Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte speaks at a news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron (not pictured) during Macron's state visit to the Netherlands, in Amsterdam, Netherlands April 12, 2023. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo
The Dutch government collapsed on Friday after failing to reach a deal on restricting immigration, which will trigger new elections in the fall.
The crisis was triggered by a push by Prime Minister Mark Rutte's conservative VVD party to limit the flow of asylum seekers to the Netherlands, which two of his four-party government coalition refused to support.
"It's no secret that the coalition partners have differing opinions about immigration policy. Today we unfortunately have to conclude that those differences have become insurmountable. Therefore I will tender the resignation of the entire cabinet to the king," Rutte said in a televised news conference
Tensions came to a head this week, when Rutte demanded support for a proposal to limit entrance of children of war refugees who are already in the Netherlands and to make families wait at least two years before they can be united.
This latest proposal went too far for the small Christian Union and liberal D66, causing a stalemate.
Rutte's coalition will stay on as a caretaker government until a new administration is formed after new elections, a process which in the fractured Dutch political landscape usually takes months.
News agency ANP, citing the national elections committee, said elections would not be held before mid-November.
A caretaker government cannot decide on new policies, but Rutte said it would not affect the country's support for Ukraine.
The Netherlands already has a one of Europe's toughest immigration policies but under the pressure of right-wing parties, Rutte had for months been trying to seek ways to further reduce the inflow of asylum seekers.
Asylum applications in the Netherlands jumped by a third last year to over 46,000, and the government has projected they could increase to more than 70,000 this year - topping the previous high of 2015.
This will again put a strain on the country's asylum facilities, where for months last year hundreds of refugees at a time were forced to sleep in the rough with little or no access to drinking water, sanitary facilities or health care.
Rutte last year said he felt "ashamed" of the problems, after humanitarian group Medecins sans Frontieres sent in a team to the Netherlands for the first time ever, to assist with migrants' medical needs at the centre for processing asylum requests.
He promised to improve conditions at the facilities, mainly by reducing the number of refugees that reach the Netherlands. But he failed to win the backing of coalition partners who felt his policies went too far.
Rutte, 56, is the longest-serving government leader in Dutch history and the most senior in the EU after Hungary's Viktor Orban. He is expected to lead his VVD party again at the next elections.
Rutte's current coalition, which came to power in January 2022, was his fourth consecutive administration since he became prime minister in October 2010.
Palestinians clash with Israeli security forces during a military raid in the West Bank city of Nablus on July 7, 2023. (AP)
Nablus, West Bank -Israeli forces killed three Palestinians, including two militants, in the occupied West Bank Friday, days after Israel concluded a major two-day offensive meant to crack down on militants.
The persistent violence raised questions about the effectiveness of the raid earlier this week in the Jenin refugee camp, which saw Israel launch rare airstrikes on militant targets, deploy hundreds of troops and cause widespread damage to roads, homes and businesses. Twelve Palestinians and one Israeli soldier were killed in the operation.
In the nearby city of Nablus, the West Bank’s commercial capital and a flashpoint city, two militants were killed in a gunbattle with Israeli forces. Israel’s Shin Bet security agency said the men were behind a shooting attack this week on a police vehicle.
Later Friday, Palestinian health officials said a man was fatally shot in the chest by Israeli forces during a demonstration in Umm Safa, a town in the central West Bank. The army had no immediate comment.
The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the two dead in Nablus as Khayri Mohammed Sari Shaheen, 34, and Hamza Moayed Mohammed Maqbool, 32. Two militant groups, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, claimed them as members.
In the aftermath of the shootout, bullet casings littered the blood-stained ground. Palestinians carried the bodies of the men killed into the hospital, chanting “God is great!” as guns fired into the air.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant praised Friday’s operation and said Israel would continue to act to root out militants.
“There will be no loop that isn’t closed and there won’t be a terrorist who doesn’t pay the heaviest price,” he said.
Friday’s deaths are part of a year-long spiral violence that shows no signs of abating, despite the fierce Israeli operation this week in the Jenin refugee camp. They follow a shooting on Thursday by a Hamas militant near an Israeli West Bank settlement that killed an Israeli soldier.
