President Joe Biden has confirmed the US is still mulling over whether to send MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) ballistic missiles to Ukraine. What are these weapons?
What are their characteristics?
And why has Russia warned that their delivery to Kiev might drag Washington into a direct confrontation with Moscow?
"That’s still in play" was Joe Biden's four-word answer to a reporter outside the White House on Monday after being asked whether the US plans to deliver ATACMS to Ukraine. He did not elaborate.
Made to be used by the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System road-mobile multiple rocket launchers which the US began to send to Ukraine last summer, and older M270 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (M270s) sent by Germany, Italy, Norway, and the UK, ATACMS have been touted by US media and politicians as one of the most fearsome conventional weapons in America’s arsenal.
What are ATACMS Used For, What is Their Range, How Fast Can They Fly, and How Accurate are They?
Created in the mid-1980s at the twilight of the Cold War and entering into service with the US Army in early 1991, just in time for a US-led war against Saddam Hussein's Iraq, ATACMS are a solid-fuel, surface-to-surface ballistic missile with an effective firing range of up to 300 km, and a maximum velocity during boost phase of up to Mach 3, or 1 km/second, making them difficult to intercept using older air defense systems.
ATACMS’ characteristics vary wildly depending on model, block number, and configuration. For example, while they can be armed with 500 pound (230 kg) penetrating high explosive blast fragmentation warheads, they can also be fitted with other explosives weighing anywhere from 160 and 560 kg, including anti-personnel and material cluster "bomblets."
There are also notable differences in the weapons’ guidance systems, with older variants relying on inertial guidance, while newer missiles include built-in GPS.
Where Have ATACMS Been Used Before and What Countries Have Them?
Along with the 1991 Gulf War, ATACMS were used extensively during the US-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in the 2000s.
Besides the US military, the missiles are operated by just a handful of US partners and clients, including NATO allies Greece, Turkiye, Poland, and Romania, as well as South Korea, Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. Australia, Taiwan, Lithuania, Estonia, and Morocco have either signed contracts on the purchase of the weapons, or submitted formal requests to do so.
How Much Do ATACMS Cost?
ATACMS are pricey. So pricey that the Netherlands decided to shop around for and find an alternative earlier this year. Finland made a similar move in 2014. The US Army – the ATACMS’ main user, decided to wind the program down in 2007, citing high costs, and penning a life extension contract with Lockheed Martin to upgrade the remaining stock of missiles. A specialized "cross-domain" ATACMS proposed in 2016 was also killed off in the fiscal 2021 defense spending bill, due to unspecified "technical problems."
ATACMS have an estimated cost of over one million dollars (the Pentagon provided an $820,000 per missile price tag in the late 1990s – which would be equivalent to over $1.5 million today, with no newer valuations made available since).
Over 3,700 ATACMS of various modifications were produced between the late 1980s and 2007, with about 600 expended by Washington in its wars over the past 30 years.
What is the Russian Equivalent of the ATACMS?
About half-a-dozen non-US missile systems have been compared to the ATACMS, including the OTR-21 Tochka, a Soviet-made tactical ballistic missile, the 9K720 Iskander, a Russian-made missile, the Fateh-313 – an Iranian-made tactical missile design, and the P-12 variant of China's B-611 missile. North Korea, India, Israel, and Ukraine have also tinkered with comparable systems, with varying degrees of success.
Iskanders boast superior range and payload characteristics to the ATACMS, but their launchers are only capable of firing their specially designed missiles, whereas ATACMS can be fired from HIMARS and MLRS launchers.
What System is Expected to Replace the ATACMS?
Lockheed Martin’s Precision Strike Missile is expected to succeed the ATACMS. In development since 2016, the missile is expected to have a longer maximum range (500 km or more), and be slim-lined to allow for two to be fitted per carrier.
Why Would ATACMS Deployment in Ukraine Be a Major Escalation?
In light of Kiev’s propensity to use its Western-provided weapons to attack targets inside Russia – including civilian infrastructure in Donbass, Moscow has warned repeatedly that sending ATACMS to Ukraine would dramatically increase the danger of an escalation, and possibly even lead to direct military clashes between Russia and the US.
