult situation in eastern regions it is important that we are not just living but we are fighting we are fortifying strengthening we are reaching agreements we apply maximum pressure on our partners for increased weapons delivery if the weapons delivery is increased we will be able to stop in the East where they have the advantage which is not a secret we need to stop them and take over the advantage while lir zinsky was addressing a joint presser with European Parliament president Roberta metsola air sirens were heard in the background what you live through every day [Music] they will see meanwhile Ukraine has also ramped up its attack on Russian territory in the latest Ukrainian shelling on Border villages in Russia as belgaro and KK oblast regions respectively now as per governors of both the regions the attack kills two people on Thursday now tensions are rising over the potential for a direct clash between NATO and Russia recent statements by Poland France and Lithuania suggesting NATO troop Pres in Ukraine point to a dangerous escalation while NATO denies these claims the krelman has responded with Stark warnings raising the Spectre of a wider [Music] conflict the shadow of a protracted ukra war is igniting Regional fears of a NATO Russia confrontation polish prime minister Donald Tusk admits as much even as he expresses concern over a direct [Music] War there are some troops there I mean soldiers there are some soldiers there observers Engineers they’re helping them out we’ll see how it goes but you know nobody wants a direct War the Kremlin is unequivocal in its warnings stating that any deployment of NATO forces within Ukraine’s borders will be seen as a direct threat to Russia’s national security tensions have been further heightened by Russia cautioning France that any troops to Ukraine will be considered legitimate targets macroon has more than once insisted that he has no objections on deploying French boots in Ukraine Lithuania too has joined the koras it says it is is prepared to send its soldiers on a training mission to Ukraine the NATO leadership along with us and UK has strongly spoken out against any deployment of troops in Ukraine as it will bring the alliance in direct conflict with Moscow the situation is flocked with Danger [Music] President Vladimir Putin has announced Russia will conduct tactical nuclear weapons drills Moscow calls the Mover a direct response to NATO’s potential troop deployment signaling the gravity of the threat perceived by Russia bu report we on world is one outlining plans for continuity in government amidst the ongoing war in Ukraine and subsequent geopolitical and econom challenges Russian President Vladimir Putin endorsed Mikel mishustin named for appointment as the prime minister of Russia Putin recently secured for another six-year term following a landslide re-election Victory a victory which was deemed a foregone conclusion this decision is being seen as a way for Putin to maintain stability within his cabinet which has included the likes of Defense Minister SE Shu and foreign minister SEI lav for over a decade however it is the name of K mersen that has grabbed the attention of international observers Putin’s decision to retain mtin a technocrat credited with managing Russia’s economy through turbulent times as a result of Western sanctions imposed after the invasion of Ukraine signals a strategy of steady governance but who is Mel mtin Mel mtin was first appointed the head of government in January 20020 and has since been regarded as the chief technocrat in Putin’s rural ruling apparatus or the Duma he was appointed as Putin as a replacement of Dimitri medev and the aftermath of the invasion of Ukraine mtin took a central role in the war effort and in fact has also been the subject of Western sanctions some pivotal moments of his tenure have been the covid-19 pandemic Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for which he was majorly responsible for logistical Solutions talking of his professional background before becoming prime minister he headed the federal tax service where he was credited with more than doubling revenues during his decade in charge mtin was named as the head of the new coordination Council in 2022 where he was tasked with working with regional leaders and Industry to better Supply the armed forces and improve medical and logistical support his communication style is often described as confident and stoic and his task with handling direct inquiries from the president Mr sin is also predicted to play an important role in future transitional governments given that under the Constitution the prime minister is first in line to take over as acting president until new elections should the need arise mastin’s reappointment is expected to go ahead without significant opposition and this proposal comes at a time when Putin has announced intentions to push forward with significant governmental tasks these include bolstering economic and and Regional development and enhancing Russia’s defense capabilities hello and welcome to this special edition of broadcast and yond my name is mohmad s the Russian forces are advancing taking the front lines deeper into the Ukrainian territory the Ukrainian soldiers this moment are scrambling in order to build fortified def defense lines and to try and fend off the Russian attacks according to reports that have coming Russia wants to make use of this interval from now till the US military aid reaches the front lines to gain as much Advantage as it can on the battlefield so to tell us us to which way this war in Ukraine is going we joined by Professor David Don who’s a professor of international politics at the University of Birmingham and is joining us live on this broadcast now Professor Don this this is what the general chatter has been that because the Western military aid to Ukraine over the course of the last 6 months had been very Patchy the Russians have managed to clearly push the ukrainians onto the back foot and now even though the Western military Alliance that is that is the United States has passed the military aid bill for Ukraine there is still a bit of time that would take for these Western American weapons to reach the Ukrainian Battlefield and the Russians want to take full advantage of it how much Advantage do you think the Russians could press forth in this game well the interesting thing is that the Russian gains despite the lack of Western support have been incredibly modest uh what they have not done is take the major towns that they have been pushing for uh put in asked of his armed forces that they take more of the dones or he announc it on the anniversary military parade on May 9th but they hadn’t got that uh to claim because they haven’t done that uh the Russians have been throwing uh hugee amounts of Manpower and what I refer to is me attacks whereby they actually throw human waves forward uh the Russians have lost at least 50,000 dead and 300 casualties 300,000 casualties overall but actually the gains they have made have been relatively modest the ukrainians have have despite the lack of of uh um uh Western support despite the fact that the Russians have mobilized 470,000 troops into to the field uh the this uh war is showing to itself to be remarkably static uh and and indeed the conflict is taking place elsewhere with Ukraine striking deep 700 miles into Russia to destroy oil and gas refining uh plants and actually denying Russia the ability to operate in the Black Sea by sinking a third of its Naval units in the Black Sea so the war has taken place on many fronts and the front is as I say rather static right it’s interesting that you pointed out you know as to how this war is unfolding in many fronts and on the Black Sea front the ukrainians even though they do not have a naval Force to speak off Master to SN almost about a third of the Russian Black Sea Fleet but on the ground though the Russians have made slow but steady progress and the Ukrainian commanders are now saying that it is literally impossible for them to hold the positions that they hold at this moment and therefore in the course of the next few weeks if the American military weapons do not reach them quickly enough they say that they would have to fall back what’s your assessment on that front yes that again most assessments most military assessments uh say that and in fact the um American White House spokesman Jake Sullivan said that the the Ukrainian counter offensive will not start until 2025 so there will be a bit of fluidity on the battlefield uh but what there isn’t is a major breakthrough this war has been going on now for years and the the uh the characteristics of that war is a huge Russian gains initially massive uh push push back by the ukrainians and then a largely static Battlefield uh with a a bit of movement back and forth there may well be the expectation that the Russians will gain some ground uh in the summer months uh but that’s not regarded as either strategically significant or actually a permanent loss of that territory uh because once the Western support comes in once uh you Ukraine finishes its second round of mobilization the the expectation is that the Russians will be uh pushed back further but this is likely to happen over several years and therefore we shouldn’t be over fixated about the next few weeks you know as you are saying that this could drag on for the next several years but this is the kind of battle that Russians would want to fight this is a war of attrition where Russia is hoping because the Western support for Ukraine has been on and off um you know at the best of times that Russia is hoping that as the months go by the Western support for Ukraine will wne again and then Russia will gain its Advantage do you think that actually plays into the Russian hands well the big question here is is uh Mr Trump and what what he would do if he was uh elected uh in November but what’s interesting about the U Aid package passed through the US Congress is that it went through largely with Trump’s blessing uh and what that indicates is that support for Ukraine in the country is such that many a huge majority of members of Congress actually in the end supported that Aid package and Trump who has no PR has no principles actually recognized that that actually it was popular to support the war in Ukraine and therefore the the Western support for Ukraine in Europe and America is now established and and and this this uh blip in support is likely to to uh be an exception rather than the rules so the Strategic aspects of this are that that support in Europe and America financial support and Military Support and Superior economic support and Superior military technology will mean ultimately that Russia will not Prevail I mean Russia has many advant es including the fact that that India and China buy its oil and break sanctions and therefore its economy is keeping going in a way in which that wasn’t expected before the war But ultimately if I can just interject there you know the fact that the Europeans have been purchasing oil and they’ve only now started talking about sanctioning LG that is purchased by the Europeans from Russia it’s the European economy that has been financing the Russian war machine would you not agree to that no I purchasing the Russi carbons now the Europeans been talking to have China and India have been purchasing oil and