Page 52 - Ukraine

Ukraine keeps up air attacks on Kursk, 4 drones destroyed, says Russia

The region was under a dozen air raid alerts over the past 24 hours, Smirnov's posts showed. By Wednesday morning, there were no reports of fresh ground fighting

French imports of Russian LNG surge, Ukraine supporters call for halt

Shipments of Russian liquified natural gas to France more than doubled the first half of this year, according to new analyses of trade data, at a time when Europe has tried to pull back from energy purchases that help finance the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine. Europe has restricted oil imports from Russia, but natural gas is still allowed. And while companies in France are importing the most, one analysis found EU countries overall imported 7% more Russian LNG, natural gas that has been chilled and liquified for easier ocean transport, in the first half of this year compared to the same period a year ago. Oleh Savytskyi, a founder of nonprofit Razom We Stand, which campaigns for tougher sanctions on Russian fossil fuels, said the EU's goal of phasing out all Russian fossil fuels by 2027 was appallingly off track. He said countries buying Russian LNG are sabotaging the continent's energy transition and contributing billions to Russia's war effort. European governments have said banni

Zelenskyy confirms arrival of F-16 fighter jets, thanks allies for help

The US committed to approving the transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine in August last year, after months of lobbying by Kyiv

Russia reports Ukrainian drone barrage, Kyiv says it hit an airfield

Russian officials have said that Ukrainian forces overnight targeted multiple Russian regions with a massive drone barrage. Russia's Defence Ministry said in a statement that its air defence systems intercepted and destroyed a total of 75 drones over a number of regions that lie on the border with Ukraine or not far from it, including Belgorod, Krasnodar, Kursk, Oryol, Rostov, Voronezh, and the Ryazan region deeper inside Russia. One of those drones was also shot down over the Azov sea, the statement said. Thirty-six drones were destroyed over the Rostov region, according to the ministry. Rostov Gov. Vasily Golubev said in an online statement, however, that the region was attacked by a total of 55 drones. He didn't specify how many of these were intercepted and how many hit the targets, saying only that warehouse facilities in the Morozovsk and Kamensky districts sustained damage in the attack. Ukraine's General Staff said on Saturday in a Facebook post that its forces struck an ...

Atmanirbhar shouldn't lead to inefficient import substitution: Ex RBI chief

Owing to supply disruptions caused by the Russian-Ukrainian war, many countries started thinking about being self-sufficient with respect to critical imports' and India needs to ensure that Atmanirbhar should not degenerate into inefficient import substitution', former RBI Governor C Rangarajan said on Saturday. Addressing the 14th Convocation of the ICFAI Foundation For Higher Education, he said India's development strategy should be multidimensional and growth may be stimulated by raising investment rate, emphasizing agriculture, manufacturing and services, absorbing new technologies and promoting a mix of sectors that are employment friendly. Any import substitution must look at cost. Expensive, import substitution is not to the advantage of anybody. What we need to do is efficient import substitution. Atman should not degenerate into the old style import substitution. I think that is contrary to what is good for our country, he said. Jobless growth is certainly a matter of ...

Russia-N Korea defence deal 'risky for the world': Australian foreign min

Australia's foreign minister said on Tuesday the recent defence deal between North Korea and Russia was destabilising and risky for the world, after she visited the tense border village shared by North and South Korea on Tuesday. In June, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a pact stipulating mutual military assistance if either country is attacked, deepening worries about the expanding ties between the countries. The US and its partners have steadfastly accused North Korea of supplying much-needed conventional arms to Russia for its war in Ukraine in return for military and economic assistance. I also want to say something about the security pact between North Korea and Russia. And say again, this is destabilising. This is risky for the world and again we say Russia is behaving in ways which are not conducive to peace but are escalatory, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong told reporters following a visit to the southern side of the Korean

US to send $ 1.7 billion in military aid including munitions to Ukraine

The US will send USD 1.7 billion in military aid to Ukraine, officials announced on Monday, including an array of munitions for air defence systems, artillery, mortars and anti-tank and anti-ship missiles. The package includes USD 1.5 billion in funding for long-term contracts through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, and USD 200 million in immediate military aid taken from Pentagon stockpiles. The latest infusion of weapons comes a bit more than two weeks after the NATO summit in Washington, where allies focused a significant amount of time on shoring up support for Ukraine as it fends off Russian forces. President Joe Biden announced during the summit that the U.S. would send a Patriot missile battery to Ukraine, answering a key plea from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. NATO members agreed to create a new program to provide reliable military aid to Ukraine and prepare for its eventual membership in the alliance. And they declared Ukraine was on an irreversible

