Russia

Day 287 Roundup: Washington 'Neither Encouraged Nor Enabled' Ukraine to Strike Within Russia, Says Blinken

Published DEC 7 2022

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Image credit: Reuters [via Reuters]

The Facts

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday that Washington has "neither encouraged nor enabled" Ukraine to strike targets inside Russia, after three attacks were recorded at Russian airfields in the past week.
BBC News
Russia has repeatedly warned the US and its allies not to cross "red lines" by supplying long-range weapons to Ukraine — this has so far been heeded by western nations to avoid a major escalation. Nonetheless, Blinken said he's determined to ensure Ukrainians have, "the equipment that they need to defend themselves, to defend their territory, to defend their freedom."
BBC News
In response to the attacks — which are believed to have been carried out with drones — Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin met with permanent members of his Security Council on Tuesday. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said additional measures were adopted to improve internal security.
TASS
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, a Russian military truck collided with a minibus in the Donetsk region, reportedly killing 16 people and injuring three others who were later taken to hospital. It wasn't immediately clear what proportion of the deaths came from civilians or the military.
TASS
In addition, separatist officials from the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) said that four civilians were killed and 20 more were injured in Ukrainian attacks on the region over the past day.
TASS
Ukrainian officials said that, in Russian attacks, at least six civilians were killed and five injured in the Donetsk city of Kurakhove, and two people were killed in Kherson. One civilian was also reported injured in each of Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy.
Ukrinform

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The Spin

Anti-Russia narrative

Attacks on airfields deep inside Russian territory will have struck a major psychological blow to the country's officials. Now Moscow's leaders will have to think long and hard about how to protect its long-range bombers from future attacks.

Yahoo! News

Pro-Russia narrative

Putin has already met with Russia's Security Council about the attacks, and new measures are being adopted to further secure Russian airfields. The situation is under control.

TASS