VILNIUS: The vehicle of four US soldiers that went missing last week in Lithuania has been recovered, the Lithuanian army said on Monday, but did not say whether the soldiers had been found.
Authorities from the Baltic state received a report on Tuesday that the soldiers had disappeared during a military drill on a training ground in the eastern city of Pabrade, near the border with Belarus.
Search and rescue teams used heavy equipment and excavators to remove silt from the body of water where the vehicle was located and managed to attach cables to tow it out of the swamp.
“The vehicle has been recovered,” Lithuanian Armed Forces chief General Raimundas Vaiksnoras said on Monday morning on social media.
“I ask for everyone’s respect and solidarity as we await further information from our US colleagues,” Vaiksnoras added.
Lithuania’s Defense Minister Dovile Sakaliene said that the towing operation was completed at 4:30 am local time (0130 GMT) and that the Lithuanian Military Police and US investigators were “currently working at the scene.”
“If the recovery of the vehicle does not provide all the answers, the work will have to continue,” she added in a Facebook post.
Hundreds of local and foreign troops and other rescue workers including engineers and divers had been involved in a rescue operation to recover the M88 Hercules armored recovery vehicle.
Lithuania, a NATO and EU member, hosts more than 1,000 American troops stationed on a rotational basis.
Vehicle recovered in search for missing US soldiers in Lithuania
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Vehicle recovered in search for missing US soldiers in Lithuania
- The soldiers had disappeared during a military drill on a training ground in the eastern city of Pabrade
- Search and rescue teams used heavy equipment and excavators to remove silt from the body of water where the vehicle was located
Zelensky visits Berlin as he seeks more support for Ukraine in the war against Russia
- Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit will focus on ‘German support for Ukraine and efforts to secure a ceasefire’
- Berlin visit comes days after Russia launched some of its heaviest missile and drone attacks on Ukraine
BERLIN: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with new German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin on Wednesday as Ukraine seeks further military support amid a recent escalation in Russia’s bombing campaign, despite US-led efforts to end the war.
Germany has been the second-biggest supplier of military aid to Ukraine after the United States. Merz has plunged into diplomatic efforts to try to secure a ceasefire and keep Western support for Ukraine intact since becoming Germany’s leader three weeks ago. European leaders have accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of dragging his feet in US-led peace talks.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul was set to meet in Washington with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday.
Zelensky said Tuesday that Ukraine is ready to hold peace talks at the highest level, including a trilateral meeting with himself, Putin and US President Donald Trump.
“We are ready to meet at the level of leaders. Both the American side knows this, and the Russian side knows this,” he said. Zelensky said he would accept any configuration of talks, whether that includes one trilateral meeting or separate meetings with Trump.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia is grateful to Trump for his mediation efforts.
“At the same time, there is a big number of nuances to be discussed that can’t be neglected and which neither party is going to sacrifice, because of its national interests,” Peskov told reporters. “Just like the United States, Russia has its national interests that are of primary importance to us.”
He said that Moscow will “soon” deliver its promised memorandum on a framework for a peace settlement.
Taurus cruise missiles may be discussed
Merz said on Monday that Germany and other major allies are no longer imposing any range restrictions on weapons supplied to Ukraine as it fights to repel Russia’s full-scale invasion, which began in February 2022.
Merz’s government hasn’t said whether it will supply its Taurus long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine, something his predecessor, Olaf Scholz, refused to do and which Merz advocated for as opposition leader. The government has said it would no longer provide full details of the weapons it’s supplying to Ukraine, unlike Scholz’s administration, citing the need for “strategic ambiguity.”
Taurus missiles have a range of up to 500 kilometers (310 miles). The German- and Swedish-made missiles, which are equipped with stealth technology, would be able to reach targets deep in Russia from Ukrainian soil, including the Black Sea. Ukraine wants the missiles to complement the long-range Storm Shadow missiles sent by Britain and France’s nearly identical Scalp cruise missiles.
Zelensky said that he plans to discuss the supply and use of long-range weapons in his talks with Merz. The Ukrainian leader said Tuesday that he hasn’t received any indications from Germany that their policy of limiting the use of Western weapons against Russian targets has changed.
Ukraine needs $30 billion in additional financing to help it compete with Russia in the production of drones and missiles, Zelensky said. Russia is aiming to produce 300-350 drones per day, he said.
Front-line fighting, deep strikes continue
Meanwhile, fighting has continued along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, where Ukraine’s army is shorthanded against its bigger adversary. Zelensky claimed Tuesday that Russia is mobilizing up to 45,000 men every month, while Ukraine mobilizes between 25,000-27,000.
