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Added on the 20/05/2022 16:21:39 - Copyright : AFP EN
NATO forces cross the Vistula River at Korzeniewo in Poland as part of the US-led defence alliance's Exercise Dragon 24, involving around 4,500 soldiers and almost 1,000 vehicles. Dragon 24 is itself part of Exercise Steadfast Defender 24, NATO's largest military exercise since the Cold War, which is designed to test its defences in the face of Russia's war on Ukraine. IMAGES
Russia is executing soldiers who try to retreat from a bloody new offensive in eastern Ukraine and has suffered "significant" losses of armor and personnel, the White House says. "We have information that the Russian military has been actually executing soldiers who are refusing to follow orders," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby says during a news briefing. SOUNDBITE
Images from the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, where the Wagner mercenary group has taken control of key military sites, show armoured vehicles and Wagner soldiers lining the streets as residents walk around them or watch on in groups. In an earlier televised address, Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged a "difficult" situation was unfolding in the city as Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin vowed to oust the Russian military's top brass. IMAGES
Ukraine's Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov meets with Ukrainian soldiers in the Donetsk region. Western countries have raised the alarm this month over reported Russian military activity near Ukraine, with the United States saying it has "real concerns" over a new troop build-up on the border. IMAGES
The NATO flag is hoisted at a military base in the Swedish capital Stockholm, symbolising the Nordic country's accession into the military alliance. On 7 March 2024, Sweden became the 32nd member of NATO in the shadow of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, turning the page on two centuries of non-alignment. IMAGES
US President Joe Biden says during his State of the Union address that Ukraine is capable of stopping Putin if the US provides Kyiv the "weapons it needs to defend itself." SOUNDBITE