Earlier this year, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov blasted lawmakers in Washington over their calls to ship ATACMS missiles to Ukraine for strikes against Crimea, calling such proposals "an element of psychological warfare," and warning that the West’s escalation of the proxy war could have unpredictable consequences.
In late 2022, US media reported that Pentagon officials had urged the White House not to send ATACMS to Ukraine, similarly citing their potential use "against targets inside Russian territory," and the danger that they could "potentially set off a wider war with Russia."
Earlier, Ukrainian media reported that the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense had been hit in an overnight Russian missile strike. The strike followed a series of threats by senior Main Intelligence Directorate officials to "kill Russians" around the world.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has confirmed that Russia carried out an attack on the headquarters of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine's Defense Ministry in Kiev.
"Since the start of the special military operation, the Russian Armed Forces are striking Ukraine, but using high-precision weapons. They are targeting military infrastructure, arms depots and other targets that could be used for military action," Putin said, speaking to a reporter at an economic exhibition on Tuesday.
"We've already mentioned that we can strike decision-making centers and headquarters. Obviously, the Military Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine's headquarters is also such a target. And in response, as you are well aware, the Kiev regime chose a different path, a path to try to intimidate Russia and its citizens, to try to target residential buildings. It is an obvious indicator of terrorist activity," Putin said, referring to Tuesday morning's attempted drone attack on the Russian capital.
The president expressed contentment with the state of Moscow's air defenses, saying they had worked "in a satisfactory manner" in deflecting Tuesday's morning attack, although "there's still some progress to be made."
"We've faced similar problems in Khmeimim in Syria, although of course the size of the territories of our airbase in Syria and Moscow are not comparable, because Moscow is a huge city...But it's obvious what needs to be done to make the air defenses around our capital city better, and we will do that," Putin said.
Putin said he was concerned by Kiev's apparent attempt to push Russia into a mirror response. "We'll see what we do with this," he said, while expressing hope that ordinary Ukrainians will come to recognize what their government is pushing them towards, not only through the drone attack on Moscow, but attempts to target the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant.
The Russian president also delved into a bit of history surrounding the Ukrainian crisis, saying that after the collapse of the USSR in 1991, the country came under the control of people seeking to create a Western-backed "anti-Russia." At the same time, he said, NATO, after decades of expansion - despite commitments to Moscow not to do so, had found its way to Ukraine's doorstep, declaring its doors open to Kiev at the alliance's Bucharest Summit in 2008.
"It's not enough that they lied to us when they said that there would be no eastward expansion of NATO. They've even reached Ukraine. And in 2014, as you are well aware, carried out a coup d'etat and started to eliminate everyone who wanted to have normal relations with Russia in one way or another. Besides this, they started a war in the Donbass, and then lied to everyone when they said they want to resolve the situation with peaceful means. Now they admit openly that they were lying, and that they just wanted to win some time to muster their forces" in preparation for a conflict with Russia, Putin said.
Strike on Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate
Putin's comments follow reports in Ukrainian and Russian media earlier in the day that Russia had attacked and destroyed the headquarters of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate in Kiev in a missile strike. Traffic along the bridge leading to to the island where the directorate is based was blocked off in the early hours of May 30.
The Ukrainian MoD's Main Intelligence Directorate is responsible for coordinating sabotage, terror and drone attacks inside Russia. In recent weeks, its senior officials have made a series of unambiguous statements about the need to ramp up efforts to "kill Russians," both in Russia and around the world.
"All I will comment on is that we've been killing Russians and we will keep killing Russians anywhere on the face of this world until the complete victory of Ukraine," Military Intelligence Directorate head Kyrylo Budanov said in an interview with US media earlier this month, after being asked to comment on whether Kiev was involved in last year's murder of Russian journalist Daria Dugina. Several weeks later, Budanov confirmed to German media that the list of his agency's targets include Russia's president.
This is what Putin meant by saying Kyrylo Budanov,the chief of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense : would kill all Russians.
The Russian armed forces are reacting as harshly as possible to terrorist attacks by Ukraine against civilians in Russia using NATO weapons, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday.
"Using NATO weapons, the Kiev authorities continue to strike at social facilities, carry out terrorist attacks against peaceful Russian citizens. Our armed forces react as harshly as possible to the actions of Ukrainian militants," Shoigu said at a conference call.
