World
Germany declares “war” on the country’s radical anti-vaccines
Germany on Wednesday pledged to “defend itself” against radical anti-vaccination groups in the country. The promise comes after German police conducted a series of raids in Saxony after alleged death threats against politician Michael Kretschmer to defend restrictive measures against the pandemic in the region.
The operation, carried out by the criminal police in the Saxony region of eastern Germany, came after journalists from the public broadcaster ZDF infiltrated a group on the social network Telegram, in which they threatened to kill the minister. Saxony President Michael Kretschmer (CDU Christian Democratic Union) for vaccination.
“Statements by some members of the group suggest that they may have had real weapons and crossbows,” the police said in a statement. The authorities became suspicious of “preparing a violent crime threatening the state” and therefore raided several locations in the region to find those responsible for the threats.
The investigation concerns five men and one woman “suspected of preparing for a serious act of violence” and of “plotting to assassinate” the Saxon minister-president, among other regional authorities, “the police said in a statement, which does not help whether the arrests were made or how many weapons were seized. …
A strong, partly radical movement has emerged in Germany against the health restrictions imposed during the covid-19 pandemic. It is especially strong in Saxony, formerly communist East Germany, one of the regions hardest hit by the virus, and where vaccination rates are lower than the national average.
Although Kretschmer did not initially introduce restrictive measures to combat the pandemic, his position changed when the state of Saxony became one of the regions hardest hit by the covid-19 pandemic in the country. Saxony currently has one of the lowest vaccination rates in Germany: only 61.9% of the population is vaccinated with the first dose, and it also has the second highest infection rate in the territory.
New German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, in his inaugural speech, denounced what he called “a tiny and hated minority that attacks everyone with torchlight parades, violence and calls for murder,” adding that German society will not be divided. Scholz also pledged to pursue a zero-tolerance policy towards these extremist groups. On Monday evening, about 3,500 people marched in the city of Magdeburg, shouting “peace, freedom, no dictatorship.” Street protests against the restrictions take place almost daily and sometimes end in violence.
Compulsory vaccination is a measure to combat a new wave of infections.
The truth is, Germany is hand in hand with a new wave of infections, and records have been broken for daily cases in recent days. One of the main reasons for the uncontrolled growth of the pandemic in the country is associated with the low level of vaccinations in Germany. Only about 69% of the population is fully vaccinated, which is similar to rates in other European Union countries but was once considered low to contain the virus.
German MPs last week approved a law requiring healthcare workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19, the first step ahead of expanding compulsory vaccinations to the rest of the country’s population, which is expected in early 2022. Prove full vaccination on March 15, otherwise they will not be able to work.
* With agencies
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World
Vladimir Putin has delayed the invasion of Ukraine at least three times.
Putin has repeatedly consulted with Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu about the invasion, Europa Press told Ukraine’s chief intelligence director Vadim Skibitsky.
According to Skibitsky, it was the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), which is responsible for counterintelligence and espionage work, that put pressure on Gerasimov and other military agencies to agree to launch an offensive. .
However, according to the Ukrainian intelligence services, the FSB considered that by the end of February sufficient preparations had already been made to guarantee the success of the Russian Armed Forces in a lightning invasion.
However, according to Kyiv, the Russian General Staff provided the Russian troops with supplies and ammunition for only three days, hoping that the offensive would be swift and immediately successful.
The head of Ukrainian intelligence also emphasized the cooperation of local residents, who always provided the Ukrainian authorities with up-to-date information about the Russian army, such as the number of soldiers or the exact location of troops.
The military offensive launched on February 24 by Russia in Ukraine caused at least 6.5 million internally displaced persons and more than 7.8 million refugees to European countries, which is why the UN classifies this migration crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945). gg.). ).
At the moment, 17.7 million Ukrainians are in need of humanitarian assistance, and 9.3 million are in need of food aid and housing.
The UN has presented as confirmed 6,755 civilian deaths and 10,607 wounded since the beginning of the war, stressing that these figures are much lower than the real ones.
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World
Life sentence for former Swedish official for spying for Russia
A Stockholm court on Monday sentenced a former Swedish intelligence officer to life in prison for spying for Russia, and his brother to at least 12 years in prison. In what is considered one of the most serious cases in Swedish counterintelligence history, much of the trial took place behind closed doors in the name of national security.
According to the prosecution, it was Russian military intelligence, the GRU, who took advantage of the information provided by the two brothers between 2011 and their arrest at the end of 2021.
Peyman Kia, 42, has held many senior positions in the Swedish security apparatus, including the army and his country’s intelligence services (Säpo). His younger brother, Payam, 35, is accused of “participating in the planning” of the plot and of “managing contacts with Russia and the GRU, including passing on information and receiving financial rewards.”
Both men deny the charges, and their lawyers have demanded an acquittal on charges of “aggravated espionage,” according to the Swedish news agency TT.
The trial coincides with another case of alleged Russian espionage, with the arrest of the Russian-born couple in late November in a suburb of Stockholm by a police team arriving at dawn in a Blackhawk helicopter.
Research website Bellingcat identified them as Sergei Skvortsov and Elena Kulkova. The couple allegedly acted as sleeper agents for Moscow, having moved to Sweden in the late 1990s.
According to Swedish press reports, the couple ran companies specializing in the import and export of electronic components and industrial technology.
The man was again detained at the end of November for “illegal intelligence activities.” His partner, suspected of being an accomplice, has been released but remains under investigation.
According to Swedish authorities, the arrests are not related to the trial of the Kia brothers.
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World
Ukraine admitted that Russia may announce a general mobilization
“They can strengthen their positions. We understand that this can happen. At the same time, we do not rule out that they will announce a general mobilization,” Danilov said in an interview with the Ukrainska Pravda online publication.
Danilov believed that this mobilization would also be convened “to exterminate as many as possible” of Russian citizens, so that “they would no longer have any problems on their territory.”
In this sense, Danilov also reminded that Russia has not given up on securing control over Kyiv or the idea of the complete “destruction” of Ukraine. “We have to be ready for anything,” he said.
“I want everyone to understand that [os russos] they have not given up on the idea of destroying our nation. If they don’t have Kyiv in their hands, they won’t have anything in their hands, we must understand this,” continued Danilov, who also did not rule out that a new Russian offensive would come from “Belarus and other territories.” .
As such, Danilov praised the decision of many of its residents who chose to stay in the Ukrainian capital when the war broke out in order to defend the city.
“They expected that there would be panic, that people would run, that there would be nothing to protect Kyiv,” he added, referring to President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The military offensive launched on February 24 by Russia in Ukraine caused at least 6.5 million internally displaced persons and more than 7.8 million refugees to European countries, which is why the UN classifies this migration crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945). gg.). ).
At the moment, 17.7 million Ukrainians are in need of humanitarian assistance, and 9.3 million are in need of food aid and housing.
The Russian invasion, justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin on the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security, was condemned by the international community at large, which responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and imposing political and economic sanctions on Russia.
The UN has presented as confirmed 6,755 civilian deaths and 10,607 wounded since the beginning of the war, stressing that these figures are much lower than the real ones.
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