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According to the FSB, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, a Russian citizen had established contact with an officer from Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence agency through the Telegram messaging app.
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On the Ukrainian intelligence officer’s instructions the Russian had then retrieved a bomb from a hiding place in Moscow, the FSB claimed. The bomb, equivalent to 1 1/2 kg of TNT and packed with ball bearings, was concealed in the portable music speaker, the FSB said.
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The FSB did not name the officer or the blogger who was the target. Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence agency could not be immediately reached for comment.
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Ukraine says Russia’s war against it poses an existential threat to the Ukrainian state and has made clear it regards targeted killings – intended to weaken morale and punish those Kyiv regards guilty of war crimes – as legitimate.
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Russia has said they amount to illegal “acts of terrorism”.
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In other news:
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Russia’s SVR foreign intelligence service accused American and British spies of trying to provoke attacks against Russian military bases in Syria in a bid to force the evacuation of the bases, the state-run RIA news agency said on Saturday. The SVR gave no evidence for its allegation.
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North Korean troops deployed in Russia’s Kursk region are suffering heavy losses and being left unprotected by the Russian forces they are fighting alongside, according to Ukraine, while the US says Russian and North Korean generals see the soldiers as “expendable”. Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday that said Russian troops were sending the North Koreans into battle with minimal protection and that the North Koreans were taking extreme measures to avoid being taken prisoner. “Their losses are significant, very significant,” the Ukrainian president said in his nightly video address.
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The Biden administration pledged to approve fresh military aid to Ukraine, including crucial air defence systems. John Kirby, the US national security communications adviser, said the promised US security assistance package was expected to be announced “in the next couple of days”, though it was unclear how much it will include.
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Slovakia has confirmed its readiness to host any peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, despite Kyiv’s accusation that it is playing into the hands of Vladimir Putin. The Russian president on Thursday called it “acceptable” for the country to become a “platform” for dialogue over the conflict. The Slovak prime minister, Robert Fico, said on Facebook late on Friday: “If someone wants to organise peace talks in Slovakia, we will be ready and hospitable.”
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Ukraine has received its first batch of liquefied natural gas from the US, a deal that Kyiv says will boost Ukrainian and European energy security as a major gas transit deal with Russia ends. “Dtek, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, has today taken delivery of its first cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States,” the company said on Friday. The consignment was of about 100m cubic metres of gas, it told Agence France-Presse.
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A Russian court has sentenced a singer who burned his passport in protest against Moscow’s Ukraine war to five-and-a-half years in prison. Eduard Sharlot, 26, was found guilty of “publicly insulting” the religious feelings of believers and “rehabilitating nazism” by a court in the Volga city of Samara in a case over videos he published online, the state news agency RIA Novosti reported.
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main events
charlotte higgins
On International Women's Day, March 8, 2023, Russia Soldiers hand out tulips and mimosa branches to women and girls in the southern city of Melitopol. ukraine – A move aimed at promoting friendly relations between occupiers and residents.
However, the night before, someone had secretly pasted posters on the walls and streetlights. They depicted a young Ukrainian woman wearing a traditional embroidered shirt clattering a bouquet of flowers onto the heads of Russian soldiers. The slogan “I don't need flowers” was written on it. “I want Ukraine.”
It was one of the early acts of a women's resistance movement in Russian-occupied Ukraine that includes hundreds of members from Crimea in the south to the Luhansk region in the east.
This movement is called Zura Mavka, which roughly translates to “evil forest spirit.” of Mabuki Women in Ukrainian mythology are supernatural beings who tempt men to destruction.
Read the full report here.
Russia says it has thwarted assassination plot in Ukraine
Hello. Welcome to Ukraine's live blog. We begin with the news that Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has announced that it has thwarted a plot by Ukraine to kill a senior Russian official and a pro-Russian war blogger with a bomb hidden in a portable music speaker.
According to the FSB, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, a Russian national was in touch with an official from Ukraine's military intelligence agency GUR through the messaging app Telegram.
The FSB claimed that the Russians, on instructions from Ukrainian intelligence, recovered the bomb from a hiding place in Moscow. The FSB said the bomb was equivalent to 1 1/2 kg of TNT, packed with ball bearings and hidden inside a portable music speaker.
The FSB has not released the names of the targeted police officers or bloggers. Ukraine's military intelligence agency GUR could not be reached for comment.
Ukraine claims that Russia's war against Russia poses an existential threat to the Ukrainian state and has launched targeted killings aimed at weakening morale and punishing those whom Kiev deems to have committed war crimes. He has made it clear that he considers it legitimate.
Russia claimed that these constituted illegal “terrorist acts”.
More news:
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Russia's SVR foreign intelligence agency has accused American and British spies of trying to provoke an attack on Russian military bases in Syria with the aim of forcing them to leave, the state-run RIA news agency reported on Saturday. SVR provided no evidence for its claims.
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According to the Ukrainian government, North Korean troops in Russia's Kursk region have suffered heavy losses and have no protection from the Russian forces they are fighting alongside.Meanwhile, the United States says Russian and North Korean generals view the soldiers as “disposable.” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Friday that Russian troops are sending North Koreans into battle with minimal protection and that North Koreans are taking extreme measures to avoid being captured. “Their losses are grave, very grave,” Ukraine's president said in a video address in the evening.
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Biden administration has promised to approve new military aid to Ukraine, including critical air defense systems. US national security spokesman John Kirby said a promised US security assistance package would be announced “in the coming days” but it was unclear how much it would include. Ta.
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Slovakia confirmed its readiness to host peace talks between Russia and UkraineDespite Kiev's accusations that it is at the mercy of President Vladimir Putin. Russia's president said on Thursday that it was “acceptable” for his country to become a “platform” for dialogue over the conflict. “If someone wants to organize peace talks in Slovakia, we will be ready and hospitable,” Slovak Prime Minister Roberto Fico said on Facebook late Friday.
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Ukraine received the first batch of liquefied natural gas from the United StatesKiev says the deal will strengthen energy security for Ukraine and Europe as a major gas transit deal with Russia comes to an end. “Dtek, Ukraine's largest private energy company, today received its first cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States,” the company announced on Friday. The cargo contained about 100 cubic meters of gas, Agence France-Presse reported.
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A Russian court has sentenced a singer to five and a half years in prison for burning his passport in protest of Moscow's war in Ukraine.. State news agency RIA Novosti reported that 26-year-old Eduardo Charlotte “publicly insulted” the religious feelings of believers in a court in the Volga city of Samara in a lawsuit over a video he posted online. He was found guilty of “rehabilitating Nazism.”