The Western support to Kiev only prolongs the conflict but will not affect the outcome of Moscow’s special military operation, Shoigu said.
Shoigu also said that the West supplies more and more military equipment to Ukraine.
“We monitor the amount and routes of supply and, when we detect them, we strike,” Shoigu said.
The defense minister added that Western curators continue to demand from Ukraine to launch mass offensive operations.
"Despite the significant losses of Ukrainian armed forces, Western curators continue to demand that the Kiev regime switch to large-scale offensive operations," Shoigu said.
Ukraine lost more than 16,000 military in May as a result of the military operation, Shoigu said.
"Groups of Russian troops continue to inflict effective fire damage on the enemy. This month alone, its [Ukraine's] losses amounted to over 16,000 military," Shoigu said during a conference call.
Ukraine also lost 16 aircraft, five helicopters, 466 unmanned aerial vehicles, more than 400 tanks and other armored fighting vehicles, 238 field artillery pieces and mortars, the minister added.
Additionally, Russian air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 29 UK Storm Shadow cruise missiles and almost 200 HIMARS long-range guided missiles in May, Shoigu said, adding that Russian troops have recently hit another US Patriot anti-aircraft missile system in Kiev.
The drone attack carried out by Ukraine early on Tuesday targeted civilian facilities of Moscow, minister said.
"This morning, the Kiev regime carried out a terrorist act in the Moscow region. I would like to note that it was against civilian targets. Eight aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles were involved in it. All of them were hit," Shoigu said during a conference call.
Ukraine attacked the Russian capital with eight unmanned aerial vehicles early on Tuesday, all drones were shot down, the Russian Defense Ministry said
Three of these drones were suppressed by means of electronic warfare, lost control and deviated from their intended targets, another five unmanned aerial vehicles were shot down by the Pantsir-S anti-aircraft missile and gun system in the Moscow region, the ministry added.
Drone Attacks in Moscow: What's Known So Far
After the drone attack on the Kremlin in Moscow earlier this month, UAV launches have been banned in Moscow and in many parts of the country.
Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said several buildings in the Russian capital were slightly damaged this morning in a drone attack.
"In the early hours of this morning, a UAV attack caused minor damage to several buildings. No one has been seriously injured. All emergency services in the city are on the scene. Please only trust official sources of information and do not spread unverified information," Sobyanin said.
"For safety reasons, during the work of emergency services, measures were taken to evacuate residents of several entrances in two houses that were hit by a UAV. Immediately after the end of the work of special services, residents will be able to return to their apartments," Sobyanin wrote on Telegram.
There were no serious injuries as a result of the UAV attack. Two Moscow residents required medical attention but did not need to be hospitalized, Mayor Sobyanin said.
Russian Defense Ministry said that Ukraine attacked the Russian capital with eight unmanned aerial vehicles early on Tuesday, all drones were shot down.
The Tuesday drone attack on Moscow was Kiev’s response to Russia’s successful strikes on one of the Ukrainian decision-making centers on Sunday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
“It is clear that we are talking about the response of the Kiev regime to our very effective strikes on the center, one of the decision-making centers. This strike took place on Sunday,” Peskov told reporters.
The spokesman added that it is “necessary to understand” that the drone attack was carried out by the Kiev regime.
The Russian Investigative Committee said that it had initiated a criminal case under the article on terrorist acts after drone attack on Moscow.
Drones hit two residential buildings in southern Moscow: on Profsoyuznaya Street and Atlasova Street, no one was injured, a spokesman for emergencies services told Sputnik.
"A drone hit the upper floors of a residential building on Profsoyuznaya Street 98. The facade and glazing of the house were destroyed. There were no casualties," the spokesman said.
"A drone also hit a 24-story residential building on Atlasova Street. The facade and glazing of the upper floors were destroyed. There were no casualties," he said.
According to media reports, a UAV carrying three explosives flew into an apartment on the 14th floor of a building in Leninsky Avenue, but failed to detonate.
A resident of a building struck by a Ukrainian UAV shared a video showing the wreckage of one of the drones pic.twitter.com/DmMg6Prs5E
The Russian Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) on Tuesday said that airports in Moscow and the Moscow Region are operating as normal after the drone attack on the Russian capital.
