it's what the u. s. has attempted to do in recent years. now we see the election of seo, mont, castro, a progressive in good us. we see a returning of the cool in bolivia with the election of lewis are a set of bolivia. and those countries as well as mexico have said, it's time that we have the se in our own continent. and president lopez over their statement has chris has followed several statements on his behalf, where he is called for the abolition of the organization of american states. it's not just the dictating of us. it's the policies, the economic social, political policies that has led to the disaster of migration. people have fled on dude us by the 10s of thousands because of the qu, that took place in 2009. engineered by the united states, as are now biding claims. he's going to be talking about the border issue, democracy. it is the i couldn't think of a greater example of hypocrisy than what mine is doing and will attempt to do in los angeles this week. or speaking of hypocrisy, how about? well, the u. s. is housed a sanctioni

and the u. s. has not just been silent. they've actually been funding these really military with billions and weaponry. and now we're just seeing how far this lack of accountability goes. that even when these really military kills an internationally recognized journalist and a us citizen, divided administration is merely pretending to care about human rights and uttering platitudes of concern. while refusing to actually do anything. our political culture in the us of putting politics above human beings is what needs to change or yes, i definitely agree with 0 mar, said, i mean not israel for decades has enjoy impunity. and if it wasn't for that shootings f could have been avoided, sol does so as all other palestinians who have been killed and the u. s. as a super, as a superpower does have the, the authority, it does have the influence and the power to actually influence it has the ability to make a change. and that wants to, i mean it's funds as the omar said, billions of dollars into it, into israel's military. and it's t

but in fact, the u. s. has embraced seems. and nixon administration, policy of strategic ambiguity when it comes to taiwan, closing the door now on pilots inclusion in the new pacific kind of where the framework is likely to adversely affect the u. s. high wind tide. so the u. s. has chosen to be very careful not to cross the lie of the one china policy in which the people that are kissinger has said china, it does not seem to be an immediate threat to the u. s. in the next 10 years. and it is very important not to play to taiwan cut. however, the u. s. he said that the fighting is subject to some local political constraint to steal paid to taiwan cod, quite frequently in the last 2 years. but it does not seem to want to change the status quotes, i call this call across the street at this point. and that's something very genetic happens. and that's key thing just that he has already see some signs of bite and it's going to make some positive change. benjamin child professor at the paris school of technology on business. many,

the u. s. has issued several general license peach. it a commitment that he made back at the start of the war in ukraine, saying that we will protect every centimeter of nato territory. and he says that germany is doing that by a beefing up its own military spending. but also by sending of troops and materiel to nato's eastern flank and showing its commitment that way. but of course, also by the support that it's given to ukraine. both the financial and decreasing li are in the form of the direct military support as well. in simon the jason and he tried to quash the idea that he is moving too slowly on helping ukraine. did he achieve what he wanted to i guess that will depend on why the perceptions there certainly are plenty of people here in germany, opposition politicians and others. who think that to the progress has been too slow and too hesitant? will other world leaders, you know, give germany the credit that i laugh, shouts thinks it deserves. i will have to wait and see. yeah, he's got a week of summit meetings coming up are in

the u. s. makes its biggest interest rates high in almost 30 years. that's an attempt to rein in ramp inflation and contracts with billions of roubles on new agreement on corporation. those are just to the highlights of the opening day of the st. petersburg, international economic forums with much more to come as the events which these thousands of the piece gather, enters its 2nd date with july from the russian capital and broadcasting to the world. this is our see international peter scott. and he's the top stories this hour, and we start off with the latest from ukraine. a civilians who have died in ukrainian rockets. it's hard on little guns republic. thus, according to local officials, most of the casualties were in the city of stuck on. as fighting continues an official from ukraine's ruling party admits to u. s. media that 1000 ukrainian soldiers are being either killed or wounded every day in the dom bus. meanwhile, russia has accused of violating a cease fire by disrupting a humanitari

u. s. has approved a new package of ministry aid for ukraine with $1000000000.00 bringing the total donations to kids since the stuff the conflicts. $6600000000.00 give demands for support are changing though, with no asking for more power for rocket systems, which the us to say it. is it prepared to send earlier? my colleague, you know, neal discuss the recent decisions, provide new packages of miniature, a to ukraine without caesar salad davinsky decision by the u. s. defense secretary to announce further funding for ukraine. that was the announcement that there would be $1000000000.00 of further funding security assistance for ukraine. and this has got a whole list of new weaponry that is going to be wing its way over there. that includes guided m r s ammunitions. how it says as some 36000, a 155 millimeter ammunitions, also harpoon coastal defense systems, thermal cameras, a massive man that's been announced just from the u. s. also getting announcements on wednesday from germany, back

