Page 6 - Kiev Ukraine

Ukraine can hit inside Russia anywhere its forces attack across border: US

If Russia is attacking or about to attack from its territory into Ukraine, it only makes sense to allow Ukraine to hit back, said the US embassy

Putin sets terms for ceasefire: Ukraine must pull out from 'annexed' parts

Russian President Vladimir Putin promised on Friday to immediately order a cease-fire in Ukraine and start negotiations if Kyiv began withdrawing troops from the four regions annexed by Moscow in 2022 and renounced plans to join NATO. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected what he called an ultimatum by Putin to surrender more territory. Putin's remarks came as Switzerland prepared to host scores of world leaders -- but not from Moscow -- this weekend to try to map out first steps toward peace in Ukraine. They also coincided with a meeting of leaders of the Group of Seven leading industrialised nations in Italy and after the US and Ukraine this week signed a 10-year security agreement that Russian officials, including Putin, denounced as null and void. Putin blasted the Switzerland conference as just another ploy to divert everyone's attention, reverse the cause and effect of the Ukrainian crisis (and) set the discussion on the wrong track. His demands came in a speech a

With Ukraine losing ground, allies debate how to squeeze cash for Kyiv

Ukraine's allies are wrestling with how to squeeze money out of frozen Russian assets to support Kyiv's war effort, a debate that is ever more urgent as Russia gains territory on the battlefield and as the outlook for Ukraine's state finances looks shakier. What to do with the Russian central bank reserves frozen in response to the invasion of Ukraine is at the top of the agenda as finance officials from the Group of Seven rich democracies meet Thursday through Saturday in Stresa, Italy, on the shores of scenic Lago Maggiore. The issue: While Ukraine and many of its supporters have called for the confiscation of USD 260 billion in Russian assets frozen outside the country after the February 24, 2022, invasion, European officials have resisted, citing legal and financial stability concerns. Most of the frozen assets are located in Europe. Yet a European plan to merely use the interest on the Russian funds would provide only a trickle of money every year some USD 2.5 billion-USD 3 ..

Russian attacks on Ukraine's power grid touch Kyiv with blackouts

Sustained Russian attacks on Ukraine's power grid in recent weeks have forced leaders of the war-ravaged country to institute nationwide rolling blackouts. Without adequate air defences to counter assaults and allow for repairs, though, the shortages could still worsen as need spikes in late summer and the bitter-cold winter. The Russian airstrikes targeting the grid since March have meant blackouts have even returned to the capital, Kyiv, which hadn't experienced them since the first year of the war. Among the strikes were an April barrage that damaged Kyiv's largest thermal power plant and a massive attack on May 8 that targeted power generation and transmission facilities in several regions. In all, half of Ukraine's energy system was damaged, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said. Entire apartment blocks in the capital went dark. The city's military administration said at least 10 per cent of consumers were disconnected. For many, it is a taste of what might be in store if Ukrai

Ukraine risks dragging West into major war with Russia, says Putin ally

President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine has touched off the worst breakdown in relations between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis

Russian air defence system downs Ukraine-launched missiles, 31 drones

An apartment building partially collapsed in the Russian border city of Belgorod on Sunday, causing at least 13 deaths and injuring 20 other people, officials said. They blamed Ukrainian shelling for the building's destruction. Online footage showed rescuers searching for survivors among the remnants of the building's stairwell, then fleeing the scene as part of the roof crashed to the ground. Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry said 13 bodies had been recovered from the rubble so far. Russia's Investigative Committee, the country's top law enforcement agency, said in a statement that the 10-story building had been hit by Ukrainian shelling. The Russian Defence Ministry later wrote on social media that the building had been damaged by fragments of a downed Tochka-U TRC missile. It also said that air defences had shot down several more rockets over the Belgorod region, as well as two drones that were destroyed in a separate incident later Sunday. Air raid alerts continued across

