Laurent Vinatier, an adviser to the Swiss nonprofit Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, French national Laurent Vinatier, allegedly collected information of a ‘military-technical nature’, Moscow, June 7, 2024 [Maxim Shemetov/Reuters]
A French researcher has admitted to criminal charges related to collecting sensitive military information, Russian investigators have claimed.
tion, the Investigative Committee of Russia said on Wednesday. The French researcher joined a list of Western citizens detained by Moscow when he was arrested by the Federal Security Service (FSB) last month.
“The French citizen has pleaded guilty in a criminal case on illegal collection of information in the field of Russian military activities,” the Investigative Committee said in a statement. “During the interrogation, he admitted his guilt in full.”
Potentially increasing Western concerns, the FSB then declared in a statement that Vinatier, who had worked long-term in Russia for the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD) NGO, had “collected information of a military and military-technical nature that could be used to the detriment of the security of the Russian Federation”.
The accusations against him could result in a sentence of five years in prison, according to reports.
‘Propaganda’
The 47-year-old researcher’s arrest came as tension rose between Moscow and Paris, with French President Emmanuel Macron calling for a hard line regarding the war in Ukraine.
Following the arrest, Macron insisted that the employee of the Swiss-based conflict mediation group HD had never worked for the French state and demanded his immediate release, calling the “propaganda” against him “does not match reality”.
However, a court last month placed him in pre-trial custody until August 5.
Russia has not charged or publicly accused Vinatier of working with any foreign intelligence agency or directly engaging in espionage.
However, authorities have previously arrested people for breaching the “foreign agents” law before charging them with more serious offences.
The Investigative Committee said seven witnesses from whom Vinatier had tried to collect military information had been questioned.
“A linguistic forensic examination has been scheduled based on audio recordings of these meetings,” the committee said in its statement.
In a statement following Vinatier’s arrest, HD said: “In the course of HD’s activities as an impartial and independent mediation organisation, our people work around the world and routinely meet with a wide range of officials, experts and other parties with the aim of advancing efforts to prevent, mitigate and resolve armed conflict.”
‘Hostage diplomacy’
Under Russian law, people who collect, report, or share information about Russia’s military or security services must register as “foreign agents”.
Critics say the legislation has been used to clamp down on dissent. Its use has also risen since the Kremlin launched its war on neighbouring Ukraine in February 2022.
US-Russian journalist Alsu Kurmasheva was arrested last year for failing to register as a “foreign agent”. More serious allegations of spreading false information about the armed forces have since been levelled against her.
Several other Western citizens have been arrested in Russia since the Ukraine war began, which has put relations at their lowest ebb since the midst of the Cold War.
US reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested in March 2023 on espionage charges, went on trial behind closed doors last month. Several other US citizens have been arrested recently.
Among the higher profile detainments is that of US security executive Paul Whelan, who was arrested in Moscow for espionage in 2018. US-Russian citizen Ksenia Karelina was put on trial for high treason last month after donating $50 to a Ukrainian charity.
Russia has indicated that it is open to the idea of a prisoner exchange involving Gershkovich and others, claiming that contacts with the US have taken place.
Years of “vicious persecution” of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange show that Washington will go to any lengths to escape justice for its crimes, Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters said in an exclusive interview aired with RT (Russia Today) on Monday.
His words came as Assange struck a deal with Washington and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to obtain and disseminate national defense information at a US court in Saipan. He was then sentenced to five years – time he has already served in London’s Belmarsh maximum security prison – and then set free and allowed to return to his native Australia.
The US also agreed to drop its request for extradition but demanded that Assange instruct WikiLeaks to destroy classified information stored on its servers or devices.
Washington just uses the national security facade to silence journalists, Waters told RT, commenting on the developments. “That’s exactly what it is,” he said. The persecution of Assange had the aim of dissuading other journalists from following in his footsteps and publishing information that Washington would very much like to keep secret, he believes.
“The way that he was treated by both the US and the UK government is absolutely appalling,” the musician said. “What they have done in their treatment of Assange is they have freely and openly admitted to the rest of the world that they don't give a fig for the rule of law,” Waters stated, adding that the “rules-based order” Washington likes to talk about is nothing but the ability of the US to impose its will on others without any resistance.
The Pink Floyd frontman also talked about the Ukraine conflict and said the West’s “saber-rattling” is “insane” as it risks another “world war.” The conflict between Moscow and Kiev could have been avoided entirely if the West had been “prepared to negotiate and listen to both sides of the conversation,” he told RT.