the u. s. currently has in place. 2 the answers are not entirely clear here. the story that the sanctions are causing the problem i think is deeply misleading. sometimes companies are confused about what's allowed and what's not. and we will try to clarify so that they're able to go forward. but we are also working proactively by trying to inform companies about what they are allowed to do. now, as for the question of who is to blame for the current crisis here in the us. well, president biden has tried to put the blame on everyone from russia to republicans in congress to even former president trump, essentially everyone other than himself, even though biden's own approval rating continues to remain your record low faces ever work. they always hurt the sanction or more than the saint to me. i have been watching this scene that myself. these were never the sanctions on rush. we're never going to work. worst sanctions on iran didn't work in just in basic general terms. it was never going to be a success strategy and we could see before the war even broke out, i

how is the u. s. reacting there has been criticism. yes, certainly. you know, i think that letter written by senator john off in mitt romney is indicative of just how much the court this is struck with american lawmakers in addition to their letter. there is also another letter signed by more than 50 lawmakers calling for the us to really push for in the independent and transparent investigation to sherry and i closed. so clearly i think us lawmakers even now that letter only came out this week despite the fact that we're approaching the month anniversary of her kil, like they're not letting up. this is something that still really, you know, kind of top of mind. and i think that's really important because so far we've seen that the by didn't administration has declined to open its own probe into this investigation. it said that it really wants the israelis and palestinians to do that. but as i argue to my piece, i think that the u. s. has an opportunity and frankly, a responsibility here, as you noted, korean was an american citizen. and you know, the

n. safety u. s. has a responsibility to return to the afghan people. what is rightfully there's it is unreasonable, unjustified, and unacceptable to freeze the afghan assets. yet on the u. s. should respond to the appeals of the secretary general human rights experts, humanitarian agencies and other policies by unconditionally returning african overseas assets as soon as possible. $7000000000.00 in afghan central bank assets were earlier frozen by the us. that happened after the taliban swept back into power in august. 4 months ago, the u. s. president signed an order to release those offsets. however, the money is yet to be dispersed. and when it is, it's supposed to be divided between ship on the hearing groups, enough, get this done. and they fun for 911 victims in america, warmer afghan, present amid cars i demanded washington return all the money back to the afghan people who journalists below. so worry believes the u. s. has no rights to take money needed by the struggling countries. citizens the united states can simply not rob got to be below t

the u. s. has long been critical of china's trade practices, but what exactly is it that the g 7 is objecting to? yeah, the g 7 has certainly made clear that confronting china is a big part of its mandate. and we're seeing similar frustrations as in recent years . one of them is reneging on commitments to the w t o, but primarily the overall in dependence of these group of 7 nations on the country. after all, china is a lead exporter and dumps t products all around the world. in here in the united states, biden has made confronting china a cornerstone of its trade policy of its foreign policy and there have revealed, there has been some tensions revealed. of course, there are reports that the binding ministration is going to lift tariffs on chinese goods that were 1st imposed by the trump administration in its trade war with the nation. but some must say that this would not help the u. s. goal of increasing domestic production as well as increasing competitiveness with the nation. biden has als

thanks you so, oh, the u. s. has provided jets and pilot training for almost every saudi unit conducting are a strikes in yemen, which have been widely criticized for causing huge amounts of civilian debt. stop is according to a recent study published by the washington post canoe analysis by the washington post and security force monitor at columbia law schools. human rights institute provides the most complete picture yet of the depth and breadth of us support for the saudi led air campaign, revealing that a substantial portion of the air raids were carried out by jets, developed, maintained and sold by u. s. companies and pilots who were trained by the u. s. military. the saudi led coalition 7 year long war against who the rebels in yemen has caused thousands of lives with over 23000000 people in need of humanitarian assistance. and who was the number one sponsor of re ads campaign. the u. s. joe biden suspended sales last year and promised the u. s. would stop supporting offensive saudi operations. still the m

