events of the night of March 15 — EADaily, March 15, 2023 — Politics News, Russia News

The defense of Artemovsk (Ukrainian name – Bakhmut) will be strengthened. This was stated by the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky in a video message released by his office on Wednesday night. “Held a meeting of the rate. Reports of the commander-in-chief, intelligence, commanding directions. The main attention is OSUV (operational-strategic grouping of troops) “Khortitsa” and Bakhmut. There is a clear position of the entire stake: to strengthen this direction,” Zelensky said. In addition, the supply of weapons and ammunition was traditionally discussed, he said. On Tuesday, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny stated that the defense of Artemovsk is of the utmost strategic importance for holding the front line by Ukrainian troops.

And about. Prime Minister of Slovakia Edward Heger assumes that Bratislava will decide to transfer MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine. “I think that the government has the necessary competencies to send this unused equipment, thus the government will make a decision, and we will send MiGs to Ukraine. Let’s not wait,” he said in an interview published on the website of the SME newspaper. Commenting on the opposition’s intention to study the situation at the Sliach air base, where the MiG-29s are located, to make sure that the fighters are still in the republic, but are inoperative, Heger did not object. “They can easily do that if they have time,” Heger said. During negotiations on February 9 on the sidelines of the EU summit in Brussels, the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky asked Heger to supply Ukraine with Slovak MiG-29 fighters. Heger told him that Slovakia would do its best to comply with this request.

Assault groups of the Russian 6th Combined Arms Army on Tuesday took control of a part of the industrial zone in the Kupyansk direction, and in the Sinkovka area of ​​​​the Kharkov region, motorized rifles destroyed an enemy sabotage and reconnaissance group and disrupted the transfer of reserves. This was announced by the head of the press center of the West grouping of the RF Armed Forces. Sergey Zybinsky. “In the Kupyansky direction, units of the 6th Combined Arms Army, by the end of the day, took control of part of the industrial zone by the end of the day, having captured three hangars. In addition, during the day, near the village of Sinkovka, motorized rifle units opened and destroyed a sabotage and reconnaissance group from the 14th separate mechanized brigade, and also thwarted two attempts to transfer reserves, ”he said.

The reconnaissance mission of the American MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicle over the Black Sea is a provocation. Russian Ambassador to the United States told journalists on Tuesday Anatoly Antonov at the conclusion of consultations at the State Department, where he was invited in connection with the incident. “This device flew with transponders turned off, and it entered the zone of a special military operation. [Об этой зоне было сообщено] through international channels. We, Russia, warned everyone about this. I think this is a real provocation. This provoked us to some specific actions, after which one could blame Russia, the Russian military for some kind of unprofessionalism,” the head of the diplomatic mission noted.

An American MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicle intercepted by Russian fighters over the Black Sea was not carrying weapons. This statement was made on Tuesday by The New York Times, citing a source from among senior Pentagon officials. “Although the drones known as Reaper are capable of carrying Hellfire missiles, this device was not armed and carried out a reconnaissance mission 75 miles (about 120 km) southwest of Crimea,” the publication writes, citing a source. According to a Pentagon spokesman, the device took off on Tuesday morning from an air base in Romania. Typically, such reconnaissance missions last 9-10 hours, said the source of The New York Times. Earlier Tuesday, Pentagon spokesman General of the US Air Force Patrick Ryder confirmed at a briefing that an American UAV over the Black Sea was carrying out a reconnaissance mission.

The United States intends to continue operating military aircraft in the Black Sea region despite the drone incident, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council said on Tuesday. John Kirby. “If the message (from the Russian side) was that they want to convince us to stop flying or operating in international airspace over the Black Sea, then it failed. This will not happen, ”the American media quoted him as saying. “We will continue to fly and operate in international airspace over international waters. The Black Sea does not belong to the state alone,” Kirby added. The Russian Defense Ministry reported that on the morning of March 14 over the Black Sea in the Crimean region, Russian airspace control systems recorded the flight of an American MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicle in the direction of the state border of the Russian Federation. In order to identify the intruder, fighters from the air defense forces on duty were raised into the air. “As a result of sharp maneuvering around 9.30 Moscow time, the MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicle went into uncontrolled flight with a loss of altitude and collided with the water surface,” the ministry said.

The war party in Ukraine is trying to draw Pridnestrovie into an armed conflict, said the head of the unrecognized Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic Vadim Krasnoselsky at a meeting with the deputies of Tiraspol and Dnestrovsk. “As for Ukraine, I can’t say that all the Ukrainian authorities want to draw Pridnestrovie into a military conflict. No. There is, I suppose, a party … of the war in Ukraine, which is backed by some special services, who want to stir up the situation and want to draw Pridnestrovie into the conflict. But this is not all the power of Ukraine, I hope so. In any case, there are no such facts that this is all the power of Ukraine,” said Krasnoselsky, whose words are quoted by the First Pridnestrovskiy TV channel. At the same time, he rejected the involvement of the Moldovan authorities in attempts to draw Transnistria into the conflict. “I don’t see that the Moldovan authorities want to drag us into a military conflict. This is an objective reality,” Krasnoselsky emphasized.

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi still intends to seek the creation of a security zone around the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, despite the difficulties in the negotiation process. He announced this on Tuesday, speaking at the Washington Center for Strategic and International Studies. “I [зачастую] I experience disappointment during the negotiations in Moscow, Kyiv and Kaliningrad. [Там] you can’t just say bluntly: “Stop shelling the station,” because various IAEA proposals will have an impact on military activity [в районе объекта], but I’m not giving up, I’m very stubborn,” said Grossi. He also noted that in addition to diplomats, nuclear experts and lawyers, an increasing number of military personnel are participating in the negotiation process, while it is not easy to reach binding agreements in conditions of active hostilities.