Heavy street fighting continues in northern and southern Gaza, as well as the occupied West Bank, with both sides claiming to inflict significant casualties on the other’s forces.
The military wing of the Islamic Jihad group says its fighters carried out the attack on the Amitai military base located in the southern Israel terrorists settlement with 107mm rockets, without giving further details.
Separately, the group said it targeted a Merkava 4 tank with an RPG shell and clashed with soldiers in southwestern Rafah.
The soldier was killed during combat operations in the city in southern Gaza, the Israeli military says.
He was identified as Sergeant Ori Itzchak Hadad, 21, from Beersheba in southern Israel, the army said on X, adding that nine other soldiers were wounded in an attack.
It happened in a tunnel when an explosive device was detonated.
Three ‘massacres’ by Israeli terrorists forces kill 23, injure 91 in past 24 hours
Gaza’s health ministry says nearly two dozen people were killed and 100 wounded in Israeli strikes over the past day.
“Israeli attacks killed 23 people and injured 91 others in three massacres against [Palestinian] families in the last 24 hours,” the ministry said.
“Many people are still trapped under rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” it added.
Palestinian detainees are tortured “day and night” in Israel terrorists’s prisons, the director of al-Shifa Hospital Dr Muhammad Abu Salmiya tells Al Jazeera after his release from seven months’ detention.
Israeli terrorists tanks advance on the Gaza City district of Shujayea, trapping civilians during intense battles, with Palestinian fighters launching attacks on invading troops in southern Rafah.
Released doctor’s life in danger after Israeli incitement: Monitor
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor expressed fear for the life of Dr Muhammad Abu Salmiya “after a storm of violent reactions in the Israeli government regarding his release”.
Dr Mohammed Abu Salmiya of Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital with his family [Mohammad Jahjouh/AP]
The rights group said in a statement that the doctor’s life could be in “serious danger” and warned of “the possibility of re-arresting him or targeting him and killing him directly and deliberately”.
“The release of the director of the medical complex and his colleagues without charges is evidence that the pretexts for storming and destroying the hospital are flimsy arguments,” it said.
“We hold Israel fully responsible for the doctor’s life after launching a wide political and media campaign against him.”
Hamas says the condition of the prisoners released today and their testimony “confirm the criminal behaviour of the [Israeli] occupation”.
The international community and the United Nations must protect detainees, it said in a statement.
Hamas also called on the International Committee of the Red Cross to reveal the fate of thousands of Palestinian detainees taken by Israeli forces from Gaza, which it alleged are being hidden in “inhumane conditions”.
A video of what is said to be the use of Russia’s new FAB-3000 heavy aerial bomb against Ukrainian positions in the settlement of New York in the Donetsk People’s Republic has emerged on social media.
According to reports by some Russian Telegram channels on Sunday, the three-ton high-explosive bomb equipped with a guidance module struck a Ukrainian command center, killing at least 60 troops and destroying four vehicles. The affected building “disappeared without a trace,” one of the reports claimed.
The drone footage of the strike, allegedly made in New York, captured a gigantic explosion. RT could not independently verify the authenticity of the clip. Russia’s Ministry of Defense has not commented on the matter.
The FAB-3000 was reportedly deployed for the first time in the village of Liptsy during Russia’s advance in the Kharkov Region two weeks ago.
Russian military experts said that FAB-3000 bombs pack a punch that’s enough to destroy even the strongest fortifications, and that new technology allows targets to be hit with a high degree of accuracy.
Western experts have also acknowledged that the FAB-3000 and smaller air-launched bombs, which Russia upgraded with pop-out wings and satellite navigation, pose an extremely serious threat to the Ukrainian military.
Defense News wrote earlier this week that “in recent months” Russia has used this kind of weaponry against Ukraine’s front-line troops. “Currently, Ukraine has few counters to glide bomb strikes,” it said.
The settlement of New York first appeared on the maps in the mid-19th century; the exact origins of its name are currently unclear. Some historians say it is related to an American entrepreneur, who operated in the village, while others link it to Mennonite settlers, who came to the area from the city of Jork in Germany. There’s also a suggestion that the Americanized name was simply a result of a transliteration error from the Latin to the Cyrillic alphabet.
Over the past several months, Russian troops have been making steady gains in Donbass. In early May, Moscow also launched an offensive in Kharkov Region. President Vladimir Putin said it was a response to the routine shelling of Russian civilian infrastructure by Ukrainian troops in the border regions, requiring the creation of a “sanitary zone.”
