Page 2 - Kiev Ukraine

US envoy Keith Kellogg arrives in Ukraine for talks with Zelenskyy

Keith Kellogg, the US special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, arrived in Kyiv on Wednesday for talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and military commanders, as the US shifted its policy away from years of efforts to isolate Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kellogg's trip came a day after US President Donald Trump suggested that Kyiv was to blame for the war, which enters its fourth year next week, and talks between top American and Russian diplomats in Saudi Arabia sidelined Ukraine and its European supporters. Trump's comments are likely to vex Ukrainian officials, who have urged the world to help them fight Russia's full-scale invasion that began Feb. 24, 2022. The battlefield has also brought grim news for Ukraine in recent months. A relentless onslaught in eastern areas by Russia's bigger army is grinding down Ukrainian forces, which are slowly but steadily being pushed backward at some points on the 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line. Trump told reporters at his Florida

Top Russian, US officials meet for talks on Ukraine war without Kyiv

Top Russian and American officials met in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to begin talks on improving ties and negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine. The meeting at the Diriyah Palace in Riyadh marks another pivotal step by the Trump administration to reverse US policy on isolating Russia and is meant to pave the way for a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump earlier this month upended US policy toward Ukraine and Russia by saying he and Putin had agreed to begin negotiations on ending the war. Ukrainian officials aren't taking part in the meeting, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday that his country won't accept the outcome if Kyiv doesn't take part. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin's foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov arrived in the Saudi capital on Monday night. Ushakov said the talks would be purely bilateral and would not include Ukrainian officials. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, national .

Highlighting war with Russia, Zelenskyy pitches for 'Europe's armed forces'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday the time has come for the creation of an armed forces of Europe and says his country's fight against Russia has proved that a foundation for it already exists. The Ukrainian leader said Europe cannot rule out the possibility that American might say no to Europe on issues that threaten it, and noted that many leaders have long spoken about how Europe needs its own military. I really believe that time has come, Zelenskyy told the Munich Security Conference. The armed forces of Europe must be created.

Kremlin confirms Ukraine's role in peace talks, separates US-Russia strand

The two leaders spoke on Wednesday and announced their intention to meet face-to-face, shortly after Trump's defense secretary bluntly told allies that Washington did not support NATO

Russian attacks near Ukraine's nuke plants raise energy security concerns

Moscow's renewed attacks on Ukraine's electricity infrastructure this winter have heightened scrutiny over the Ukrainian Energy Ministry's failure to protect the country's most critical energy facilities near nuclear power sites. Despite more than a year of warnings that the sites were vulnerable to potential Russian attacks, the Energy Ministry failed to act swiftly, current and former Ukrainian officials in Kyiv told The Associated Press. Two years of punishing Russian strikes on its power grid have left Ukraine reliant on nuclear power for more than half of its electricity generation. Especially vulnerable are the unprotected nuclear switchyards located outside the perimeters of its three functioning nuclear plants, which are crucial to transmitting power from the reactors to the rest of the country. The switchyards that handle electrical routing from nuclear power plants are a vital component of Ukraine's nuclear energy infrastructure powering homes, schools, hospitals, and oth

Russian troops capture strategic town in east Ukraine in bid to weaken Kyiv

Russia on Sunday claimed its troops had captured a strategically important town in eastern Ukraine as part of a grinding campaign to weaken Kyiv's grip on the country's industrial heartland. Russia's Defense Ministry announced the fall of Velyka Novosilka, which had around 5,000 residents before the war, following a months-long battle. Its statement could not be independently verified, and Ukraine claimed its troops had only strategically withdrawn from certain areas. But if confirmed, it would make Velyka Novosilka the first significant town to capitulate in 2025 under Moscow's onslaught in the eastern Donetsk region against Ukraine's weary and short-handed army. The war is set to reach its three-year milestone in February. Ukrainian forces withdrew from certain parts of Velyka Novosilka to avoid encirclement, the 110th Separate Mechanized Brigade said in a statement on its official Telegram channel Sunday. The brigade is active in that patch of the frontline. Analysts have long .

Russian missile, drone attack hits multiple targets around Ukraine's Kyiv

Russia launched an aerial attack on Ukraine on Tuesday, striking the capital and other regions with multiple missiles and drones. Ukraine's air force reported a ballistic missile threat at 3 am (0100 GMT), with at least two explosions heard in Kyiv minutes later. Another missile alert was issued at 8 am followed by at least one explosion in the city. Missile debris fell in the Darnytskyi district of the capital with no reports of casualties or damage, the local administration said. Authorities in the northeastern Sumy region reported strikes near the city of Shostka, where the mayor, Mykola Noha, said 12 residential buildings had been damaged as well as two educational facilities. He said some social infrastructure objects were destroyed, without providing detail. The air force also reported missiles and drones targeting several other regions of Ukraine. Around half of Ukraine's energy infrastructure has been destroyed during the war, and rolling electricity blackouts are common an

Russia says pipeline gas, LNG exports to Europe up by 18-20% in 2024

Russian pipeline gas exports to Europe face serious challenges

Russian missiles target Ukraine's energy infrastructure on Christmas day

Russia launched a massive missile barrage targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure on Wednesday, striking a thermal power plant and prompting Ukrainians to take shelter in metro stations on Christmas morning. In a Facebook statement, Ukrainian energy minister, Herman Halushchenko, said Russia again massively attacks energy infrastructure." Ukraine's Air Force alerted multiple missiles fired at Kharkiv, Dnipro, and Poltava regions east of the country. The (electricity) distribution system operator takes the necessary measures to limit consumption to minimise negative consequences for the power system, he said. As soon as the security situation allows, energy workers will establish the damage caused. Ukraine's biggest private energy company, DTEK, said Russia struck one of their thermal power plants Wednesday morning, making it the 13th attack on Ukraine's power grid this year. Denying light and warmth to millions of peace-loving people as they celebrate Christmas is a depraved and