you would be surprised if the u. s. appeal is promised to fully protect high one given that the u. s. has already lost is credibility in defending is friends of many countries, especially when those friends have lost strategic value to the us. we're still with sometimes to us these each in the interest to support a prolong proxy war to we can in the pony. so a press, the war is still possible, especially to the local help of korea and japan and perhaps australia as well. iran has accused the u. s. of destroying world trade and undermining international relations. as washington has received the cargo from an iranian oil time because it was seized on the greek coast, back in april by athens. lucille georgia had in the united states is the biggest destroyer of free trade. it is the biggest destroyer of global economic rules for finance, investment and international trade. the u. s. uses the dollar as a weapon and turns it into a tool to interfere in every aspect of the global economy that jose, what the u. s. has done is wreaking havoc to world relations when in response to that seizu

i think the u. s. has given up on the economy. it's given up on the american people were sending billions of dollars down the toilet on military aid, much of it, which will never even reach the people we're trying to send it to. meanwhile, homeless is increasing. we're seeing this on the streets of america, seeing it on the streets of pittsburgh. people can't afford food, they can't afford fuel, they can't afford health care. and the u. s. government doesn't care that that's what's clear. and opposed to reflecting the approval for the white house or historic low levels, which shows the american people know who is putting the screws to them. con cavallo came in and labor by slow em any. thanks for your time. we appreciate it. thank you . nicky and international security summit in singapore has been overshadowed by a control of a c. after a prominent us research a falsely accuse, the chinese delegation of walking out doing a speech by ukraine's president at the events and a tweet, a washington base political analysts. olivia in all

and so, yeah, i mean, the u. s. has been critical in this war is provided most of the armaments, including cluster bombs, has helped with logistical support, including targeting and refueling saudi plains, in air, has supported the saudi blockade of yemen, which has starved countless numbers of people. but as many of these wards and undeclared war, i mean, most americans don't even know what's happening. if they do, they don't know that the u. s. is behind it can of a story to bring attention to today and archipelago of islands, which stretch from germany to denmark known as the wanton islands of condemned a gas drilling project in the north c fleming. it would be harmful to the thriving nature there. that's after berlin and amsterdam decided to join forces to develop a new gas field aimed at cutting dependence on russian energy. the german government, however, downplayed the impact of any future drilling. let us go, in other words, to the gas quantities that could be extracted from this field or small in the contex

s. pressure. the u. s. has pushed the nato countries into this predicament. and, and they are, and the european countries really are now their own backs against the wall. they weren't prepared for this. they weren't prepared for the, the escalation of this crisis to the point that it is right now. and it's rely and once again on the west to try and, and back fill as we call it. clearly they are, they were under us pressure to do something. and you get to see the, the defense minister and the defense military, sorta cringing at that at that announcement because they knew that they don't have the, the, the, the equipment in their, in their stocks. they don't even have it in their inventory. a lot of these weapons are going into the hands of the as of italian and the other, neo nazi groups that are now part of the ukranian military. and we have no way of knowing how they're being used or that could be sold for that matter. and, and maybe even sold to a terrorist groups. we have no, we have no way to judge what the an use of those weapons are. and these are rathe

u. s. has warned african countries not to buy weeds. they allege has been stolen by russia. this comes in the spokesperson for the u. s. secretary general, the u. n. sexy general excuse me, has admitted he doesn't have any verification for these claims. is you the un awareness of such conduct from of russia in ukraine? we've seen, i mean, there was recent media reports were talking to our colleagues at w f. p. who would be in the lead? i mean, there is no, they have no way of verifying these allegations. as many african countries struggle with a severe food shortage, 14000000 people are now on the brink of starvation in somalia, ethiopia, and kenya. it's also expected that 18000000 more people will face severe hunger, the thought held, reach by august. that of the african humanitarian action organisation says there's no reason to follow washington's warnings. as doing so, could exacerbate the confidence from the crisis. i don't think is appropriate for anybody to tell last week and not the bios from anywhere when 1000000 stop now stuttering. and therefore it's very important