Monday’s raid in the Jenin refugee camp bore the hallmarks of the second Palestinian uprising, a period of intense violence in the early 2000s that killed thousands. But the current round of fighting remains different from that one, mainly because it is more limited in scope, with Israeli military operations focused on several strongholds of Palestinian militants.
(Majdi Mohammed/AP)
Israel has been staging raids in the West Bank for 16 months, expanding its activities in early 2022 in response to a spate of Palestinian attacks. The northern West Bank, which includes Nablus and Jenin and where the Palestinian Authority has less of a foothold, has been a major friction point.
Over 150 Palestinians have been killed this year in the West Bank, and Palestinian attacks targeting Israelis have killed at least 27 people.
Israel says most of the Palestinians killed have been militants. But stone-throwing youths protesting the incursions and people not involved in the confrontations have also been killed.
Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians seek those territories for their hoped-for independent state.
US media reported earlier this week that cluster bombs would be part of a new $800 million military aid package for Ukraine being prepared by the Biden administration.
The Pentagon and the White House have formally signed off on the delivery of cluster munitions to Kiev, ending months of speculation and debate about the deployment of the controversial weapons in the Eastern European country as part of NATO's ongoing proxy war against Russia.
"Today, the Department of Defense announced additional security assistance to meet Ukraine's critical security and defense needs. This package will provide Ukraine with additional artillery systems and ammunition, including highly effective and reliable dual-purpose improved conventional munitions (DPICM), on which the administration conducted extensive consultations with Congress and our allies and partners," the Pentagon said in a statement Friday, using another term for cluster bombs.
"We recognize that cluster munitions create a risk of civilian harm from unexploded ordnance," White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters in a briefing Friday.
"This is why we've deferred the decision for as long as we could. But there is also a massive risk of civilian harm if Russian troops and tanks roll over Ukrainian positions and take more Ukrainian territory and subjugate more Ukrainian civilians, because Ukraine does not have enough artillery. That is intolerable to us," Sullivan said.
Sullivan said the president's national security team had approved the delivery of cluster munitions to Ukraine "unanimously," and that US President Joe Biden "ultimately decided, in consultation with allies and partners and in consultation with members of Congress to move forward on this step."
In addition to cluster munitions, the new arms package will include 32 Bradley and 32 Stryker armored vehicles, Patriot air defense systems, AIM-7 missiles and Stingers from the Pentagon's stocks.
Sullivan assured the delivery of cluster bombs to Kiev does not constitute arming Ukraine to attack Russian territory.
"The United States is not going to war with Russia in Ukraine, and second, the United States is not providing weapons to Ukraine to attack Russia. We do not encourage or enable attacks on Russian territory from Ukraine," the official said.
Sullivan detailed that cluster bombs sent to Kiev would have a dud rate "not higher than 2.5%."
US Under Secretary of Defense Colin Kahl told reporters that Kiev has offered Washington written assurances it "will not use the rounds in civilian-populated urban environments, and that they will record where they use these rounds, which will simplify later demining efforts."
Kahl further indicated the US intends to deliver cluster munitions to Ukraine "in a timeframe that is relevant for" Ukraine's stalled counteroffensive, highlighting the matter's urgency in the Pentagon's eyes.
'Alarming' Escalation
Grigory Karasin, the head of the foreign affairs committee in the Russian Senate, warned that the delivery of cluster munitions to Kiev marks another major escalation of the Ukrainian crisis.
"This is a new step toward the escalation of the situation around Ukraine, to which Russia's response will be very tough," Karasin told Sputnik. "I hope that the international community will appreciate the situation, which is becoming more and more alarming and raises serious concerns about where things are headed thanks to the unilateral decisions by Washington and NATO which are incomprehensible" from the standpoint of "absolute common sense," the senior lawmaker added.
Crimean Senator Sergei Tsekov told Sputnik the indiscriminate use of cluster munitions by Ukraine would threaten widespread casualties among civilians.
