NATO is relocating several of its surveillance planes currently stationed in Germany to Romania, where they will be in closer proximity to Russia’s war against Ukraine. The Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) surveillance planes are scheduled to arrive in Bucharest on January 17 “to support the alliance’s reinforced presence in the region and monitor Russian military activity,” NATO said in a January 13 statement. The AWACS planes, which are usually based near Aachen in western Germany, will be stationed at the Romanian Air Force base at Otopeni, near Bucharest, some 200 kilometers from the EU and NATO country’s eastern border with Ukraine, and remain there for several weeks.
A NATO AWACS plane (file photo)
Putin ally suggests confiscating property of Russian war critics
Jan 13 (Reuters) – A close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday suggested confiscating property and assets of Russians who discredit the country’s armed forces and oppose the war in Ukraine.
Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the Russian Duma, said current measures, such as fines for those who speak out against what Moscow calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine, were not strict enough.
SOURCE: reuters.com, by dpa – rferl.org