Russia launches wide aerial attack on energy facilities in Ukraine

Russia launched aerial attacks on energy facilities throughout Ukraine early Wednesday, targeting seven regions with more than 50 missiles as well as drones, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. The attacks also damaged the railway station and tracks in the city of Kherson, across the Dnieper River from Russian-held territory, and injured two people in Brovary, adjacent to the capital Kyiv, officials said. Russia consistently targets Ukraine's energy infrastructure. There was a major aerial attack on energy facilities on April 27 and another a week earlier. In a social media post, Zelenskyy noted that Wednesday's attacks occurred on the day that Ukraine observes the end of European fighting in World War II. Massive missile attack by Nazi Putin on the Day of Remembrance and Victory over Nazism in the Second World War, Zelensky said.The whole world should clearly understand who is who; The whole world has no right to give Nazism another chance. National electrical grid operator Ukren

Russia strikes energy facilities in air attack on Ukraine, say officials

Power generation and transmission facilities in the Poltava, Kirovohrad, Zaporizhzhia, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Vinnytsia regions were targeted

Ukraine's foreign ministry launches AI spokesperson to provide war updates

The AI spokesperson, Victoria Shi, is modelled after Ukrainian singer and influencer Rosalie Nombre

Ukraine's parl passes controversial law to boost much-needed conscripts

Ukraine's parliament passed a law on Thursday that will govern how the country recruits new conscripts, following months of delay and after thousands of amendments were submitted to water down the initial draft. Lawmakers dragged their feet for months over the law, which is expected to be unpopular. The law was spurred by a request from the military command under former army Commander Valerii Zaluzhny, who said Ukraine was in need of up to 500,000 new recruits to boost army ranks.

Russia launches 99 drones, missiles on Ukraine's energy system: Israel

Air raid warnings rang out across the country, with 10 Ukrainian regions coming under fire, the country's Interior Minister, Ihor Klymenko, said

Gunmen who raided hall tried to escape to Ukraine, says Putin; Kyiv denies

The suburban Moscow music hall where gunmen opened fire on concertgoers was a blackened, smoldering ruin Saturday as the death toll in the attack surpassed 130 and Russian authorities arrested four suspects. President Vladimir Putin claimed they were captured while fleeing to Ukraine. Kyiv strongly denied any involvement in Friday's assault on the Crocus City Hall music venue in Krasnogorsk, and the Islamic State group's Afghanistan affiliate claimed responsibility. Putin did not mention IS in his speech to the nation, and Kyiv accused him and other Russian politicians of falsely linking Ukraine to the assault to stoke fervor for Russia's war in Ukraine, which recently entered its third year. US intelligence officials confirmed the claim by the IS affiliate. "ISIS bears sole responsibility for this attack. There was no Ukrainian involvement whatsoever, National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said in a statement. The US shared information with Russia in early March ab

Killed 234 fighters while thwarting an incursion from Ukraine, says Russia

The Russian Defense Ministry said Tuesday night that Moscow's military and security forces killed 234 fighters while thwarting an incursion into Russian border regions earlier in the day. In a statement, the ministry blamed the attack on the Kyiv regime and Ukraine's terrorist formations, insisting that the Russian military and border forces were able to stop the attackers and avert a cross-border raid. It also said the attackers lost seven tanks and five armored vehicles. The reports of border fighting earlier on Tuesday were murky, and it was impossible to ascertain with any certainty what was unfolding in Russia's Kursk and Belgorod regions. Cross-border attacks in the area have occurred sporadically since the war began and have been the subject of claims and counterclaims, as well as disinformation and propaganda. Ukrainian long-range drones smashed into two oil facilities deep inside Russia on Tuesday, officials said, while an armed incursion claimed by Ukraine-based Russian ..