Both sides are continuing to conduct deep strikes. Russia launched its biggest drone attack of the war against Ukraine on Sunday.
Russian air defenses downed 296 Ukrainian drones over 13 Russian regions late Tuesday and early Wednesday, Russia’s Defense Ministry said, in what appeared to be one of the biggest Ukrainian drone assaults of the war.
Ukraine is increasing its domestic production of drones and missiles, according to Zelensky. He said late Tuesday that Ukraine wants European countries to help it invest in the manufacturing of attack drones, air defense interceptors, cruise missiles and ballistic systems.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that air defenses shot down Ukrainian 33 drones heading toward the capital.
Andrei Vorobyov, the governor of the Moscow region, said that 42 drones were downed. He said that drone fragments damaged three residential buildings in the village of Troitskoye, but no one was hurt.
Moscow airports delayed or diverted hundreds of flights.
Overnight, Russian forces launched an attack on Ukraine using five Iskander ballistic missiles, one guided air-launched missile and 88 drones, Ukraine’s Air Force said Wednesday. Air defense units shot down 34 drones, and 37 drones were jammed.
Ukraine’s railway infrastructure and equipment in the Kharkiv, Donetsk and Sumy regions also came under fire overnight and Wednesday morning, Ukraine’s state railway company Ukrzaliznytsia said. No casualties were reported.
In Kharkiv region, railway traffic was temporarily suspended so that police and emergency workers could clear debris from a downed drone that landed on the tracks. In Sloviansk in the Donetsk region, the attack shattered windows at the station building, and drone debris slightly damaged a train car.
Activists turn Paris fountain red to denounce Gaza ‘bloodbath’
- Activists from Oxfam and Amnesty International poured dye into the Fontaine des Innocents in the heart of the French capital
PARIS: French activists dyed a Paris fountain red Wednesday to symbolize what they called the “bloodbath” of Palestinians in Gaza.
Activists from Oxfam and Amnesty International poured dye into the Fontaine des Innocents in the heart of the French capital, while others held placards saying “Cease fire” and “Gaza: stop the bloodbath.”
“This operation aims to denounce France’s slow response to an absolute humanitarian emergency facing the people of Gaza today,” the activists, which included the French branch of Greenpeace, said in a joint statement.
“France cannot limit itself to mere verbal condemnations,” said former minister Cecile Duflot, executive director of Oxfam France.
Clemence Lagouardat, who helped coordinate Oxfam’s humanitarian response in Gaza, denounced the Israeli blockade of the besieged territory.
“The people in Gaza need everything, it’s a matter of survival,” she told AFP.
The October 7, 2023 attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official data.
Militants also abducted 251 people, of whom 57 are still being held in Gaza, including 34 declared dead by the Israeli army.
The Israeli offensive launched in retaliation has killed at least 53,977 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to data from the Hamas-run health ministry, which is considered reliable by the UN.
Israel has now stepped up a renewed campaign to destroy Hamas, drawing international condemnation as aid trickles in following a blockade since early March that has sparked severe food and medical shortages.
“There is a genocide going on and political inaction is becoming a kind of complicity in this genocide,” said Jean-Francois Julliard, head of Greenpeace France.
“We call on (President) Emmanuel Macron to act with courage, clarity and determination to put an end to this bloodshed.”
The activists urged states “with influence over Israel” to press for an immediate and lasting ceasefire, an arms embargo on Israel, the revision of a cooperation agreement between the EU and Israel and other measures.
Macron has accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “unacceptable” and “shameful” behavior in blocking aid to the Palestinians in Gaza.
In response Netanyahu has accused Macron of siding with a “murderous Islamist terrorist organization.”
Sweden charges militant over Jordanian pilot burnt to death in Syria
- The pilot is then locked in a cage that is set on fire, leading to his death, Henrik Olin, the other prosecutor in charge of the case, told reporters
- The defendant's lawyer, Petra Eklund, told AFP that her client admitted to being present at the scene but disputed the prosecution's version
STOCKHOLM: Prosecutors on Tuesday charged a Swedish militant over the 2014 capture and subsequent killing of a Jordanian pilot, who was burned to death in a cage in Syria by the Islamic State (IS) group.
Osama Krayem, 32, was charged with "participating in the brutal execution of a pilot" near the city of Raqqa, prosecutor Reena Devgun told a press conference.
Krayem, who is already serving a 30-year sentence for involvement in the November 2015 terror attacks in Paris, was charged with "serious war crimes and terrorist crimes".
According to prosecutors, who had announced they intended to charge Krayem last week, an aircraft belonging to the Royal Jordanian Air Force crashed in Syria on December 24, 2014.
The pilot was captured by IS fighters the same day near the central city of Raqqa, and killed sometime before February 3, 2015.
The execution was filmed and a 22-minute video accompanied by a specially composed religious chant was published.
In the video, the victim is seen walking past several masked IS fighters, including Krayem, according to prosecutors.
The pilot is then locked in a cage that is set on fire, leading to his death, Henrik Olin, the other prosecutor in charge of the case, told reporters.
"This bestial murder, in which a prisoner was burned alive in a cage, was staged in a carefully produced video that was broadcast around the world. Its publication marked an unprecedented escalation in the Islamic State group's violent propaganda," Olin said.
Prosecutors have been unable to determine the exact day of the murder, but the investigation has identified the location where it took place.
The defendant's lawyer, Petra Eklund, told AFP that her client admitted to being present at the scene but disputed the prosecution's version.
"He denies the acts for which he is prosecuted," she said.
"He acknowledges having been present at that place during the event but claims not to have acted in the manner described by the prosecutors in the account of the facts."
Krayem, who is from Malmo in southern Sweden, joined the IS group in Syria in 2014 before returning to Europe.
In June 2022, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison in France for helping plan the November 2015 Paris attacks in which 130 people were killed.
The following year, he was given a life sentence in Belgium for participating in the bombings on March 22, 2016, at Brussels' main airport and on the metro system, which killed 32 people.
"Even though this is a person that's already sentenced and is serving very long prison sentences in other countries, we will still charge him and we have an international obligation to do so," Devgun told AFP.
Krayem has been "temporarily handed over to Sweden to participate in the trial", which is scheduled to begin June 4, according to the Swedish Prosecution Authority.
"It is painful for my parents to be confronted with this event again, but we are grateful that the Swedish authorities want to give us justice," Jawdat al-Kasasbeh, the pilot's brother, told broadcaster Sveriges Radio.
Zelensky proposes three-way meeting with Trump, Putin
- Donald Trump has expressed frustration at both Putin and Zelensky for not yet striking a deal to end the war
- The Ukrainian leader had previously appeared to express frustration at Washington for not having announced fresh sanctions on Moscow
KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for a three-way summit with Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin as he seeks to force Moscow to halt its three-year-long invasion.
Russian President Putin rejected calls to meet Zelensky in Turkiye earlier this month and the Kremlin has said a meeting between the two leaders would only happen after some kind of “agreement” is reached.
The US president has expressed frustration at both Putin and Zelensky for not yet striking a deal to end the war.
The two sides have traded waves of massive aerial attacks in recent weeks, with Ukraine firing almost 300 drones at Russia overnight, the defense ministry in Moscow said.
“If Putin is not comfortable with a bilateral meeting, or if everyone wants it to be a trilateral meeting, I don’t mind. I am ready for any format,” Zelensky said in comments to journalists on Tuesday that were published on Wednesday.
The Ukrainian leader said he was “ready” for a “Trump-Putin-me” meeting, and also urged Washington to hit Moscow with a package of hard-hitting sanctions on its banking and energy sectors.
“We are waiting for sanctions from the United States of America,” Zelensky said.
“Trump confirmed that if Russia does not stop, sanctions will be imposed. We discussed two main aspects with him — energy and the banking system. Will the US be able to impose sanctions on these two sectors? I would very much like that.”
The Ukrainian leader had previously appeared to express frustration at Washington for not having announced fresh sanctions on Moscow after Russia rejected a coordinated Western appeal for an immediate ceasefire.
Trump over the weekend called Putin “crazy” after a massive Russian barrage killed at least 13 people across Ukraine.
And on Tuesday, he went on blasting at the Russian leader.
“What Vladimir Putin doesn’t realize is that if it weren’t for me, lots of really bad things would have already happened to Russia, and I mean REALLY BAD. He’s playing with fire!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social network.
Despite months of US-led diplomacy, the two sides appear no closer to striking a deal to end the three-year-long war, triggered by Russia’s February 2022 invasion.
Tens of thousands have been killed, much of east and southern Ukraine has been destroyed, and Moscow’s army now controls around a fifth of Ukraine’s territory, including the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014.
Hours after Zelensky spoke, Ukraine unleashed one of its largest ever drone barrages on Russia, where officials reported only minimal damage from the attacks.
Moscow’s three major international airports were forced to suspend flights for hours overnight amid the barrage, aviation authorities said.
Ukraine said that Russia launched more than 900 drones in the three days up to Monday. Thirteen civilians were killed in attacks on Sunday, including three children.
On the battlefield, Zelensky said Russia was “amassing” more than 50,000 troops on the front line around the northeastern Sumy border region, where Moscow’s army has captured a number of settlements as it seeks to establish what Putin has called a “buffer zone” inside Ukrainian territory.