Highly Lethal Terror Weapon
Cluster bombs are an extremely lethal weapon containing dozens or hundreds of explosive submunitions, or bomblets, and are designed to maximize damage to enemy forces across an area up to several hundred square meters.
Media first reported on Kiev's intention to lobby to receive US-made MK-20 cluster munitions in March.
Cluster munitions were banned by over 100 countries, but Ukraine and the US are not parties to the Cluster Munitions Convention (Russia, China, India, Brazil and much of NATO's eastern flank are also not members).
The US has used cluster munitions extensively in its military operations stretching back nearly six decades, dropping hundreds of millions of devices on Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, during the 1991 Gulf War, in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq.
Russian UN envoy Vassily Nebenzia warned this week that the supply of cluster munitions to Ukraine would constitute "another step toward escalating" the Ukrainian crisis.
Military experts and human rights groups have expressed fears about Ukrainian forces using US-provided cluster bombs to terror bomb civilians in the Donbass and elsewhere, as they have already done using other NATO-provided weapons, such as long-range 155 mm artillery systems, HIMARS rockets, and missiles, on tens of thousands of occasions over the past year and a half.
In May, the Joint Center for Control and Coordination watchdog calculated that Ukrainian shelling in the Donbass had killed some 4,527 civilians and injured 4,431 others between February 2022 and May 10, 2023, with more than 100 of the fatalities caused by Ukraine's indiscriminate use of air-dropped scatterable anti-personnel landmines in civilian areas.
The decision by the United States to deliver cluster munitions to Ukraine is a provocation that is pushing humankind closer to a new world war, Russian Ambassador in Washington Anatoly Antonov said on Friday.
"With tenacity worthy of a better use, Washington continues to ‘raise the stakes’ in the conflict," Antonov said in a statement.
"No one doubted the deep involvement of the United States in the confrontation in Ukraine even without cluster munitions. However, the current level of American provocations is really off scale, bringing humanity closer to a new world war."
Antonov emphasized that the United States is so obsessed with the idea of defeating Russia that it does not realize the severity of its actions, which only lead to an increase in the number of victims and prolong the Kiev regime’s agony.
"The cruelty and cynicism with which Washington approached the issue of transferring deadly weapons to Kiev is striking," Antonov said.
"The [Biden] administration completely ignored the theses about the inhumanity of such a step, voiced by experts, human rights activists and legislators, turning a blind eye to civilian casualties. Now, through the fault of the United States, for many years there will be a risk that innocent civilians will be blown up by non-functioning submunitions."
Antonov went on to blast the decision as a gesture of desperation by Washington as it chose to openly ignore objections posed by its allies.
"Cluster munitions are a gesture of desperation," Antonov said.
"Such a measure speaks of the recognition by the United States and its satellites of their impotence. However, here they do not want to admit their own failures and the failure of the attempts of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to carry out an offensive against the Russian regions. Therefore, they commit new madness."
"Washington ignored the negative voice of its allies regarding the dangerous use of indiscriminate cluster munitions," Antonov said.
"This is despite the fact that among the members of the North Atlantic Alliance, there are many states that participate in the well-known Convention on Cluster Munitions. The UN Secretary-General's concerns also meant nothing to the administration."
Echoing Antonov's viewpoint, similar remarks were also made by Konstantin Kosachev, who serves as the deputy speaker of the Russian upper house. The Russian lawmaker noted that the US' decision effectively confirms Washington's readiness to kill civilians for the sake of continuing hostilities.
"In fact, the United States confirmed Kiev's inability to achieve anything without the use of the most condemned weapons, confirmed readiness to kill civilians for the sake of continuing hostilities at any cost and assumed full responsibility for all future victims of this monstrous weapon," Kosachev said on Telegram.
The commentary comes moments after the US unveiled a new military assistance package for Ukraine that includes cluster munitions, a controversial weapon banned in dozens of countries and long seen as a danger to non-combatants.
Often times, the munitions fail to ignite upon deployment and more times than not detonated by civilian activity years after hostilities in affected areas come to a close. In fact, the International Committee of the Red Cross has reported that such arms have a 10-40% fail rate.