Investigators probe drone attacks on Moscow buildings.
During the drone attack on Moscow, previously unknown types of UAVs were used that were made based on a closed-coupled canard structure, Alexey Rogozin, head of the Transport Technology Development Center said.
Under this structure, the horizontal tail of the aircraft is located in front of the wing. This may be due to the desire to increase the load capacity, the expert noted.
We can assume that Ukraine launched production of this type of UAV, and its range can reach up to a thousand kilometers, the wing frames are not less than 4 meters, Rogozin said.
Drones Shot Down in Moscow Region
The governor of the Moscow region, Andrey Vorobyov, said that several drones had been shot down as they approached Moscow.
"This morning, residents of some districts of the Moscow Region could hear the sounds of explosions - this is the work of our air defenses. Several drones were shot down on approach to Moscow," the governor wrote on Telegram.
Vorobyov asked residents to remain calm and said all emergency services are working.
The latest series of incidents involving UAVs comes after earlier this month, Moscow said that Ukraine attempted to strike the Kremlin residence of Russian President Vladimir Putin with two drones. There were no casualties from the incident. The drones were intercepted and destroyed.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Putin was not in the Kremlin at that moment. Russia's Investigative Committee initiated a case over a terrorist attack "in connection with an attempt by the Kiev regime to strike" the Kremlin with drones.
Ganda putri Indonesia Meilysa Trias Puspita Sari/Rachel Alessya Rose. Mereka tanding di Thailand Open 2023.
Thailand Open bertajuk 'Toyota Gazoo Racing Thailand Open 2023', turnamen dengan level super 500, hari ini sedang berlangsung babak kualifikasi. 5 wakil Indonesia bertanding hari ini.
Di nomor ganda putra, Sabar Karyaman Gutama/Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani, di nomor ganda putri, Meilysa Trias Puspitasari/Rachel Allessya Rose dan tiga di nomor ganda campuran, pasangan Amri Syahnawi/Winny Oktavina Kandow, pasangan Jafar Hidayatullah/Aisyah Salsabila P Pranata dan Adnan Maulana/Nita Violina Marwah,
Hari ini bertandingan sedang berlangsung, di Indoor Stadium Huamark, Bangkok, mulai pukul 08.00 WIB. Berikut ini jadwal pertandingan badminton Thailand Open 2023 laga perdana, Selasa (30/5/2023).
Babak Kualifikasi
Court 2
[XD] - Chiu Hsiang Chieh/Lin Xiao Min (Taiwan) vs Jafar Hidayatullah/Aisyah Salsabila P Pranata (Indonesia) - Match 1
Court 3
[XD] - Mikkel Mikkelsen/Rikke Soby (Denmark) vs Amri Syahnawi/Winny Oktavina Kandow (Indonesia) - Match 2
[XD] - Adnan Maulana/Nita Violina Marwah (Indonesia) vs Hoo Pang Ron/Teoh Mei Xing (Malaysia) - Match 3
Court 4
[MD] - Kevin Lee/Ty Alexander Lindeman (Kanada) vs Sabar Karyaman Gutama/Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani (Indonesia) - Match 6
[WD] - meilysa Trias Puspitasari/Rachel Allessya Rose (Indonesia) vs Srivedya Gurazada/Ishika Jaiswal (Amerika) - Match 14
Tiga dari lima wakil Indonesia yang akan turun bertanding pada laga perdana diisi oleh pasukan ganda campuran.
Termasuk pasangan muda yang melejit di Indonesia Masters 2023 beberapa waktu lalu yaitu Jafar Hidayatullah/Aisyah Salsabila P Pranata.
Mereka akan kembali beraksi di turnamen dengan level super 500 melalui babak kualifikasi.
Hal itu sama seperti Indonesia Masters 2023 bulan Januari lalu yang mana mereka mengawali turnamen super 500 lewat babak kualifikasi.
Taji mereka kala bermain di Istora Senayan langsung melejit dan berhasil menembus babak perempat final.
Kini menarik dinanti kembali aksi pasangan muda besutan PBSI yang akan beraksi di Negeri Gajah Putih.
