Russia-Ukraine war LIVE: Russian forces take control of three settlements in Ukraine, says ministry

Jets when when that rocket attack happened um that will never happen in Ukraine because everyone’s terrified of a direct NATO Russia Clash which could escalate into a nuclear exchange and the thing about threats you know for them to be effective you have to be willing to go through with it yes and I think on balance that Putin is willing to use nukes how he does that if he actually drops a nuke on Ukraine I think you know the the the first scenario that would make sense would that he he just ignores the um the atomic weapon Test Ban and explodes a nuclear weapon over somewhere in the middle of Siberia in the middle of nowhere and that would be sufficient I think to scare everyone yes you know white if in in the in the west if he actually exploded a bomb even if it’s only over Russian territory and then that’s the next escalation step up and then you know where do we go from that but I think at that point NATO backs off yes um and he plays this card constantly and it’s it works um NATO will never go into UK it does work see a reaction from the West every time there is some kind of nuclear saber rattling yeah I it’s just you know rhetoric I mean we’re not going to have a nuclear exchange but you know certainly everyone’s terrified of this and there’s several sort of intermediary steps that Russia could take like exploding a bomb somewhere as a test um that would do the job uh it would make you know I mean NATO hasn’t gone in and it won’t go in and even you know Estonia is talking about it the French talked about it now the Brits talked about it but it’s a So-Cal strategic ambiguity they can’t take that off the table the threat sending troops in because then you give Putin C blanch to do what he likes in Ukraine and Ukraine will never be saved I want to now come back to Putin’s decision for his next defense minister what’s the thought behind having a top economic official Andre belov as defense minister of Russia what does it mean for the West it means that Russia has fully militarized its economy it’s on a war footing a full War footing that um Shu said about two weeks ago that they’re now producing more arms than they need and they’re sending the excess to warehouses whereas in the west we haven’t militarized our economies indeed we haven’t even made the Investments necessary to fully Supply Ukraine with something as simple as shells and the those Investments are starting now but they’re not expected to come online until next year M um so for the West Russia is now fully armed and it can pound Ukraine shell fire rate is 10 to1 um and Ukraine can’t fire back because it doesn’t have the Munitions and so the the the plan such as it is is to muddle through this year in the hope that there’ll be more arms produced in the west to supply Ukraine next year but I’m not even sure we’ll get to that point I mean as you mentioned the Russians are making um advances not very fast and at huge cost but they are making steady advances I don’t think um Ukraine is going to be defeated but it’s losing more and more territory and so when there’s an eventual um ceasefire talks you know it’s not going to get any of that territory back so this is a huge problem at the same time the uh energy infrastructure in Ukraine has been obliterated I mean at least half their capacity has been already destroyed and until more air defense ammunition arise which may happen in the summer you know Russia’s going to continue doing that they they struck 106 energy infrastructure Assets in a single day last week beginning of this week um and and you know that won’t be repaired before winter so I mean things in Ukraine are get worse and worse all right Ben thank you for making the time and talking to us that was Ben Aris founder and editor and chief of b& intell news and also former Moscow bureau chief for the Daily Telegraph always a pleasure speaking with you my pleasure shifting Focus to the other Warf front the Russia Ukraine war is witnessing a fresh wave of escalation and Ukraine’s Northeastern city of kar has become the latest flash point right while keev claims that it sees no risk on the ground assault in KH the visuals from the ground tell a different story altogether Ukrainian National Police are rushing to evacuate hundreds of civilians from hari’s border areas as Russian air strikes continue to P the region some W chance neighborhoods are not easy to get to due to constant shelling however the situation is stable and under control we are evacuating people it is fine the situation is precarious as artillery shells land near police vehicles officials say they do not see an imminent threat yet however they do acknowledge that G’s troops are being stretched here we can say that we don’t see any threat of assault on the city of KV or other problems but the Russians are trying to stretch our troops and if they succeed and have some success they will develop them intense skirmishes between the Waring Neighbors are also underway in northeastern Ukrainian town of shans the latest push in the northeastern region it’s opened up a new warfront adding more pressure on the already overstretched Ukrainian forces now according to Moscow in the latest assault by Russian forces which began on Friday last week troops have captured over 40 to 50 square miles in northeastern Ukraine’s Kar region which includes at least seven Villages meanwhile Ukraine carried out a fresh strike on the Russian border city of belgrod on Monday the attack caused a building to collapse partially killing 15 according to Russia’s emergency Ministry 12 including two children were rescued from the rubble and this was one of the deadliest attacks to date on belar Rod launched by Ukrainian troops [Music] the Russian armed forces have launched a Relentless barrage of missile attacks overwhelming Ukraine’s air defense capabilities Fierce clashes continue in the kariv region as both Russia and Ukraine engaged in intense combat civilians are being hardly evacuated from K even as Russian bombs land in the vicinity the amount of shelling did not change W chance is being destroyed by cluster bombs artillery Motors gunfighting is happening on the Northern outskirts of the Town tank is shelling the town they are destroying everything they possibly can it is very dangerous to stay in the town [Music] now intelligence reports suggest that Ukraine is shooting down a far smaller proportion of these attacks compared to the earlier stages of the war this alarming development has allowed Russia to gain significant ground putting immense pressure on Ukrainian forces Russia has intensified its use of drones and missiles making it increasingly difficult for Ukrainian air defenses to keep up additionally Russia has employed more advanced weapons such as ballistic missiles which are harder to intercept compounding the issue is Ukraine’s dwindling supply of ammunition for the Western supplied Patriot systems which have proven to be their most effective defense against Russian