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Kremlin Says US Abrams Tanks, ATACMS Missiles for Ukraine Can't Change Battlefield Situation

(FILES) Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a meeting of Russian president and Armenian prime minister at the Kremlin in Moscow on May 25, 2023. (Photo by Ilya PITALEV / SPUTNIK / AFP)
(FILES) Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a meeting of Russian president and Armenian prime minister at the Kremlin in Moscow on May 25, 2023. (Photo by Ilya PITALEV / SPUTNIK / AFP)
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Kremlin Says US Abrams Tanks, ATACMS Missiles for Ukraine Can't Change Battlefield Situation

(FILES) Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a meeting of Russian president and Armenian prime minister at the Kremlin in Moscow on May 25, 2023. (Photo by Ilya PITALEV / SPUTNIK / AFP)
(FILES) Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a meeting of Russian president and Armenian prime minister at the Kremlin in Moscow on May 25, 2023. (Photo by Ilya PITALEV / SPUTNIK / AFP)

The Kremlin said on Tuesday that US supplies of long-range ATACMS missiles and Abrams tanks to Ukraine would not change the situation on the battlefield.
Asked about the issue at a regular news briefing, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Russian armed forces were constantly adapting to the use of new types of weapons in what Moscow calls its special military operation (SVO) in Ukraine, Reuters said.
"All this can in no way affect the essence of the SVO and its outcome. There is no panacea and no one type of weapon that can change the balance of power on the battlefield," he said.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday that US-made Abrams tanks had arrived in his country. The jet-powered tanks were a top demand of Kyiv until Washington finally offered more than 30 of them in January.
"Abrams tanks are serious weapons, but remember what the president said about other tanks made in another country," Peskov said, referring to other Western tanks supplied to Kyiv, which include German-made Leopards and British Challengers.
"Well, these (Abrams) too will burn," he said.
Kyiv has also repeatedly asked the Biden administration for Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) to help attack and disrupt supply lines, air bases and rail networks in Russian-occupied territory.
Last Friday, NBC News, citing US officials, reported that President Joe Biden had informed Zelenskiy that Washington would also provide Kyiv with ATACMS long-range missiles.
The White House and Pentagon declined to comment on the NBC report. The Pentagon also declined to say whether any promises of ATACMS were given to Zelenskiy during his meetings last Thursday at the Pentagon.
"The Americans continue to increase their... direct involvement in this conflict, but of course, every time our military improves its skills and technical capabilities to counter these missiles," Peskov said.

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Typhoon Gaemi Weakens to Tropical Storm as It Moves Inland Carrying Rain toward Central China

In this photo released by the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense, Taiwanese soldiers clear debris in the aftermath of Typhoon Gaemi in Kaohsiung county in southwestern Taiwan, Friday, July 26, 2024. (Taiwan Ministry of National Defense via AP)
In this photo released by the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense, Taiwanese soldiers clear debris in the aftermath of Typhoon Gaemi in Kaohsiung county in southwestern Taiwan, Friday, July 26, 2024. (Taiwan Ministry of National Defense via AP)
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Typhoon Gaemi Weakens to Tropical Storm as It Moves Inland Carrying Rain toward Central China

In this photo released by the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense, Taiwanese soldiers clear debris in the aftermath of Typhoon Gaemi in Kaohsiung county in southwestern Taiwan, Friday, July 26, 2024. (Taiwan Ministry of National Defense via AP)
In this photo released by the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense, Taiwanese soldiers clear debris in the aftermath of Typhoon Gaemi in Kaohsiung county in southwestern Taiwan, Friday, July 26, 2024. (Taiwan Ministry of National Defense via AP)

Tropical storm Gaemi brought rain to central China on Saturday as it moved inland after making landfall at typhoon strength on the country's east coast Thursday night.

The storm felled trees, flooded streets and damaged crops in China but there were no reports of casualties or major damage. Eight people died in Taiwan, which Gaemi crossed at typhoon strength before heading over open waters to China.

The worst loss of life, however, was in a country that Gaemi earlier passed by but didn't strike directly: the Philippines. A steadily climbing death toll has reached 34, authorities there said Friday. The typhoon exacerbated seasonal monsoon rains in the Southeast Asian country, causing landslides and severe flooding that stranded people on rooftops as waters rose around them.

China Gaemi weakened to a tropical storm since coming ashore Thursday evening in coastal Fujian province, but it is still expected to bring heavy rains in the coming days as it moves northwest to Jiangxi, Hubei and Henan provinces.

About 85 hectares (210 acres) of crops were damaged in Fujian province and economic losses were estimated at 11.5 million yuan ($1.6 million), according to Chinese media reports. More than 290,000 people were relocated because of the storm.

Elsewhere in China, several days of heavy rains this week in Gansu province left one dead and three missing in the country's northwest, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

Taiwan Residents and business owners swept out mud and mopped up water Friday after serious flooding that sent cars and scooters floating down streets in parts of southern and central Taiwan. Some towns remained inundated with waist-deep water.

Eight people died, several of them struck by falling trees and one by a landslide hitting their house. More than 850 people were injured and one person was missing, the emergency operations center said.

Visiting hard-hit Kaohsiung in the south Friday, President Lai Ching-te commended the city's efforts to improve flood control since a 2009 typhoon that brought a similar amount of rain and killed 681 people, Taiwan's Central News Agency reported.

Lai announced that cash payments of $20,000 New Taiwan Dollars ($610) would be given to households in severely flooded areas.

A cargo ship sank off the coast near Kaohsiung Harbor during the typhoon, and the captain's body was later pulled from the water, the Central News Agency said. A handful of other ships were beached by the storm.

Philippines At least 34 people died in the Philippines, mostly because of flooding and landslides triggered by days of monsoon rains that intensified when the typhoon — called Carina in the Philippines — passed by the archipelago’s east coast.

The victims included 11 people in the Manila metro area, where widespread flooding trapped people on the roofs and upper floors of their houses, police said. Some drowned or were electrocuted in their flooded communities.

Earlier in the week, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered authorities to speed up efforts in delivering food and other aid to isolated rural villages, saying people may not have eaten for days.

The bodies of a pregnant woman and three children were dug out Wednesday after a landslide buried a shanty in the rural mountainside town of Agoncillo in Batangas province.