Europe

MOSCOW, January 16. /TASS/: Russian forces destroyed two US-made counter-battery radars in the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics over the past day during the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Monday.

"In the counter-battery warfare, two US-made counter-battery radar stations were destroyed: an AN/TPQ-37 near the locality of Karmazinovka in the Lugansk People’s Republic and an AN/TPQ-50 near the community of Avdeyevka in the Donetsk People’s Republic," the spokesman said.

BERLIN, January 16. /TASS/: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz thanked outgoing Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht for her work and pledged that he would not drag out the search for a successor.

"I already have a clear idea of what will happen next [in the context of the search for a new minister], we will announce this in due time," the chancellor said in the city of Ulm on Monday, quoted by the NTV TV channel. According to Scholz, this will happen "very quickly."

LONDON, January 16./TASS/:  British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace announced on Monday that the UK would supply Ukraine with Bulldog personnel carriers, as well as additional drones and Starstreak air defense systems as part of the military aid package.

BELGRAD, January 16. /TASS/: Attacks on Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija are unacceptable, and the UN should promptly react to them, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said as he met with Caroline Ziadeh, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Kosovo and head of the UN Mission in Kosovo, on Monday.

"We consider the increasingly frequent attacks on Serbs, their property and heritage inadmissible, so a timely reaction, as well as condemnation of provocations by the international community, is very important," Vucic's press service quoted the president as saying.

MOSCOW, Jan 16 (NNN-TASS) – Britain’s Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, James Cleverly, is among 36 British citizens that have been recently barred from entering Russia, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

BERLIN, Jan 16 (Reuters) - German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht resigned from Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government on Monday, the culmination of growing doubt about her ability to revive Germany's armed forces against the backdrop of the Ukraine war.

Her decision dealt a blow to Scholz at a time when Germany is under pressure to approve an increase in international military support for Kyiv, and Germany's defence capabilities have been called into question after several Puma infantry tanks were put out of service during a recent military drill.

MOSCOW, Jan 16 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Monday that tanks Britain plans to send to Ukraine "will burn", warning the West that supplying a new round of more advanced weapons to Ukraine would not change the outcome of the war.

Since President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24, the United States and its allies have given tens of billions of dollars' worth of weaponry including rocket systems, drones, armoured vehicles and communications systems.

Jan 16 (Reuters) - The Russian-installed governor of Sevastopol in Crimea said on Monday that air defences had downed 10 drones over the city in what he called a "failed Ukrainian attack".

Sevastopol, which is on the Crimean peninsula that Russia annexed in 2014, has come under repeated air attack since Russia invaded Ukraine last February. Russian officials have blamed the attacks on Ukraine.

Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said all the drones were downed over the sea, with no damage to any infrastructure.

MINSK, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- Belarus and Russia on Monday launched a joint tactical air force exercise that will last until Feb. 1, the Belarusian Defense Ministry said.

The main goal of the exercise is to "increase operational compatibility during joint combat training missions," the ministry said in a statement.

The participants will practice aerial reconnaissance, joint patrolling along the state borders, air support for ground troops, tactical airborne landings, delivery of goods and evacuation of the wounded.

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- Two-thirds of chief economists from private and public sectors expect a global recession in 2023, according to a survey released on Monday at the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) in Switzerland.

The surveyed economists anticipate further monetary tightening in the United States and Europe this year, and they see geopolitical tensions continuing to shape the global economy.