Bukan hanya Jafar/Aisyah, ganda campuran juga akan menurunakan Amri/Winny dan Andan/Nita.
Keduanya juga tampil di Malaysia Masters 2023 namun belum menunjukkan potensi terbaiknya.
Kini beraksi lagi di turnamen yang levelnya sama, layak dinantikan taji dari kedua pasangan tersebut.
Bukan hanya Jafar/Aisyah, ganda campuran juga akan menurunakan Amri/Winny dan Andan/Nita.
Keduanya juga tampil di Malaysia Masters 2023 namun belum menunjukkan potensi terbaiknya.
Kini beraksi lagi di turnamen yang levelnya sama, layak dinantikan taji dari kedua pasangan tersebut.
Berikut hasil drawing wakil Indonesia pada Thailand Open 2023:
Tunggal Putra
Shesar Hiren Rhustavito vs Li Shi Feng (China/4)
Brian Yang (Canada) vs Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo
Kualifikasi
Christian Adinata vs Sameer Verma (India)
Tunggal Putri
Putri Kusuma Wardani vs He Bing Jiao (China/3)
Ganda Putra
Krishna Prasad Garaga/Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala (India) vs Muhammad Shohibul Fikri/Bagas Maulana
Ayato Endo/Yuta Takei (Jepang) vs Pramudya Kusumawardana/Yeremia Erich Yoche Yacob Rambitan
Pemenang Kualifikasi Q3 vs Leo Rolly Carnando/Daniel Marthin (6)
Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo vs Pemenang Kualifikasi Q2
Kualifikasi
Kevin Lee/Ty Alexander Lindeman (Kanada) vs Sabar Karyaman Gutama/Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani (4)
Ganda Putri
Lanny Tria Mayasari/Ribka Sugiarto vs Catherine Choi/Josephine Wu (Canada)
Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma/Amalia Cahaya Pratiwi (7) vs Lee Yu Lim/Shin Seung Chan (Korea)
Moscow and the Moscow Region were attacked by drones early on Tuesday morning. Several buildings sustained minor damage, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said. According to the authorities, there were no casualties and emergency services are continuing to work at the scene.
TASS has gathered the main facts about the incident.
Initial reports
Early on Tuesday morning, Russia’s Emergencies Ministry told TASS that ministry staff were investigating an incident in the Moscow suburbs, in which windows in a high-rise apartment building had been blown out. Fire and rescue units arrived at the scene. There were no signs of fire. According to eyewitnesses, the sound of an explosion was heard at the time of the incident.
Emergency services told TASS that drone-like fragments were found around the house. The windows of apartments on three floors were shattered.
It later became known that law enforcement personnel were verifying information about explosions in two other multi-story apartment buildings in the west and southwest of Moscow. There were also broken windows in some apartments.
Reaction of authorities
Sobyanin confirmed the drone attack on Tuesday morning. As a result, according to him, several buildings sustained minor damage.
According to the mayor, there are no casualties in the capital and all of the city’s emergency services are working at the scene.
Emergency services evacuated the residents of two apartment buildings damaged by the drones. Once all necessary work is completed, the residents will be able to return to their homes.
Several drones were shot down as they approached the capital, Moscow Region Governor Andrey Vorobyov said.
Situation now
Traffic is blocked in the western and southwestern parts of Moscow, according to the city's transport department.
Domodedovo, Vnukovo and Zhukovsky airports are operating as usual, representatives of two of the airports told TASS.
Two Moscow residents request medical aid after drone attack, hospitalization unnecessary
Two people needed medical attention following a drone attack in Moscow while nobody was seriously injured or had to be hospitalized, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said on his Telegram channel on Tuesday.
"According to information from municipal medical services, at this time, none of the residents of the buildings damaged by UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] have been seriously injured. Two individuals requested medical aid. Nobody had to be hospitalized and the necessary help was provided on site. Also, the emergency services and several ambulance crews continue to work at the sites of incidents," the mayor wrote.
Early on Tuesday, several buildings in the Russian capital sustained minor damages as a result of a drone attack. All municipal emergency services are currently at the scene clarifying the circumstances. According to Sobyanin, nobody was seriously injured.
