(Vatican Radio) Russia has begun unexpected major military drills in several parts of the country and at sea amid major tensions with neighboring Ukraine. The exercises come amid mounting international concerns over a widening military conflict between the two neighbors.Listen to Stefan Bos' report: Russia's defense ministry says President Vladimir Putin announced snap military drills on land and in the Black and Caspian Seas.The ministry said in a statement Thursday that the drills began at 7:00 a.m. Moscow time in Russia's southern, western and central military districts where troops have been put on combat alert.Officials say the exercises will last until the end of the month and will involve a variety of troops, from paratroopers to the Northern Fleet.Kiev blames RussiaThese exercises were expected to add to tensions with Kiev. It has accused Moscow of stationing more than 40,000 troops in Russian-occupied Crimea and along the bo...
(Vatican Radio) Russia has begun unexpected major military drills in several parts of the country and at sea amid major tensions with neighboring Ukraine. The exercises come amid mounting international concerns over a widening military conflict between the two neighbors.
Listen to Stefan Bos' report:
Russia's defense ministry says President Vladimir Putin announced snap military drills on land and in the Black and Caspian Seas.
The ministry said in a statement Thursday that the drills began at 7:00 a.m. Moscow time in Russia's southern, western and central military districts where troops have been put on combat alert.
Officials say the exercises will last until the end of the month and will involve a variety of troops, from paratroopers to the Northern Fleet.
Kiev blames Russia
These exercises were expected to add to tensions with Kiev. It has accused Moscow of stationing more than 40,000 troops in Russian-occupied Crimea and along the borders with Ukraine.
Kiev also says Russia is supporting pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine with weapons and troops, charges Moscow denies. In recent weeks the region has seen some of the deadliest fighting in a year.
Thursday's drills in Russia come shortly after President Putin accused Kiev of allegedly sending its military intelligence office to carry out acts of sabotage in Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
And the exercises are happening a week after Russia for the first time since it began its bombing campaign in Syria used an air base in Iran.
Pope Francis prays during his Wednesday general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on April 24, 2024. / Credit: Vatican MediaACI Prensa Staff, Apr 25, 2024 / 16:10 pm (CNA).Asked during a new interview if he has any message for Vladimir Putin, the Russian president who instigated the war in Ukraine, Pope Francis stated that "a negotiated peace is better than an endless war."CBS News broadcast some excerpts April 24 from a new interview conducted by journalist Norah O'Donnell with Pope Francis at St. Martha House, the pontiff's residence in the Vatican.During the exchange, the full version of which will be released on May 19, the Holy Father reflected on world conflicts and especially on the suffering of children during wars.O'Donnell asked the Holy Father if he had any message for Vladimir Putin regarding Ukraine, to which the pontiff replied: "Please, countries at war, all of them... Stop the war. Seek to negotiate. Seek peace. A negotiated peace is better than an e...
An aerial view of Washington Square in San Francisco on May 22, 2020. / Credit: JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty ImagesCNA Staff, Apr 25, 2024 / 16:45 pm (CNA).San Francisco police arrested a homeless man last Sunday for allegedly stabbing a parent from a nearby Catholic school after an altercation involving the two outside a historic Catholic church in the city. Twenty-five-year-old Marko Asaulyuk of San Francisco was charged with attempted murder and eight counts of assault with a deadly weapon.The Catholic school father, who was released from the hospital Sunday, only suffered a minor injury to his leg, Father Tho Bui, pastor of Sts. Peter and Paul Church, told CNA Thursday in an email.San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone was conferring the sacrament of confirmation on the parish school's students and students from a nearby parish during a noon Mass when a "disruptive man" entered the church, as Bui described him.The man was walking up and down the main aisle of the ...
The pro-life flag from the Pro-Life Flag Project (www.prolifeflag.com). / Credit: Pro-Life Flag Project (www.prolifeflag.com)Toronto, Canada, Apr 25, 2024 / 12:50 pm (CNA).The International Pro-Life Flag will not fly over Toronto Catholic schools this May.Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) trustees voted against an April 23 motion proposed by trustee Michael Del Grande that the pro-life flag fly outside all schools and the Catholic Education Centre during the month of May, just as the board voted to fly the Pride flag in June.Del Grande's motion was defeated at the April 23 board meeting when only Garry Tanuan supported Del Grande's motion. The eight other board members in attendance and the two student trustees opposed his proposal.Though Del Grande could not muster enough backing from his colleagues, his plan, which would have also directed all TCDSB schools to teach an exclusively pro-life curriculum on May 9, the day of the National March for Life, garnered bois...