DefenceTalkFighting between rival Iraqi forces raged for a second day Tuesday with rocket fire echoing from Baghdad’s Green Zone where 23 supporters of powerful Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr have been shot dead, medics said. Tensions have soared in Iraq amid a political crisis that has left the country without a new government, prime minister or […]https://www.defencetalk.com/fighting-in-iraqi-capital-leaves-23-dead-79256/

DefenceTalkRussia’s defence ministry said Thursday that its forces did not have heavy weapons deployed at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, accusing Kyiv of preparing a “provocation” at the station. “Russian troops have no heavy weapons either on the territory of the station or in areas around it. There are only guard units,” the ministry said […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russia-says-no-heavy-weapons-deployed-at-ukraine-nuclear-plant-79220/

DefenceTalkRussian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday accused Washington of seeking to prolong the conflict in Ukraine and of fueling conflicts elsewhere in the world, including with the visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan. “The situation in Ukraine shows that the US is trying to prolong this conflict. And they act in exactly […]https://www.defencetalk.com/putin-lashes-out-at-us-over-ukraine-taiwan-79203/

DefenceTalkUkraine on Wednesday accused Russia of rocket strikes that killed 13 civilians in areas near a Russian-held power plant, where renewed fighting has raised fears of a nuclear disaster. The overnight strikes in the Dnipropetrovsk region in central Ukraine also injured 11 people, with five reported to be in a serious condition. “It was a […]https://www.defencetalk.com/13-killed-in-russian-strikes-near-nuclear-plant-79190/

DefenceTalkTaiwan’s foreign minister said Tuesday that Beijing is using air and sea drills encircling the island to prepare for an invasion and to change the status quo in the Asia-Pacific region. China launched its largest-ever war games around Taiwan last week in a furious response to a visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/taiwan-fm-says-china-using-drills-to-prepare-for-invasion-79184/

DefenceTalkUN investigators on Tuesday reported mounting evidence of crimes against humanity, including murder, torture and sexual violence, committed in Myanmar since last year’s military coup. The United Nations’ Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM) said women and children were particularly being targeted. “There are ample indications that since the military takeover in February 2021, crimes […]https://www.defencetalk.com/mounting-proof-of-crimes-against-humanity-in-myanmar-un-probe-79187/

DefenceTalkSeveral US warships were cruising in waters near Taiwan on Tuesday, US military officials said, amid Chinese anger over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s controversial visit to the island Beijing claims as its territory. As China announced it would hold live-fire military drills in the Taiwan Strait in response to Pelosi’s visit, the US Navy’s Seventh […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-navy-warships-cruising-near-taiwan-as-pelosi-visits-79169/

DefenceTalkThe United States announced Monday a new tranche of weapons for Ukraine’s forces fighting Russia, including ammunition for increasingly important rocket launchers and artillery guns. The new $550 million package will “include more ammunition for the high mobility advanced rocket systems otherwise known as HIMARS, as well as ammunition” for artillery, National Security Council spokesman […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-to-send-550-million-of-new-weapons-to-ukraine-us-official-79166/

DefenceTalkRussia said an attack from a drone Sunday wounded six personnel at the headquarters of its Black Sea fleet in annexed Crimea, as authorities in Ukraine’s southern city of Mykolaiv reported it had suffered its “strongest” shelling of the war. AFP journalists witnessed an intense bombardment of the eastern town of Bakhmut after President Volodymyr […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russia-says-drone-attack-hits-crimea-navy-hq-79159/

DefenceTalkChinese President Xi Jinping warned his US counterpart Joe Biden not to “play with fire” over the self-ruled island of Taiwan during a lengthy phone call Thursday that the White House said aimed to steady the superpowers’ rocky relationship. A statement relayed by Chinese state media said the call, lasting two hours and 17 minutes […]https://www.defencetalk.com/xi-warns-biden-not-to-play-with-fire-over-taiwan-79144/