gas from the Russians but the fact is Europeans have been doing way more purchase of the the Russian gas and um uh Russian oil than India and China have we can dispute that the uh most of of oil exports to Europe and gas exports to Europe have stopped there’s one of two countries that are are still reliant on Russian hydrocarbons but most analysts and and uh would say that the biggest issue is China and India particular India refining petrol and selling that on as oil and selling that on as diesel that actually are effectively sustaining the ability of Russia to to wage uh this aggression it may not be a i thing that the Indians want to hear but that’s what most analysts are arguing but you know that’s that’s of course a point of debate the Indians would of course turn around and say the Europeans are still purchasing even though the Europeans are the ones who are imp sanctions on Russia not to purchase Russi energy and gas the fact is Europe still continues to make purchases from the Russians of LG and this this is something that’s been very want on a tiny scale but let let let me on a tiny scale you know Professor D let’s in fact come back to what is happening on the battlefield in Ukraine now when you say that Donald Trump did agree to send this TR of military aid to the ukrainians the fact is a lot of the Ukrainian Defenders would be looking at the way Donald Trump has behaved in the past let’s say assuming that there’s a change of guard of the White House later this year in the month of November how confident do you think the ukrainians would be to rely on Donald Trump as a reliable partner in taking on and fighting off the Russians well there’s two things here I mean yeah it would require Donald Trump to win and that’s uh a by no means a certainty his trials and him being portrayed as a sleazy individual through the process in New York will undoubtedly affect his PO popularity in America but if he were to win in November and take office in January uh there are many people who have concerns about this but as I say the in interesting thing with regard to Trump is that he actually has switched position on most issues including abortion and a whole variet of other things uh when he see sees what is popular and what is clear from this time is that actually support for Ukraine is popular so despite the concerns that many have it may well be that if Trump were to take office in January actually he would follow uh the uh the popularity of support for Ukraine rather than necessarily uh being someone who was opposed to that but we these are many many many speculations uh with six or or nine months uh uh to wait in the meantime the Europeans have pledged long-term commitments the both the EU and the UK have said that they will give billions of dollars and pounds and and euros to Ukraine for however long the war takes and that that commitment is what Ukraine wants to hear all right now the French President Emanuel macron has been repeatedly saying that French soldiers may have to fight in the Ukrainian Battlefield if that would to happen you think this is a contest that would directly become a contest between Russia and the NATO military lines that’s a real possibility uh what macron has done is is actually uh try and raise an area of uh uity with regard to what uh the European States should do and there is a debate whether European States uh could send their armed forces in a way not necessar to to fill Frontline positions but to give supporting role to Ukraine in international law Ukraine is entitled to actually ask for support for from its its allies uh and from from uh to act Collective self-defense and corporate Collective self-defense so international law and international politics would make this feasible but but macron’s suggestion is not one that’s widely supported in Europe or within NATO so it’s unlikely to happen in the short term but he’s raising it as a a possibility more than actually a plan now Professor Don my final question to you is is twofold firstly the Russians have said that it has become necessary for them to find this warn Ukraine because the West has not recognized the security concerns of Russia because they’ve been trying to push the NATO military alliances Frontier as Eastward is possible that’s the reason why the Russians say they are in Ukraine in the first place secondly considering what’s been happening in the last Fortnight where Russia is carried out Military drills of tactical nuclear weapons that CA may come into picture if this war continues to drag on half concerned do you think the military strategist in the west would be of this war in fact resulting in the use of tactical nuclear weapons well first of all the question of NATO expansion uh the reason why many of Russia’s neighbors sought as sovereign states to join NATO was their security concerns about the behavior of Russia and in annexing part of Georgia in 2008 and illegally occupying the Crimea in 2014 and of course the latest two countries to join NATO Sweden and Finland did so as a direct result of the fullscale invasion uh of uh Ukraine in 200 21 so what we see there is is uh not a case of the West expanding NATO to threaten Russia but actually sovereign states being concerned for their security and seeking an alliance from like-minded Democratic states next to them so the idea that that that Russia is the victim in this is is a a Topsy Turvy view of the situation the reason why they have sought that that security is because of the aggress of uh territorial expansionist imperialist aims of Russia with regard to the nuclear question uh this is same old same old from Russia we’ve heard this from the very start of this illegal Invasion that that actually if you respond to this in any way I reserve the right to use nuclear weapons what’s interesting is that uh despite initial concerns about supplying anything to Ukraine as Russia has escalated in a whole variety of ways in its aggression against Ukraine the West has been emboldened to re Aid Ukraine and increasingly creasing waves with different levels of of technology and other forms of military and economic aid that hasn’t triggered a Russian use of nuclear weapons and indeed the the Chinese have made it clear to the Russians that to do so would mean that they would withdraw any support for them because that would be to cross a bridge too far so that the threats I think from Russia are ones that that you seen in that wider context and as saber rattling rather than anything else all right we’ll have to leave you that we’re completely out of time thank you very much indeed profess for joining is and getting us that perspective then oh a pleasure all right now to give us more perspective in terms of how these developments are in fact viewed by Russia being joined by Miss taana kulakevich she’s an associate professor at the school of interdisciplinary Global Studies at the University of Florida U ma’am thank you very much indeed for joining us here on this broadcast and VI and let’s in fact start off by this statement that was put out by the Polish prime minister Donald tush where he admitted in as many words that NATO troops are operating on the battlefield in Ukraine how do you see this would be perceived by Moscow uh hi nice to be here thank you for having me well um as I see it it is not a new uh development we we have been hearing about uh potential presence of NATO NATO um NATO Representatives let’s say uh since last year in April 2023 this current uh uh announcement was made actually in March not in we are in May right now and um uh president of Czech Republic Peter pavell clarified that this uh uh NATO Representatives that U may may be or are located if I can just interject that these are not just NATO Representatives so to speak Donald Tas was pretty categorical he said NATO TR are on the battlefield in Ukraine later he went on to state that they are perhaps supervisors engineers and other instructors but he mentioned NATO troops so how does this impact the Russian perspective on this war yes so uh NATO troops but these are not in they are not in combat but as you yourself mentioned they are engineers and they are helping in training so they are not in combat and um that perceived by Russia as it’s always perceived by Russia as a tool for propaganda informational Warfare is called Warfare for a reason because it works and uh the reaction from Russia is expected they are threatening uh with um retaliations every time and as we hearing about the nukes tactical nuclear weapons this has been an ongoing conversation for the past two years so I would not be surprised or um worried too much because again NATO troops uh discussion is not new all right and also the fact that this moment the breaking news that has come that Ukraine will receive its first bat of the F-16 fighter jet sometime the middle of June to July now Russia has been categorical it has said that the F-16 fighter jets are nuclear capable and therefore they will see the F-16 fighter jets operated by the ukrainians as a clear nuclear threat in the war theater how do you think Russia would respond well uh now we see these still conversations and we should not forget that Russia is allies with China which uh does not want any nuclear retaliations and as we see now um uh you know she uh is meeting with European union leaders and is not interested in um escalations uh China is all about Economic Development and economic ties they are looking how to kind of benefit and develop the relationships so I would say for now it’s still conversations and f-16s may may be carrying nukes but they are not there for that reason they are there to stop and push back Russians which are in the East pushing ukraines right now all right we’ll have to leave there thank you very much indeed Miss taana kich for joining us and getting us that perspective then no problem thank you for having me all right so let’s start with the big story that we’re tracking on VI on this are Russia’s launched a surprise ground offensive into kave region in Ukraine the northeastern city is Ukraine’s second largest and Moscow here could be eying its biggest land operation in the region since the War Began civilians in karia were told to flee amidst heavy fighting and Ukraine’s outgunned Army has now try to rush reinforcements to try and defend the region which has been mostly under Ukrainian control since September 201 22 the president V zinski has said that there is a fierce battle that is ongoing in the area Russia started a new wave of offensive actions in this direction Ukraine met them with troops brigades and artillery it is important to understand that they can increase and bring more forces in this direction it is a fact but our military and Military commanders were aware of and considered its forces in order to meet the enemy with artillery fire according to reports that site senior Ukrainian officials Russia had Advanced into Ukraine by 1 kilometer and was then trying to create a sort of a buffer zone in both Kev and in neighboring regions to prevent attacks into the Russian territory now if this Advance is confirmed then it would represent the kremlin’s biggest land operation in this part of the battlefield so far in the war now there was massive shelling that was reported in the region overnight resulting in the killing of at least about three including children while residential buildings were engulfed