Ukrainian drones hit Russian fuel depot for second time this month

Ukrainian drones struck a major Russian fuel depot for the second time in just over a week on Sunday, according to a senior Russian regional official, as part of a massive cross-border attack on fuel and energy facilities that Kyiv says supply Moscow's military. The strikes came days after Russia launched sweeping attacks on Ukraine's already battered energy grid, threatening to plunge thousands of homes into darkness as winter tightens its grip over the region, and as Russia's all-out invasion of its neighbour nears the three-year mark. A fire broke out at the Stalnoy Kon oil terminal in Russia's southern Oryol region, local Gov. Andrey Klychkov said in a post on the Telegram messaging app, adding Russian forces downed 20 drones targeting fuel and energy infrastructure in the province. Russian independent news outlet Astra shared video of what it said was an explosion at the site, showing a massive orange blaze lighting up the night sky. While the clip could not be independently ..

Russia targets Kyiv in response to Ukrainian strike using US-made weapons

Ukraine's air force said it intercepted five Iskander short-range ballistic missiles fired at the city

Russia's Prez Putin boasts of gains in Ukraine at annual news conference

President Vladimir Putin boasted that his military operation in Ukraine has strengthened Russia and denied that the ouster of key ally Bashar Assad in Syria had hurt Moscow's prestige, as he held his annual news conference and call-in show Thursday. He used the tightly choreographed event, which lasted for about 4 1/2 hours, to reinforce his authority and demonstrate a sweeping command of everything from consumer prices to military hardware. He claimed that sending troops into Ukraine in 2022 has boosted Russia's military and economic power. He also said that if he could go back in time, he would have thought that such a decision should have been made earlier, and Russia should have prepared for it in advance and more thoroughly. "Russia has become much stronger over the past two or three years because it has become a truly sovereign country, he said. We are standing firm in terms of economy, we are strengthening our defence potential and our military capability now is the strongest

Putin, Zelenskyy rule out renewal of key gas transit deal for Europe

Kyiv has refused to extend the five-year deal to ship Russian gas across Ukraine beyond its expiry at the end of this month, President Vladimir Putin said in Moscow

Bomb hidden in electric scooter kills senior Russian nuclear forces general

Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, the chief of Russia's Troops of Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defence, was killed on Tuesday outside a Moscow apartment building

Some North Korean troops killed fighting alongside Russia, say Ukraine, US

Ukraine's military intelligence agency and the Pentagon said Monday that some North Korean troops have been killed during combat against Ukrainian forces in Russia's Kursk border region. These are the first reported casualties since the US and Ukraine announced that North Korea had sent 10,000 to 12,000 troops to Russia to help it in the almost 3-year war. Ukraine's military intelligence agency said around 30 North Korean troops were killed or wounded during battle with the Ukrainian army over the weekend. The casualties occurred around three villages in Kursk, where Russia has for four months been trying to quash a Ukrainian incursion, the agency, known by its acronym GUR, said in a public post on the Telegram messaging app. At least three North Korean servicemen went missing around another Kursk village, GUR said. Maj Gen Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, told reporters that some North Korean troops have died in combat in Kursk but did not have a specific number of those kill

Russia sees no grounds for Ukraine talks but mentions peace more frequently

Kyiv, which on Tuesday declared that it would not settle for anything less than NATO membership to guarantee its future security, has also said it will not compromise its territory

Trump's plan for Ukraine in focus: Territorial concessions, Nato off table

Trump repeatedly pledged during his election campaign to end the nearly three-year-old conflict within 24 hours of his Jan. 20 inauguration, if not before then, but has yet to say how

US to send additional $725 million to Ukraine in military assistance

The US is preparing to send Ukraine an additional USD 725 million in military assistance, including counter-drone systems and munitions for its High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, which could indicate more of the longer-range missiles are headed to the battlefield. It was unclear whether the munitions for the HIMARS are the coveted ATACMS the Army Tactical Missile System but Ukraine has been pressing for more of the longer-range missiles to strike additional targets inside Russia. The package, announced Monday by the State Department, also includes more of the anti-personnel land mines that Ukraine is counting on to slow Russian and North Korean ground forces in Russia's Kursk region. President Joe Biden has pledged to spend all of the military assistance funds Congress approved this year for Ukraine before the end of his administration on January 20, which before Monday's announcement included about USD 7.1 billion in weapons that would be drawn from the Pentagon's ...

Open to ceasefire if Nato protects unoccupied areas, says Zelenskyy

Zelenskyy made the comments in an interview with Sky News broadcast Friday when asked about a scenario in which Nato security guarantees covered only territory controlled by Kyiv

Desertion a major issue with Ukraine's forces in its war with Russia

Desertion is starving the Ukrainian army of desperately needed manpower and crippling its battle plans at a crucial time in its war with Russia, which could put Kyiv at a clear disadvantage in future ceasefire talks. Facing every imaginable shortage, tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops, tired and bereft, have walked away from combat and front-line positions to slide into anonymity, according to soldiers, lawyers and Ukrainian officials. Entire units have abandoned their posts, leaving defensive lines vulnerable and accelerating territorial losses, according to military commanders and soldiers. Some take medical leave and never return, haunted by the traumas of war and demoralized by bleak prospects for victory. Others clash with commanders and refuse to carry out orders, sometimes in the middle of firefights. This problem is critical, said Oleksandr Kovalenko, a Kyiv-based military analyst. This is the third year of war, and this problem will only grow. Although Moscow has also b