the u. s. central bank has raised its key interest rates marking the biggest one time increase in decades. the federal reserve raise the rate by 3 quarters of a percentage point pushing its benchmark rate to arrange a between $1.00, a 1.75 percent. the height which will affect consumer and business loans, is this 3rd since march, and the biggest and almost 30 years. we spoke to economics. professor jack robins, investment manager, mitch fireside optimism about the move was in short supply from both met they feel they've um, almost lost control of inflation and the markets and investors have been pushing the fed and the government to get more aggressive to raise rates. and that's what's really behind all this, but you know, it's interesting. i listen to jerome this morning, you know, and the chair with a chair and he indicated that, wow, this is really about doing something about demand driven inflation. and you ask, is the fed really can't do anything about supply? well, the problem is supply i

the u. s. currently has in place. well, the answers are not entirely clear here. the story that the sanctions are causing the problem i think is deeply misleading. sometimes companies are confused about what's allowed and what's not. and we will try to clarify so that they're able to go forward. but we are also working proactively by trying to inform companies about what they are allowed to do. now, as for the question of who is to blame for the current crisis here in the u. s. o, president biden has tried to put the blame on everyone from russia to republicans in congress to even former president trump, essentially everyone other than himself, even as biden's own approval rating continues to remain your record lows. okay, we're going to take a quick break here on our t, but after that we're going up nor to the st. petersburg international economic forum. the see which delegates r t is not to have a quick chat with today. ah . oh well she's news media cards and like if you speak russian, keep your voice down while out and about a couple don't put your human symbol

the u. s. has sanctioned to both iran and venezuela and in recent years have expanded their relationship by my field. we will be witnesses in the coming years. our countries will confront the difficulties they face and create a new world. the youth in venezuela, the youth in iran, must know that the world of the future will be a just world without imperialism. a world of equality, both of us have to build that future mister president. and i can tell you, and all of the people of iran that you can rely on the support of venice. we're lucky. 20 countries at the summit of the americas of announcer so called los angeles declaration on migration. it creates intent incentives for government to take in more migrants. but some regional leaders weren't invited, or others boycotted the vent. so it's not clear how effective the measures will be . it's been one month since sharina barclay was shot by israeli forces. while on assignment a vigil has been held at the scene of the shooting engineer in the occu

better bust of course of some extent of the delivery service west has from the u. s. and other countries are aimed at replacing cubes losses in military equipment. there's nothing new in this. it actually changes nothing more unmanned aerial systems that actually perform stress can only be effective if there are no military air defense systems present. what we do have them as the book, the thought, the pansy or the panther extremely effective. not that i want to offend anyone, but the systems are cracking these vehicles like them not when you're below dozens of them have already been destroyed. it does. okay. i think will this fuss around extra supply. so crazy has only one goal. that is to drag out the military conflict as long as you understand long range missiles are supplied, it will force us to make decisions with them and use our means destruction, which we have enough of to conduct the strikes if facilities that we haven't targeted so far. a while the russian defense ministry has confirmed its forces have destroyed a number of tanks under the military equipment

u. s. president joe biden has ordered american agencies to look into how they can help. but that will not be easy since the taliban took control last year, most agencies have stayed out of afghanistan. the country is already struggling with a drought and food shortages. ah, they survived the deadly earthquake and were taken to safety. hospitals impacting a province near the pakistani border are filling up with the injured many of them, recount stories of horror and terrible loss. mad mobile the press. when the roof came down on me, i thought i had been shot with my body was in pain. it took me awhile to get up, but i lost feeling in my body when i saw the rest of my family under the debris hills, with people digging with their bare hands through the rubble i just saw in the hopes of finding someone still alive or to recover their dead with houses and other buildings have been flattened by the powerful quake. it struck in the middle of the night when most people were at home sound asleep. th

now, when it comes to the numerous things shows that the u. s. has imposed against russia, there appear to be more questions than answers as the west starts to feel the impact of their own measures. just months after washington announced unprecedented sanctions against moscow. well, the media is now admitted that the binding ministration is concerned about the effect. those measures are having at home rather than abroad from shoring gas prices and inflation to concerned over a global food crisis. the united states right now is really hurting, and that's just the beginning. in fact, even officials from the us treasury or no admitting that they're concerned about the over use of sanctions against russia. all of that comes as reports are saying that the u. s. government is even encouraging american companies to purchase russian for fertilizer in order to increase supplies overall. but actually the question of whether is that would violate the sanctions the u. s. currently has in place? well, the answers are not entirely clear here. the story that th