The residents of several sections of the two apartment buildings damaged by drones have been evacuated. The mayor also urged to trust only official sources and not to spread any unverified information.
Ukraine Attacked Moscow With 8 UAVs, All Drones Downed - Russian Defense Ministry
Earlier in the day, the Russian capital's mayor, Sergey Sobyanin, said several buildings had been slightly damaged by the drone attack.
Ukraine attacked the Russian capital with eight unmanned aerial vehicles early on Tuesday, all drones were shot down, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
"This morning, the Kiev regime launched a terrorist attack with unmanned aerial vehicles on facilities in the city of Moscow. Eight aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles were involved in the attack. All enemy drones were hit," the ministry said in a statement.
Three of these drones were suppressed by means of electronic warfare, lost control and deviated from their intended targets, another five unmanned aerial vehicles were shot down by the Pantsir-S anti-aircraft missile and gun system in the Moscow region, the ministry added.
Earlier in the day, Moscow Region Governor Andrey Vorobyov said that several drones had been shot down while approaching Moscow. The Russian capital's mayor, Sergey Sobyanin, said several buildings had been slightly damaged by the drone attack. Nobody was seriously injured, he added.
Serbian tennis legend Novak Djokovic wrote a message proclaiming that “Kosovo is the heart of Serbia” after a first round win over American Aleksandar Kovacevic at the French Open on Monday. Fighting broke out between Serb protesters and NATO troops in northern Kosovo earlier in the day.
Immediately after defeating Kovacevic, Djokovic approached a video camera – where players traditionally sign autographs – and wrote “Kosovo is the heart of Serbia. Stop the violence.”
The longest-reigning champion in ATP history expanded on his message in a post-match press conference.
“As a Serb, it hurts me a lot what is happening in Kosovo,” he said. “The least I could do is this, I feel responsible as a public figure and the son of a man who was born in Kosovo. I feel the need to show support to all of Serbia. I don’t know what the future holds for the Serbian people and Kosovo but it is very necessary to show support.”
“I am against wars and any conflict, I have always expressed this in public,” he continued, adding that “Kosovo is our hearth, our stronghold, the biggest battle took place there, the most important monasteries are located there.”
Djokovic wrote “Kosovo is the heart of Serbia! Stop violence” on the camera after his win today at #RG23 as tensions flare up anew in the region.
Historically a province of Serbia, Kosovo’s Serb population plummeted due to expulsions during World War II and after NATO waged an air war against Serbia in 1999 on behalf of Albanian terrorists. More than 150 Serbian Orthodox churches, graveyards, and monasteries were destroyed by Albanian separatists between 1999 and 2004, and Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008, backed by the US and most of its NATO allies.
Serbs remain the largest ethnicity in some pockets of northern Kosovo, and violence broke out on Monday in one of these locations: the town of Zvecan. NATO troops used tear gas, stun grenades, and allegedly rubber bullets against Serb demonstrators protesting the installation of an ethnic Albanian mayor after an election they boycotted.
Around 50 protesters and 25 NATO troops were injured in the melee, with Western officials blaming the Serbs for instigating the violence, and the Serbs blaming NATO forces. After the brawl, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic accused Kosovo’s Albanian prime minister, Albin Kurti, of trying to “provoke a major conflict between the Serbs and NATO,” and warned that Serbia “will not allow a pogrom or the killing of its people.”
President Vucic: Goal of Aggravation in Kosovo is to Cause Clash Between Serbia and NATO
The security situation in the breakaway Serbian province of Kosovo took a turn for the worse late last week after Pristina used force to try to install ethnic Albanian mayors in Serb-majority municipalities in the province's north after a boycott of municipal elections by local residents in April.
Self-proclaimed Kosovo prime minister Albin Kurti is interested in spreading unrest in the province's north to try to provoke a clash between Serbia and NATO, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has said.
"All of this was organized by Albin Kurti out of his big desire for a conflict between the Serbs and NATO. He is the solely responsible for what is happening, but washes his hands like Pontius Pilate and says this has nothing to do with him," Vucic said in an address to the nation on Monday evening.
