Russia’s defence minister has urged a state company to double its production of missiles as an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive looms and both Moscow’s and Kyiv’s forces are reportedly experiencing ammunition constraints.

Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, speaking at a meeting with the top military brass on Tuesday, said the state-owned Tactical Missiles Corporation had been fulfilling its contracts in a timely manner.

Shoigu added, “Right now, it is necessary to double the production of high-precision weapons in the shortest possible time”.

Military analysts have been trying to determine whether Russia is running low on high-precision ammunition as its missile barrages against Ukraine have become less frequent and smaller in scale.

The Institute for the Study of War this morning said that Shoigu’s comments on missile production were likely designed to deflect from claims that his ministry was unable to keep Russian forces adequately stocked with ammunition as well as to appear proactive amid concerns of the impending Ukrainian counteroffensive.

The United Kingdom’s Defence Ministry said on Tuesday that “logistics problems remain at the heart of Russia’s struggling campaign in Ukraine”.

“Russia does not have enough munitions to achieve success on the offensive,” the ministry said.

“Russia continues to give the highest priority to mobilising its defence industry, but it is still failing to meet war time demands.”

Russia launched a third nightly round of attacks on Kyiv in six days on Tuesday, Ukrainian authorities said early this morning, but air defence systems destroyed all the Russian drones aiming at the city with no immediate reports of casualties or destruction.

Iranian-made Shahed drones were involved in the attacks, the administration said, though it was not immediately known how many drones were shot down.

 

US on track to open new Tonga embassy this month

 

The United States is on track to open a new embassy in Tonga this month, according to the top US diplomat for East Asia, as it steps up its diplomatic presence in the Pacific region to counter China.

Daniel Kritenbrink told a subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the US was also continuing to engage with Vanuatu and Kiribati about its proposal to open embassies in each of those countries.

The State Department said in March it plans to open an embassy in Vanuatu. The US has diplomatic relations with the South Pacific island nation, which are currently handled by US diplomats based in Papua New Guinea.

The US reopened its embassy in the Solomon Islands in February after a 30-year absence.

Washington announced its intention to reopen the diplomatic mission after it emerged in April 2022 that the Solomon Islands had agreed to a secret security pact with China. In 2019, the Solomon Islands switched diplomatic ties to Beijing from self-ruled Taiwan, which China claims as its own, a move swiftly followed by Kiribati.

Washington has also been working to renew agreements with the Marshall Islands, Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia under which it retains responsibility for the islands’ defence and gains exclusive access to huge swathes of the Pacific.

Last September, US President Joe Biden invited Pacific leaders to the White House for a first-of-its-kind regional summit with a US president.

At the end of the two-day summit, the 14 Pacific island nations signed the Declaration on US-Pacific Partnership, promising to work together to ensure a peaceful region where “democracy is allowed to flourish” and making climate change the “highest priority”.

The Biden administration is seeking $7.1bn from Congress over the next 20 years for economic assistance to the three countries, funds seen as key to insulating them from growing Chinese influence in the region.

The US is also planning a possible Biden stop in Papua New Guinea on May 22 as part of a stepped-up engagement with the Pacific islands.

 

US police capture suspect in killing of 5 neighbours in Texas

 

 

A man accused of killing five neighbours after they asked him to stop firing his rifle in his yard has been captured after a manhunt launched last week, Texas law enforcement said.

Francisco Oropesa, the suspected attacker, had eluded authorities since the mass shooting on Friday in the small town of Cleveland in southeastern Texas.

“We now have this man in custody,” San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers told reporters at a news conference on Tuesday night.

“He was caught hiding in a closet underneath some laundry.”

The 38-year-old Mexican national allegedly shot his neighbours after they asked him to stop shooting his semiautomatic rifle because the noise was keeping a baby awake.

The victims were aged between eight and 31, with several other residents in critical condition with multiple gunshot wounds.

 

China’s foreign minister touts ‘friendship’ on Myanmar visit

 

 

China’s foreign minister has met Myanmar’s top general in Naypyidaw, hailing the “friendship” between the two nations and pledging to boost ties as violence escalates in the Southeast Asian country two years after a military coup.

Qin Gang’s meeting with Senior General Min Aung Hlaing on Tuesday makes the diplomat the highest-ranking Chinese official to meet Myanmar’s coup leader since he snatched power from the elected government in February 2021.

China is a major ally and arms supplier of the internationally isolated military and has refused to condemn Min Aung Hlaing’s takeover.

The coup, which deposed elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, prompted widespread peaceful protests that security forces suppressed with deadly force. Thousands of people have been killed in the crackdown, leading to armed resistance throughout the country that the military has been unable to quell.

The Chinese told Min Aung Hlaing that Beijing attaches “great importance” to its “friendship” with Myanmar and said the two men agreed to “further promote comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries”.

According to a statement from the Chinese foreign ministry, “China advocates that the international community should respect Myanmar’s sovereignty and play a constructive role in helping it achieving peace and reconciliation,”.

 

Myanmar to free more than 2,000 political dissidents

 

Myanmar’s generals have pardoned more than 2,000 political prisoners to mark Wesak, a major Buddhist holiday.

The military said 2,153 people jailed for “incitement” would be released on “humanitarian grounds”, citing a statement signed by Military Council Secretary Lieutenant General Aung Lin Dwe.

The Myanmar military has cracked down on its opponents with lethal force and detained thousands of people since seizing power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in a coup in February 2021.

Those charged with incitement face as many as three years in prison.

It was not clear when the prisoners would be freed, but relatives gathered outside Yangon’s Insein Prison, where many political prisoners are held, hoping for their release. Wesak Day, which marks Buddha’s birthday, is on Thursday.

The military often announces amnesties during major holidays.

It freed more than 3,000 prisoners to mark the traditional New Year last month, but on that occasion did not specifically say that political prisoners would be among those released.

The latest amnesty came a day after Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang visited Myanmar and held talks with coup leader Min Aung Hlaing, becoming the most senior Chinese official to visit the country since the military seized power more than two years ago.