WATCH Russian military destroy US-supplied missile launcher in Ukraine
The Russian Defense Ministry on Friday reported the destruction of a US-made М270А1 MLRS missile system in Ukraine’s Nikolayev Region, sharing drone footage of the strike.
The system, a heavier-tracked cousin of HIMARS, capable of firing ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles as well as smaller projectiles, was spotted by surveillance drones near the village of Shevchenkovo, located to the south of the city of Nikolayev. The vehicle was apparently being prepared to fire missiles, yet it opted to return to its staging area for some unknown reason.
The launcher and its support vehicle were tracked to a civilian hangar on the southern outskirts of Shevchenkovo, footage shows. The building was promptly hit by a Russian Iskander-M ballistic missile. The powerful blast inflicted heavy damage on the hangar, with multiple secondary explosions observed by the surveillance drone.
“Objective control recorded the destruction of the target and a secondary detonation. Ukrainian Armed Forces militants, an M270A1 MLRS launcher, a support vehicle, as well as transport-loading vehicles with ammunition that were concealed in the hangar, were destroyed in the strike,” the military said in a statement.
The Russian military has been consistently hunting for high-value Ukrainian assets, including the HIMARS-family launchers. Throughout June, hits on several units of the type have been reported, with some of them corroborated by drone footage.
Touted by the Ukrainian military as a high-precision tool to strike important Russian military targets, such as airfields or command points, systems of this type have been routinely used for indiscriminate strikes deep into Russian territory.
On Sunday, for instance, the Ukrainian military fired five ATACMS missiles packed with cluster warheads at Crimea, according to the Russian military. While four missiles were intercepted, one made it through, spilling its contents along a beach, injuring over 150 people and killing at least five, including two children.
Watch Russian Kamikaze Drones Take Out Ukrainian Drone Control Center
Even as Ukrainian forces try to use UAVs to harass Russian troops in the Ukrainian conflict zone, their efforts are thwarted by Russian drone operators.
A Ukrainian drone control center in the Kherson region was rendered inoperable by a surgical drone strike by Russian forces.
The attack was carried out using kamikaze drones that managed to bypass Ukrainian defenses and deliver a precise blow that likely hampered Ukrainian drone operations in the region.
This short video released by the Russian Ministry of Defense shows how this strike was executed.
Watch Russian Su-30 SM Fighter Jets on Combat Duty in Special Op Zone
Su-30 was designed to quickly gain air dominance in the conflict zones and eliminate other air targets.
The Russian Defense Ministry has released footage showing a Russian Sukhoi Su-30SM patrolling the skies in the Special Military Operation Zone. The Su-30SM proved to be particularly effective against various targets, including naval drones.
The footage shows crews patrolling the designated areas and providing fire support to other planes and helicopters pounding Ukrainian infrastructure.
The Russian Armed Forces have pressed the advance in the Donetsk People’s Republic over the past week as military activity continued along the front lines. Ukraine has launched several major attacks against sensitive locations in Russia, including the Crimean port city of Sevastopol and the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant – the biggest such facility in Europe.
On Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the liberation of the village of Shumy, located just east of Toretsk in the Donetsk People’s Republic. Since 2014, Kiev’s forces have turned the town into a major stronghold. The front line in the area remained relatively stable, from the beginning of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine until this week, when Moscow’s troops started actively moving west, towards Toretsk.
The city is located roughly between two other areas of the Donetsk People’s Republic where Russian troops have actively been seeking to advance over the past months: the Avdeevka area to the south and the town of Chasov Yar to the north.
Chasov Yar in particular remains one of the hottest points along the front line. The area had been turned into a major logistics hub and a heavily fortified stronghold by Kiev’s troops. No major changes to the front line have been reported over the past days near the town itself, but the Russian Defense Ministry reported liberating the village of Razdolovka located northeast of Chasov Yar and north of another key Donbass stronghold, Artyomovsk (known as Bakhmut in Ukraine).
Kiev’s forces have suffered heavy losses in the battle for Razdolovka, according to the Russian military. Up to 4,410 Ukrainian servicemen were lost there in just one week, the Russian ministry said.
Deadly strike on Sevastopol
Last Sunday, Ukraine targeted Sevastopol, the most important naval port in Crimea and the largest city on the peninsula, using five US-supplied ATACMS missiles with cluster warheads, according to Russia’s Defense Ministry. Four rockets were destroyed in mid-air, but the fifth veered off-course after being damaged by air defenses and detonated above the city. Disturbing videos from Sevastopol captured numerous bomblets landing in a packed seaside area and terrified beachgoers running for cover. The city authorities said four civilians, including two children, were killed in the strike and more than 150 others were wounded.