missile attacks according to a Wall Street Journal report over the past 6 months Ukraine has only been able to intercept around 46% of Russian missiles a stark contrast to the 73% interception rate during the preceding 6-month period Russia has fired approximately 45% more drones and missiles in the past 6 months compared to the previous 6-month period the surgeon attacks has overwhelmed Ukrainian defenses with air defense systems struggling to reload quickly enough to keep up with the Relentless bares in an unannounced visit to Ukrainian Capital US Secretary of State Anthony blinkin assured that part of a major US Aid package had arrived in Ukraine with more on the way the assistance is now on the way uh some of it’s already arrived more of it will be arriving and that’s going to make a real difference against the ongoing Russian aggression uh on the battlefield and we’re determined uh along with many other partners for Ukraine uh to make sure that you succeed on the battlefield air defense the biggest deficit for us I think that the biggest problem yes and uh and uh we need really we need today two Patos for for har region because they are the people under attack civilians and warriors everybody there under Russian missiles while us Aid offers hope for bolstering Ukraine’s defense delays in the delivery of the crucial supplies hinders the defense capabilities prolonging Ukraine’s challenges and the big question how long its troops can hold back the rampaging Russian forces Bureau report beond world is one now the US Treasury Department it’s exposed an alleged scheme by a sanctioned Russian oligarch to evade sanctions the scheme involved a complex web of companies designed to disguise ownership of $1.5 billion industrial stake Austrian bank International ultimately backed out of a deal to purchase the Stak link to O deresa after coming under scrutiny from the US it continued presence in Russia alongside the flow of natural gas through pipelines raising concerns about potential sanctions violations this development comes amid heightened trade tensions between the United States and Russia the United States has imposed a ban on Russian enriched uranium Imports impacting roughly 25% of the fuel used in American nuclear power plants Russia says this move could harm the global nuclear fuel Market previously donated by Russia’s rosatom with a 35% market share rosatom maintains it will continue operations and develop new Partnerships while the Kremlin calls the ban unfair competition Olf christon the prime minister of the latest NATO member Sweden has said he is open to allowing nuclear weapons on Swedish soil in Wartime in case the country is drawn into a military conflict it could potentially allow the US to station nuclear weapons on its territory Sweden’s Parliament is set to vote on a defense cooperation agreement with the United States in June it will give the United States access to military bases in Sweden and allow the storage of military equipment and weapons in the Nordic country Sweden abandoned two centuries of military non-alignment to join nato in March this year unlike other Nordic Nations such as Finland and Norway Sweden has no explicit ban on accepting nuclear arms however it has maintained a long-standing policy against hosting such weapons in peace time critics in Sweden have called to impose a complete ban on nukes on its oil but the government has made it very clear that that no such ban will be put in place while if needed Sweden itself will host nuclear weapons as the Swedish prime minister made such statements Russia warned that it is prepared for the battlefield earlier Kremlin said that Russia has started preparations for missile drills near Ukraine simulating the use of tactical nuclear weapons in response to threats by Western officials in recent days some statements by NATO leaders have raised tensions polish prime minister Donald Tusk admitted that that there is some presence of NATO troops in Ukraine Acron has more than once insisted that he has no objections on deploying French boots in Ukraine Lithuania too joined the corus and says it is prepared to send its soldiers on a trading mission to Ukraine as Russia has responded furiously concerns of the potential for a direct clash between NATO and Russia are escalating first up our top story Vladimir Putin has replaced his defense minister Serge shyu With a Civilian and an economist Andre bosov the move comes amid Rising concerns over military spending Moscow has also dismissed its intelligence Chief Nikolai patev this marks the first major military shakeup in the country’s security cabinet since its invasion of Ukraine earlier bosov served as the first Deputy Prime Minister now as for Putin he has been chosen over a growing need for Innovations at the war front citing military spending the Kremlin has revealed that it was approaching levels last recorded during the Cold War era the move is a clear indication that Putin is seeking to align the economy with the war efforts before the beginning of the war just 3% of Russia’s GDP was slated for defense spending the figure grew to 3.4% in the initial phases of the war currently 6.7% of the GDP is focused on defense spending and the second important thing is that today on the battlefield those who are more open for Innovations more open towards quick implementation win that is why it’s natural that on the current stage the president has taken the decision for a civilian to be in charge of the military of Defense now as for the Kremlin Shu has been appointed as the Secretary of Russia’s Security Council in fact he is also said to become Putin’s Deputy in the Russian military industrial commission shu’s Deputy Timur ianov was arrested last month on privary charges He was ordered to remain in custody pending an official probe the restr of evanov was widely interpreted as an attack on chyu and a possible precursor for his dismissal despite his close personal ties with Putin the Russian president and serge shyu go back a long way in September 2019 before Putin went into covid isolation he was on a vacation with the defense minister official videos released by the Kremlin showed the two walking through a Siberian Forest speaking mushrooms then driving off uh across the TA now again in September 2021 Putin joined Serge shyu on a hunting and fishing trip to the Siberian Forest Ser k has been released from his role of the Russian defense minister by the president’s decree by another presidential decree he has been appointed as the secretary of the Russian Security Council the Russian intelligence Chief Nikolai patev has also been made to step down from his duties the Kremlin is yet to elaborate on his outting and has said the details will follow in the coming days however the chief’s son Dimitri patev who was earlier an agriculture Minister has has been made the Deputy Prime Minister and we’re now being joined by Dimitri babich a Russian political analyst at the voice of Russia he’s joining us live from Moscow for the very latest on this Dimitri babich thanks very