Ukrainian troops say Russia has driven them out of 2 more Donetsk villages

Russian forces have overrun two front-line villages in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, a Ukrainian army sergeant said Monday, after relentless assaults that are part of a Kremlin summer push to overwhelm battlefield defences there. Separately, attacks in Russia's Kursk region by the Security Service of Ukraine, also known as the SBU, struck a number of substations causing power outages, according to a statement from the General Staff of Ukraine. The claim of responsibility came after Russia said it thwarted a nighttime Ukrainian drone attack. They pressed non-stop to capture Vovche and Prohres, the chief sergeant of Ukraine's 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade, Oleh Chaus, told Radio Svaboda. They sent in a large number of troops, which had not previously been used. Russia's Defence Ministry claimed in recent days that it had taken control of the villages, but the Ukrainian General Staff made no official comment. The villages lie about 30 kilometres northwest of Avdiivka, a Donetsk

India will have more contacts with Ukraine & Russia: EAM Jaishankar

India will have more contacts with Ukraine and Russia going forward as such engagements by countries talking to both sides are important to resolve their conflict, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Monday, days after it emerged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi may visit Kyiv next month. Jaishankar said India's position has been that a solution to the conflict will not emerge from the battlefield, and cautioned that it could be "fatalistic" to allow the situation to take its course and wait for events in some other parts of the world to provide some help to end the crisis. "We do believe that we should be more active there," he said during an interactive session at Japan National Press Club. Jaishankar is on a three-day visit to Japan. "I can reasonably expect that there will be more contacts between us and Ukraine and between us and Russia as well," he said, replying to a question on reports of Modi's likely visit to Kyiv next month. Declining to give a specific answ

Family of Indian man killed in Russia Ukraine war waits for his remains

Ravi Moun, 21, travelled to Russia in January after being contacted by an agent who promised him a job in the transport sector, his relatives told Reuters

5 killed, dozens wounded as Russia strikes Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region

Five civilians died and 15 more were wounded following Russian strikes on Saturday and overnight in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, its governor said, as Moscow claimed further gains in its monthslong grinding offensive in the country's war-battered industrial heartland. Shortly after Donetsk Gov. Vadym Filashkin reported on the casualties Sunday, other local Ukrainian officials said Russian shelling wounded more civilians in the east and south. At least eight people suffered wounds after Moscow's forces on Sunday struck the eastern Ukrainian city of Nikopol, local Gov. Serhii Lysak reported that same day. Lysak said a toddler and a 10-year-old girl were among the victims, six of whom had to be hospitalised. Russian shelling on Sunday also wounded eight further civilians, including a 10-year-old and two teenagers, in a village in Ukraine's southern Kherson province, local official Roman Mrochko reported. Russia started its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, sending

India, Ukraine explore possibility of PM Modi's visit to Kyiv next month

India and Ukraine are looking at the possibility of a visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Kyiv next month amid renewed global efforts to bring peace to the eastern European nation, multiple diplomatic sources said on Saturday. Modi might visit Kyiv around the Ukrainian National Day on August 24 and is expected to travel to Poland after concluding the trip to Ukraine, the sources said. The prime minister held talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last month on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Italy's Apulia. If Modi travels to Poland, it would be the first by an Indian prime minister to that country in more than four decades. India and Ukraine are looking at Modi's visit to Kyiv in the later half of August, the sources said, adding that there is no finality on the trip yet as massive preparations would be required in terms of logistics and related issues. The prime minister's two-nation visit might begin around August 23-24, the sources said. There is no officia

In a 1st, US, Canada intercept China-Russia joint patrol jets near Alaska

A statement from Norad maintained that the bombers remained in international airspace in Alaska's Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) and were 'not seen as a threat'

Agreement with Russia is 'deal with devil,' adviser to Ukrainian prez says

Signing an agreement with Russia to stop the war with Ukraine would amount to signing a deal with the devil, a top adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, as pressure mounts on the country to seek an end to more than two years of fighting. A deal would only buy time for Russian President Vladimir Putin to strengthen his army and usher in another, potentially more violent chapter in the war, Mykhailo Podolyak told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday. If you want to sign a deal with the devil, who will then drag you to hell, well, go for it. This is what Russia is, Podolyak said when asked about the prospects for a peace deal for Kyiv, whose forces are locked in a bloody war of attrition with Moscow's troops in eastern Ukraine. If you sign anything today with Russia, that will not lose the war and will not be legally responsible for mass crimes, this will mean that you have signed yourself a ticket to continue the war on a different scale, with other ...

