Page 108 - Ukraine

US announces 4 more advanced rocket systems to assist Ukraine in war

The US will soon deliver to Ukraine four more of the advanced rocket systems credited with helping the country's military gain momentum in its war with Russia. The High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, known as HIMARS, will be part of a new USD 624 million package of aid expected to be announced on Tuesday, according to US officials. The decision marks the first time the US has sent more HIMARS to Ukraine since late July, and it will bring the total number delivered so far to 20. The systems have become a key tool in Ukraine's ability to strike bridges that Russia has used to supply its troops, enabling Ukrainian forces to make inroads in Russia-controlled regions. The US in recent weeks also provided funding through a separate program the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative so another 18 HIMARS can be purchased through longer-term contracts. USAI funds are being used as part of the effort by the US and Western allies to ensure Ukraine's forces are trained and equipped to ..

Russia smuggling Ukrainian grain worth $530 million to fuel Putin's war

When the bulk cargo ship Laodicea docked in Lebanon last summer, Ukrainian diplomats said the vessel was carrying grain stolen by Russia and urged Lebanese officials to impound the ship. Moscow called the allegation false and baseless, and Lebanon's prosecutor general sided with the Kremlin and declared that the 10,000 tons of barley and wheat flour wasn't stolen and allowed the ship to unload. But an investigation by the Associated Press and the PBS series Frontline has found the Laodicea, owned by Syria, is part of a sophisticated Russian-run smuggling operation that has used falsified manifests and seaborne subterfuge to steal Ukrainian grain worth at least USD 530 million cash that has helped feed President Vladimir Putin's war machine. AP used satellite imagery and marine radio transponder data to track three dozen ships making more than 50 voyages carrying grain from Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine to ports in Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and other countries. The ongoing theft,

US plans $1.5 billion-a-month aid to crisis-hit Ukraine, says report

EU leaders are expected to discuss Kyiv's financial requirements, which the draft budget for 2023 has placed at $38 billion, at a summit in the Czech Republic this week

Ukraine encircles key eastern city Lyman; Russia intensifies bombing

Ukrainian forces encircled the strategic eastern city of Lyman on Saturday in a counteroffensive that has humiliated the Kremlin, while Russian bombardments intensified after Moscow illegally annexed a swath of Ukrainian territory in a sharp escalation of the war. In the northeast, Ukrainian officials accused Russian forces of attacking a civilian evacuation convoy, killing 20 people including children. In the south, Ukraine's nuclear power provider said Saturday that Russian forces blindfolded and detained the head of Europe's largest nuclear plant. The fighting comes at a pivotal moment in Russian President Vladimir Putin's war. Facing Ukrainian gains on the battlefield which he frames as a U.S.-orchestrated effort to destroy Russia Putin this week heightened his threats of nuclear force and used his most aggressive, anti-Western rhetoric to date. Despite Purtin's land-grab Friday of four regions in Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his military have vowed t

On a wing and a prayer: Only this explains the RBI move to jack up rates

By raising the repo rate, the RBI has sacrificed growth and investment to try and contain inflation, which even the government says, has been driven by external factors

Putin declares captured regions part of Russia; Ukraine denies talks

Putin also urged Ukraine to sit down for peace talks but immediately insisted he won't discuss handing them back, opening a new escalatory phase of his seven-month invasion of the country.

Zelenskyy accelerates NATO bid as Russia annexes 4 Ukraine regions

Ukraine's president says his country is submitting an accelerated application to join the NATO military alliance. The comment Friday by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy came just after Russia said it would annex four region of Ukraine it seized amid its war and held gunpoint referendums viewed as illegitimate by the international community. Zelenskyy said: We are taking our decisive step by signing Ukraine's application for accelerated accession to NATO. It wasn't immediately clear what an accelerated application would mean, as ascension to NATO requires the unanimous support of the alliance's members. De facto, we have already proven compatibility with alliance standards. They are real for Ukraine -- real on the battlefield and in all aspects of our interaction, Zelenskyy said. We trust each other, we help each other, and we protect each other. This is the alliance. Zelenskyy also repeated his pledge to reunite all of the Ukrainian territory now held by Russia. The entire territory

UNSC to vote on resolution against Russia's illegal referendum in Ukraine

The United Nations Security Council has scheduled a vote for Friday afternoon on a resolution that would condemn Russia for its illegal so-called referenda in four Ukrainian regions and declare that they have no validity. The US- and Albanian-sponsored resolution would call on all countries not to recognise any alterations to the status of Ukraine's Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. It would reaffirm the UN commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence within its internationally recognised borders. The Kremlin has announced plans to move on annexing Russian-controlled areas of the four regions on Friday, and Russia is certain to veto the resolution. US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said earlier this week that if that happens the US and Albania will put the resolution to a vote in the 193-member General Assembly where there are no vetoes. The draft resolution, obtained late on Thursday by The Associated Press, would order Russia