Moscow summoned the US ambassador to Russia, Lynne Tracy, over the incident and told her that the US bears responsibility for it as well, since American specialists were involved in the ATACMS flight mission’s planning. Washington has sought to distance itself from the attack, claiming that Ukraine itself decides what to do with Western-supplied arms.
On Friday, Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov said that he had ordered the military to come up with plans on how to respond to an “increased number of US strategic drone missions flown over the Black Sea.” According to the minister, the UAVs “conduct reconnaissance and provide targeting data for weapons, which Western nations supply to conduct strikes on Russian targets.” Such actions increase the risk of direct clashes between Russia and NATO aircraft, the minister warned, adding that NATO should be held responsible for them if they do happen.
Attack on Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant
On Wednesday, the Ukrainian military shelled a radiation monitoring station near the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), the officials working at the station said. The attack targeted a monitoring station in Velikaya Znamenka, a village around 15km west of the nuclear facility. The station was completely destroyed by Ukrainian artillery fire, according to the authorities. The facility was a part of a sensor network designed to monitor any potential radiation leaks.
Russia has been in control of the Zaporozhye NPP since the early weeks of the hostilities with Ukraine. The power plant, however, has been regularly subjected to attacks throughout the Ukraine conflict. Last week, local officials reported several Ukrainian attacks on its key infrastructure, in which two transformer substations were damaged.
Kiev considers the power plant to be illegally occupied and has accused Russia of using it for military purposes – something that Moscow has repeatedly denied. The UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), maintains an observer mission at the site, but has declined to attribute blame for any attacks affecting the station.
Children killed in Ukrainian attack on Russian region
Five people, including two small children, were killed in a Ukrainian drone strike in Russia’s Kursk Region, local governor Aleksey Smirnov said on Saturday. Two more people were hospitalized and remain in critical condition, he added.
Russia’s Defense Ministry reported what it called at least six attempts by “the Kiev regime to carry out terrorist attacks on Russian territory with the use of unmanned aerial vehicles” that were intercepted by the nation’s air defenses overnight. Two drones were destroyed in Tver Region, one in Bryansk Region, one in Belgorod Region and two in Crimea, the statement read.
The Russian regions of Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk, all of which border Ukraine, have been the targets of Ukrainian missile, mortar and drone attacks on an almos daily basis since the outbreak of the conflict in February 2022. The strikes have targeted energy and civilian infrastructure as well as residential areas, resulting in deaths and injuries.
Hunt for Western-supplied equipment continues
Several videos have emerged over the week showing Russian troops successfully destroying or capturing military equipment supplied to Ukraine by its Western backers. Last weekend, the first Senator armored personnel carrier (APC) provided to Kiev by the Canadian company Roshel was hit by Moscow’s forces.
The vehicle, advertised back in 2018 as a “combat proven platform” and described by some Western media as capable of “surviving the apocalypse,” was destroyed during an offensive in Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic and Zaporozhye Region, the Russian Defense Ministry said at that time.
On Thursday, a video published by a Telegram channel showed Russian artillery destroying a German-supplied Panzerhaubitze 2000 self-propelled 155mm howitzer. The artillery piece was reportedly hit near the key Donbass town of Avdeevka, which was liberated by Russian troops in mid-February. The Western-supplied equipment was observed by the Russian surveillance drones and tracked from its firing position to a wooded area nearby, where it was targeted by Russian forces.
Kiev has received at least 28 weapons of the type; multiple units have been destroyed by the Russian military in artillery duels and kamikaze drone strikes. Early this year, Germany pledged to supply Ukraine with 18 additional PzH 2000s.
On Saturday, another video surfaced on social media, demonstrating the Russian soldiers capturing a US-supplied Ukrainian M1 Abrams tank. The armor piece was reportedly seized somewhere near Avdeevka.
Footage shows the soldiers examining the relatively intact tank, which still has visible burn marks on its hull and appears to have been abandoned while standing on the edge of a field.
Washington has pledged to deliver some 31 M1 Abrams tanks and several M1150 Assault Breacher Vehicles – which share the same chassis – to Kiev early last year. The delivery was only completed in mid-October. The tanks made their actual battlefield debut in February this year; they were deployed by Kiev with the aim of stopping Moscow’s westward push in Donbass following the liberation of Avdeevka.
The Russian military have since repeatedly published videos of the US-supplied tanks being destroyed, mostly by drones.
