Russia says it thwarts major attack in Ukraine but loses some ground - CNA

SECRECY

Ukraine has sent mixed messages about the timing of its counter-offensive. Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov posted a video on Sunday showing soldiers putting a finger to their lips and the words: "There will be no announcement about the start."

Russia's defence ministry released video of what it said showed several Ukrainian armoured vehicles in a field blowing up after being hit. Reuters geo-located it to near Velyka Novosilka, a village west of Vuhledar in southern Donetsk region, but could not verify the date.

"There is a tough fight going on," wrote prominent Russian military blogger Semyon Pegov, who writes under the name War Gonzo, saying Ukrainian forces were attacking in the area.

The ministry said Russian forces killed 250 Ukrainian soldiers as well as destroying 16 tanks, three infantry fighting vehicles and 21 armoured combat vehicles. Reuters was not able to verify the figures. Both sides have exaggerated casualties suffered by the other.

Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, who is in charge of Moscow's "special military operation" in Ukraine, was in the area at the time of the Ukrainian attack, the ministry said.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak poured scorn on the report. "Russian news reports have long since become a separate virtual meta-universe," he tweeted.

The daily report from Ukraine's General Staff said only that there were 29 combat clashes in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of eastern Ukraine, while Ukraine's Centre for Strategic Communications said Russia would seek to spread lies.

COUNTER-OFFENSIVE?

Russia now controls at least 18 per cent of internationally recognised Ukrainian territory and has claimed four more regions of Ukraine as Russian territory after annexing Crimea in 2014.

For months, Ukraine has been preparing a fightback which officials in Kyiv and CIA Director William Burns have said will pierce Putin's hubris.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the Wall Street Journal in an interview published on Saturday that he was ready to launch it, but tempered a forecast of success with a warning that it could take some time and come at a heavy cost.

After seeking tens of billions of dollars of Western weapons to fight Russian forces, the success or failure of the counter-offensive is likely to influence the shape of future Western diplomatic and military support for Ukraine.

Putin sent troops into Ukraine on Feb 24 last year in what the Kremlin expected to be swift operation but its forces suffered a series of defeats and had to move back and regroup in swathes of eastern Ukraine.

For months, tens of thousands of Russian troops have been digging in along a front line that stretches for around 1,000km, bracing for a Ukrainian attack expected to try to cut Russia's so-called land bridge to the Crimean Peninsula.

The Kremlin says the West is fighting a hybrid war against Russia to sow discord and ultimately carve up its vast natural resources, allegations that Western leaders deny.

Ukraine casts the invasion as an imperial-style land grab by Russia and vows to eject every last Russian soldier.

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2023-06-05 14:31:00Z
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US Navy shows Chinese warship's 'unsafe interaction' near Taiwan - CNA

China has not commented directly on the US criticism of the encounter, and its foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.

On Saturday night, China's military rebuked the US and Canada for "deliberately provoking risk" with the rare joint sailing.

Chinese military commentator Song Zhongping told Reuters that this "point blank interception" was a demonstration of both the capabilities and "courage" of China's navy.

"The more intensified the provocation from the US, the stronger the countermeasures from China," Song said.

It was the second such encounter in recent days.

On May 26, a Chinese fighter jet carried out an "unnecessarily aggressive" manoeuvre near a US military plane over the South China Sea in international airspace, according to the US.

"It seems to me that Beijing has instructed its forces to respond more assertively against what it believes are encroaching US and allied forces," said Derek Grossman, senior defence analyst at the RAND Corporation, a US think tank.

"By doing so, China is only increasing the chances for miscalculation - namely ships or aircraft accidentally colliding - that could then spiral into armed conflict," he added.

In 2001, a US spy plane made an emergency landing on China's Hainan island after a collision with a Chinese fighter jet, whose pilot died.

Taiwan's defence ministry on Sunday called China's actions with the US and Canadian ships "provocation" and said it was the common responsibility of free and democratic countries to maintain peace and stability in the strait.

"Any actions to increase tension and danger will not contribute to regional security," it said in a statement.

The ministry called on China to respect the right to freedom of navigation.

China views Taiwan as its own territory, a claim the government in Taipei strongly rejects.

Beijing has been stepping up military and political pressure to try to force Taiwan to accept its sovereignty, including staging regular manoeuvres near the island. 

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2023-06-05 05:38:20Z
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Russia says it thwarted major Ukrainian offensive, killed hundreds - CNA

Ukraine last week published a flashy video depicting troops preparing for battle and reciting a rousing blessing, which was later aired as a recruiting clip.

Russia's defence ministry released a video of what it said showed several Ukrainian armoured vehicles in a field blowing up after being hit.

Russian forces killed 250 Ukrainian troops as well as destroyed 16 tanks, three infantry fighting vehicles and 21 armoured combat vehicles, the ministry said.

Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, who is in charge of Moscow's military operation in Ukraine, was in the area of the Ukrainian attack, the ministry said.

"(Gerasimov) was at one of the advanced command posts," the ministry said.

COUNTER-OFFENSIVE?

For months, Ukraine has been preparing for a counter-offensive against Russian forces which officials in Kyiv and CIA Director William Burns have said will pierce Russian President Vladimir Putin's hubris.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the Wall Street Journal in an interview published on Saturday that he was ready to launch the counteroffensive but tempered a forecast of success with a warning that it could take some time and come at a heavy cost.

"I don't know how long it will take," he told The Journal. "To be honest, it can go a variety of ways, completely different. But we are going to do it, and we are ready."

After seeking tens of billions of dollars of Western weapons to fight Russian forces, the success or failure of the counter-offensive is likely to influence the shape of future Western diplomatic and military support for Ukraine.