much indeed for joining us this afternoon now Sergei shyu has been a close Aid of Putin for over a decade why has he been replaced now how much of this has to do with the war in how much of this could be because of the prision Mutiny uh well first I would like to point your attention to the fact that Serge Shu has been the defense minister for 12 years that’s a l uh obviously to create a new Army to make a reform you need a fresh view you need fresh person and uh believe me I interviewed Shu many times he is a very good administrator but he is not an intellectual uh he usually works on concrete problems solving them you probably know that for many years he was the head of emergency Ministry uh basically dealing with clogs and various technical disasters uh and Modern War uh it is not just a battle as it used to be in the old times it is a competition of economies and it’s a competition of intellects in that sense uh the person proposed by Putin he has not yet been approved by approved by the parliament but Putin’s proposal is Andre bov an economist and a real intellectual uh the reason why Theo was preferred I think uh as you rightly said it is connected to the Ukrainian war look uh on the Battleground the picture is mixed obviously uh Russia did not manage to win uh in the next few months as it probably hoped in 2022 uh but economically Russia resisted the Western sanctions very well and that was the achievement of Bela he was the Deputy Prime Minister uh basically responsible for preparing Russia for this decoupling from Western Economist which un forun occurred uh so we didn’t feel the economic impact of Western sanctions at least uh for example the lives of most of the people in the big cities did not change that’s a huge achievement so in that sense Bosa was just kind of more successful than sh so Putin is showing that personal friendships aside uh he judges he subordinates by the results the result of B is more Rive than the result show right so you’re essentially saying that the need at the moment is for an economist as a defense minister given the the cycle of the War uh with sanctions and the economy playing an important role many have also said that there’s been you know a lot of untrained military staff going into this war which has been technically called like a meat grinder um so I go back to the question of how much of this has to do with the recent backles in the Russian military especially with the pisan war a mutiny as well where they they said pisan himself said that Serj shyu was stopping Advanced weapon systems to be given because of bureaucratic control to the military personnel who were fighting the war and therefore the Russian side had many uh setbacks in the war well let’s first make it clear that the defense minister is not someone who actually leads the troops and decides what kind of tactics are going to be used uh defense minister His function is to have all of the uh system Opera you know to provide the link between the military industry and the front and the acting Army and I wouldn’t say that sh was not at all successful uh you probably if you if you even if you read the Western press which is usually very very crial Russia still uh uh Russia provided enough uh drones uh enough tanks uh certainly enough artillery and missions uh to oppose an armies supported by all the Western countries you know that the West spent hundreds hundreds of billions of dollars on making uh Ukrainian Army battle ready so in that sense I would not sh your favor uh but you right it’s a mid grinder unfortunately it’s a mid grinder on both sides the Ukrainian side is also sending a lot of in experienced soldiers and uh uh I think the losses from that side are certainly bigger because for every Russian short they only for sorry for every seven Russian shorts they only bu one uh so basically uh sh was not a favor but uh but but obviously uh after two years and after 12 after two years of war and after 12 years heading the ministry uh probably you really need someone with a fresh air with fresh view uh on how things should uh should be done and of course there is some resistance from the military people who are usually conservative who usually get used uh to uh someone of their own uh but I must tell you by his education tro was not military he is a construction engineer BYO education right and he became defense minister as a civilian person so little by little he became very close to the military the military people love him but obviously uh sometimes the wars are won uh by uh civilian civilian military ministers who are not military themselves right but who can provide that link to economy and the front all right bich thanks very much indeed for joining us with your thoughts there a top Aid a close Aid of the Russian President Vladimir Putin has now been to place by an economist as the defense minister to discuss Soo us trade and Vladimir Putin’s upcoming visit to China we are now joined by Elizabeth Lis non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council Global China Hub Elizabeth joins us live from Washington DC Elizabeth welcome back to weon and thank thank you so much for joining us is this a new trade war between Beijing and Washington and how do you see it if this is a continuing trade War um we know that President Trump um imposed pretty hefty uh tariff duties and other restrictions on Chinese Imports uh claiming that for many many years uh China had treated us businesses unfairly um as well as put import restrictions and you know required technology transfers for us companies operating in China so this continues of course under the Biden Administration U what’s interesting um about these most recent tariffs you know as you indicated 100% uh tariff on you know EVS uh 50% on solar uh solar cells 25 on steel aluminum is that a lot of this is targeted toward those Battleground states that will largely determine who is elected president in November of 2024 uh you know if you look at the chips act that the Biden administration had pursued and passed that includes a lot of subsidies to a lot of American companies um these industries um are part of that chips act so this is actually to protect American Industries now it’s bad for American consumers but it’s also bad for American businesses uh consumer prices will certainly go up and um why is it bad for businesses well with less competition uh they will not have to improve their product as much and so their products may not be as good as if they were competition and they will certainly cost more now what’s interesting is nobody buys Chinese EVS in America right now uh this is of course to prevent them from coming into the market China has overproduced EVs and they’re at very very competitive prices and so the idea is to prevent them from coming in but again why now why impose this 100% markup on cars that aren’t even coming into the United States and it just looks like a political move by the Biden Administration to indicate that it’s tougher in China than the Trump Administration has been and indicates that