European leaders in Kyiv as Ukraine marks 2 yrs since Russia's invasion

Western leaders descended on Kyiv on Saturday to mark the second anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen travelled overnight to Kyiv by train along with Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. They arrived shortly after a Russian drone attack struck a residential building in the southern city of Odesa, killing at least one person. Three women also sustained severe burns in the attack Friday evening on a residential building, regional Governor Oleh Kiper said on his social media account. Rescue services are still combing rubble looking for survivors. The foreign leaders are in Ukraine to express solidarity as Ukrainian forces run low on ammunition and weaponry and Western aid hangs in the balance. More than ever we stand firmly by Ukraine. Financially, economically, militarily, morally. Until the country is finally free, von der Leyen said i

Ukraine claims it downed another Russian plane in a major blow to Moscow

Ukrainian forces downed a Russian early warning and control aircraft Friday, the air force chief said, a major win for the country as its army fights to repel persistent Russian attacks along the front line as the war enters its third year. General Mykola Oleshchuk thanked Ukraine's military intelligence for helping down the Russian A-50 aircraft on Russia's military holiday Friday. Congratulations to the occupiers on the Defender of the Fatherland day, Oleshchuk said on a sardonic note. Ukrainian media carried footage purportedly showing a massive fire that erupted when the big warplane crashed in the Krasnodar region on the eastern coast of the Sea of Azov. The Russian military didn't comment on the Ukrainian claim, but emergency officials in the Krasnodar region reported that a plane crashed in the area without identifying it. Several Russian military bloggers confirmed the plane's loss and some alleged that it was downed in a friendly fire incident. If confirmed, the plane's ..

Russian missiles target Ukraine's Kyiv and Kharkiv, at least 3 killed

A complex Russian missile attack targeted Ukrainian cities of Kyiv and Kharkiv on Tuesday morning, killing at least three people, wounding several others and damaging residential buildings, officials said. In the capital of Kyiv, city administration chief Roman Popko said at least one person was killed. Mayor Vitalii Klitschko said nine people were wounded, including a 13-year-old boy. In Kharkiv, the country's second-largest city, two people were killed and at least 11 were wounded, according to the regional governor, Oleh Syniehubov. An entire section of a multi-story residential building was destroyed, trapping an unknown number of people there, Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov said. Recent Russian attacks have tried to find gaps in Ukraine's defences by using large numbers of missiles and drones in an apparent effort to saturate air defence systems. The massive barrages more than 500 drones and missiles were fired between December 29 and January 2, according to officials in Kyiv a

Pentagon holds meeting to raise funds for supply of weapons to Ukraine

For the first time since Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin established the international group to support Ukraine in April 2022, the United States will host the monthly gathering of about 50 countries out of money, unable to send the ammunition and missiles that Ukraine needs to fend off Russia. While waiting for Congress to pass a budget and potentially approve more money for Ukraine's fight, the US will be looking to allies to keep bridging the gap. Tuesday's meeting will focus on longer-term needs, deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters on Monday. Even though we aren't able to provide our security assistance right now, our partners are continuing to do that, Singh said. The meeting will be virtual because Austin is still recuperating at home from complications of treatment for prostate cancer. The Pentagon announced its last security assistance for Ukraine on December 27, a USD 250 million package that included 155 mm rounds, Stinger anti-aircraft missiles an

UN seeks $4.2 billion to help people in Ukraine, refugees this year

The United Nations appealed on Monday for USD 4.2 billion to help people in Ukraine and displaced outside the country this year, saying that people on the front lines have exhausted their meagre resources and many refugees also are vulnerable. About three-quarters of the total, USD 3.1 billion, is meant to support some 8.5 million people inside Ukraine. The remaining USD 1.1 billion is sought for refugees and host communities outside Ukraine. A recent wave of attacks underscores the devastating civilian cost of the war and a bitter winter is increasing the need for humanitarian aid, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the UN refugee agency said in a statement from Geneva. In front-line towns and villages, people have exhausted their meagre resources and rely on aid to survive, it said. Ukraine has been subjected to massive Russian barrages recently. More than 500 drones and missiles were fired between December 29 and January 2, according to officials in .

Russia suspects supply of India-made 115mm artillery shells to Ukraine

The Ministry of External Affairs has categorically denied these claims, stating that the Foreign Minister has only held discussions on bilateral cooperation with Ukraine

Zelenskyy urges global response to Russia's 'latest act of terror'

In response to the devastating attacks that left at least 31 people dead and over 150 injured, Ukraine urgently called for a meeting of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC)