Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that a journalist working for the Wall Street Journal who was detained on suspicion of espionage had been “caught red-handed”
Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that a journalist working for the Wall Street Journal who was detained on suspicion of espionage had been “caught red-handed”
Putin on Thursday signed a decree on spring conscription, which will apparently begin on April 1 and last until July 15, Russian state-owned news agency RIA reported.
The official online portal of legal information of the Russian government published the document to divulge details. The call up is for those who are not in the reserve and meet the requirements of the law “On military duty and military service”.
The conscription campaign is calling 147,000 citizens up for statutory military service.
The White House Thursday strongly rejected Russia’s claim that Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was involved in spying when he was arrested in Yekaterinburg.
“The charge of espionage is ridiculous,” said White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre.
The White House said Thursday that Russia continues to seek arms from North Korea for the Ukraine war, after Pyongyang already shipped artillery munitions to the Wagner Group fighting on the front lines.
“We have new information that Russia is actively seeking to acquire additional munitions from North Korea,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said, after the US Treasury blacklisted a Slovakian man acting as a broker in such deals.
Moscow said its foreign minister will chair a UN Security Council meeting in April, when Russia will hold the rotating presidency of the international body.
Russia has repeatedly said it was confronted at the UN by the “collective West” that has ostracised Russia since the beginning of the Ukraine offensive.
Ukraine has called for Russia to be removed from Security Council over the military operation launched in February last year.
Russia last chaired the council in February 2022.
“Another key event of the Russian presidency (of the Security Council) will be a high-level open debate on the ‘effective multilateralism through the defence of the principles of the UN Charter’,” ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a press briefing.
“This meeting will be chaired by Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov,” she added.
Britain’s King Charles told German MPs that Europe’s security has come under threat amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He added that “we can draw courage from our unity”.
“The scourge of war is back in Europe, the war of aggression against Ukraine has brought unimaginable suffering on so many innocent people,” he said. “The security of Europe as well as our democratic values are under threat. But the world did not stand idly by… we can draw courage from our unity.”
The Kremlin warned Washington against taking retaliatory measures targeting Russian media.
“We are hoping that it will not happen and it must not happen,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, referring to any possible steps against Russian media in the United States, adding the detained reporter had been “caught in the act”.
Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the journalist was detained on suspicion of espionage, and he had been “caught red-handed”.
Zakharova said in a statement on social media: “Unfortunately, this is not the first time that foreign correspondent status, a press visa and accreditation, is used by foreigners in our country to cover up activities that are not journalism. This is not the first well-known Westerner to be caught red handed.”
The Wall Street Journal said Thursday it was “deeply concerned” for its reporter Evan Gershkovich after Russia’s FSB security services said he had been arrested on charges of spying.
“The Wall Street Journal is deeply concerned for the safety of Mr. Gershkovich,” the newspaper said in a statement.
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