s. no longer has a military dominance. he may believe that to be the case, but of course the u. s. has significant economic dominance in the world. what, how isolated as you are describing how isolated are these 2 countries likely to remain, even if they cooperate in the face of that economic pressure from the us? yes, you know, the flight is actually leaving it in the era of corporations in the, in. i don't know, and leaving in the mobilized or the beast means that companies have their, you know, so this medation the sovereignty and they put the side for each other. the pals, the in curve and some of any imperialist other. and this is the find, the accept that the united states, you know, economy dominant that the lee because all the, you know, institutions all the on them there will be in leave, are created or are the results of, you know, the institutions of the bank or not monthly into his life. but you know, the point is that the doesn't mean that's been the lead in the era of liberalization or the era. imagine how these, you know, institutions could impose their this season t

o u. s. has delivered over a 100 of these modern artillery pieces and will soon send long range missiles systems. poland has donated at least 18 self pelt. how it's us, and hundreds of soviet era tanks. germany to has pledged more heavy equipment on the to do list. the gear pot self propelled anti aircraft gun effective against low flying aircraft. the mass multiple launch rockets system, able to targets up to 80 kilometers away. at the state of the art iris t anti aircraft system. able to clear the sky of enemy aircraft and missiles. but the 1st batch of gay parts and the mass launchers are only slated for delivery in july. the iris t might only arrive in ukraine in october, a long wait for a country under constant attack from the air. and earlier we spoke to nicholas and drummond, a defense industry analyst, and a former officer in the british army. we asked him about the logistical challenges of supplying heavy weapons to ukraine. will the, it is not just the houses themselves, is the ammu

and so, yeah, i mean, the u. s. has been critical in this war is provided most of the armaments, including cluster bombs, has helped with logistical support, including targeting and refueling saudi plains, in air, has supported the saudi blockade of yemen, which has starved countless numbers of people. but as many of these wards and undeclared war, i mean, most americans don't even know what's happening. if they do, they don't know that the u. s. is behind it. ukraine has rebuked the french president for his russia remark. manuel micron recently said that moscow should not be humiliated any settlement to the conflict, suggesting the west should maintain a diplomatic dialogue with russia to bring sides to the negotiating table. must not humiliate russia, so that the day when the fighting stops, we can build an exit ramp through diplomatic means. calls to avoid humiliation of russia can only humiliate france in every other country that would call for it. because it is russia that humiliates itself. we should all bette

well, in terms of the war, i think the us, broadly speaking, has driven the process. the u. s. has contributed substantially more in terms of money and weapons. it, you know, has the advantage of having the real military, you know, the dominates nato. frankly, the country that most european countries have cheerfully cheap written on, you know, for decades. so there's an element of which the u. s. has a natural leadership role there, but it's not alone. the other countries matter and it matters a lot to have other european countries indicate they are prepared to do more. and we see even the country like turkey can throw a spanner in the works over the issue of bringing in finland and sweden for its own purposes. so there is leadership, but there's not domination. i think that what we see going forward is indicated mecropolis hated political situation, a 3 party government bearing significant energy cause even in the us, the politics is not going to be easy outside of washington. you know, support. busy for a deep commitment to ukraine does not necessarily that strong. i talked t

the u. s. has long been a very strong supporter of eastern european nato members, and a strong strong advocate of a very robust defense of nato's eastern north eastern flank. so it comes as no surprise that this strategic concept shift that we will be seeing from a deterrence posture in the baltic, republics and along the eastern flank to a defense posture, meaning an expansion of the battle groups to brigade size that rapid response force that terry mentioned earlier and expansion from 40002300000 troops that can be quickly brought in. all of that is something very much in line with us thinking. and of course, president biden has also been viewed as absolutely key to shoring up the unity within the alliance as well. of course, as with the broader friends of the us in regard to ukraine. another aspect in which the u. s. is absolutely central to percent. as you know, us presidents going back decades, you have been pushing for what's called burden sharing and not getting it until this war began.

