Page 7 - Kiev Ukraine

Russian shelling kills 4 as Ukraine prepares to observe Christmas

Russian shelling in southern Ukraine's Kherson region killed four people on Sunday, including an 87-year-old man and his 81-year-old wife who died after a strike on their apartment building. The barrage injured nine other people, including a 15-year-old, sparked fires in homes and at a private medical facility, and set a local gas pipeline alight, the head of the regional military administration, Oleksandr Prokudin, said. There are no holidays for the enemy, Andrii Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian president's office, wrote on social media, commenting on the Kherson attack. They do not exist for us as long as the enemy kills our people and remains on our land. The shelling across Kherson reached the center of the region's capital city of the same name. The assault took place as Ukraine prepared to officially celebrate Christmas for the first time on December 25, having previously marked the date on Jan. 7. Some Orthodox Ukrainians observed Christmas on Dec. 25 last year in response

Prez Putin increases military pressure on Ukraine, expects western support

After blunting Ukraine's counteroffensive from the summer, Russia is building up its resources for a new stage of the war over the winter, which could involve trying to extend its gains in the east and deal significant blows to the country's vital infrastructure. Russian President Vladimir Putin seems to be hoping that relentless military pressure, combined with changing Western political dynamics and a global focus on the Israeli-Hamas war, will drain support for Ukraine in the nearly 2-year-old war and force Kyiv to yield to Moscow's demands. As far as the Russian leadership is concerned, the confrontation with the West has reached a turning point: The Ukrainian counteroffensive has failed, Russia is more confident than ever, and the cracks in Western solidarity are spreading, said Tatiana Stanovaya, senior fellow with Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, in a recent analysis. An aid package for Ukraine has stalled in the US Congress as Republicans insist on linking any more money to .

Explosions heard in Kyiv in possible air attack; no word on damage so far

A series of loud explosions rang out in Ukraine's capital early Monday followed by air raid sirens. There was no immediate word on the origin of the explosions, but they sounded like air defence units firing into the sky. Kyiv is routinely targeted by Russian drone and missile attacks. Just over two weeks ago, Kyiv came under what Ukrainian officials said was the most intense drone attack since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 75 Iranian-made Shahed drones against the capital, of which 74 were destroyed by air defenses. The explosions Monday occurred just after 4 a.m. as the city was under its nightly curfew. There was no immediate information on any damage or casualties.

Ukraine port hit a day before Putin meets Erdogan for grain deal talks

Moscow says its own food exports face obstacles under the deal, and that not enough grain is going to nations in need

Yevgeny Prigozhin's death won't change the face of Vladimir Putin's war

Putin has gambled that he and his people have more patience, staying power and guts than does the decadent West

Overnight drone attack on Moscow injures 1, prompts airport closure

Russian authorities say three Ukrainian drones attacked Moscow in the early hours on Sunday, injuring one person and prompting a temporary closure of one of four airports around the Russian capital. The Russian Defense Ministry referred to the incident as an attempted terrorist attack by the Kyiv regime" and said three drones targeted the city. One was shot down in the surrounding Moscow region by air defense systems and two others were jammed. Those two crashed into the Moscow City business district in the capital. Photos from the site of the crash showed the facade of a skyscraper damaged on one floor. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the attack insignificantly damaged the outsides of two buildings in the Moscow City district. A security guard was injured, Russia's state news agency Tass reported, citing emergency officials. No flights went into or out of the Vnukovo airport on the southern outskirts of the city for about an hour, according to Tass, and the air space over Moscow

Kyiv said to have launched major push against Russian forces in southeast

Kyiv has launched a major push to dislodge Russian forces from southeastern Ukraine as part of its weeks-long counteroffensive, committing thousands of troops to the battle in the country's southeast, according to Western and Ukrainian officials and analysts. The surge in troops and firepower has been centreed on the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, a Western official said late Wednesday. The official was not authorized to comment publicly on the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity. Fighting has intensified in recent weeks at multiple points along the 1,500-kilometre (930-mile) front line as Ukraine deploys Western-supplied advanced weapons and Western-trained troops against the deeply entrenched Russian forces who invaded 17 months ago. Ukrainian officials have been mostly silent about battlefield developments since they began early counteroffensive operations, though Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said troops are advancing toward the city of Melitopol in Zaporizhizh

Nearly 50,000 Russian men died in conflict with Ukraine, shows report

Nearly 50,000 Russian men have died in the war in Ukraine, according to the first independent statistical analysis of Russia's war dead. Two independent Russian media outlets, Mediazona and Meduza, working with a data scientist from Germany's Tubingen University, used Russian government data to shed light on one of Moscow's closest-held secrets the true human cost of its invasion of Ukraine. To do so, they relied on a statistical concept popularised during the COVID-19 pandemic called excess mortality. Drawing on inheritance records and official mortality data, they estimated how many more men under age 50 died between February 2022 and May 2023 than normal. Neither Moscow nor Kyiv gives timely data on military losses, and each is at pains to amplify the other side's casualties. Russia has publicly acknowledged the deaths of just over 6,000 soldiers. Reports about military losses have been repressed in Russian media, activists and independent journalists say. Documenting the dead h

Blinken meets Ukrainian foreign minister, underscores support for Kyiv

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken, met his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba in London during his visit to the UK and underscored Washington DC support for Kyiv's economic recovery

Kyiv deploys forces along Ukraine-Belarus border: Russia's Foreign Ministry

The Ukrainian army has deployed significant forces along the Belarus border, the Russian Foreign Ministry said and also claimed that Kyiv has periodically tried to test the defence capability

