Page 70 - Latest Updates on Ukraine peace talks

Ukraine shoots down Russian fighter plane, Moscow claims gains in east

Ukrainian forces said they shot down a Russian fighter plane on Saturday while Russia claimed it made gains in Ukraine's east. The Russian bomber was shot down near the city of Kostiantynivka in the Donetsk province, head of the Kostiantynivka Military Administration Serhiy Horbunov was quoted as saying by Ukraine's public broadcaster, Suspilne. Photos showed charred remains of an aircraft after it landed on a house that caught fire. Also in the partially occupied Donetsk province, Russia's Defence Ministry claimed on Saturday that it had taken control of the village of Zhelanne Druhe. If confirmed, the capture would come three days after Ukrainian forces said they were withdrawing from the front-line town of Vuhledar, some 33 kilometers (21 miles) from Zhelanne Druhe, following a hard-fought two-year defense. Although unlikely to change the course of the war, the loss of Vuhledar is indicative of Kyiv's worsening position, in part the result of Washington's refusal to grant Ukrain

Russian glide bomb strikes Ukrainian apartment building, 12 injured

A Russian glide bomb struck a five-story apartment block in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, injuring at least 12 people including a 3-year-old girl, local officials said Thursday. The bomb hit between the third and fourth floors of the building on Wednesday night, igniting blazes, Kharkiv regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said. Firefighters searched for survivors through smoke and rubble. The city of Kharkiv, located around 30 km (18 miles) from the Russian border, has been a frequent target of aerial attacks throughout the war against Russia that is now deep into its third year. Glide bombs have become an increasingly common weapon in the war. They have terrorised civilians and bludgeoned the Ukrainian army's front-line defences. They were a key weapon in Russia's capture of the tactically significant town of Vuhledar on Wednesday, as Russian forces wreak destruction on the eastern Donetsk region and force weary Ukrainian troops to withdraw from obliterated towns and ...

Putin allows criminal defendants to escape trial if they enlist in army

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed into law measures that allow defendants in criminal cases to avoid prosecution if they join the military. The measures, whose enacted versions appeared on a government website Wednesday, come as Russia's need for military manpower remains high in the more than 2 1/2-year-old conflict in Ukraine. The measures amend a section of the Russian criminal code that stated convicts could be released if they enlisted in the military, and that suspects whose cases are under investigation but not yet in court can be eligible to have their cases suspended. The new measures extend the suspension offer to those whose cases are in the trial stage. The legislation also allows for sentences or proceedings to be entirely cancelled if the enlistee is discharged for age or health reasons or with the end of martial law. Russia imposed martial law in October 2022, about six months after it sent troops into Ukraine. The intense and drawn-out fighting has straine

Ukraine's military to pull out of Vuhledar in east after 2 yrs of fighting

Ukrainian forces are withdrawing from the front-line town of Vuhledar, perched atop a tactically significant hill in eastern Ukraine, after more than two years of grinding battle, military officials said Wednesday. Vuhledar, a town Ukrainian forces fought tooth and nail to keep, is the latest urban settlement to fall to the Russians. It follows a vicious summer campaign along the eastern front that saw Kyiv cede several thousand square kilometres of territory. Ukraine's Khortytsia ground forces formation, which commands eastern regions including Donetsk, said in a statement posted on Telegram it was withdrawing troops from Vuhledar to protect the military personnel and equipment. In an attempt to take control of the city at any cost, reserves were directed to carry out flanking attacks, which exhausted the defence of the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. As a result of the enemy's actions, there arose a threat of encircling the city, the statement said. The tactical significanc

Watch: Russian Su-35 'headbutts' US F-16 near Alaska. What does this mean?

The 'headbutt' manoeuvre, where the offending jet cuts in front of and across another, is deemed unprofessional at very close ranges, but has still been witnessed for decades

Russian artillery strike hit market in Ukraine city of Kherson, kills 7

An apparent Russian artillery strike hit a market in the southern Ukraine city of Kherson on Tuesday, killing at least seven people and wounding three others, authorities said. The strike happened as shoppers made their way between stalls at the city centre market, regional Gov. Oleksandr Prokudin said. He published a video showing the blurred corpses of people in civilian clothes lying near a stall with tomatoes and other vegetables. Ukraine's General Prosecutor's Office said the strike was most likely carried out by Russian artillery and hit close to a public transport stop. The city has not recently been a hotspot in the war, now deep into its third year, as the fiercest battles have been taking place in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region where Russia's army is pushing hard to take ground ahead of the winter. Ukrainian forces have struck back with an incursion into Russia's Kursk border region, but the government is waiting to hear what further Western military and financial supp