it would be if it comes back in in January so interesting and many ask why can’t the world’s two biggest economies just find Common Ground notably on trade well the Common Ground well certainly from the US point of view the Common Ground would have been um you know employing Market forces in trade when China joined WTO um you know what 25 years ago it had agreed you know to abide by market forces although it did join as a developing country so it was able to subsidize you know some Industries and state industries of course the United States says that you have you that is China has not followed through um of course we know in China the state is the major economic player rather than the market and the state serves the CCP and so the United State says you’re supposed to play by market forces um China says well you just you know impose huge tariffs on us so this is you know the the pop calling the kettle black and so the two of them are not going to see eye to eye you know in the United States um admittedly the free market Advocates are pretty much gone it’s much more about protecting the American industry whether whether it be you know Biden Administration or Trump America first so each sides are looking to protect so they’re not going to find Common Ground if they’re both protecting their own turf okay Elizabeth Laura is joining us from Washington DC thank you so much for that of course we’ll be following this story very closely and Vladimir Putin’s upcoming trip to China as well lots to talk about on that topic as well I hope you’ll join me soon once again thanks for joining us to discuss Soo us trade and Vladimir Putin’s upcoming visit to China we are now joined by Elizabeth Lis non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council Global China Hub Elizabeth joins us live from Washington DC Elizabeth welcome back to weon and thank you so much for joining us is this a new trade war between Beijing and Washington and how do you see it if this is a continuing trade War um we know that President Trump um imposed pretty hefty uh tariff duties and other restrictions on Chinese Imports uh claiming that for many many years uh China had treated us businesses unfairly um as well as put import restrictions and you know required technology transfers for us companies operating in China so this continues of course under the Biden Administration U what’s interesting um about these most recent tariffs you know as you indicated 100% uh tariff on you know EVS uh 50% on solar uh solar cells 25 on steel aluminum is that a lot of this is targeted toward those Battleground states that will largely determine who is elected president in November of 2024 um you know if you look at the chips act that the Biden administration had U pursued and passed that includes a lot of subsidies to a lot of American companies um these industries um are part of that chips act so this is actually to protect American Industries now it’s bad for American consumers but it’s also bad for American businesses uh consumer prices will certainly go up and um why is it bad for businesses well with less competition uh they will not have to improve their product as much and so their products may not be as good as if they were competition and they will certainly cost more now what’s interesting is nobody buys Chinese EVS in America right now uh this is of course to prevent them from coming into the market China has overproduced EVS and they’re at very very competitive prices and so the idea is to prevent them from coming in but again why now why imposes 100% markup on cars that aren’t even coming into the United States and it just looks like a political move by the Biden Administration to indicate that it’s tougher in China than the Trump Administration has been and indicates that it would be if it comes back in in January so interesting and ask why can’t the world’s two biggest economies just find Common Ground notably on trade well the Common Ground well certainly from the US point of view the Common Ground would have been um you know employing Market forces in trade when China joined WTO um it you know what 25 years ago it had agreed you know to abide by market forces although it did join as a developing country so it was a able to subsidize you know some Industries and state industries of course the United States says you have you that is China has not followed through um of course we know in China the state is the major economic player rather than the market and the state serves the CCP and so the United States says you’re supposed to play by market forces um China says well you just you know impose huge tariffs on us so this is you know the pop calling the kettle black and so the two of them are not going to see ey toi you know in the United States um admittedly the free market Advocates are pretty much gone it’s much more about protecting the American industry whether whether it be you know Biden Administration or Trump America first so each sides are looking to protect so they’re not going to find Common Ground if they’re both both protecting their own turf okay Elizabeth Laura is joining us from Washington DC thank you so much for that of course we’ll be following this story very closely and Vladimir Putin’s upcoming trip to China as well lots to talk about on that topic as well I hope you’ll join me soon once again thanks for joining us the battle for KV has intensified with the Ukrainian military now pulling back to to some new positions in two areas of the northeastern region where Russia remember has sharpened its offensive pretty recently Kev has also warned of a Russian Army’s buildup to the North near the Sumi region in KV Russia has made inroads into the north taking a 10th border Village called B ratka while exchange of fire has been reported from places such as wchan which is a town just 5 km from the border that has been a target of one of the main Russian thrusts now Ukraine’s milit SP Chief has said that Moscow has committed all of its troops stationed in the Border areas for car which is the second largest city of Ukraine at least about two people have been killed in shelling forcing over 7,500 people including elderly from W CH and other border areas to evacuate now according to Ukraine Russian forces made as many as about 14 assaults on K on Tuesday compared with 13 on Monday in 22 the day before in a series of air strikes by Russia on residential areas in at least about 20 people are set of sustained injuries and one of the SIDS that was hit was a 20 storied building in the city center Russia used its new guarded UMB D30 bombs in the attack at another side at least about 15 garages near a residential building caught fire after they were struck by the guarded bombs Ukrainian president V zilinski had earlier accused Russia of seeking to reduce car to Rubble however the top Ukraine I officials have said that Russia currently doesn’t have the troop strength to capture carv meanwhile Ukraine’s State B God service released a video of the 10th of May to show fighting near the Frontier Town of w Chon