Threat of attacks, fear for families: How Ukrainians trained for Olympics

The fear of death has been a constant in an average Ukrainian's life ever since the war with Russia broke out in 2022 and that includes the majority of the country's 143-strong athlete contingent here for the Olympics beginning on Friday. Even in normal circumstances, the pressure to perform on the biggest sporting stage can take a toll on the best in the business. In the case of Ukrainian athletes, it's hard to imagine how they were able to train for the mega-event with missile attacks and air sirens becoming a part of their lives for the past 29 months. Electricity almost became non-existent with power grids destroyed by the conflict. In the eyes of Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the athletes who are in Paris are already "heroes" and that is what he told them in a virtual address on Wednesday. Teenaged diving sensation Oleksiy Sereda and slalom canoeist Viktoriia Us were part of the call with president Zelenskyy. Speaking to PTI outside the Athletes' Village, both Sered

Ukraine minister seeks 'common ground' with China in talks on ending war

Ukraine's foreign minister said Wednesday that he is seeking common ground in talks with his Chinese counterpart on ending his country's war with Russia. The Russian invasion of Ukraine, now in its third year, has strained relations between the two countries. Video released by Ukraine's Foreign Ministry showed Dmytro Kuleba arriving at the meeting venue in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou and exchanging remarks with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi. It is the first visit by a Ukrainian foreign minister since the war started in 2022. Wang said that China attaches great importance to its relations with Ukraine. Noting the growth in trade between the two countries, he said that their relations have continued to develop normally despite complex and ever-changing international and regional situations. China has close ties with Russia and has pushed for an end to the war that would take into account the interests of both sides. That position has put it at odds not only with Ukraine

Biden's withdrawal from presidential race spells uncertainty for Ukraine

US President Joe Biden's decision to end his campaign for reelection brings a new element of uncertainty for Ukraine, which is struggling to fend off Russian advances even as it worries about the future of American support. The prospect of victory for former President Donald Trump, the Republican contender, has long concerned Kyiv, which fears he would choke off support and force Ukraine to sue for peace on terms that favor Russia. But while the Democrats hope Biden's decision to drop out and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris will inject energy into their campaign, it's unclear whether it makes Trump's defeat more likely. Officials in Moscow, widely thought to favor Trump, were noncommittal. Kyiv resident Yulia Loginova said she found it impossible to predict how Biden's departure would affect Ukraine. I don't know, honestly, she said. Surprises every day. But he did the right thing. Phillips O'Brien, professor of strategic studies at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland,

Russia trades drone, missile attacks with Ukraine; claims gains in east

Russia and Ukraine exchanged drone, missile and shelling attacks on Sunday. At least two people were killed in Ukrainian strikes on the partly Russian-occupied Donetsk region, Russian state media said, while Ukrainian officials said Russian strikes wounded at least five people. Along the front line in the east, Russia said it had taken control of two villages, one in the Kharkiv region and one in the Luhansk region. Ukrainian shelling of Russia-held areas of the Donetsk region killed two people in the village of Horlivka, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti said. Three people were wounded by Russian drone strikes in southern Ukraine's partly occupied Kherson region, local officials said Sunday morning. In the country's northeast, officials in the Kharkiv region said two people were wounded when a village was hit by Russian shells. Overnight into Sunday, Ukraine's air defences intercepted 35 of the 39 drones launched by Russia, according to air force commander Mykola Oleschuk. In

EAM Jaishankar, Ukrainian counterpart discuss developing bilateral ties

In June this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Italy

US calls India 'key partner', urges support for lasting peace in Ukraine

India has always advocated peace and diplomacy for resolving the conflict between Ukraine and Russia