in fire in the attack which Ukraine said was carried out with two anti-aircraft guarded missiles meanwhile Moscow has denied targeting civilians and what it said are legitimate strikes in Ukraine’s military energy and transport infrastructure attentions arising of the potential for a direct confrontation between the NATO military Alliance and Russia recent statements that have been put forth by Poland France and Lithuania suggest that NATO troops are already present in the Ukrainian War Theater which of course points towards a dangerous escalation officially NATO has been denying these claims the Kremlin however has responded with a pretty Stark warning raising the Spectre of a wider and a bigger conflict that no one really wants our next point get you more [Music] details the shadow of a protracted Ukraine war is igniting Regional fears of a NATO Russia confrontation polish prime minister Donald Tusk admits as much even as he expresses concern over a direct War there are some troops there I mean soldiers there are some soldiers there observers Engineers they’re helping them out we’ll see how it goes but you know nobody wants a direct War the Kremlin is unequivocal in its warnings stating that any deployment of NATO forces within Ukraine’s borders will be seen as a direct threat to Russia’s national security tensions have been further heightened by Russia cautioning France that any troops to Ukraine will be considered legitimate targets macro has more than once insisted that he has no objections on deploying French boots in Ukraine Lithuania too has joined the koras it says it is prepared to send its soldiers on a training mission to Ukraine the NATO leadership along with us and UK has strongly spoken out against any deployment ment of troops in Ukraine as it will bring the alliance in direct conflict with Moscow the situation is Frau with [Music] danger President Vladimir Putin has announced Russia will conduct tactical nuclear weapons drills MOS calls the Mover a direct response to NATO’s potential troop deployment signaling the gravity of the threat perceived by Russia bu report we on world is one all right now to give us more perspective in terms of how these developments are in fact viewed by Russia we being joined by Miss taana kulakevich she’s an associate professor the school of interdisciplinary Global Studies at the University of Florida U ma’am thank you very much indeed for joining us here on this broadcast VI and let’s in fact start off by this statement that was put out by the Polish prime minister Donald tush where he admitted in as many words that NATO troops are operating on the battlefield in Ukraine how do you see this to be perceived by Moscow uh hi nice to be here thank you for having me well um as I see it it is not a new uh development we we have been hearing about potential presence of NATO NATO um Nat Representatives let’s say uh since last year in April 2023 this current uh uh announcement was made actually in March not in we are in May right now and um uh president of Czech Republic Peter pav clarified that this uh uh NATO Representatives that may may be or are if I can just interject that these are not just NATO Representatives so to speak Donald Tas was pretty categorical he said NATO troops are on the battlefield in Ukraine later he went on to state that they are perhaps advisors engineers and other instructors but he mentioned NATO troops so how does this impact the Russian perspective on this war yes so uh NATO troops but these are not in they are in not in combat but as you yourself mentioned they are engineers and they are helping in training so they are not in combat and um that perceived by Russia as it’s always perceived by Russia as a tool for propaganda informational Warfare is called Warfare for a reason because it works and uh the reaction from Russia is expected they are threatening uh with um retaliations every time and as we hearing about the nukes tactical nuclear weapons this has been an ongoing conversation for the past two years so I would not be surprised or um worried too much because again NATO troops uh discussion is not new all right and also the fact that this moment the breaking news that has come that Ukraine will receive its first batch of the F-16 figh yet sometime in the middle of June to July now Russia has been categorical it has said that the F-16 fight jets are nuclear capable and therefore they will see the F-16 figh Jets operated by the ukrainians as a clear nuclear threat in the war theater how do you think Russia would respond well uh now we see this still conversations and we should not forget that Russia is allies with China which uh does not want any nuclear retaliations and as we see now um uh you know she uh is meeting with European union leaders and is not interested in um escalations uh China is all about Economic Development and economic ties they are looking how to kind of benefit and develop the relationships so I would say for now it’s still conversations and f-16s may may be uh carrying noes but they are not there for that reason they are there to stop and push push back Russians which are in the East pushing Ukraine right now all right we’ll have to leave there thank you very much indeed Miss taana kovich for joining us and getting us D perspective then no problem thank you for having me now tensions are rising over the potential for a direct clash between NATO and Russia recent statements by Poland France and Lithuania suggesting NATO troop presence in Ukraine point to a dangerous escalation while NATO denies these claims the krelman has responded with Stark warnings raising the Spectre of a wider [Music] conflict the shadow of a protracted Ukraine war is igniting Regional fears of a NATO Russia confrontation polish prime minister Donald Tusk admits as much even as he expresses concern over a direct [Music] War there are some troops there I mean soldiers there are some soldiers there observers Engineers they’re helping them out we’ll see how it goes but you know nobody wants a direct War the Kremlin is unequivocal in its warnings stating that any deployment of NATO forces within Ukraine’s borders will be seen as a direct threat to Russia’s national security tensions have been further heightened by Russia cautioning France that any troops to Ukraine will be considered legitimate targets macro has more than once insisted that he has no objections on deploying French boots in Ukraine Lithuania too has joined the koras it says it is prepared to send its soldiers on a training mission to Ukraine the NATO leadership along with us and UK has strong ly spoken out against any deployment of troops in Ukraine as it will bring the alliance in direct conflict with Moscow the situation is fr with danger President Vladimir Putin has announced Russia will conduct tactical nuclear weap weapons drills Moscow calls the Mover a direct response to NATO’s potential troop deployment signaling the gravity of the threat perceived by Russia bu report we on world is one in this pretty big development Ukraine has now said that it expects to get its very first F-16 fighter jets from Western allies in June July months according to a high ranking Ukrainian military Source Ukraine has sought us made F-16 F Jets to help it counter Russia’s air superiority for a period of 2 years now according to reports The Source has not said as to which country will supply these F Jets so far Denmark the Netherlands Norway and Belgium have committed to sending the americanmade F-16 F Jets to Ukraine remember Russia has time and again warned that Ukraine’s acquisition of F-16 F Jets will be viewed as a nuclear capable threat the Russian foreign Ministry has also described the deployment of f 16s as a purposeful provocation by the United States and NATO the Ukrainian Pilots are completing their training to fly war planes and the pilots and ground staff been trained by Ukraine’s Western partners for many months the Ukrainian military has had to rely on a relatively small Fleet of Soviet era Jets as it had fought to hold backk Russia’s fullscale Invasion that started in February 2022 and our earlier spoke with Miss to kovich she’s an associate professor in the school of interdisciplinary Global Studies at the University of Florida lisland to what have to [Music] say well um as I see it it is not a new uh development we we have been hearing about uh potential presence of NATO NATO um Nat Representatives let’s say uh since last year in April 2023 this current uh announcement was made actually in March not in we in May right now and the president of Czech Republic Peter pav clarified that this uh uh NATO Representatives that U may may be or are located in Ukraine as the Russia Ukraine war rages on Ukrainian forces are pulling out all stops to prevent Russian troops from progressing deeper into the country on on your screen are visuals from Eastern y Ukraine’s thees region where Russian forces are creeping in taking the front lines deeper into Ukrainian territory the Ukrainian soldiers are scrambling at sunrise in order to build fortified defense lines and fend off Russian attacks we can see them shelling somewhere between 6:00 and 8: in the morning they are preparing for an assault after eight the Infantry units started advancing given the developments on Eastern Front Line Ukraine’s President Vladimir zilinsky said on Thursday that the Army is facing a quote unquote really difficult situation in eastern regions it is important that we are not just living but we are fighting we are fortifying strengthening we are reaching agreements we apply maximum pressure on our partners for increased weapons delivery if the weapons delivery is increased we will be able to stop in the East where they have the advantage which is not a secret we need to stop them and take over the advantage while ladimir zinski was addressing a joint presser with European Parliament president Roberta metsola air sirens were heard in the background what you live through every day they will meanwhile Ukraine has also ramped up its attack on Russian territory in the latest Ukrainian shelling on Border villages in Russia is belgar Road and KK oblast regions respectively now as per governors of both the regions the attack killed two people on Thursday now tensions are rising over the potential for a direct clash between NATO and Russia recent statements by Poland France and Lithuania suggesting NATO troop presence in Ukraine point to a d dous escalation while NATO denies these claims the krelman has responded with Stark warnings raising the Spectre of a wider [Music] conflict the shadow of a protracted Ukraine war is igniting Regional fears of a NATO Russia confrontation polish prime minister Donald Tusk admits as much even as he expresses concern over a direct [Music] War there are some troops there I mean soldiers there are some soldiers there observers Engineers they’re helping them out we’ll see how it goes but you know nobody wants a direct War the Kremlin is UN equivocal in its warnings stating that any deployment of NATO forces within Ukraine’s borders will be seen as a direct threat to Russia’s national security tensions have been further heightened by Russia cautioning France that any troops to Ukraine will be considered legitimate targets macro has more than once insisted that he has no objections on deploying French boots in Ukraine Lithuania too has joined the koras