in the kave region in the video soldiers were seen firing from and taking shelter under a Dugout in the forest [Music] furthermore Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Tuesday appointing all members of the government and held a late evening meeting with his new cabinet Lana earlier in the day nominations for Deputy Prime Ministers and ministers were approved in the state dumer and consultations on the heads of law enforcement agencies and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Federation Council were held the Russian installed governor of Kia Serv has said that Russian Air Force managed to repple a massive Air Attack by Ukraine on the Port City the governor mik rasv said on his in on his telegram messaging channel that onight several air objects were destroyed by Russia’s air defense systems over the Black Sea he also said that the dep from these missiles that are said to be the attacks sent by the Americans were intercepted and the debris of these missiles fell on some residential areas the scale of the attack and also the extent of the damage at this moment is still not very clear we’re still on with the country’s coverage of the Ukraine Russia War now while cave waits for material support from the US Russian forces are taking large areas along Ukraine’s North east border but US Secretary of State Anthony blink’s surprise visit to Cave that does raise hopes for Ukraine for a fast track weapon transfer more details coming up in our next report take a look US Secretary of State Anthony blinkin met with Ukrainian president vlodimir zalinski in keev on Tuesday the first visit by a senior Us official since Congress passed a long delayed $61 billion Aid package for the country blinking acknowledged that the delay had made Ukraine more vulnerable to Russian attacks but he pledged unwavering us support going forward we know this is a challenging time but we also know that um in the near term the assistance is now on the way uh some of it’s already arrived more of it will be arriving and that’s going to make a real difference against the ongoing Russian aggression uh on the battlefield US military aid had been blocked by republicans in Congress until they finally allowed a vote last month when it passed with support from both parties big appreciation from ukrainians to Americans for this sininsky said his country was thankful for the bipartisan support but added that more help was needed as Russia mounts fresh attacks in eastern Ukraine the first the decision of the package was crucial for us is very important to get it as quick as possible and the second one and point it’s air defense the biggest deficit for us I think that the biggest problem yes and uh and uh we need really we need today two patriots for harv for harv region because they are the people are under attack civilians and War everybody there under Russian missiles blink’s visit comes days after Russia launched a ground incursion into the north of kke opening a new front and stretching Ukraine soldiers during a speech blinkin took aim at Russian President Vladimir Putin and said the US intends to seize Russian assets what Putin destroyed Russia should and must pay to rebuild our Congress has given us the power to seize Russian Assets in the United States we intend to use it Russia Now controls about 18% of Ukraine and has been gaining ground since the failure of last year’s counter offensive to make serious enrolls against Russian troops Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine is slowly taking a decisive turn the Russian surge across front Lin seems Unstoppable for the Ukrainian forces un cover report on fine print delves into the factors contributing to this shift in momentum and assesses the implication to the ongoing conflict the Russian armed forces have launched a Relentless barrage of missile attacks overwhelming Ukraine’s air defense capabilities Fierce clashes continue in the kariv region as both Russia and Ukraine engaged in intense combat civilians are being hardly evacuated from K even as Russian bombs land in the vicinity the amount of shelling did not change W chance is being destroyed by cluster bombs artillery Motors gunfighting is happening on the Northern outskirts of the Town tank is shelling the town they are destroying everything they possibly can it is very dangerous to stay in the town now [Music] intelligence reports suggest that Ukraine is shooting down a far smaller proportion of these attacks compared to the earlier stages of the war this alarming development has allowed Russia to gain significant ground putting immense pressure on Ukrainian forces Russia has intensified its use of drones and missiles making it increasingly difficult for Ukrainian air defenses to keep up additionally Russia has employed more advanced weapons such as ballistic missiles which are harder to intercept compounding the issue is Ukraine’s dwindling supply of ammunition for the Western supplied Patriot systems which have proven to be their most effective defense against Russian missile attacks according to a Wall Street Journal report over the past 6 months Ukraine has only been able to intercept around 46% of Russian missiles a star contrast to the 73% interception rate during the preceding 6-month period Russia has fired approximately 45% more drones and missiles in the past 6 months compared to the previous 6-month period the surgeon attacks has overwhelmed Ukrainian defenses with air defense systems struggling to reload quickly enough to keep up with the Relentless bares in an unannounced visit to Ukrainian Capital us Secretary of State Anthony blinkin assured that part of a major US Aid package had arrived in Ukraine with more on the [Music] way the assistance is now on the way uh some of it’s already arrived more of it will be arriving and that’s going to make a real difference against the ongoing Russian aggression uh on the battlefield and we’re determined uh along with many other partners for Ukraine uh to make sure that you succeed on the Battlefield air defense the biggest deficit for us I think that the biggest problem yes and uh and uh we need really we need today two patriots for har for har region because they are the people under attack civilians and warriors everybody they under Russian missiles while us Aid offers hope for bolstering Ukraine’s defense delays in the delivery of the crucial supplies hinders the defense capabilities prolonging Ukraine’s challenges and the big question how long its troops can hold back the rampaging Russian forces Bureau report beond world is one barely a week after taking oath for the fifth time president Vladimir Putin replaced his defense minister Serge Shu the longest serving member of his cabinet and more than this it’s the replacement of Serge shyu which has raised many questions it’s 65-year-old Andre belov but he’s an economics expert who has never dealt with the military and now he’ll be the new defense minister of Russia what is Putin thinking what is the purpose of this decision the rare Kremlin shakeup took place