Zelensky also said that Ukraine is yet to receive a promised “memorandum” from Russia on its demands for a peace deal.
Ukraine has accused Russia of dragging out the peace process following the first direct talks in more than three years between negotiators from the two sides earlier this month in Istanbul.
Zelensky is due to visit Germany on Wednesday for talks with Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who has pledged muscular backing for Kyiv in its fight against Russia.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that details on a second round of negotiations would be announced soon.
US suspends student visa processing in fresh swipe at foreign applicants
- The government plans to ramp up vetting of the social media profiles of international applicants to US universities, the cable said.
- Rubio earlier rescinded hundreds of visas and the Trump administration has moved to bar Harvard University from admitting non-Americans
CAMBRIDGE: The US State Department on Tuesday ordered the suspension of student visa processing, as President Donald Trump’s administration seeks unprecedented control of the nation’s universities by slashing funding and curbing international enrollment.
It is the latest escalation in the White House’s crackdown on foreign students, which has seen it revoke visas and deport some of those involved in protests against the war in Gaza.
A cable signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and seen by AFP orders embassies and consulates not to allow “any additional student or exchange visa... appointment capacity until further guidance is issued.”
The government plans to ramp up vetting of the social media profiles of international applicants to US universities, the cable said.
The New York Times reported that the suspension of interviews with visa applicants was temporary.
Rubio earlier rescinded hundreds of visas and the Trump administration has moved to bar Harvard University from admitting non-Americans.
Japan and Hong Kong have both urged local universities to accept foreign students from US universities in light of the crackdown.
China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning on Wednesday said Beijing urged Washington to “safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of international students, including those from China.”
Hundreds of thousands of Chinese students attend US universities, long viewed by many in China as beacons of academic freedom and rigour.
The suspension of visa processing came as Harvard students protested on Tuesday after the government said it intended to cancel all remaining financial contracts, Trump’s latest attempt to force the institution to submit to unprecedented oversight.
A judge issued a restraining order pending a hearing on the matter scheduled for Thursday, the same day as the university’s commencement graduation ceremony for which thousands of graduating students and their families had gathered in Cambridge, Massachusetts near Boston.
The White House, meanwhile, doubled down in its offensive, saying that public money should go to vocational schools that train electricians and plumbers.
“The president is more interested in giving that taxpayer money to trade schools and programs and state schools where they are promoting American values, but most importantly, educating the next generation based on skills that we need in our economy and our society,” Karoline Leavitt said on Fox News Tuesday evening. “We need more of those in our country, and less LGBTQ graduate majors from Harvard University.”
Tuesday’s protest unfolded as news helicopters hovered overhead and graduating students in academic attire and their guests ate finger food at a reception on the lawns of Harvard Square nearby.
“All my international friends and peers and professors and researchers are at risk and (are) threatened with being deported — or their option is to transfer” to another university, said Alice Goyer, who attended the protest wearing a black academic gown.
One history of medicine student from Britain graduating this week who gave his name only as Jack said that the policies pursued by Trump would make US universities less attractive to international students.
“I don’t know if I’d pursue a PhD here, six years is a long time,” he said.
Harvard itself has filed extensive legal challenges against Trump’s measures, which legal experts say are likely to be overturned by the courts.
Separately, alumni plan to file a lawsuit against Trump on June 9, filmmaker Anurima Bhargava told a virtual meeting staged by Crimson Courage, a grassroots alumni group that held a mass webinar to raise awareness and a fighting fund from former students.
The cutting of contracts announced Tuesday — estimated by US media to be worth $100 million — would mark the slashing of business ties between the government and the country’s oldest university.
Amid a broad campaign against seats of learning that Trump accuses of being hotbeds of liberal bias and anti-Semitism, the president has singled out Harvard.
In the last few weeks, the elite educational and research powerhouse has seen billions of dollars in federal grants frozen and millions of dollars of federal contracts torn up.
The university has sued both to block the revocation of its right to recruit and sponsor foreign students, 27 percent of its total roll, as well as to overturn the withdrawal of federal funding.
A legal expert suggested Harvard could file a lawsuit to overturn the latest contract cuts as part of existing legal action.
“The case is so strong that the court system is not going to step to the side and allow this... to go forward,” said Albany Law School professor Ray Brescia.
He said the Trump administration’s assault on Harvard was so flawed that a higher court would likely strike down the campaign if the Trump administration were to challenge it on appeal.
On Monday, Trump nonetheless vowed he would prevail in the increasingly public struggle, claiming that foreign students at Harvard include “radicalized lunatics, troublemakers.”
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