it says it is prepared to send its soldiers on a training mission to Ukraine the NATO leadership along with us and UK has strongly spoken out against any deployment of troops in Ukraine as it will bring the alliance in direct conflict with Moscow the situation is flau with Danger [Music] President Vladimir Putin has announced Russia will conduct tactical nuclear weapons drills Moscow calls the mve a direct response to NATO’s potential troop deployment signaling the gravity of the threat perceived by Russia B report we on world is one outlining plans for continuity in government amids the ongoing war in Ukraine and subsequent geopolitical and economic challenges Russian President Vladimir Putin endorsed mik mishustin named for appointment as the prime minister of Russia Putin recently secured for another six-year term following a landslide re-election Victory a victory which was deemed a foregone conclusion this decision is being seen as way for Putin to maintain stability within his cabinet which has included the likes of Defense Minister SE Shu and foreign minister SEI lavro for over a decade however it is the name of Mel misten that has the attention of international observers Putin’s decision to retain Mr sin a technocrat credited with managing Russia’s economy through turbulent times as a result of Western sanctions imposed after the invasion of Ukraine signals a strategy of steady governance but who is M mtin Mikel misten was first appointed the head of government in January 2020 and as since been regarded as the chief technocrat in Putin’s rural ruling apparatus or the Duma he was appointed as Putin as a replacement of Dimitri medev in the aftermath of the invasion of Ukraine mtin took a central role in the war effort and in fact has also been the subject of Western sanctions some pivotal moments of his tenure have been the covid-19 pandemic Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for which he was majorly responsible for logistical Solutions talking of his professional background before becoming prime minister he headed the federal tax service where he was credited with more than doubling revenues during his decade in charge mtin was named as the head of the new coordination Council in 2022 where he was tasked with working with regional leaders and Industry to better Supply the armed forces and improve medical and logistical support his communication style is often described as confident and stoic and his task with handling direct inquiries from the president Mr sin is also predicted to play an important role in future transitional governments given that under the Constitution the prime minister is first in line to take over as acting president until new elections should the need arise M’s reappointment is expected to go ahead without significant opposition and this proposal comes at a time when Putin has announced intentions to push forward with significant governmental tasks these include bolstering Economic and visional Development and enhancing Russia’s defense capabilities hello and welcome to this special edition of broadcast and my name is Muhammad s now Russian forces are advancing taking the front lines deeper into the Ukrainian territory the Ukrainian soldiers this moment are scrambling in order to build fortified def defense lines and to try and fend off the Russian attacks according to reports that have coming Russia wants to make use of this interval from now till the US military aid reaches the front lines to gain as much Advantage as it can on the battlefield so to tell us as to which way this war in Ukraine is going we joined by Professor David Don who’s a professor of international politics at the University of Birmingham and is joining us live on this broadcast now Professor Don this this is what the general chatter has been that because the Western military aid to Ukraine over the course of the last 6 months had been very Patchy the Russians have managed to clearly push the ukrainians onto the back foot and now even though the Western military Alliance that is that is the United States has passed the military aid bill for Ukraine there is still a bit of time that would take for these Western American weapons to reach the Ukrainian Battlefield and the Russians want to take full advantage of it how much Advantage do you think the Russians could press forth in this case well the interesting thing is that the Russian gains despite the lack of Western support have been incredibly modest uh what they have not done is take the major towns that they have been pushing for uh put in asked off his armed forces that they take more of the dones or he announc it on the anniversary military parade on May 9th but they hadn’t got that uh to claim because they haven’t done that uh the Russians have been throwing uh huge huge amounts of Manpower and what I refer to is me ATT attacks whereby they actually throw human waves forward uh the Russians have lost at least 50,000 dead and 300 casualties 300,000 casualties overall but actually the gains they have made have been relatively modest the ukrainians have have despite the lack of of uh um Western support despite the fact that the Russians have mobilized 470,000 troops into the field uh the this uh war is showing to itself to be remarkably static uh and and indeed the conflict is taken place elsewhere with Ukraine striking deep 700 miles into Russia to destroy oil and gas refining uh plants and actually denying Russia the ability to operate in the Black Sea by sinking a third of its Naval units in the Black Sea so the war has taking place on many fronts and the central front is as I say rather static right it’s interesting that you pointed out you know as to how this war is unfolding in many fronts and on the Black Sea front the ukrainians even though they do not have a naval Force to speak of and matter to syn almost about a third of the Russian Black Sea Fleet but on the ground though the Russians have made slow but steady progress and the Ukrainian commanders are now saying that it is literally impossible for them to hold the positions that they hold at this moment and therefore in the course of the next few weeks if the American military weapons do not reach them quickly enough they say that they would have to fall back what’s your assessment on that front yes that again most assessments most military assessments uh say that and in fact the um American White House spokesman Jake Sullivan said that the Ukrainian counter offensive will not start until 2025 so there will be a bit of fluidity uh on the battlefield uh but what there isn’t is a major breakthrough this war has been going on now for years and the the uh the characteristics of that war is a huge Russian gains initially massive uh push push back by the ukrainians and then a largely static Battlefield uh with a a bit of movement back and forth there may well be the expectation that the Russians will gain some ground uh in the summer months uh but that’s not regarded as either strategically significant or actually a permanent loss of that territory uh because once the Western support comes in once uh UK Ukraine finishes its a second round of mobilization the the expectation is that the Russians will be uh pushed back further but this is likely to happen over several years and therefore we shouldn’t be over fixated about the next few weeks you know as you are saying that this could drag on for the next several years but this is the kind of battle that Russians would want to fight this is a War of Attrition where Russia is hoping because the Western support for Ukraine has been on and off um you know at the best of times that Russia is hoping that as the months go by the Western support for Ukraine will wne again and then Russia will gain its Advantage do you think that actually plays into the Russian hands well the big question here is is Mr Trump and what what he would do if he was uh elected uh in November but what’s interesting about the U Aid package passed through the US Congress is that it went through largely with Trump’s blessing uh and what that indicates is that support for Ukraine and the country is such that many a huge majority of members of Congress actually in the end supported that Aid package and Trump who has no PR has no principles actually recognized that that actually it was popular to support the war in Ukraine and therefore the the Western support for Ukraine in Europe and America is now established and and and this this uh blip in support is likely to to uh be an exception rather than the rules so the Strategic aspects of this are that that support in Europe and America financial support and Military Support and Superior economic support and Superior military technology will mean ultimately that Russia will not Prevail I mean Russia has many advantages including the fact that that India and China buy its oil and break sanctions and therefore its economy is keeping going in a way in which that wasn’t expected before the war But ultimately if I can just interject there you know the fact that the Europeans have been purchasing oil and they’ve only now started talking about sanctioning LNG that is purchased by the Europeans from Russia it’s the European economy that has been financing the Russian war machine would you not agree to that no I purchasing the Russ hydrocarbons now the European been talking to have China and India have been purchasing oil and gas from the Russians but the fact is Europeans have been doing way more purchase of the the Russian gas and um uh Russian oil than India and China have we can dispute that the uh most of of oil exports to Europe and gas exports to Europe have stopped there’s one or two countries that are are still riant on Russian hydrocarbons but most analysts and and uh would say that the biggest issue is China and India particular India refining petrol and selling out on his oil and selling that on as diesel that actually are effectively sustaining the ability of Russia to to wage uh this aggression it may not be a a a thing that the Indians want to hear but that’s what most analysts are arguing but you know that’s that’s of course a point of debate the Indians would of course turn around and say the Europeans are still purchasing even though the Europeans are the ones who are imposing sanctions on Russia not to purchase L and gas the fact is Europe still continues to make purchases from the Russians of LG and this this is something that’s been very on a tiny scale let let let me on a tiny scale you know Professor D let’s in fact come back to what is happening on the battlefield in Ukraine now when you say that Donald Trump did agree to send this TR of military aid to the ukrainians the fact is a lot of the Ukrainian Defenders would be looking at the way Donald Trump has behaved in the past let’s say assuming that there’s a change of G the White House later this year in the month of November how confident do you think the ukrainians would be to rely on Donald Trump as a reliable partner in taking on and fighting off the Russians well there’s two things here I mean yeah it would require Donald Trump to win and that’s uh a by no means a certainty his trials and him being portrayed as a sleazy individual through the process in New York will undoubtedly affect his popularity in America but if he were to win in November and take office in January uh there are many people who have concerns