Russia’s long-range strikes continue
Russia’s long-range airstrikes continued throughout the week, with Moscow adding Ukrainian airfields to its list of usual targets; the airfields are being prepared to host the F-16 fighter jets that the West has promised to supply.
Last Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry said that it had carried out a group strike overnight using long-range air and sea-based weapons and drones on Ukrainian energy infrastructure facilities supporting Kiev’s defense industry as well as warehouses storing ammo and missiles supplied to Ukraine by the US and its allies. “The goals of the strike have been achieved. All designated targets have been hit,” it said.
A similar bombardment took place across Ukraine the next day, with a training site for flight and technical personnel of the Ukrainian Air Force being hit among other things, according to Moscow.
On Monday, a day after the attack on Sevastopol, the Russian military said that it targeted a “large logistics center of the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” which was used for the “accumulation, storage and redistribution of weapons, including missiles, delivered to the Kiev regime by Western countries.”
Midweek, the Defense Ministry in Moscow reported a series of strikes on Ukrainian airfields that it said are slated to host Western-made jets. This time, the attacks involved Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, it added. After getting the approval from Washington a year ago, Belgium, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands promised to provide Kiev with dozens of F-16s, but none of the planes have been delivered yet.
Arsip foto - Petugas saat mengisi pertamax ke tangki motor pelanggan di Balikpapan. Harga pertamax yang kini jauh di atas pertalite menyebabkan konsumen pertamax berpindah ke pertalite. ANTARA/HO-Patra Niaga.
Kementerian Energi dan Sumber Daya Mineral (ESDM) menegaskan bahwa harga bahan bakar minyak (BBM) bersubsidi, yakni Pertalite dan Solar, tidak akan mengalami kenaikan pada bulan Juli 2024.
"Pertalite yang JBKP (Jenis BBM Khusus Penugasan) belum disesuaikan, seperti Solar. Kalau Pertamax Cs mungkin," kata Kepala Biro Komunikasi, Layanan Informasi Publik, dan Kerja Sama Kementerian ESDM Agus Cahyono Adi dalam keterangannya yang diterima di Jakarta, Minggu.
Meskipun demikian, Agus mengatakan bahwa hingga saat ini harga BBM nonsubsidi, yakni Pertamax series dan Dex series, belum dipastikan apakah akan ada penyesuaian atau tetap.
“Sampai saat ini belum disesuaikan, kalau BBM umum nonsubsidi (Pertamax series dan Dex series) ditetapkan oleh badan usaha, sepanjang dalam kisaran harga formulasinya," katanya.
Agus juga mengatakan bahwa sejauh ini Harga Minyak Mentah Indonesia atau Indonesia Crude Oil Price (ICP) cenderung stagnan.
Meskipun, Agus mengakui, tetap ada beban berat yang berasal dari nilai tukar dolar Amerika Serikat (AS) terhadap rupiah.
"Kalau harga minyak ICP masih stagnan, namun yang berat kursnya," katanya.
Nilai tukar Dolar AS berdasarkan kurs tengah Bank Indonesia (BI) sampai 27 Juni 2024 berada di level Rp16.324. Sementara, untuk ICP sampai 27 Juni 2024 berada di level 79,12 dolar AS per barel.
Ketika dihubungi oleh ANTARA pada Jumat (28/6), Corporate Secretary PT Pertamina Patra Niaga Irto Ginting mengatakan bahwa saat ini Pertamina sedang meninjau kemungkinan penyesuaian harga BBM nonsubsidi untuk Juli 2024.
“Ini yang sedang kami tinjau,” kata Irto.
Pemerintah telah menahan kenaikan harga BBM, baik subsidi dan nonsubsidi, sejak awal tahun 2024.
Menteri ESDM Arifin Tasrif dalam kesempatan sebelumnya mengungkapkan pertimbangan pemerintah menahan harga BBM untuk tetap stabil hingga Juni 2024, yakni untuk mendukung pemulihan ekonomi masyarakat setelah pandemi COVID-19.
Gejolak harga minyak dunia, eskalasi konflik di Timur Tengah, hingga pelemahan kurs rupiah terhadap dolar AS membuat kompensasi dan anggaran subsidi BBM di dalam negeri membengkak.
Arifin juga mengatakan bahwa terkait kelanjutan harga BBM subsidi dan nonsubsidi pada Juli akan dibahas bersama Menteri BUMN Erick Thohir dan Menteri Keuangan Sri Mulyani.
Akan tetapi, hingga Jumat (28/6), Arifin mengungkapkan, belum ada keputusan apakah harga BBM nonsubsidi akan naik pada Juli 2024.
