Kremlin: US Planes Will Be Downed if They Fly over Russian Territory

Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov (Reuters)
Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov (Reuters)
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Kremlin: US Planes Will Be Downed if They Fly over Russian Territory

Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov (Reuters)
Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov (Reuters)

Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov took advantage of his presence on Wednesday at the World Youth Festival held in Sochi to send messages to the US and European countries through their delegations attending the conference.
In his speech, the presidential spokesperson spoke about several disputing files between Russia and the West, addressing US and EU delegations with phrases such as “We love you, we do not want war.”
He then blamed the policies of the ruling elites in Western countries for the deteriorating relations with Russia and for bringing the two sides to the brink of direct confrontation.
The spokesman then lengthily spoke about the file of US-Russian relations. “America is fighting against us. US tanks are moving through Russian territory. That's not good. They drive up to a point, and then they burn,” he said, hinting at the American-made tanks delivered to Ukraine and which Moscow says had crossed Russian territory.
He added that if American planes fly over Russian territory, the military will make them burn and fall.
“If American planes fly over our territory, I have no doubt that our valiant military will also make these planes burn and fall,” Peskov said.
On the Russian elections that will take place between March 15 and 17, the spokesman said any attempt from abroad to interfere in the presidential election later this month would be prevented.
“We do not dictate to anyone how to live - but we don't want others to dictate to us,” Peskov said.
Addressing the young US delegation at the Festival, Peskov said: “Russia will not interfere in the 2024 US elections. We never dictate how someone should live.”
Despite his strong tone, Peskov spoke about Moscow's readiness to dialogue with the West about accumulated controversial files.
He said Russia did not see Americans as enemies and said that the world's two biggest nuclear powers had special responsibility to ensure global strategic security.
Asked about the threat of nuclear war, Dmitry Peskov emphasized that Russian nuclear weapons can be used only in specific cases.
“Nuclear war is a last resort, a farewell remedy. Therefore, all the arguments about nuclear war, of which there are now a lot in the West – both in European capitals and in the United States – are extremely irresponsible and extremely dangerous because this topic is being routine. It is very dangerous,” he stressed.
Commenting on a leaked conversation between German military officers discussing a potential attack on the Crimean Bridge, Peskov said Moscow does not want war with Germany but it will tolerate plans to blow things up in Russia.
“We don’t want war. We don’t want to blow anything up and we don’t want anyone to plan to blow things up here. We will not turn a blind eye to that,” he said.
In a related development, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a news briefing on the sidelines of the World Youth Festival that if US nuclear weapons were deployed to Northern Europe, the security of the countries hosting these weapons will by no means get stronger, but on the contrary be harmed.
She said the facilities in Northern Europe hosting US nuclear weapons will be included in the list of legitimate military targets under a scenario of a direct military clash between Russia and NATO.

“One does not have to be a military strategist to realize that such facilities will represent a source of direct threat and, naturally, will inevitably be included in the list of legitimate targets under a scenario of a direct military clash between our country and NATO,” Zakharova said.

 

 



Manchester Bombing Survivors Awarded Damages for Harassment by Conspiracy Theorist

Martin Hibbert, who was paralysed in the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017, speaks to media outside the Royal Courts of Justice after the trial of his lawsuit against Richard D. Hall for alleged harassment, in London, Britain July 25, 2024. REUTERS/Sam Tobin/File Photo
Martin Hibbert, who was paralysed in the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017, speaks to media outside the Royal Courts of Justice after the trial of his lawsuit against Richard D. Hall for alleged harassment, in London, Britain July 25, 2024. REUTERS/Sam Tobin/File Photo
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Manchester Bombing Survivors Awarded Damages for Harassment by Conspiracy Theorist

Martin Hibbert, who was paralysed in the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017, speaks to media outside the Royal Courts of Justice after the trial of his lawsuit against Richard D. Hall for alleged harassment, in London, Britain July 25, 2024. REUTERS/Sam Tobin/File Photo
Martin Hibbert, who was paralysed in the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017, speaks to media outside the Royal Courts of Justice after the trial of his lawsuit against Richard D. Hall for alleged harassment, in London, Britain July 25, 2024. REUTERS/Sam Tobin/File Photo

Two survivors of a bombing that killed 22 people at the close of an Ariana Grande concert seven years ago were on Friday awarded 45,000 pounds ($58,184) in damages after successfully suing a conspiracy theorist who claimed the attack was staged.

Martin Hibbert was paralysed from the waist down and his daughter Eve, then 14, suffered a catastrophic brain injury in the bombing at Manchester Arena in northern England in 2017, Reuters reported.

They sued Richard Hall – a self-styled journalist who claimed without evidence that the attack was orchestrated by British government agencies – for harassment.

Their case bears some similarities to defamation lawsuits brought against US conspiracy theorist Alex Jones by relatives of victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting.

Judge Karen Steyn ruled last month that Hall's conduct in publishing a book and videos about the Manchester Arena bombing and filming Eve Hibbert and her mother outside their house in 2019 amounted to harassment.

The judge awarded Martin and Eve Hibbert a total of 45,000 pounds following a further hearing on Friday, British media reported.