Navigating US presidential politics, Zelenskyy met Trump and Harris

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is back home leading Ukraine's fight against Russia after a U.S. trip that brought him face to face with the American leaders who will help decide his country's future. The Biden administration pledged more than $8 billion in continued support to Ukraine, guaranteeing military aid until a new U.S. administration takes power. But Zelenskyy found himself briefly mired in domestic politics before meeting with Trump in New York. And the Ukrainian's leader's longer-term strategic aim convincing his allies to adopt a victory plan that he is promoting remains elusive and out of his control, analysts and officials said. So does the aim of using far-reaching Western weapons against Russia, the most immediate element of Zelenskyy's plan. Zelenskyy navigated partisan politics Zelenskyy's visit to an ammunition plant in the swing state of Pennsylvania upset Republicans and House Speaker Mike Johnson fired off an open letter saying the visit was part of a partisa

India has major role for peace in Gaza, Ukraine: UK Labour Party Councillor

On conflict in Palestine, he said, 'It's high time that the powers, that is the Anglo-American alliance, stepped in and called for an immediate ceasefire because that is something needed urgently'

14 injured as Russia strikes residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia

Earlier on September 22, Russia had launched an attack on a residential building in Kharkiv, which left 21 civilians injured

UNGA: Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov backs UNSC bid by India, Brazil

In 2022, Zelenskyy presented Ukraine's 10-point peace formula to world leaders at the G20 Summit in Indonesia's Bali

Russian strikes on medical centre kill 9 people in Ukrainian city of Sumy

Two consecutive Russian attacks on a medical centre in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy on Saturday killed at least nine people, officials said. The first strike killed one person. Russia attacked again while patients and staff were evacuating, said Ukraine's Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko. Local officials in Sumy said Shahed drones were used in the attack. Twenty-one other people were wounded, Sumy Acting Mayor Artem Kobzar said. Sumy lies some 20 miles (32 km) from Russia's Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops have made a surprise incursion since Aug 6 in a bid to divert the Kremlin's military focus away from the front line in Ukraine. In Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region, a Russian airstrike on the village of Slatyne on Saturday killed three people and wounded three more, Kharkiv regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said. Syniehubov also said one person was killed in a drone attack in the nearby village of Kozacha Lopan. Ukraine's air force said it shot down 69 of 73

China, at UN, warns world against 'expansion of battlefield' in Ukraine war

Three days before his communist government turns 75, China's foreign minister warned fellow leaders Saturday against an expansion of the battlefield in Russia's war with Ukraine and said the Beijing government remains committed to shuttle diplomacy and efforts to push the conflict toward its end. The top priority is to commit to no expansion of the battlefield. ... China is committed to playing a constructive role," Wang Yi said. He warned against other nations throwing oil on the fire or exploiting the situation for selfish gains, a likely reference to the United States. Wang's speech appeared to break no new ground, as is generally China's recent practice at the UN General Assembly's annual meeting of leaders. In fact, his boss, Chinese President Xi Jinping, has not participated in the leaders' meeting since 2021 and then only virtually, during the pandemic. Xi has not attended in person for several years. On Friday, on the assembly sidelines, China and Brazil sought to build ...

8 people killed by Russian strikes on medical center in Ukrainian city

Two consecutive Russian attacks on a medical center in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy killed at least eight people on Saturday morning, officials said. The first strike killed one person. Russia attacked again while patients and staff were evacuating, said Ukraine's Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko. Local officials in Sumy said Shahed drones were used in the attack. Eleven other people were wounded, the head of the Sumy City Military administration, Oleksii Drozdenko, said. Sumy lies some 20 miles (32 kilometers) from Russia's Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops have been deployed since Aug. 6 in a bid to divert the Kremlin's military focus away from the front line in Ukraine. Ukraine's air force said it shot down 69 of 73 Russian drones launched overnight as well as two of the four missiles. City authorities in Kyiv said around 15 drones had been shot down over the Ukrainian capital and its outskirts. In Kryvyi Rih, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's home city, lo