about this but as I say the interesting thing with regard to Trump is that he actually has switched position on most issues including abortion and HDE of other things uh when he see sees what is popular and what is clear from this time is that actually support for Ukraine is popular so despite the concerns that many have it may well be that if Trump were to take office in January actually he would follow uh the uh the popularity of support for Ukraine rather than necessarily uh being someone who was opposed to that but we these are many many many speculations uh with six or or nine months uh uh to8 in the meantime the Europeans have pledged long-term commitments the both the EU and the UK have said that they will give billions of dollars and pounds and and Euros uh to Ukraine for however long the war takes and that that commitment is what Ukraine wants to hear all right now the French President Emanuel macron has been repeatedly saying that French soldiers may have to fight in the Ukrainian Battlefield if that would happen do you think this is a contest that would directly become a contest between Russia and the NATO military lines that’s a real possibility uh what macron has done is is actually uh trying and raise an area of uh ambiguity with regard to to what uh the European States should do and there was a debate whether European States uh could send their armed forces in a way not necessar to to fill Frontline positions but to give supporting role to Ukraine in international law Ukraine is entitled to actually ask for support for from its its allies uh and from from uh to act in Collective self-defense and call Collective self-defense so international law and international politics would make this feas but but macron’s suggestion is not one that’s widely supported in Europe or within NATO so it’s unlikely to happen in the short term but he’s raising it as a a possibility more than actually a plan now Professor Don my final question to you is is twofold firstly the Russians have said that it has become necessary for them to fight this war on Ukraine because the West has not recognized the security concerns of Russia because they’ve been trying to push the NATO military alliances Frontier as Eastward as possible that the reason while the Russians say they are in Ukraine in the first place secondly considering what’s been happening in the last Fortnight where Russia has carried out Military drills of tactical nuclear weapons that say say may come into picture if this war continues to drag on have concerned you think the military strategist in the west would be of this war in fact resulting in the use of tactical nuclear weapons well first of all the question of NATO expansion uh the reason why many of Russia’s neighbors sought as sovereign states to join NATO was their security concerns about the behavior of Russia and in annexing part of Georgia in 2008 and illegally occupying the Crimea in 2014 and of course the latest two countries to join NATO Sweden and Finland did so as a direct result of the fulls scale Invasion uh of uh Ukraine in 200 21 so what we see there is is uh not a case of the West expanding NATO to threaten Russia but actually sovereign states being concerned for their security and seeking an alliance from like-minded Democratic states next to them so the idea that that that Russia is the victim in this is is a a Topsy Turvy view of the situation the reason why they have sought that that security is because of the aggressive uh territorial expansionist imperialist aims of Russia with regard to the nuclear question uh this is same old same old uh from Russia we’ve heard this from the very start of this illegal Invasion that that actually if you respond to this in any way I reserve the right to use nuclear weapons what’s interesting is that uh despite initial concerns about supplying anything to Ukraine as Russia has escalated in a whole variety of ways in its aggression against Ukraine the West has been emboldened to re Aid Ukraine and increasingly increasing WS with different levels of of technology and other forms of military and economic aid that hasn’t triggered Russian use of nuclear weapons and indeed the the Chinese have made it clear to the Russians that to do so would mean that they would withdraw any support for them because that would be to cross a bridge too far so the threats I think from Russia are ones that you seen in that wider context and as saber rattling rather than anything else all right we’ll have to leave that we’re completely out of time thank you very much indeed profess Don for joining us and getting us that perspective then always a pleasure all right now to give us more perspective in terms of how these developments are in fact viewed by Russia we being joined by Miss tsana kulakevich she’s an associate professor at the school of interdisciplinary Global Studies at the University of Florida U m’am thank you very much indeed for joining us here on this broadcast and vior and let’s in fact start off by this statement that was put out by the Polish prime minister Donald tush where he admitted in as many words that NATO troops are operating on the battlefield in Ukraine how do you see this to be perceived by Moscow uh hi nice to be here thank you for having me well um as I see it it is not a new uh development we we have been hearing about uh potential presence of NATO NATO um NATO Representatives let’s say uh since last year in April 2023 this current uh announcement was made actually in March not in we in May right now and um uh president of Czech Republic Peter pavl clarified that this uh uh NATO Representatives that U may may be or are located if I can just interject that these are not just NATO representative so to speak Donald task was pretty categorical he said NATO troops are on the B field in Ukraine later he went on to state that they are perhaps supervisors engineers and other instructors but he mentioned NATO troops so how does this impact the Russian perspective on this war yes so uh NATO troops but these are not in they are not in combat but as you yourself mentioned they are engineers and they are helping in training so they are not in combat and um that perceived by Russia as it’s always perceived by Russia as a tool for propaganda informational Warfare is called Warfare for a reason because it works and the reaction from Russia is expected they are threatening uh with um retaliations every time and as we hearing about the nukes tactical nuclear weapons this has been an ongoing conversation for the past two years so I would not be surprised or um worried too much because again NATO troops uh discussion is not new all right and also the fact that this moment the breaking news that is come that Ukraine will receive its first batch of the F-16 fighter jet sometime in the middle of June to July now Russia has been categorical it has said that the F-16 fighter jets are nuclear capable and therefore they will see the F-16 figh Jets operated by the ukrainians as a clear nuclear threat in the war theater how do you think Russia would respond well uh now we see this still conversations and we should not forget that Russia is allies with China which uh does not want any nuclear retaliations and as we see now um uh you know she uh is meeting with European union leaders and is not interested in uh escalations uh China is all about Economic Development and economic ties they are looking how to kind of benefit and develop the relationships so I would say for now it’s still a conversations and f-16s may may be carrying nukes but they are not there for that reason they are there to stop and push back Russians which are in the East pushing Ukraine right now all right we have to leave you there thank you very much indeed Miss taana kovich for joining us and getting us that perspective there no problem thank thank you for having me all right so let’s start with the big story that we’re tracking on VI on this are Russia’s launched a surprised ground offensive into carave region in Ukraine the northeastern city is Ukraine’s second largest and Moscow here could be iring its biggest land operation in the region since the War Began civilians in karia were told to flee amidst heavy fighting and Ukraine’s outgunned Army has now tried to rush reinforcements to try and defend the region which has been mostly under Ukrainian control since September 2022 the president V zinski has said that there is a fierce battle that is ongoing in the area Russia started a new wave of offensive actions in this direction Ukraine met them with troops brigades and artillery it is important to understand that they can increase and bring more forces in this direction it is a fact but our military and Military commanders were aware of it and considered its forces in order to meet the enemy with artillery fire according to reports that site senior Ukrainian officials Russia had Advanced into Ukraine by 1 kilometer and was then trying to create a sort of a buffer zone in both Kev and in neighboring regions to prevent attacks into the Russian territory now if this Advance is confirmed that it would represent the kremlin’s biggest land operation in this part of the battlefield so far in the war there was massive shelling that was reported in the region overnight resulting in the killing of at least about three including children while residential buildings were engulfed in fire in the attack which Ukraine said was carried out with two anti-aircraft guarded missiles meanwhile Moscow has denied targeting civilians and what it said are legitimate strikes in Ukraine’s military energy and transport infrastructure attentions arising over the potenti poal for a direct confrontation between the NATO military Alliance and Russia recent statements that have been put forth by Poland France and Lithuania suggest that NATO troops are already present in the Ukrainian War Theater which of course points towards a dangerous escalation officially NATO has been denying these claims the Kremlin however has responded with a pretty Stark warning raising the Spectre of a wider and a bigger conflict that no one really wants our next Point get you more details [Music] the shadow of a protracted Ukraine war is igniting Regional fears of a NATO Russia confrontation polish prime minister Donald Tusk admits as much even as he expresses concern over a direct War there are some troops there I mean soldiers there are some soldiers there observers Engineers they’re helping them out we’ll see how it goes but you know nobody wants a direct War the Kremlin is unequivocal in its warnings stating that any deployment of NATO forces within Ukraine’s borders will be seen as a direct threat to Russia’s national security tensions have been further heightened by Russia cautioning France that any troops to Ukraine will be considered legitimate targets macro has more than once insisted that he has no objections on deploying French boots in Ukraine Lithuania too has joined the koras it says it is prepared to send its soldiers on a training mission to Ukraine the NATO leadership along with us and UK has strongly spoken out against any deployment of troops in Ukraine as it will bring the alliance in direct conflict with Moscow the situation is Frau with [Music] danger President Vladimir Putin has announced Russia will conduct tactical nuclear weapons drills Moscow calls the Mover a direct response to NATO’s potential