as the Russian offensive in northeastern Ukraine has been making gains in the latest Russia pounded over 30 villages in K forcing 6,000 people to evacuate so Russia is gaining speed it’s gaining momentum inside Ukraine but the shake up within Russian government is Raising questions why was Serge shyu removed just as Russia was making steady gains what will be the implications on the warfront to discuss this further we’re joined by Ben Addis who’s the founder and editor and chief of bne intell news and also former Moscow bureau chief for the Daily Telegraph Ben always a pleasure speaking with you Serge sho’s removal as defense minister to oversee the National Security Council why was shyu removed has he been demoted um yes and no uh he’s been in trouble and um there was a huge corruption Scandal uh just a few weeks ago his Deputy um timour ianov was sacked who’s stolen masses amounts of money uh but didn’t bother to hide it I mean he’s got houses and nce and Yachts expensive holidays he has a very glamorous wife who posts their lavish Lifestyle on Instagram for everyone to see uh and it seems that that was part of a move to ease him out um that Sho himself is not particularly popular with the military because he himself was also not from a military background I mean he was a successful Regional governor and then he went on to head the um emergencies Ministry the MJS uh and there he was popular amongst the people but as the head of the defense Ministry um he he was not popular with with the soldiers but now B bof has come in who is an economist also without um a military background he’s an economist he’s a very close to Putin as trusted adviser on on uh economic issues but one of the things you have to realize is that the war is not run by the defense minister um the defense Ministry is basically there to make the machine work in order to prod uce arms weapons bombs bullets clothes uh food for the for the soldiers so it’s more a sort of industrial management job and the actual fighting that’s left this the strategy on the ground that’s left to to the general command and then gimo the top General he’s still in charge of the War uh he’s still running it but so I’m so sorry about also of might might replace um because G gimo is also not popular with the soldiers so so um this sh this reshuffle hasn’t finished yet Ben now the previous chief of the National Security Council Nikolai patev he was of course removed but if you’ve seen the kind of gains Russia has made and the counter offensive from Ukraine of course that failed after that we’ve seen Russia making steady gains inside Ukraine what would be the reason behind Nikolai pev’s removal well that one was surprising and patev is is one of Putin’s oldest and most trusted allies um he’s former head of the kgp and FSB uh and the security click the the siloviki soal sil Kei um is the basis of Putin’s power and patri shev is is the is the guy who is the doorway to that and Nally uh sher’s moving into his seat as the chairman of the uh the Security Council is is on paper of promotion for shyu but also P PF is seen as a fork I mean he subscribes to a lot of crazy conspiracy theories and um he would like to bomb Ukraine flat and attack NATO um and so Shu moving into the security Council which doesn’t have any real power but it’s become extremely influential and important it’s a sort of Shadow cabinet to the president’s Administration um this could suggest that there’s a sort of tempering of the tone and that they they’re pulling back the rhetoric because Russia at the end of the day it doesn’t want to fight NATO because it’s fight they cannot win and so Sho going there is um I mean Sho is also a patriot and and um he he wants Russia to win this war but it it may be a sort of easing back and the whole thing the whole constellation taken together looks like Putin’s digging in for the long term the Bop is going to re-engineer the economy to make it more powerful but more military industrialized and Sho is also there to calm things down and take and play a long game the strategy of basically wearing the West out cuz the West is getting it’s getting tired I mean this is extremely expensive war and they just don’t want to be there at some point probably at the elections when Trump comes in you know the Americans will pull out all together and that will be the end of it and so I think this is Putin’s plan it’s just you know calm things sound a little work for the long term and just wait uh Ben I wanted to ask you about Andre belov next but I just wanted to go back to something you mentioned that even Russia doesn’t want that war with NATO now if I would just take that statement and you know compare it with or actually just oppos it next to all the nuclear saber rattling that we’ve seen from the Russian side Ever every time there is a mention of NATO troops in Ukraine or european or Western troops in Ukraine is that just an empty rhetoric then when Russia also doesn’t want to go ahead with any kind of a conflict directly with NATO well it’s Putin’s trump card we talked about this before in so much as that you know if NATO is threatening to go into the Ukraine uh Estonia just said yesterday that they’re not again sending troops to fire on the ground alongside Ukraine in Ukraine and then then Putin rattles his nuclear saber and it it’s what stops any you know in Israel we had American jets flying alongside Israeli Jets when when that rocket attack happened um that will never happen in Ukraine because everyone’s terrified of a direct NATO Russia Clash which could escalate into a nuclear exchange and the thing about threats you know for them to be effective you have to be willing to go through with it yes and I think on balance the Putin is willing to use nukes how he does that if he actually drops a nuke on Ukraine I think you know the the the first scenario that would make sense would that he he just ignores the um the atomic weapon Test Ban and explodes a nuclear weapon over somewhere in the middle of Siberia in the middle of nowhere and that would be sufficient I think to scare every Wild yes you know white in in the in the west if he actually exploded a bomb even if it’s only over Russian territory and then that’s the next escalation step up and then you know where do we go from that but I think at that point NATO backs off yes um and he plays this card constantly and it’s it works um NATO will never go into UK it does work see a reaction from the West every time there is some kind of nuclear saber yeah I it’s just you know rhetoric I mean we’re not going to have a nuclear Exchange but you know certainly everyone’s terrified of this and there’s several sort of intermediary steps that Russia could take like exploding a bomb somewhere as a test um that would do the job uh it would make you know I mean NATO hasn’t gone in and it won’t go in and even you know Estonia is talking about it the French talked about it now the Brits have talked about it but it’s um So-Cal strategic ambiguity they can’t take that off the table the threat of sending troops