Russia accuses Ukraine of planning invasion of Moldova's breakaway region
Russia has accused Ukraine of planning to invade Moldova's breakaway region of Transnistria.
In a post on the Russian Ministry of Defence's official Telegram page, the authority said the Kyiv regime is "preparing an armed provocation" to be carried out by units of its country's military.
It also said Ukraine would stage a false flag operation as a pretext for the invasion.
"It has planned to stage an alleged offensive of Russian troops from the territory of Transnistria," the post read.
"To do this, the Ukrainian saboteurs participating in the staged invasion will be dressed in the uniform of the military personnel of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation."
Separately, the TASS news agency quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin as saying the West hadinstructed the Chisinau government to stop all interaction withthe Moscow-backed Transnistrian administration.
Moldovan President Maia Sandu accused Moscow earlier thismonth of planning a coup to overthrow the government and dragTransnistria into its war.
The mainly Russian-speaking region broke away from then-Soviet Moldova in 1990.
After the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, pro-Russian separatists fought a bloody war with the Moldovan government forces.
kraine would not use Western fighter jets to strike targets in Russia, foreign minister insists
Ukraine's foreign minister has insisted that Western fighter jets would not be used by his country to strike targets within Russia.
Speaking to Sky News at the United Nations in New York, Dmytro Kuleba said Ukraine needs the jets to end the war and push Russia back beyond its eastern borders.
"We're using weapons which we receive from partners to strike Russia in the occupied territories of Ukraine," Mr Kuleba said.
Asked if he could guarantee that Ukraine would not use Western jets and other long-range weapons to bomb inside Russia itself, the foreign minister said: "We can guarantee that we will be using Western weapons to liberate Ukrainian territories."
Western nations remain unwilling to provide Ukraine with fast jets, despite the clear advantage they would bring, because of a lingering fear that it will precipitate a widening of the conflict beyond Ukraine's borders.
UN could adopt resolution stressing need for 'lasting peace' today
The United Nations could adopt a resolution later stressing a need for "lasting peace" in Ukraine, on the eve of the first anniversary of Russia's war.
The 193-member United Nations General Assembly has been meeting and is expected to announce its resolution today.
Secretary-general Antonio Guterres has told the General Assembly that Moscow's "threats" to use nuclear weapons are "utterly unacceptable".
While General Assembly resolutions are non-binding, they do carry a lot of political weight.