LIVE – Ukraine: Putin raises some taxes to fund his war

The local governor of the Russian region, Rostov (South), clarified in the morning that the fire at the oil depot – by a Ukrainian drone – was extinguished.

The Russian Defense Ministry has announced that two Russian warships have arrived in the Chinese port of Zhanjiang (South) to participate in joint naval exercises. “A contingent of ships of the Pacific Fleet will participate in the Joint Naval Exercise Maritime Communication – 2024”, he writes on his Telegram channel. He also posted a video of the reception.

The exercise, which runs from Monday to Wednesday, offers joint anti-aircraft and anti-submarine warfare maneuvers, with the participation of Chinese aircraft specializing in the latter field, according to the Russian ministry, which sent two recent corvettes: Cromkey And Reski.

In addition to their operational dimension, military exercises have a strategic signaling dimension. If Moscow and Beijing continue to increase the number and complexity of their joint exercises, their operational capabilities will fall far short of NATO’s, according to a report published in July by researchers at the European Union’s Institute for Security Studies (IESEU). .

During the night from Friday to Saturday, a Ukrainian drone set fire to an oil depot in the Rostov region (south), several hundred kilometers from the front line. “After the drone strike, there was a fire at an oil refinery in Simlyansky district, according to preliminary data, there were no deaths and injuries.” writes local governor Vasily Golobev in Telegram.

At the same time, the Defense Ministry announced that it had intercepted and destroyed a total of four drones launched by Ukrainian forces along the Russian border: two in the Rostov region, one in the Belgorod region, near the Ukrainian border, and one. Kursk is a short distance north of the border with Ukraine. No mention was made of the fire at the oil depot.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has rejected criticism of Russia and called on the Kremlin to “back off” after a Brisbane couple accused of spying for Moscow were arrested. Anthony Albanese says Russia “lacks credibility” and accuses Moscow of engaging in “espionage here and around the world.”

“Russia may get the message: back off,” he told an event in Brisbane on the east coast. He was responding to criticism from the Russian embassy after Australian police announced on Friday that the 40-year-old woman and her 62-year-old husband – who hold Russian passports – had attempted espionage.

• Beijing announced on Friday that it would hold joint military exercises with Russia in the south of its region, warning of the threat posed by Tokyo tightening Sino-Russian ties during a NATO summit. The exercises are expected to last until mid-July.
• North Korea “strongly condemned” and “rejected” a joint NATO report that Pyongyang allegedly sent weapons to its Russian ally, according to reports from the official North Korean agency on Saturday.
• The Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) adopted a resolution expressing its “deep concern” after the attack on a Ukrainian children’s hospital that cooperates with this UN body.
• Vladimir Putin signed a series of decrees on Friday to raise taxes on high-income earners and businesses, a move to fund a spending spree linked to the costly conflict in Ukraine.
• France is outraged after Oleg Orlov, a prominent human rights activist, was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison. In a statement, French diplomacy condemned “an investigation in which security rights were systematically violated” and “condemned this new example of Russia’s authoritarian drift.”
• Moscow flatly denies press reports of a Russian plot to assassinate the boss of a major German arms manufacturer that was foiled by the US and Germany. According to Kremlin, these data are not based on “any serious arguments”.
• A Moscow court has extended the pre-trial detention of the co-chair of an election monitoring NGO, who was arrested in August 2023 amid an intense crackdown in Russia after an attack on Ukraine. The judge announced in Basmanni court that Gregory Melgoniantes will remain in custody at least “until August 17”.