in because then you give Putin C blanch to do what he likes in Ukraine and Ukraine will never be saved I want to now come back to Putin’s decision for his next defense minister what’s the thought behind having a top economic official Andre belov as defense minister of Russia what does it mean for the West it means that Russia is fully militarized its economy it’s on a war footing a full War footing that um Shu said about two weeks ago that they’re now producing more arms than they need and they’re sending the excess to warehouses whereas in the west we haven’t militarized our economies indeed we haven’t even made the Investments necessary to fully Supply Ukraine with something as simple as shells and the those Investments are starting now but they’re not expected to come online until next year um so for the West Russia is now fully armed and it can pound Ukraine shell fire rate is 10 to1 um and Ukraine can’t fire back because it doesn’t have the Munitions and so the the the plan such as it is is to muddle through this year in the hope that there’ll be more arms produced in the west to supply Ukraine next year but I’m not even sure we’ll get to that point I mean as you mentioned the Russians are making um advances not very fast and at huge cost but they are making steady advances I don’t think um Ukraine is going to be defeated but it’s losing more and more territory and so when there’s an eventual um ceasefire talks you know it’s not going to get any of that territory back so this is a huge problem at the same time the uh energy infrastructure in Ukraine has been obliterated I mean at least half their capacity has been already destroyed and until more air defense ammunition Ares which may happen in the summer you know Russia’s going to continue doing that they they struck 106 energy infrastructure Assets in a single day last week beginning of this week um and and you know that won’t be repaired before winter so I mean things in Ukraine are get worse and worse all right Ben thank you for making the time in talking to us that was Ben Aris founder and editor and chief of b& intell news and also former mosow bureau chief for the Daily Telegraph always a pleasure speaking with you my pleasure shifting Focus to the other Warf front the Russia Ukraine war is witnessing a fresh wave of escalation and Ukraine’s Northeastern city of kar has become the latest flash point right while keev claims that it sees no risk on a ground assault in ki the visuals from the ground tell a different story altoe Ukrainian National Police are rushing to evacuate hundreds of civilians from hares border areas as Russian air strikes continue to P the region some W chance neighborhoods are not easy to get to due to constant shelling however the situation is stable and under control we are evacuating people it is fine the situation is precarious as artillery shells land near police vehicles officials say they do not see an imminent threat yet however they do acknowledge that gf’s troops are being stretched here we can say that we don’t see any threat of assault on the city of KV or other problems but the Russians are trying to stretch our troops and if they succeed and have some success they will develop them intense skirmishes between the Waring neighbors are also underway in northeastern Ukrainian town of shans the latest push in the northeastern region it’s opened up a new warfront adding more pressure on the already overstretched Ukrainian forces now according to Moscow in the late lest assault by Russian forces which began on Friday last week troops have captured over 40 to 50 square miles in northeastern Ukraine’s kave region which includes at least seven Villages meanwhile Ukraine carried out a fresh strike on the Russian Border City of belgrod on Monday the attack caused a building to collapse partially killing 15 according to Russia’s emergency Ministry 12 including two children were rescued from the rubble and this was one of the deadliest attacks to date on belar rod launched by Ukrainian [Music] troops the Russian armed forces have launched a relent less barrage of missile attacks overwhelming Ukraine’s air defense capabilities Fierce clashes continue in the kariv region as both Russia and Ukraine engaged in intense combat civilians are being hly evacuated from kiv even as Russian bombs land in the vicinity the amount of shelling did not change W chance is being destroyed by cluster bombs artillery Motors gunfighting is happening on the Northern outskirts of the Town tank is shelling the town they are destroying everything they possibly can it is very dangerous to stay in the town now [Music] intelligence reports suggest that Ukraine is shooting down a far smaller proportion of these attacks compared to the earlier stages of the war this alarming development has allowed Russia to gain significant ground putting immense pressure on Ukrainian forces Russia has intensified its use of drones and missiles making it increasingly difficult for Ukrainian air defenses to keep up additionally Russia has employed more advanced weapons such such as ballistic missiles which are harder to intercept compounding the issue is Ukraine’s dwindling supply of ammunition for the Western supplied Patriot systems which have proven to be their most effective defense against Russian missile attacks according to a Wall Street Journal report over the past 6 months Ukraine has only been able to intercept around 46% of Russian missiles a stark contrast to the the 73% interception rate during the preceding 6-month period Russia has fired approximately 45% more drones and missiles in the past 6 months compared to the previous 6-month period this surgeon attacks has overwhelmed Ukrainian defenses with air defense systems struggling to reload quickly enough to keep up with the Relentless barrages in an unannounced visit to Ukrainian Capital US Secretary of State Anthony blinkin assured that part of a major US Aid package had arrived in Ukraine with more on the way the assistance is now on the way uh some of it’s already arrived more of it will be arriving and that’s going to make a real difference against the ongoing Russian aggression uh on the battlefield and we’re determined uh along with many other partners for Ukraine uh to make sure that you succeed on the battlefield defense the biggest deficit for us I think that the biggest problem yes and uh and uh we need really we need today two patriots for har for har region because they are the people under attack civilians and warriors everybody they under Russian missiles while us Aid offers hope for bolstering Ukraine defense delays in the delivery of the crucial supplies hinders the defense capabilities prolonging Ukraine’s challenges and the big question how long its troops can hold back the rampaging Russian forces bureo report be on world is one now the US Treasury Department it’s exposed an alleged scheme by a sanction Russian oligarch to evade sanctions the scheme involved a complex web of companies designed to disguise ownership of $1.5 billion industrial stake Austrian