US Senate approves $12.3 billion aid for Ukraine in war against Russia

US Senate approved emergency aid of USD 12.3 billion to Ukraine in its war against Russia; the measure will not only continue government spending but will also help in war to a greater extent

US will never recognise Russia's claims on Ukrainian territory: Joe Biden

In response to Russia's move to formally annex four more areas in Ukraine, US President Joe Biden said that Washington will "never, never, never recognise" Moscow's claims on Kiev's territory

Ukraine pledges to reclaim land that Russia is likely to annex: Official

Ukraine is determined to reclaim territory that Russia is likely to annex following stage-managed voting in occupied areas and takes seriously Moscow's threats to use nuclear weapons in the war with its neighbor, an adviser to Ukraine's president said Wednesday. In an interview with The Associated Press in Kyiv, presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak insisted that nothing would change on the battlefield if Russia moves to incorporate four regions of southern and eastern Ukraine in the coming days, as is widely expected. We will liberate our territory by military means," Podolyak said. And for us, our actions depend not so much on what the Russian Federation thinks or wants, but on the military capabilities that Ukraine has. Ukraine and its Western allies have denounced the Kremlin-orchestrated referendums that ended Tuesday as as illegal and a sham, noting that many residents remain displaced by the seven-month war. They also said Moscow-installed local officials had announced the .

Putin to proclaim formal annexation of Ukrainian territory in days

European Union likely to place trade sanctions on Moscow over 'sham' votes

FinMin opposed extension of PMGKAY a day ahead of Cabinet approval

Office memorandum flagged fiscal concerns due to impact of Ukraine war on fuel prices. With Covid-19 having largely subsided, reasons for which earlier extensions were given no more seem to hold

Russia claims win in 4 'referendums' held in occupied regions of Ukraine

Russia has claimed to win four 'referendums' in occupied Ukrainian regions, a victory which Moscow may use as grounds to annex more territory, the media reported on Wednesday

President Zelensky meets French FM to seek support for war-torn Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has met with visiting French Foreign Affairs Minister Catherine Colonna to discuss support for Ukraine, the presidential press service reported

Ukrainians scared that Russia's referendums indicate imminent annexation

After seven weary months of war, many Ukrainians fear more suffering and political repression awaits them as referendums orchestrated by the Kremlin with help from gun-toting police portend Russia's imminent annexation of four occupied regions. Many residents fled the regions before the referendums got underway, scared about being forced to vote or potentially being conscripted into the Russian army. Petro Kobernik, who left the Russian-held southern city of Kherson just before the preordained voting began on Friday, said the prospect of living under Russian law and the escalating war made him and others extremely jittery about the future. The situation is changing rapidly, and people fear that they will be hurt either by the Russian military, or Ukrainian guerrillas and the advancing Ukrainian troops, Kobernik, 31, said in a telephone interview. As some Russian officials brought ballots to neighbourhoods accompanied by armed police, Kobernik said his 70-year-old father shut the do

Iran regrets Ukraine's decision to downgrade diplomatic ties, vows reaction

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanani has expressed regret for the decision of the Ukrainian government to downgrade diplomatic relations with the Islamic republic

Warnings in the Ukraine story for countries captured by oligarchs

While the oligarchs have played fast and loose, Ukraine remains by far the poorest of the ex-Soviet economies of Europe, writes T N Ninan

Govt working on court's suggestion to assist Ukraine returned students

The Centre on Friday told the Supreme Court that they are working on the suggestions given by the court to assist medical students who have returned to India from Ukraine in view of the war with Russia. The apex court had on September 16 suggested that the Centre assist these medical students by creating a web portal giving details of the foreign universities, where they could complete their courses as per the government's academic mobility programme. The counsel appearing for the Centre told the top court on Friday that they have written to the secretaries of the ministries of external affairs as well as health on the issue. "In terms of the last order, we have written to the secretaries of MEA (ministry of external affairs) as well as Health. Our instruction is that they are on it," the counsel told a bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia. The counsel further said that in the last hearing, the apex court had indicated that a website can be made where information can

Vladimir Putin's conscripts won't win his war but may drag it out

Not only has Russia lost about 80,000 soldiers dead or wounded in Ukraine, according to estimates, but with insufficient manpower for rotation many troops are now spending their eighth month in field