Shortly after the munitions announcement was made, US President Joe Biden in an interview with US media claimed the move was a "very difficult decision," but that he did so at the recommendation of the Pentagon as "this is a war relating to munitions."
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova posted a video after the US decision to supply Ukraine with cluster munitions, in which the former White House press secretary calls the use of such projectiles a war crime.
The video shows Psaki's speech on February 28, 2022, saying that " the use of cluster munitions is a war crime."
Video: Biden claims it was 'difficult' decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine: President claims Zelensky NEEDS them as he is 'running out of ammunition' in U-turn after White House said it would spark World War Three
"A year and a half later, US President Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, announced at a briefing at the White House that he intended to transfer cluster munitions to Ukraine. We are waiting for the release of Biden's press secretary Karin Jean-Pierre, " Zakharova said.
The collective West and Ukraine exert pressure on Russia’s allies in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), BRICS, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in an attempt to arrange the transfer of weapons to the Kiev regime, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement on Friday.
"In addition to the partner and satellite states of NATO and EU members, such as Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Japan and some others, which are enthusiastically providing the Kiev regime of [Ukrainian President] Vladimir Zelensky with such hardware and munitions either willingly or under overt or covert compulsion, even Russia’s allies and partners in the CSTO, CIS, SCO and BRICS come under pressure," Zakharova stressed.
According to the diplomat, the Russian Foreign Ministry is well aware of the relentless, unprecedented pressure exerted by the "Western handlers" of Zelensky and his criminal "team" on countries that previously purchased weapons and munitions for their national defense needs.
"The most disgusting techniques of intimidation and blackmail are being used, up to threats of physical violence, seizure or confiscation of property and bank assets in the West as well as a wide range of means of pressure against family members and close relatives of various statesmen living there," the diplomat added. "In other words, all imaginable and unimaginable techniques, typical of the Middle Ages with its Inquisition and barbaric colonial conquests, are being used."
Zakharova pointed out that Moscow was still closely following the situation with the deliveries of any weapons, munitions and special equipment to the criminal Kiev regime.
"We thank those countries that are able to withstand massive pressure in this regard on the part of the collective West," she continued. "We urge our allies, partners and like-minded associates to keep sticking to their principled stance in such matters and not to succumb to assurances and promises of compensation, dividends, and all sorts of benefits and privileges."
Impact on bilateral relations
The diplomat said that shipments through rogue firms, "third and fourth intermediaries," disguised as a lease or "temporary storage," with removed or fictitious labels or with the use of other intricate ploys will be unmasked under any circumstances and will most negatively affect the prospects for bilateral ties with Russia.
The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman recalled that "the United States and its Euro-Atlantic allies triggered the current Ukraine crisis when they blatantly deceived the legitimate government of Viktor Yanukovich, thus supporting the fascist nationalists’ bloody coup in Kiev, playing dirty ‘games’ with the Minsk agreements, and in fact, condoned the genocide of the Russian-speaking population in Donbass and across Ukraine."
"It is against this revolting background that they have built a war machine in Ukraine to inflict ‘a strategic defeat’ on the Russian Federation so as to maintain their own long-term dominance in the military, political, financial, economic, scientific, industrial and technological areas, as well as to implement their highly dubious cultural and civilizational values," Zakharova concluded.
Some countries trying to cause problems for Russia, but they will fail — Putin
Russia will cope with the difficulties that certain countries are trying to create for it, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.
"Today, we are going to focus on the measures that we are taking and must take to address the difficulties which certain countries are creating for Russia. Until now, they have failed to do anything sensible in terms of achieving the goals they set in relation to Russia. I am convinced they will never succeed," Putin said at a meeting with permanent members of the Russian Security Council.
The president pointed out that "we need to be aware of what is going on."
"So let’s discuss all these issues," Putin added, after which he asked Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to deliver a speech.
The regular meeting was also attended by Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev, Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev, Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Anton Vaino, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, Federal Security Service Director Alexander Bortnikov, Foreign Intelligence Service Director Sergey Naryshkin, and Special Presidential Representative for Environmental Protection, Ecology and Transport Sergey Ivanov.