troop deployment signaling the gravity of the threat perceived by Russia bu report we on world is one all right now to give us more perspective in terms of how these developments are in fact viewed by Russia being joined by Miss Tatiana kulakevich she’s an associate professor at the school of interdisciplinary Global Studies at the University of Florida U ma’am thank you very much indeed for joining us here on this broadcast and VI and let’s in fact start off by this statement that was put out by the Polish prime minister Donald tush where he admitted in as many words that NATO troops are operating on the battlefield in Ukraine how do you see this to be perceived by Moscow uh hi nice to be here thank you for having me well um as I see it it is not a new uh development we we have been hearing about uh potential presence of NATO NATO um NATO Representatives let’s say uh since last year in April 2023 this current uh uh announcement was made actually in March not in we are in May right now and um uh president of Czech Republic Peter pav clarified that this uh uh NATO Representatives that U may may be or are if I can just interject that these are not just NATO Representatives so to speak Donald task was pretty categorical he said NATO troops are on the battlefield in Ukraine later he went on to state that they are perhaps advisors engineers and other instructors but he mentioned NATO troops so how does this impact the Russian perspective on this war yes so uh NATO troops but these are not in they are not in combat but as you yourself mentioned they are engineers and they are helping in training so they are not in combat and um that’s perceived by Russia as it’s always perceived by Russia as a tool for propaganda informational Warfare is called Warfare for a reason because it works and uh the reaction from Russia is expected they are threatening uh with um retaliations every time and as we hearing about the new tactical nuclear weapons this has been an ongoing conversation for the past two years so I would not be surprised or um worried too much because again NATO troops uh discussion is not new all right and also the fact that this moment the breaking news that has come that Ukraine will receive its first batch of the F-16 fighter jet sometime the middle of June to July now Russia has been categorical it has said that the F-16 fighter jets are nuclear capable and therefore they will see the F-16 figh Jets operated by the ukrainians as a clear nuclear threat in the war theater how do you think Russia would respond well uh now we see this still conversations and we should not forget that Russia is allies with China which uh does not want any nuclear retaliations and as we see now um uh you know she uh is meeting with European union leaders and is not interested in um escalations uh China is all about Economic Development and economic ties they are looking how to kind of benefit and develop the relationships so I would say for now it’s still conversations and f-16s may maybe carrying nukes but uh they are not there for that reason they are there to stop and push back Russians which are in the East pushing Ukraine right now all right we’ll have to leave there thank you very much indeed Miss taana kich for joining us and getting us that perspective them no problem thank you for having me now tensions are rising over the potential for a direct clash between NATO and Russia recent statements by Poland France and Lithuania suggesting NATO troop presence in Ukraine point to a dangerous escalation while NATO denies these claims the krelman has responded with Stark warnings raising the Spectre of a wider [Music] conflict the shadow of a protracted Ukraine war is igniting Regional fears of a NATO Russia confrontation polish prime minister Donald Tusk admits as much even as he expresses concern over a direct [Music] War there are some troops there I mean soldiers there are some soldiers there observers Engineers they’re helping them out we’ll see how it goes but you know nobody wants a direct War the Kremlin is unequivocal in its warnings stating that any deployment of NATO forces within Ukraine’s borders will be seen as a direct threat to Russia’s national security tensions have been further heightened by Russia cautioning France that any troops to Ukraine will be considered legitimate targets macro has more than once insisted that he has no objections on deploying French boots in Ukraine Lithuania too has joined the koras it says it is prepared to send its soldiers on a training mission to Ukraine the NATO leadership along with us and UK has strongly spoken out against any deployment of troops in Ukraine as it will bring the alliance in direct conflict with Moscow the situation is fraught with danger President Vladimir Putin has announced Russia will conduct tactical nuclear weapons drills Moscow calls the Mover a direct response to NATO’s potential troop deployment signaling the gravity of the threat perceived by Russia B report we on world is one in a pretty big development Ukraine has now said that it expects to get its very first F-16 fighter jets from Western allies in June July months according to a high ranking Ukrainian military Source Ukraine has sought us made F-16 F Jets to help it counter Russia’s air superiority for a period of 2 years now according to reports the source is not said as to which country will supply these F Jets so far Denmark the Netherlands Norway and Belgium have committed to sending the americanmade F-16 F Jets to Ukraine remember Russia has time and again warned that Ukraine’s acquisition of F-16 F Jets will be viewed as a nuclear capable threat the Russian forign Ministry has also described the deployment of f-16s as a perp purposeful provocation by the United States and NATO the Ukrainian Pilots are completing their training to fly the war planes in the pilots and ground staff been trained by Ukraine’s Western partners for many months the Ukrainian military has had to rely on a relatively small Fleet of Soviet era Jets as it had fought to hold back Russia’s fullscale Invasion that started in February 2022 and I earlier spoke with Miss tattiana kulovich she’s an associate professor in the school of interdisciplinary Global Studies at the University of Florida listen to what she have to [Music] say well um as I see it it is not a new uh development we we have been hearing about uh potential presence of NATO NATO um NATO Representatives let’s say uh since last year in April 2023 this current uh announcement was made actually in March not in we in May right now and um president of Czech Republic Peter pav clarified that this uh uh NATO Representatives that may may be or are located in Ukraine as the Russia Ukraine war rages on Ukrainian forces are pulling out all stops to prevent Russian troops from progressing deeper into the country on your screen are visuals from Eastern y Ukraine’s thek region where Russian forces are creeping in taking the front lines deeper into Ukrainian territory the Ukrainian soldiers are scrambling at sunrise in order to build fortified defense lines and fend off Russian attacks we can see them shelling somewhere between 6:00 and 8:00 in the morning they are preparing for an assault after 800 the Infantry units started advancing given the developments on the Eastern Front Line Ukraine’s president Vladimir zalinsky said on Thursday that the Army is facing a quote unquote really difficult situation in eastern regions it is important that we are not just living but we are fighting we are fortifying strengthening we are reaching agreements we apply maximum pressure on our partners for increased weapons delivery if the weapons delivery is increased we will be able to stop in the east where they have the advantage which is not a secret we need to stop them and take over the advantage while ladimir zalinsky was addressing a joint pressure with European Parliament president Roberta metsola air sirens were heard in the background what you live through every day will meanwhile Ukraine has also ramped up its attack on Russian territory in the latest Ukrainian shelling on Border villages in Russia is belgaro and KK oblast regions respectively now as per governors of both the regions the attack killed two people on Thursday now tensions are rising over the potential for a direct clash between NATO and Russia recent statements by Poland France and Lithuania suggesting NATO troop presence in Ukraine point to a dangerous escalation while NATO denies these claims the krelman has responded with Stark warnings raising the Spectre of a wider [Music] conflict the shadow of a protracted Ukraine war is igniting Regional fears of a NATO Russia confrontation polish prime minister Donald Tusk admits as much even as he expresses concern over a direct [Music] War there are some troops there I mean soldiers there are some soldiers there observers Engineers they’re helping them out we’ll see how it goes but you know nobody wants a direct War the Kremlin is unequivocal in its warnings stating that any deployment of NATO forces within Ukraine’s borders will be seen as a direct threat to Russia’s national security tensions have been further heightened by Russia cautioning France that any troops to Ukraine will be considered legitimate targets macro has more than once insisted that he has no objections on deploying French boots in Ukraine Lithuania too has joined the koras it says it is prepared to send its soldiers on a training mission to ukra UK the NATO leadership along with us and UK has strongly spoken out against any deployment of troops in Ukraine as it will bring the alliance in direct conflict with Moscow the situation is flock with Danger President Vladimir Putin has announced Russia will conduct tactical nuclear weapons drills Moscow calls the Mover a direct response to NATO’s potential troop deployment signaling the gravity of the threat perceived by Russia bu report we on world is one outlining plans for continuity in government amidst the ongoing war in Ukraine and subsequent geopolitical and economic challenges Russian President Vladimir Putin endorsed Mikel mishustin named for appointment as the prime minister of Russia Putin recently secured for another six-year term following a landslide reelection Victory a victory which was deemed a foregone conclusion this decision is being seen as way for Puttin to maintain stability within his cabinet which has included the likes of Defense Minister SEI Shu and foreign minister SEI lav for over a decade however it is the name of Mel misten that has grabbed the attention of international observers Putin’s decision to retain Mr sin a technocrat credited with managing Russia’s economy through turbulent times as a result of Western sanctions imposed after the invasion of Ukraine signals a strategy of steady governance but who is M mtin M mtin was first appointed the head of government in January 2020 and has since been regarded as the chief technocrat in Putin’s ruling ruling apparatus or the Duma he was appointed as Puttin as a replacement of Dimitri medev in the aftermath of the invasion of Ukraine mtin took a central role in the war effort and in fact has also been the subject of Western sanctions some pivotal moments of his tenure have been the covid-19 pandemic Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for which he was majorly responsible for logistical Solutions talking of his professional