Ukraine conflict: Air raid alerts in Kyiv as multiple blasts rock Crimea

As air raid sirens wailed across most of Ukraine overnight for several hours, numerous explosions were reported in Crimea on Sunday, according to Al Jazeera

Russia launches 20 missiles, 2 drones at Ukraine, attack kills 16 people

Russia fired more than 20 cruise missiles and two drones at Ukraine early on Friday, killing at least 16 people, most of them when two missiles slammed into an apartment building in the centre of the country, officials said. Three children, including a toddler, were among the dead. The missile attacks included the first one against Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, in nearly two months, although there were no reports of any targets hit. The city government said Ukraine's air force intercepted 11 cruise missiles and two unmanned aerial vehicles over Kyiv. The strikes on the nine-story residential building in central Ukraine occurred in Uman, a city located around 215 kilometres (134 miles) south of Kyiv. Fourteen people died in that attack, according to the interior ministry, including two 10-year-old children. The Ukrainian national police said 17 people were wounded and three children were rescued from the rubble. Nine were hospitalised. The bombardment was nowhere near the war's sprawling

Nato chief Stoltenberg visits Kyiv for first time since Russian invasion

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg is visiting Ukraine for the first time since Russia launched its full-scale invasion more than a year ago, an alliance official said on Thursday. The NATO secretary-general is in Ukraine. We will release more information as soon as possible, said an alliance official, who asked not to be identified in line with NATO procedures. Pictures of Stoltenberg apparently paying tribute to fallen Ukrainian soldiers in Kyiv's St Michael's Square were published by local media. Apart from the important symbolism of the visit, the exact purpose of Stoltenberg's trip wasn't immediately clear. NATO has no official presence in Ukraine. As an organisation of 31 countries, it only provides nonlethal support generators, medical equipment, tents, military uniforms and other supplies to the government in Kyiv. Stoltenberg has been the strong voice of the alliance throughout the war and has been instrumental in garnering and coordinating support by the 31 member

Ukraine needs $14.1 bn for reconstruction this year in war-affected areas

Amid Russia's full scale invasion of Kiev, Ukraine needs about $14.1 billion this year to implement rapid recovery in war-affected areas

Ukraine clinches $15.6 billion IMF loan, a first for nation at war

The program will be divided into two phases. In the first, lasting 12-18 months, Ukraine will take measures to strengthen fiscal, external, price and financial stability

Lessons from a year of war

Nine errors from Moscow, and one thing Kyiv got right

Ukraine's year of pain, death, and nation-building after Russian invasion

In the final hours before the Russian onslaught, a last grasp at peace. Russian troops would soon pour across Ukraine's borders and Russian missiles would fill Ukrainian skies, taking Ukrainian lives in the biggest air, sea and ground assault in Europe since World War II. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy still appealed, on war's brink, for reason to prevail. Staring intently into the camera in a last-ditch, dead-of-night, video-recorded plea against the invasion, Zelenskyy warned Russia that the consequences would be an abundance of pain, filth, blood and death. War is a huge calamity," Zelenskyy said, in what proved to be one of his last outings in a suit before his switch to military-style casual wear. This calamity carries a huge cost in every meaning of this word. The date was February 24, 2022 cataclysmic for Ukraine, course-changing for Russia, history-shaping for the wider world. Every hour of every day since has proven those words to be right. As milestones go,

Russia eyeing eastern Ukraine push; Kyiv targets graft as war nears 1 yr

Russia is mustering its military might in the Luhansk region of Ukraine, officials said Wednesday, in what Kyiv suspects is preparation for an offensive as the first anniversary of Moscow's invasion approaches. Also Wednesday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's government continued its crackdown on alleged corruption with the dismissal of several high-ranking officials, prominent lawmaker David Arakhamia said. Zelenskyy was elected in 2019 on an anti-establishment and anti-corruption platform in a country long gripped by graft. The latest allegations come as Western allies are channeling billions of dollars to help Kyiv fight Moscow and as the Ukrainian government is introducing reforms so it can potentially join the European Union one day. Ukraine's Security Service said on the Telegram messaging app that an operation on Wednesday targeted corrupt officials who undermine the country's economy and the stable functioning of the defense-industrial complex. It identified one as a former .

Ukraine pushes for Western fighter jets after tank deals as war continues

Ukraine won support Tuesday from Baltic nations and Poland in its quest to obtain Western fighter jets, but there were no signs that larger nations like the U.S. and Britain have changed their stance of refusing to provide warplanes to Kyiv after almost a year of battling Russia's invading forces. "Ukraine needs fighter jets ... missiles, tanks. We need to act," Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu said in the Latvian capital of Riga at a news conference with his Baltic and Polish colleagues. Those countries, which lie on NATO's eastern flank, feel especially threatened by Russia and have been the leading advocates for providing military aid. Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov held talks with his French counterpart, saying they did not discuss specific fighter jets, but they did talk about aviation "platforms" to help Ukraine's ground-to-air defense. "I don't know how quick it will be, this response from Western allies" to Kyiv's requests for fighter jets, Reznikov said

UK to supply tanks to Ukraine as Russian missiles hit Kyiv: PM Rishi Sunak

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Saturday the U.K. will provide Challenger 2 tanks and other artillery systems to support Ukraine. Sunak's Downing Street office said in a statement that he made the pledge after speaking to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Saturday. It did not say when the tanks were to be delivered or how many. British media has reported that four British Army Challenger 2 main battle tanks will be sent to eastern Europe immediately, with eight more to follow shortly after. They did not cite sources.