The Russian forces have repelled 10 Ukrainian attacks in the Donetsk direction over the past day, and the Ukrainian military lost over 420 soldiers and 16 pieces of military equipment, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday.
The ministry mentioned that the Ukrainian forces continued to make attempts to attack in Donetsk, South Donetsk and Krasny Liman directions.
"In the Donetsk direction, 10 enemy attacks were successfully repelled by competent and courageous actions of the defending units of the southern grouping of forces …During the hostilities, the losses of the armed forces of Ukraine amounted to more than 420 Ukrainian servicemen killed and wounded, three tanks, seven infantry fighting vehicles, four pickup trucks, a D-20 howitzer, as well as a Polish-made Krab self-propelled artillery mount,” the ministry said in a statement.
The Russian Defense Ministry also said that four attacks were repelled in the Donetsk People’s Republic, and two more attacks in the South Donetsk direction. In addition, the Russian military defeated the 106th territorial defense brigade of Ukraine in the Zaporozhye region.
"Enemy losses in these areas [Zaporozhye and South Donetsk] per day amounted to over 200 Ukrainian servicemen, two infantry fighting vehicles, two armored combat vehicles, three vehicles, two Gvozdika self-propelled artillery mounts, an Msta-B howitzer, and an AF-90 self-propelled artillery mount made in the UK,” the ministry said, adding that the Ukrainian military lost nearly 100 soldiers in the Krasny Liman direction.
Blast rocks Russian explosives plant
An explosives plant in Central Russia has been torn apart by a blast, leaving six people dead and two others injured, local media reported on Friday, citing sources in the emergency services.
According to the TASS and RIA news agencies, the explosion occurred in the city of Chapaevsk in Samara Region, at the Promsintez plant. An emergency services representative told TASS the blast occurred when local workers were dismantling a technical pipeline, noting that the incident did not result in a fire.
The tragedy was confirmed by local MP Alexander Khinstein, who wrote on Telegram that the explosion occurred during welding work. “According to preliminary data, the pipes that were being welded weren’t new. There is data that they could have contained explosive residue,” he said, vowing that those responsible for the incident would be punished.
The governor of Samara Region, Dmitry Azarov, was quoted by local media as saying that he was in constant contact with emergency services, but that it was too early to say what had caused the blast as the investigation was still ongoing.
The Promsintez plant is one of the main manufacturers of industrial explosives in Russia, with its products being used in mining and oil exploration, according to the facility’s website. About 1,300 workers are employed at the plant.
Russian air defenses down Su-25 ground attack plane in Ukraine operation
Russian air defense forces shot down a Ukrainian Su-25 ground attack plane in the Zaporozhye Region and intercepted 21 rockets of the HIMARS and Uragan multiple launch rocket systems over the past day during the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Friday.
"Air defense capabilities shot down a Ukrainian Air Force Su-25 plane near the settlement of Odarovka in the Zaporozhye Region. In the past 24 hours, they intercepted 21 rockets of the HIMARS and Uragan multiple launch rocket systems," the spokesman said.
In addition, Russian air defense systems destroyed 13 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles in areas near the settlements of Velikaya Lepetikha in the Kherson Region, Pologi and Konovalova in the Zaporozhye Region, Shipilovka in the Lugansk People’s Republic, Volodino, Valeryanovka and Staromikhailovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic, the general reported.
Russian forces neutralize Ukrainian subversive group in Kupyansk area over past day
Russian forces neutralized a Ukrainian subversive group and destroyed over 25 enemy troops in the Kupyansk area in the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"In the Kupyansk direction, operational/tactical and army aircraft and artillery of the western battlegroup struck the enemy manpower and equipment in areas near the settlements of Krasnoye Pervoye, Sinkovka, Masyutovka and Timkovka in the Kharkov Region. Near the settlement of Novosyolovskoye in the Lugansk People’s Republic, the activity of a Ukrainian subversive/reconnaissance group was thwarted," the spokesman said.