background before becoming prime minister he headed the federal tax Tax Service where he was credited with more than doubling revenues during his decade in charge mtin was named as the head of the new coordination Council in 2022 where he was tasked with working with regional leaders and Industry to better Supply the armed forces and improve medical and logistical support his communication style is often described as confident and stoic and his task with handling direct inquiries from the president Mr s is predicted to play an important role in future transitional governments given that under the Constitution the prime minister is first in line to take over as acting president until new elections should the need arise mastin’s reappointment is expected to go ahead without significant opposition and this proposal comes at a time when Putin has announced intentions to push forward with significant governmental tasks these include bolstering economic and Regional development and enhancing Russia’s defense capabilities hello and welcome to this special edition of broadcast and yond my name is Muhammad s now Russian forces are advancing taking the front lines deeper into the Ukrainian territory the Ukrainian soldiers this moment are scrambling in order to build fortified defense lines and to try and fend off the Russian attacks according to reports that have coming Russia wants to make use of this interval from now till the US military aid reaches the front lines to gain as much Advantage as it can on the battlefield so to tell us as to which way this war in Ukraine is going we joined by Professor David Don who’s a professor of international politics at the University of Birmingham and he’s joining us live on this broadcast now Professor Don this this is what the general Charter has been that because the Western milit a to Ukraine over the course of the last 6 months had been very Patchy the Russians have managed to clearly push the ukrainians onto the back foot and now even though the Western military Alliance that is that is the United States has passed the military aid bill for Ukraine there is still a bit of time that it take for these Western American weapons to reach the Ukrainian Battlefield and the Russians want to take full advantage of it how much Advantage do you think the Russians could press forth in this case well the interesting thing is that the Russian gains despite the lack of Western support have been incredibly modest what they have not done is take the major towns that they have been pushing for uh Putin asked of his armed forces that they take more of the dones or he announc it on the anniversary military parade on May 9th but they hadn’t got that uh to claim because they haven’t done that uh the Russians have been throwing uh huge amounts of manpower and what I refer to is me attacks whereby they actually throw human waves forward uh the Russians have lost at least 50,000 dead and 300 casualties 300,000 casualties overall but actually the gains they have made have been relatively modest the ukrainians have have despite the lack of of uh um Western support despite the fact that the Russians have mobilized 470,000 troops into the field uh the this war is showing to itself to be remarkably static uh and and indeed the conflict is taking place elsewhere with Ukraine striking deep 700 miles into Russia to destroy oil and gas refining uh plants and actually denying Russia the ability to operate in the Black Sea by sinking a third of its Naval units in the Black Sea so the war has taken place on many fronts and the central front is as I say rather static right it’s interesting that you pointed out you know as to how this war is unfolding in many fronts and on the Black Sea front the ukrainians even though they do not have a naval Force to speak of and Mar to SN almost about a third of the Russian Black Sea Fleet but on the ground though the Russians have made slow but steady progress and the Ukrainian commanders are now saying that it is literally impossible for them to hold the positions that they hold at this moment and therefore in the course of the next few weeks if the American military weapons do not reach them quickly enough they say that they would have to fall back what’s your assessment on that front yes the again most assessments most military assessments uh say that and in fact the um American White House spokesman Jake Sullivan said that the Ukrainian counter offensive will not start until 2025 so there will be a bit of fluidity uh on the battle field uh but what there isn’t is a major breakthrough this war has been going on now for years and the the uh the characteristics of that war is a huge Russian gains initially massive push push back by the ukrainians and then a largely static Battlefield uh with a a bit of movement back and forth there may well be the expectation that the Russians will gain some ground uh in the summer months uh but that’s not regarded as either strategically significant or actually a permanent loss of that territory uh because once the uh Western support comes in once uh UK Ukraine finishes its second round of mobilization that the expectation is that the Russians will be uh pushed back further but this is likely to happen over several years and therefore we shouldn’t be over fixated about the next few weeks you know as you are saying that this could drag on for the next several years but this is the kind of battle that Russians would want to fight this is a war of attrition where Russia is hoping because the Western support for Ukraine has been on and off um you know at the best of times that Russia is hoping that as the months go by the Western support for Ukraine will Wain again and then Russia will gain its Advantage do you think that actually plays into the Russian hands well the big question here is is Mr Trump and what what he would do if he was uh elected uh in November but what’s interesting about the aid package passed through the US Congress is that it went through largely with Trump’s blessing uh and what that indicates is that support for Ukraine and the country is such that many a huge majority of members of Congress actually in the end supported that Aid package and Trump who has no has no principles actually recognized that that actually it was popular to support the war in Ukraine and therefore the the Western support for Ukraine in Europe and America is now established and and and this this uh blip in support is likely to to uh be an exception rather than the rules so the Strategic aspects of this are that that support in Europe and America financial support and Military Support and Superior economic support and Superior military technology will mean ultimately that Russia will not Prevail I mean Russia has many advantages including the fact that that India and China by its oil and break sanctions and therefore its economy is keeping going in a way in which that wasn’t expected before the war but ultimately if I can just interject there you know the fact that the Europeans have been purchasing oil and they’ve only now started talking about sanctioning LNG that is purchased by the Europeans from Russia it’s the European economy that has been financing the Russian war machine would you not agree to that no I purchasing the Russi hydrocarbons now Europeans been talking long to have and India have been purchasing oil and gas from the Russians but the fact is Europeans have been doing way more purchase of the the Russian gas and um uh Russian oil than India and China have we can dispute that the uh most of of oil exports to Europe and gas exports to Europe have stopped there’s one or two countries that are are still riant on Russian hydrocarbons but most analysts and and uh would say that the biggest issue is China and India particular India refining petrol and selling that on as ref oil and selling that on as diesel that actually are effectively sustaining the ability of Russia to to wage uh this aggression it may not be a I think that the Indians want to hear but that’s what most analysts are arguing but you know that’s that’s of course a point of debate the Indians would of course turn around and say Europeans are still purchasing even though the Europeans are the ones who are imposing sanctions on Russia not to purchase L and gas the fact is Europe still continues to make purchases from the Russians of L and this this is something that’s been veryy scale but let let let me on a tiny scale you know Professor D let’s in fact come back to what is happening on the battlefield in Ukraine now when you say that Donald Trump did agree to send this TR of military aid to the ukrainians the fact is a lot of the Ukrainian Defenders would be looking at the way Donald Trump has behaved in the past let’s say assuming that there’s a change of G of the White House later this year in the month of November how confident do you think the ukrainians would be to rely on Donald Trump as a reliable partner in taking on and fighting off the Russians well there’s two things here I mean yeah it would require Donald Trump to win and that’s uh a by no means a certainty his trials and him being portrayed as a sleazy individual through the process in New York will undoubtedly affect his popularity in America but if he were to win in November and take office in January uh there are many people who have concerns about this but as I say the interesting thing with regard to Trump is that he actually has switched position on most issues including abortion and HDE of other things uh when he see sees what is popular and what is clear from this time is that actually support for Ukraine is popular so despite the concerns that many have it may well be that if Trump were to take office in January actually he would follow uh the uh the popularity of support for Ukraine rather than necessarily uh being someone who was opposed to that but we these are many many many speculations uh with six or or nine months uh to wait in the meantime the Europeans have pledged long-term commitments the both the EU and the UK have said that they will give billions of dollars and pounds and and Euros uh to Ukraine for however long the war takes and that that commitment is what Ukraine wants to hear all right now the French President Emanuel macron has been repeatedly saying that French soldiers may have to fight in the Ukrainian Battlefield if that would happen do you think this is a contest that would directly become a contest between Russia and the NATO military lines that’s a real possibility uh what macron has done is is actually uh try and raise an area of uh ambiguity with regard to what uh the European States should do and there was a debate whether European States uh could send their armed forces in a way not necessary to to fill Frontline positions but to give supporting role to Ukraine in international law Ukraine is entitled to actually ask for support for from its its allies uh and from from uh to act in Collective self-defense and c collective self-defense so international law and international politics would make this feasible but but macron suggestion is not one that’s widely supported in Europe or within NATO so it’s unlikely to happen in the short term but he’s raising it as a a possibility more than actually a plan now Professor Don my FAL question to you is is twofold firstly the Russians have said that it has become necessary for them to find