Trump, Zelenskyy meet in US amid rising questions about support for Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met face-to-face with Donald Trump Friday with public tensions rising between the two over Ukraine's defence against Russia's invasion. I think we have a common view that the war in Ukraine has to be stopped and Putin can't win, Zelenskyy said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. After arriving together at a conference room on Friday, Trump said the fact that we're even together today is a very good sign. The meeting came at a critical time in the Russia-Ukraine war as Election Day nears in the US. Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, his Democratic opponent, have taken sharply different approaches to Ukraine. Trump has for months criticised US support for Ukraine and derided Zelenskyy as a salesman for persuading Washington to provide weapons and funding to his military as it tries to fend off Moscow. On Friday, however, Trump brought up his first impeachment in 2019, which Democrats in Congress pursued after he asked Zelenskyy

As war in Ukraine enters critical period, EU moves ahead without US

As the war in Ukraine enters a critical period, the European Union has decided that it must take responsibility for what it sees as an existential threat to security in its own neighbourhood and is preparing to tackle some of the financial burden, perhaps even without the United States. EU envoys have been working in Brussels this week on a proposal to provide Ukraine with a hefty loan package worth up to 35 billion euros (USD 39 billion). It was announced by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during a trip to Kyiv last Friday. Crucially, this loan will flow straight into your national budget," she told President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It will provide you with significant and much-needed fiscal space. You will decide how best to use the funds, giving you maximum flexibility to meet your needs. Zelenskyy wants to buy weapons and bomb shelters and rebuild Ukraine's shattered energy network as winter draws near. In international matters, particularly involving major ...

Calls for Ukraine to cede territory to Russia 'unacceptable': Kamala Harris

Vice President Kamala Harris has said calls for Ukraine to cede territory to Russia were "dangerous and unacceptable" as she met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy here. The comments from the Democratic nominee for president were thinly veiled criticism of suggestions from Republican candidate Donald Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, that Ukraine should quickly cut a deal to end the war. They are not proposals for peace," Harris said on Thursday. Instead they are proposals for surrender. Zelenskyy is in Washington to bolster US assistance for his country's defence. The Ukrainian president huddled with US leaders on Thursday to shore up American support for his country's fight against Russia as the war faces a partisan reckoning in this year's presidential election. Harris has pledged to continue sending military assistance to Ukraine if she's elected. She'll have her own meeting with Zelenskyy after the Ukrainian leader sat down with President Joe Biden, wh

Zelenskyy discusses Ukraine's 'Victory Plan' with US President Biden

During the meeting, Zelenskyy expressed his gratitude for the support of the United States

Russia's adaptability to US sanctions stymied their impact: Economists

Waves of sanctions imposed by the Biden administration after Russia's invasion of Ukraine haven't inflicted the devastating blow to Moscow's economy that some had expected. In a new report, two researchers are offering reasons why. Oleg Itskhoki of Harvard University and Elina Ribakova of the Peterson Institute for International Economics argue that the sanctions should have been imposed more forcefully immediately after the invasion rather than in a piecemeal manner. In retrospect, it is evident that there was no reason not to have imposed all possible decisive measures against Russia from the outset once Russia launched the full scale invasion in February 2022, the authors state in the paper. Still, the critical takeaway is that sanctions are not a silver bullet, Ribakova said on a call with reporters this week, to preview the study. The researchers say Russia was able to brace for the financial penalties because of the lessons learned from sanctions imposed in 2014 after it inva

Putin issues 'nuclear warning' to West; signals potential nuclear response

According to Putin, the adjustments were necessary because of how quickly the world was changing and how this presented new risks and threats for Russia

Ukrainian prez Zelenskyy urges UN to put pressure on Russia to end war

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged global leaders Wednesday to stand with his country and not seek "a lull" instead of a "real, just peace" more than two years into Russia's war.Speaking at UN General Assembly, he said, "Any parallel or alternative attempts to seek peace are, in fact, efforts to achieve a lull instead of an end to the war."He called for adoption of his two-year-old proposal to restore internationally recognized boundaries between Russia and Ukraine."And we need to make it clear--the war is over. This is the Peace Formula. What part of this could be unacceptable to anyone who upholds the UN Charter? We must uphold the UN Charter and guarantee our right--Ukraine's right--to territorial integrity and sovereignty, just as we do for any other nation. We need to withdraw the Russian occupiers, which will bring an end to the hostilities in Ukraine," said Zelenskyy."Any parallel or alternative attempts to seek peace are, in fact, efforts to achieve a lull instead of .