In the past 24 hours, Russian forces destroyed over 25 Ukrainian personnel, three motor vehicles, Giatsint-S and Akatsiya motorized artillery systems, a D-20 howitzer and a US-made M777 artillery system in the Kupyansk direction, the spokesman said.
Russian forces eliminate 95 Ukrainian troops in Krasny Liman area over past day
Russian forces struck Ukrainian army units in the Krasny Liman area, eliminating about 95 enemy troops over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"As many as 95 Ukrainian personnel, a tank, four armored combat vehicles, four pickup trucks, a Gvozdika motorized artillery system and a D-30 howitzer were destroyed," the spokesman said.
In the past 24 hours, Russian forces repulsed four Ukrainian attacks in that direction and thwarted the activity of two enemy subversive/reconnaissance groups, the general reported.
Russian forces repel ten Ukrainian attacks in Donetsk area over past day
Russian forces repelled ten Ukrainian attacks in the Donetsk area over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"In the Donetsk direction, ten enemy attacks were successfully repelled by the skilled and courageous actions of the defending units of the southern battlegroup in areas near the settlements of Mayorsk, Severnoye, Yagodnoye, Kleshcheyevka, Pervomaiskoye and Vodyanoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic," the spokesman said.
The enemy’s losses in the Donetsk direction in the past 24 hours amounted to "over 420 Ukrainian personnel killed and wounded, three tanks, seven infantry fighting vehicles, four pickup trucks, a D-20 howitzer and a Polish-made Krab self-propelled artillery system," the general said.
Russian forces eliminate over 200 Ukrainian troops in south Donetsk, Zaporozhye areas
Russian forces eliminated over 200 Ukrainian troops and a UK-made self-propelled artillery system in the south Donetsk and Zaporozhye areas over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"In the south Donetsk direction, artillery and heavy flamethrower systems of the battlegroup East repelled two enemy attacks near the settlement of Urozhainoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic. In addition, the activity of a Ukrainian subversive/reconnaissance group was thwarted near the settlement of Priyutnoye in the Zaporozhye Region," the spokesman said.
In the Zaporozhye direction, Russian troops inflicted damage by their self-sacrificing and well-coordinated actions on the amassed manpower and equipment of the Ukrainian army’s 106th territorial defense brigade near the settlement of Lugovskoye in the Zaporozhye Region, the general reported.
The enemy’s losses in those directions in the past 24 hours amounted to over 200 Ukrainian personnel, two infantry fighting vehicles, two armored combat vehicles, three motor vehicles, two Gvozdika motorized artillery systems, a Msta-B howitzer and a UK-made AS-90 self-propelled artillery gun, Konashenkov reported.
Russian forces wipe out Ukrainian artillery ammo depot in Zaporozhye area
Russian forces destroyed a Ukrainian artillery ammunition depot in the Zaporozhye area over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"Near the town of Orekhov in the Zaporozhye Region, an ammunition depot of the Ukrainian army’s 44th artillery brigade was destroyed," the spokesman said.
Russian forces destroy 80 Ukrainian troops in Kherson area over past day.
Russian forces destroyed roughly 80 Ukrainian troops and two motorized artillery systems in the Kherson area over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"In the Kherson direction, as many as 80 Ukrainian personnel, 11 motor vehicles and two Akatsiya motorized artillery systems were destroyed in the past 24 hours as a result of damage inflicted by firepower," the spokesman said.
Russian forces strike 97 Ukrainian artillery units over past day
Russian forces struck 97 Ukrainian artillery units at firing positions over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"During the last 24-hour period, operational/tactical and army aircraft, missile troops and artillery of the Russian groupings of forces struck 97 Ukrainian artillery units at firing positions, manpower and military equipment in 114 areas," the spokesman said.
In all, the Russian Armed Forces have destroyed 452 Ukrainian warplanes, 241 combat helicopters, 4,921 unmanned aerial vehicles, 426 surface-to-air missile systems, 10,566 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,135 multiple rocket launchers, 5,370 field artillery guns and mortars and 11,493 special military motor vehicles since the start of the special military operation in Ukraine, Konashenkov reported.