this war on Ukraine because the West has not recognized the security concerns of Russia because they’ve been trying to push the NATO military alliances Frontier as Eastward as possible that the reason why the Russians say they are in Ukraine in the first place secondly considering what’s been happening in the last Fortnight where Russia has carried out Military drills of tactical nuclear weapons that saysa may come into picture if this war continues to drag on half concerned do you think the military strategist in the west would be of this war in fact resulting in the use of tactical nuclear weapons well first of all the question of NATO expansion uh the reason why many of Russia’s neighbors sought as sovereign states to join NATO was their security concerns about the behavior of Russia and an annexing part of Georgia in 2008 and illegally occupying the Crimea in 2014 and of course the latest two countries to join NATO Sweden and Finland did so as a direct result of the fulls scale Invasion uh of uh Ukraine in 200 21 so what we see there is is uh not a case of the West expanding NATO to threaten Russia but actually sovereign states being concerned for their security and seeking an alliance from like-minded Democratic states next to them so the idea that that that Russia is the victim in this is is a a Topsy Turvy view of the situation the reason why they have sought that that security is because of the aggressive uh territorial expansionist imperialist aims of Russia with regard to the nuclear question uh this is same old same from Russia we’ve heard this from the very start of this illegal Invasion that that actually if you respond to this in any way I reserve the right to use nuclear weapons what’s interesting is that uh despite initial concerns about supplying anything to Ukraine as Russia has escalated in a whole variety of ways in its aggression against Ukraine the West has been emboldened to Reid Ukraine in increasingly increasing WS with different levels of of technology and other forms of military and economic aid that hasn’t triggered Russian use of nuclear weapons and indeed the the Chinese have made it clear to the Russians that to do so would mean that they would withdraw any support for them because that would be to cross a bridge too far so that the threats I think from Russia are ones that that you seen in that wider context and as saber rattling rather than anything else all right we’ll have to leave that we’re completely out of time thank you very much indeed profess Don for joining us and getting us that perspective then oh a pleasure all right now to give us more perspective in terms of how these developments are in fact viewed by Russia we’re being joined by Miss taana kulakevich she’s an associate professor at the school of interdisciplinary Global Studies at the University of Florida U mam thank you very much indeed for joining us here on this broadcast and vior and let’s in fact start off by this statement that was put out by the Polish prime minister Donald Tusk where he admitted in as many words that NATO troops are operating on the battlefield in Ukraine how do you see this be perceived by Moscow uh hi nice to be here thank you for having me well um as I see it it is not a new uh development we we have been hearing about uh potential presence of NATO NATO um NATO Representatives let’s say uh since last year in April 2023 this current uh announcement was made actually in March not in we are in May right now and um uh president of Czech Republic Peter pavl clarified that this uh uh NATO Representatives that may may be or are located if I can just interject that these are not just NATO Representatives so to speak Donald tusk was pretty categorical he said NATO troops are on the battlefield in Ukraine later he went on state that they are perhaps advisor engineers and other instructors but he mentioned NATO troops so how does this impact the Russian perspective on this war yes so uh NATO troops but these are not in they are in not in combat but as you yourself mentioned they are engineers and they are helping in training so they are not in combat and um that perceived by Russia as it’s always perceived by Russia as a tool for propaganda informational Warfare is called Warfare for a reason because it works and the reaction from Russia is expected they are threatening uh with um retaliations every time and as we hearing about the nukes tactical nuclear weapons this has been an ongoing conversation for the past two years so I would not be surprised or um worried too much because again NATO TR uh discussion is not new all right and also the fact that this moment the breaking news that has come that Ukraine will receive its first batch of the F-16 fighter jet sometime in the middle of June to July now Russia has been categorical it has said that the F-16 figh jets are nuclear capable and therefore they will see the F-16 figh Jets operated by the ukrainians as a clear nuclear threat in the war theater how do you think Russia would respond well uh now we see this still conversations and we should not forget that Russia is allies with China which uh uh does not want any nuclear retaliations and as we see now um uh you know she uh is meeting with European union leaders and is not interested in um escalations uh China is all about Economic Development and economic ties they are looking how to kind of benefit and develop the relationships so I would say for now it’s still conversations and f-16s may may be carrying nukes but they are not there for that reason they are there to stop and push back Russians which are in the East pushing Ukraine right now all right we’ll have to leave there thank you very much indeed Mr Tana kich for joining us and getting us that perspective there no problem thank you for having me all right so let’s start with the big story that we’re tracking on VI on this are Russia’s launched a surprised ground offensive into KV region in Ukraine the northeastern city is Ukraine’s second largest and Moscow here could be eying its biggest land operation in the region since the War Began civilians in karia were told to flee amidst heavy fighting and Ukraine’s outgunned Army has now tried to rush reinforcements to try and defend the region which has been mostly under Ukrainian control since September 2022 the president V zinsky has said that there is a fierce battle that is ongoing in the area Russia started a new wave of offensive actions in this direction Ukraine met them with troops brigades and artillery it is important to understand that they can increase and bring more forces in this direction it is a fact but our military and Military commanders were aware of it and considered its forces in order to meet the enemy with artillery fire and according to reports that site senior Ukrainian officials Russia had Advanced into Ukraine by 1 kilometer and was then trying to create a sort of a buffer zone in both KV and in neighboring regions to prevent attacks into the Russian territory now if this Advance is confirmed then it would represent the kremlin’s biggest land operation in this part of the battlefield so far in the war there was massive sh that was reported in the region overnight resulting in the killing of at least about three including children while residential buildings were engulfed in fire in the attack which Ukraine said was carried out with two anti-aircraft guarded missiles meanwhile Moscow has denied targeting civilians and what it said are legitimate strikes in Ukraine’s military energy and transport infrastructure attentions arising over the potential for a direct confrence ation between the NATO military Alliance and Russia recent statements that have been put forth by Poland France and Lithuania suggest that NATO troops are already present in the Ukrainian War Theater which of course points towards a dangerous escalation officially NATO has been denying these claims the Kremlin however has responded with a pretty Stark warning raising the Spectre of a wider and a bigger conflict that no one really wants our next Point get you more details [Music] the shadow of a protracted Ukraine war is igniting Regional fears of a NATO Russia confrontation polish prime minister Donald Tusk admits as much even as he expresses concern over a direct War there are some troops there I mean soldiers there are some soldiers there observers Engineers they’re helping them out we’ll see how it goes but you know nobody wants a direct War the Kremlin is unequivocal in its warnings stating that any deployment of NATO forces within Ukraine’s borders will be seen as a direct threat to Russia’s national security tensions have been further heightened by Russia cautioning France that any troops to Ukraine will be considered legitimate targets macro has more than once insisted that he has no objections on deploying French boots in Ukraine Lithuania to has joined the koras it says it is prepared to send its soldiers on a training mission to Ukraine the NATO leadership along with us and UK has strongly spoken out against any deployment of troops in Ukraine as it will bring the alliance in direct conflict with Moscow the situation is flocked with [Music] danger President Vladimir Putin has announced Russia will conduct tactical nuclear weapons drills Moscow calls the Mover a direct response to NATO’s potential troop deployment signaling the gravity of the threat perceived by Russia B report we on world is one all right now to give us more perspective in terms of how these developments are in fact viewed by Russia we being joined by Miss Tatiana kulakevich she’s an associate professor at the school of interdisciplinary Global Studies at the University of Florida U ma’am thank you very much indeed for joining us here on this broadcast from the let’s in fact start off by this statement that was put out by the Polish prime minister Donald Tusk where he admitted in as many words that NATO troops are operating on the battlefield in Ukraine how do you see this to be perceived by Moscow uh hi nice to be here thank you for having me well um as I see it it is not a new uh development we we have been hearing about about uh potential presence of NATO NATO um NATO Representatives let’s say uh since last year in April 2023 this current uh uh announcement was made actually in March not in we are in May right now and um uh president of Czech Republic Peter pav clarified that this uh uh NATO Representatives that U may may be or are like if I can just interject that these are not just NATO Representatives so to speak Donald task was pretty categorical he said NATO troops are on the battlefield in Ukraine later he went on to state that they are perhaps advisors engineers and other instructors but he mentioned NATO troops so how does this impact the Russian perspective on this war yes so uh NATO troops uh but these are not in they are not in combat but as you yourself mentioned they are in engineers and they are helping in training so they are not in combat and um that perceived by Russia as it’s always perceived by Russia as a tool for propaganda informational Warfare is called

The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region bordering Ukraine said one woman was killed, 29 people were wounded and several hundred flats damaged by Ukraine’s continuous attacks over the weekend.

#russia #ukraine #russiaukrainewar

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