the u. s. department of defense has now proactively planning cooperation between the u. s. national guard and ty, ones defense forces. we look forward to closer and deeper taiwan us cooperation on matters of regional security. but despite the calls from ty pay, the u. s. recently turned down to ones request to join a key regional trade organization in the pacific economic framework. meanwhile, china is going to the, the largest military sizes so far this year in the area, sending $35.00 pages into ty, one's s space. jonathan, the u. s. is pushing taiwan into conflict with the country. recently the united states has frequently made moves on the taiwan issue saying one thing and doing another instigating support for taiwan independence forces which will push taiwan into a dangerous situation. professor benjamin charles says us actions could be seen as encouraging a possible proxy war between china and taiwan. you will be surprised if the u. s. appeal is promised to fully protect tiwana different that the u. s. has already lost is credibility in defending is friends of many

u. s. m has issued several general licenses that exempt humanitarian organizations from sanctions that are imposed on afghanistan and the poly mon regime. so legally it is possible to get aiden. practically these are very wolf and also still faces difficulties. nonetheless, some and use have expanded their self have expand that their programming. they are on the pressure to implement from the donors their own pressure from the taliban. that wants to get aiden also to siphon some of the aid off. and that this leads to, to various problems sometimes, but also to the fact that 8 projects are still running and still implemented. and that also, in this case, a certain amount of international aid will certainly reach these regions. let's turn our attention now to some of the other stories making headlines apis. our saudi arabia's crown prince mohammed ben foam on is visiting turkey for the 1st time since the killing of saudi journalist jamal a shogi plunged relations between the 2 countries into

s. has evaded justice for at least a century. hypocrisy is bipartisan. here in the u. s. capital in washington, manila, cham will. former us marine political commentator john mark doug and recently returned from don bus. he told us he fears the investigation won't be impartial. the united states, they are always looking to prosecute those that they don't like. and they are protecting those the day. do like just in 2001, 902021. congress worked to designate diaz off battalion as terrorist organizations, extremely terrorist organizations. and now they're giving them weapons. why? because they have an agenda and their agenda is to destabilize russia and to keep their money laundering operation. continuing in ukraine, a new era in bi lateral ties. that's what's been announced by the saudi crime, prince and the turkish president. during the prince's visit to ankara, where this thing was, the 3rd day of my home had been some man's middle east tour, with the principally seeking to align the country stances on key issues as next month summit with joe biden, limbs. it was been

and so, yeah, i mean, the u. s. has been critical in this war is provided most of the armaments, including cluster bombs, has helped with logistical support, including targeting and refueling saudi plains, in air, has supported the saudi blockade of yemen, which has starved countless numbers of people. but as many of these warts and undeclared war, i mean, most americans don't even know what's happening. if they do, they don't know that the u. s. is behind you know, the story to bring you today, despite bowing to turn it back and russian energy and protests that mosque was offensive. the transportation of oil by european shipping companies have grown substantially since the outbreak of the conflict firms in greece, cyprus and malta have been significantly offering their imports of brushing oil, almost doubling their shipments and facts, and february shop moscow to negate. some of the impact of european sanctions by redirecting supplies to other countries. in addition that rising oil price has also increased revenues

the u. s. attorney general has visited ukraine. he said to establish an american effort to help find and prosecute what he's called. russia's war criminals . the team will be led by justice department, staff members. and i tied experts, states is sending an unmistakable message. there is no place to hide, we will, we, and our partners will pursue every avenue available to make sure that those were responsible for these atrocities are held accountable. garland has tapped veteran d o. j prosecutor, eli rosenbaum to lead the department new war crimes accountability team who will be tasked with coordinating efforts with ukrainian officials and other international law enforcement groups. now the. 6 irony in this appointment rosenbaum is known as the not the hunter. i probably don't need to explain why that's ironic, given the known position of ukraine's athos. but how, but nonetheless, the u. s. has a long history of what the international community has called war crimes. and is certainly not in the position to point any fingers given a

but of course, a from the start of the delivery service west has from the u. s. and other countries are aimed at replacing cubes, losses in military equipment. there's nothing new in this. it actually changes nothing more. unmanned aerial systems that actually perform strikes can only be effective. so if there are no military id system present and we see what we do have them as you book the thought, the pansy, or on 3 st. louis effects. if not that i want to offend anyone, but the systems are cracking these vehicles like them not when you're below dozens of them have already been destroyed and we'll just go ok. i think will this fuss around extra supplies the crate. there's only one goal that is to drag out the military cold as long as you understand long range missiles are supplied, it will force us to make a decision and use our means destruction, which we have now off to conduct the stripes. the facilities and we haven't done it so far, we're a meanwhile, the russian defense ministry has confirmed its forces have destroyed a number of tanks and of the military