bank International ultimately backed out of a deal to purchase the stake linked to ol deresa after coming under scrutiny from the US it continued presence in Russia alongside the flow of natural gas through pipelines raising concerns about potential sanctions violations this development comes amid High trade tensions between the United States and Russia the United States has imposed a ban on Russian enriched uranium Imports impacting roughly 25% of the fuel used in American nuclear power plants Russia says this move could harm the global nuclear fuel Market previously donated by Russia’s rosatom with a 35% market share rosatom maintains it will continue operations and develop new Partnerships while the Kremlin calls the ban unfair competition Olf christon the prime minister of the latest NATO member Sweden has said he is open to allowing nuclear weapons on Swedish soil in Wartime in case the country is drawn into a military conflict it could potentially allow the US to station nuclear weapons on its territory Sweden’s Parliament is set to vote on a defense cooperation agreement with the United States in June it will give the United States access to military bases in Sweden and allow the storage of military equipment and weapons in the Nordic country Sweden abandoned two centuries of military non-alignment to join nato in March this year unlike other Nordic Nations such as Finland and Norway Sweden has no explicit ban on accepting nuclear arm arms however it has maintained a long-standing policy against hosting such weapons in peace time critics in Sweden have called to impose a complete ban on nukes on its soil but the government has made it very clear that no such ban will be put in place while if needed Sweden itself will host nuclear weapons as the Swedish prime minister made such statements Russia warned that it is prepared for the battlefield earlier Kremlin said that Russia has started preparation for missile drills near Ukraine simulating the use of tactical nuclear weapons in response to threats by Western officials in recent days some statements by NATO leaders have raised tensions polish prime minister Donald Tusk admitted that there is some presence of NATO troops in Ukraine Acron has more than once insisted that he has no objections on deploying French boots in Ukraine Lithuania too joined the corus and says that is prepared to send its soldiers on a mission to Ukraine as Russia has responded furiously concerns of the potential for a direct clash between NATO and Russia are escalating first up our top story Vladimir Putin has replaced his defense minister Sergey shyu With a Civilian and an economist andry bosov the move comes amid Rising concerns over military spending mosco has also dismissed its intelligence Chief Nikolai patev this marks the first major military shakeup in the country’s security cabinet since its invasion of Ukraine earlier bosov served as the first deuty Prime Minister now as for Putin he has been chosen over a growing need for Innovations at the warfront citing military spending the Kremlin has revealed that it was approaching levels last recorded during the Cold War era the move is a clear indication that Putin is seeking to align the economy with the war efforts before the beginning of the war just 3% of Russia’s GDP was slated for defense spending the figure grew to 3.4% in the initial phases of the war currently 6.7% of the GDP is focused on defense spending and the second important thing is that today on the battlefield those who are more open for Innovations more open towards quick implementation win that is why it’s natural that on the current stage the president has taken the decision for a civilian to be in charge of the military of Defense now as for the Kremlin Shu has been appointed as the Secretary of Russia Security Council in fact he is also said to become Putin’s Deputy in the Russian military industrial commission shu’s Deputy Timur iano uh was arrested last month on privary charges He was ordered to remain in custody pending an official probe the rest of evanov was widely interpreted as an attack on CH and a possible precursor for his dismissal despite his close personal ties with Putin the Russian president and serge shyu go back a long way in September 2019 before Putin went into covid isolation he was on a vacation with the defense minister official videos released by The kremin showed the two walking through a Siberian Forest picking mushrooms then driving off uh across the TA now again in September 202 21 Putin joined Serge shyu on a hunting and fishing trip to the Siberian Forest Serge kovich Shu has been released from his role of the Russian defense minister by the president’s decree by another presidential decree he has been appointed as the secretary of the Russian Security Council the Russian intelligence Chief Nikolai patri shev has also been made to step down from his duties the Kremlin is yet to elaborate on his outting and has said the details will follow in the coming days however the chief’s son Dimitri patev who was earlier an agriculture Minister has been made the Deputy Prime Minister and we’re now being joined by Dimitri babich a Russian political analyst at the voice of Russia he’s joining us live from Moscow for the very latest on this dimitry babich thanks very much indeed for joining us this afternoon now Sergei shyu has been a close a of Putin for over a decade why has he been replaced now how much of this has to do with the war in Ukraine and how much of this could be because of the pisan Mutiny uh well first I would like to point your attention to the fact that Serge Shu has been the defense minister for 12 years that’s award uh obviously to create a new Army to make a reform you need a fresh view you need a a fresh person and uh believe me I interviewed Shu many times he is a very good administrator but he is not an intellectual uh he usually works on concrete problems solving them you probably know that for many years he was the head of emergency Ministry uh basically dealing with clogs and various technical disasters uh and Modern War uh it is not just a battle as it used to be in the old times it is a competition of economies and it’s a competition of intellects in that sense uh the person proposed by Putin he has not yet been approved by approved by the parliament but Putin’s proposal is Andre bov an economist and a real intellectual uh the reason why Theo was preferred I think uh as you rightly said it is connected to the Ukrainian war look uh on the Battleground the picture is mixed obviously uh Russia did not manage to win uh in the next few months as it probably hoped in 2022 uh but economically Russia resisted the Western San very well and that was the achievement of BOS

Russian forces have taken control of two more settlements in Ukraine’s north-east Kharkiv region and one in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, the defence ministry said on Wednesday, building on a run of incremental gains that have alarmed Kyiv.

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