Indonesia excludes placement of Russian aircraft on its territory

According to him, he discussed the issue with his Indonesian counterpart, Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin. This followed a report by Janes on Sunday about a potential Russian request to use a base in Papua province for its military aircraft. The publication raised widespread concern in Canberra.

"He made it unequivocally clear to me that there was no prospect of any Russian aircraft operating from Indonesia, and that the reports of that were just not true," Marles said this morning.

According to Janes, Russia reportedly requested access to the Manuhua airbase, located less than 1,400 kilometers from the northern Australian city of Darwin. The information quickly spread in the Australian media, causing a stir ahead of the general elections scheduled for May 3.

Russia has not directly commented on the reports, but according to ABC, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that there are many different fake news stories and media publications, including those related to sensitive topics.

The right-wing opposition in Australia (the Liberal and National Parties) quickly reacted to the reports, accusing the government of neglecting national security interests. However, after Liberal leader Peter Dutton mistakenly claimed that the Russian request had been made by the Indonesian president, he faced sharp criticism from Foreign Minister Penny Wong for his recklessness in public statements.

It should be noted that it remains unclear whether Russia requested access to the airbase.

Ukrainian Armed Forces destroy a Russian bomber

A week ago, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi, reported that Ukrainian forces had destroyed a Russian Tu-22M3 bomber. According to him, the aircraft, which was a carrier of X-22 missiles, was destroyed using a drone.

"A few days ago, our successful actions destroyed the long-range bomber Tu-22M3," he stated.