"Over the past three days, even the politically illiterate could understand what was being prepared for us today," Vucic said, referring to Monday's localized clashes between ethnic Serb protesters in Kosovo and KFOR, or Kosovo Force, the NATO-led 'peacekeeping' force operating in the breakaway province.
Vucic called on Kosovar Serbs to protest the situation in the province, but to "do it peacefully... Because then no one can defeat them. We will do our best to keep the peace."
Vucic went on to detail the causes of the escalation, saying that as Serbs "from the north of Kosovo and Metohija gathered in front of the municipalities of Zvecan, Leposavic and Zubin Potok to express dissatisfaction" with Pristina's appointment of puppet mayors, they were "met with KFOR soldiers and barbed wire."
According to Vucic, KFOR allowed the Kurti-appointed mayors to enter municipal buildings, and then "protected them from the Serbs," instead of protecting local Serbs from Pristina.
"The Serbs proposed that KFOR should stay, that the fake mayors and Kurti's special forces should leave. But no agreement could be reached and KFOR went into action," beating protesters, throwing stun grenades and tear gas, with part of the crowd taking cover, and another part fighting back, the Serbian president said.
Belgrade responded to the escalation in Kosovo by raising the army's combat readiness to its highest level.
Vucic plans to monitor the situation in Kosovo from the administrative border with the breakaway Monday night, and to meet with the US, British, French, Italian and German ambassadors, as well as the head of the European Union delegation in Serbia, on Tuesday morning.
"I am calling on the international community for the last time to reason with Albin Kurti. If they don't, I'm afraid it will be too late. The people of Serbia must know that they have a responsible leadership, and that we will not allow for pogroms and killings of our people," Vucic stressed during Monday's address.
Over 50 Serbs were injured in clashes with KFOR forces in the Kosovo municipality of Zvecan on Monday afternoon, with one protester suffering gunshot injuries. Some Western media have tried to shift the blame onto the demonstrators, reporting up to 41 injuries among KFOR troops, among them 11 Italians. Four Serbs were arrested in the unrest. KFOR commander Angelo Michele Ristuccia slammed protesters for their "unprovoked attacks" on KFOR forces, and assured that KFOR will "continue to impartially carry out its mandate."
The situation in Kosovo has currently calmed down. Watch more videos from Sputnik from the events today. pic.twitter.com/jiC0pn083l
Moscow has condemned the violence in Kosovo, and the West's response. Speaking to reporters in Nairobi during his visit to Kenya on Monday afternoon, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned that a "huge explosion may happen in the center of Europe" if tensions are not calmed. Calling the situation "alarming," Lavrov lamented that Western powers have "of course set a course for the total subjugation of everyone who somehow expresses their own opinion."
Serbia's Open Wound
Kosovo has witnessed several rounds of escalating tensions between local ethnic Serbs and the Pristina government throughout the past year over a variety of pretexts, from measures by Pristina to force Serbs to get Kosovo-issued license plates, to a push by prime minister Kurti to expand NATO's presence in the region to "strengthen security."
Tensions between Kosovar Serbs and Kosovar Albanians began growing after the collapse of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and escalated into a full-fledged shooting war in the late 1990s, when ethnic Albanian militants kicked off a guerilla warfare campaign against Serbian police and the military. NATO intervened in the crisis, conducting a 78-day bombing campaign against the rump Yugoslav state between March and June 1999, and later setting up Camp Bondsteel, the largest US military base in the Balkans, in southern Kosovo. The United States and several dozen of its allies recognized Kosovo as an independent state in 2008. Belgrade never recognized Pristina's independence claims. Neither have Russia, China, India, Iran, Brazil, South Africa, Spain and dozens of other countries around the world.
NATO soldiers injured in Kosovo clashes with Serb protesters
Around 25 NATO peacekeeping soldiers defending three town halls in northern Kosovo were injured in clashes with Serb protesters on Monday, while Serbia's president put the army on the highest level of combat alert.
KFOR, the NATO-led peacekeeping mission to Kosovo, condemned the violence.
"While countering the most active fringes of the crowd, several soldiers of the Italian and Hungarian KFOR contingent were the subject of unprovoked attacks and sustained trauma wounds with fractures and burns due to the explosion of incendiary devices," it said in a statement.
