News Bits: Russia accuses U.S. in Kremlin blasts, cost of corruption in Turkey & Flight from Sudan

Russia accuses U.S. of involvement in Kremlin blasts

Russia blamed the U.S. for the apparent drone attack on the Kremlin, doubling down on accusing Washington of “direct involvement” in the war in Ukraine. The Kremlin’s spokesman said, without providing evidence, that the U.S. “dictated” Ukrainian strikes inside Russia — a charge U.S. officials denied.

The White House quickly rejected those accusations. Leaked secret Pentagon documents show that while the U.S. military is indeed providing battlefield targeting data to Ukraine, American officials have worked to dissuade Ukraine from potentially provocative strikes on Moscow.

In this war, the battle over the narrative is as important as the battle in the field, writes Michael Schwirtz, a reporter for The Times. While the Kremlin frequently lies and uses the powerful government-controlled media to craft alternative realities, Ukraine, too, has proved adept at bending the truth to serve its wartime agenda.

Background: The Kremlin did not acknowledge for 12 hours what it has since described as a Ukrainian strike on the seat of the Russian government. When Russia’s press service did accuse Ukraine, it did so in an unusually detailed statement, setting off a flurry of public denials in Kyiv. The explosions were too small to accomplish much, Ukrainian officials said.

The cost of corruption in Turkey

A Times investigation examines how corruption in Turkey’s construction boom undermined safety and contributed to more than 50,000 deaths, as buildings toppled, crumbled or pancaked during the earthquake on Feb. 6.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is running for re-election this month, used construction as a vessel for growth and a symbol of Turkey’s progress. But under his leadership, developers made payments to circumvent bureaucratic approvals, prioritizing speed over safety, and Turkish families got wealthy off a construction system rife with patronage.

In one instance, a developer won zoning approval for an apartment complex in Antakya after donating more than $200,000 to a local soccer club, where the mayor is an honorary president. The project failed inspection, but the developers used political influence to open the doors anyway. About 65 people died when that apartment complex collapsed during the earthquake.

Flight from Sudan

As Sudan hurtles toward civil war, more than 52,500 Sudanese and nearly 4,000 foreigners have crossed the border into Egypt since the outbreak of the fighting, according to Egyptian officials. Many are people of means who spent the last of their cash on the journey, heading for a country that shares a common language and deep ties with Sudan.

They are the vanguard of what Egyptian and U.N. officials fear will be a growing rush of Sudanese refugees into their northern neighbor, as one cease-fire after another in Sudan is violated by the warring factions. Officials expect busloads of poorer refugees to follow.

The Egyptian government has relaxed border controls for Sudanese arrivals and has sent extra trains and buses to Aswan, the closest major city to the border, to help the refugees move farther into Egypt. People there have been welcoming the refugees, finding them apartments and bringing them food.

A deadly journey: The Egyptian Red Crescent is providing humanitarian aid and medical care on the Egyptian side of the border. But on the other side, where temperatures routinely top 100 degrees Fahrenheit, several people have died while waiting in the desert, according to local witnesses.

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