Russia claims to have thwarted drone attacks in Belgorod and the Black Sea

The Ukrainian counter-offensive began to take shape. In the midst of the incursion of Ukrainian troops into the Russian region of Belgorod two days ago, which lasted until this Wednesday, Russia condemned that one of its n.warships of the Black Sea Fleet he was attacked by three unmanned boats, following orders from Kiev.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that Ukrainian armed forces “unsuccessfully” tried to shoot down the Ivan Khurs ship in Turkey’s exclusive economic zone. According to the Kremlin, the ship was carrying out tasks outside of war. The “operational safety of the Turkish Stream and Blue Stream gas pipelines” through which Moscow exports gas to Ankara was controlled. “All enemy vessels were destroyed with regular gunfire from the ship, 140 kilometers northeast of the Bosphorus Strait,” the Russian ministry said.

Meanwhile, on Russian territory, Belgorod experienced another day of attacks. The governor of the border region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, condemned the Ukrainian army’s new drone battery. “The night did not pass peacefully”he pointed out after indicating that most of the artifacts were intercepted by air defense systems.

In any case, a high-level terrorist threat alert remains activated in the area. Despite the fact that Russia has not acknowledged casualties in the latest attacks, damage to vehicles, houses and office buildings, among others, was reported mainly in the Borisovsky district. “We are now going door to door to collect more accurate data,” Gladkov said via Telegram.

During this week, several towns were hit by shells, in which thirteen people were injured. All are in the hospital, three of them in intensive care. In addition, the population is urged to evacuate the area targeted by Ukrainian artillery.

China’s “firm support”

In order to face Western sanctions and isolation, China and Russia announced this Wednesday that they will strengthen their trade and economic ties. Three days after the end of the G7 summit in Hiroshima, where Moscow and Beijing became the focus of criticism, Kremlin Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin met his Chinese counterpart Li Qiang and President Xi Jinping to reiterate “firm support on issues of fundamental interest to everyone”. one.”

Mishustin arrived in China on Monday and attended an economic forum in Shanghai on Tuesday before traveling to Beijing. He is the highest-ranking Russian official to visit the Asian giant since the start of the invasion of Ukraine. Both countries have strengthened their bilateral relations in the past decade, a trend that has accelerated since Russia launched its offensive against the former Soviet republic.