Hungary's defense minister Kristof Szalay-Bobrovniczky said that 7 Hungarian soldiers were seriously injured and that they will be taken to Hungary for treatment. He said 20 soldiers were injured. Italian soldiers were also injured in clashes.
"What is happening is absolutely unacceptable and irresponsible," Italy's Giorgia Meloni said in a statement. "It is vital to avoid further unilateral actions on the part of the Kosovar authorities and that all the parties in question immediately take a step back to ease the tensions."
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that 52 Serbs were injured, three of them seriously.
Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani accused Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic of destabilising Kosovo.
"Serb illegal structures turned into criminal gangs have attacked Kosovo police, KFOR (peacekeeping) officers & journalists. Those who carry out Vucic's orders to destabilise the north of Kosovo, must face justice," Osmani tweeted.
Vucic accused Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti of creating tensions. He called on Serbs in Kosovo to avoid clashes with NATO soldiers.
The tense situation developed after ethnic Albanian mayors took office in northern Kosovo's Serb majority area after elections the Serbs boycotted - a move that led the U.S. and its allies to rebuke Pristina on Friday.
In Zvecan, one of the towns, Kosovo police - staffed by ethnic Albanians after Serbs quit the force last year - sprayed pepper gas to repel a crowd of Serbs who broke through a security barricade and tried to force their way into the municipality building, witnesses said.
Serb protesters in Zvecan threw tear gas and stun grenades at NATO soldiers. Serbs also clashed with police in Zvecan and spray-painted NATO vehicles with the letter "Z", referring to a Russian sign used in war in Ukraine.
In Leposavic, close to the border with Serbia, U.S. peacekeeping troops in riot gear placed barbed wire around the town hall to protect it from hundreds of angry Serbs.
Later in the day protesters threw eggs at a parked car belonging to the new Leposavic mayor.
Vucic, who is the commander-in-chief of the Serbian armed forces, raised the army's combat readiness to the highest level, Defence Minister Milos Vucevic told reporters.
"This implies that immediately before 2:00 p.m. (1200 GMT), the Serbian Armed Forces' Chief of the General Staff issued additional instructions for the deployment of the army's units in specific, designated positions," Vucevic said, without elaborating.
NATO peacekeepers also blocked off the town hall in Zubin Potok to protect it from angry local Serbs, witnesses said.
Igor Simic, deputy head of the Serb List, the biggest Belgrade-backed Kosovo Serb party, accused Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti of fuelling tensions in the north.
"We are interested in peace. Albanians who live here are interested in peace, and only he (Kurti) wants to make chaos," Simic told reporters in Zvecan.
TEAR GAS
Serbs, who comprise a majority in Kosovo's north, have never accepted its 2008 declaration of independence from Serbia and still see Belgrade as their capital more than two decades after the Kosovo Albanian uprising against repressive Serbian rule.
Ethnic Albanians make up more than 90% of the population in Kosovo as a whole, but northern Serbs have long demanded the implementation of an EU-brokered 2013 deal for the creation of an association of autonomous municipalities in their area.
Serbs refused to take part in local elections in April and ethnic Albanian candidates won the mayoralties in four Serb-majority municipalities - including North Mitrovica, where no incidents were reported on Monday - with a 3.5% turnout
Serbs demand that the Kosovo government remove ethnic Albanian mayors from town halls and allow local administrations financed by Belgrade resume their work.
On Friday, three out of the four ethnic Albanian mayors were escorted into their offices by police, who were pelted with rocks and responded with tear gas and water cannon to disperse the protesters.
The United States and its allies, which have strongly backed Kosovo's independence, rebuked Pristina on Friday, saying imposing mayors in Serb-majority areas without popular support undercut efforts to normalise relations.
Kurti defended Pristina's position, tweeting after a weekend phone call with the European Union's foreign policy chief: "Emphasized that elected mayors will provide services to all citizens."
Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic told RTS it was "not possible to have mayors who have not been elected by Serbs in Serb-majority municipalities".
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After meeting Kurti, U.S. ambassador to Kosovo Jeffrey Hovenier told reporters: "We are concerned about reports today about violence against official property."
"We've seen pictures of graffiti against KFOR cars and police cars, we've heard about attacks on journalists, we condemn that, that is not appropriate response."