Ukraine has in recent weeks sought to weaken Russian positions but its specific plans have been shrouded in secrecy as it seeks to strike yet another blow against the much larger military of Russia.

Moscow was last month struck by drones which Russia said was a Ukrainian terrorist attack while pro-Ukrainian forces have repeatedly crossed into Russia proper in recent days in the Belgorod region.

After a two-month lull, Russia has launched hundreds of drones and missiles on Ukraine since early May, chiefly on Kyiv, with Ukraine saying the targets were its military and critical infrastructure facilities.

WAR IN UKRAINE

Putin sent troops into Ukraine on Feb 24 last year in what the Kremlin expected to be a swift operation but its forces suffered a series of defeats and had to move back and regroup in swathes of eastern Ukraine.

Russia now controls at least 18 per cent of what is internationally recognised to be Ukrainian territory, and has claimed four regions of Ukraine as Russian territory.

For months, tens of thousands of Russian troops have been digging in along a front line which stretches for around 1,000km, bracing for a Ukrainian attack which is expected to try to cut Russia's so-called land bridge to the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014.

Ukraine says it will not rest until it has ejected every last Russian soldier from its territory, and casts the invasion as an imperial-style land grab by Russia, the world's biggest nuclear power.

Russia says the war is escalating and says the West is fighting what amounts to a hybrid war against Russia which is aimed at sowing discord and ultimately carving up Russia's vast natural resources.

The West says it wants Ukraine to defeat Russia but denies that it wants to destroy Russia. US President Joe Biden said last year that a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia would mean World War III.

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2023-06-05 01:38:00Z
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Singapore has 'a vested interest' in ensuring US-China communication lines are good: Ng Eng Hen - CNA

GENERAL LI WAS "VERY CLEAR" IN SPEECH

When asked about what he felt about General Li’s speech, Dr Ng said many leaders had told him they were impressed and said he was “very clear” in his stance.

“I am glad that he delivered it in a calm manner. Whether you like the content or not depends on the listener, but the clarity was in terms of – if you like – where the red lines were; what effect it will have on countries. Each country will have to decide,” he added.

In a plenary speech on Sunday morning, Dr Ng listed examples of how American and Chinese officials had conducted regular exchanges at all levels “as recent as a decade ago”. The US’ and China’s defence ministers last visited each other countries in 2018.

Dr Ng told reporters: “People can forget that they were at that, and I think that’s something that you can aspire to.

“I can assure you, if you put soldiers of two militaries together, they will click … it takes time. That’s the building of relationships. So we want (the US and China) to have that kind of relationship and we are confident that over time they will establish that.”

“We're just observers, but we're not disinterested bystanders as I said. We have a vested interest to make sure that the US-China communication lines are good.”

Dr Ng also gave some views on a Chinese warship that had on Saturday manoeuvred “in an unsafe manner” near an American warship transiting through the Taiwan Strait, according to the US military.

Dr Ng said that all countries are “concerned when either big or fast-moving objects move close” to one another.

“And that’s why, ASEAN, we’ve been working very hard to make sure that doesn’t happen,” he added, making reference to two sets of guidelines for unplanned air and sea encounters between ASEAN countries.

“Incidents have happened ... and (that is) exactly our point. If it happens, who are you going to call? Ghostbusters?” Dr Ng quipped.

In giving his assessment of how this year’s Shangri-La Dialogue had turned out, Dr Ng said that some people had told him that if there was no such thing at the moment, “we would have needed one very much”.

“So in that sense, it’s an affirmation that the Shangri-La Dialogue plays a role and that it fills in the gaps now, obviously,” he added.

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2023-06-04 10:08:00Z
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Families, rescuers search for victims of India's worst train crash in decades - CNA

MUMBAI: Rescuers and families searched through mangled train carriages on Sunday (Jun 4) for more victims of India's worst rail crash in more than two decades with signal failure emerging as the likely cause.

At least 288 people were killed on Friday when a passenger train went off the tracks and hit another one near the district of Balasore in the eastern state of Odisha.

Five more bodies were brought to a school being used as a mortuary near the scene of the accident early on Sunday.

"We do not know how many more bodies will come," a health worker said.

Indian Railways says it transports more than 13 million people every day. But the state-run monopoly has had a patchy safety record because of ageing infrastructure.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who faces an election due next year, visited the scene on Saturday to talk to rescue workers, inspect the wreckage and meet some of the nearly 1,200 injured.

The South Eastern Railway has said a preliminary report indicated that the accident was the result of signal failure.

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2023-06-04 08:58:00Z
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Shangri-La Latest: Lack of US-China Talks Disappoints Singapore - Bloomberg

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1. Shangri-La Latest: Lack of US-China Talks Disappoints Singapore  Bloomberg
2. Shangri-La Dialogue: US and China stand ground on Taiwan, South China Sea  South China Morning Post
3. Five-power defence nations in talks to upgrade joint military exercises  The Straits Times
4. Shangri-La Latest: China's Li Slams US Strategy in Indo-Pacific  Bloomberg
5. Singapore has 'a vested interest' in ensuring US-China communication lines are good: Ng Eng Hen  CNA
6. View Full coverage on Google News

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2023-06-04 07:24:01Z
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Chinese defence minister accuses US of double standards in veiled attack - South China Morning Post

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1. Chinese defence minister accuses US of double standards in veiled attack  South China Morning Post
2. US defence chief tells China talks essential to avoid crisis  CNA
3. China Defense Minister Slams US, Vows to Defend Interests  Bloomberg
4. Shangri-La Dialogue: Chinese general hits out at Lloyd Austin over Taiwan  South China Morning Post
5. Top US, Chinese Defense Officials Vie for Influence in Asia-Pacific  The Diplomat
6. View Full coverage on Google News

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2023-06-04 03:51:31Z
2062038137