Page 70 - Ukraine

6 killed in Russian drone-artillery attack in Ukraine, Kherson out of power

Russia fired almost 50 Shahed drones at targets in Ukraine and shelled a train station where more than 100 civilians were gathered to catch a train to Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said on Wednesday. The barrages killed at least five people and knocked out power in most of the southern city of Kherson. The aerial barrage came a day after Ukrainian warplanes damaged a Russian ship moored in the Black Sea off Crimea as both sides' soldiers struggle to make much progress along the front line of the 22-month war. Overnight, the Kremlin's forces launched an artillery and drone bombardment of the Kherson region just as some 140 civilians were waiting for a train at the region's capital city of the same name, according to Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko. The shelling killed one policeman and injured two other police officers, as well as two civilians. More than 100 people who were waiting for the train at the time of the attack arrived in Kyiv on Wednesday morning, national rail ..

Ukrainian forces damage Russian naval ship in Crimea airstrike: Official

A Russian naval ship in Crimea was damaged in an airstrike by Ukrainian forces, Russia's Defence Ministry said Tuesday. The landing ship Novocherkassk was hit at a base in the city of Feodosia by plane-launched guided missiles, the ministry said. The ministry said two Ukrainian fighter jets were destroyed by anti-aircraft fire during the attack. There was no immediate report of how badly the ship was damaged, but videos circulating on Ukrainian channels showed an extensive fire in the port area.

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

Ukraine's parliament legalises use of Marijuana to help treat trauma of war

The parliament's chair, Ruslan Stefanchuk, said, "The list of conditions and ways of using cannabis medicines will be determined by the Ministry of Health"

Ukraine ends year upset over stalemate with Russia, and anxious about aid

The year started with high hopes for Ukrainian troops planning a counteroffensive against Russia. It ended with disappointment on the battlefield, an increasingly somber mood among troops and anxiety about the future of Western aid for Ukraine's war effort. In between, there was a short-lived rebellion in Russia, a dam collapse in Ukraine, and the spilling of much blood on both sides of the conflict. Twenty-two months since it invaded, Russia has about one-fifth of Ukraine in its grip, and the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line has barely budged this year. A crunch has come away from the battlefield. In Western countries that have championed Ukraine's struggle against its much bigger adversary, political deliberations over billions in financial aid are increasingly strained. Russian President Vladimir Putin is playing a waiting game two years into a war that proved to be a costly miscalculation by the Kremlin. He is wagering that the West's support will gradually crumble

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 .

Confident Ukraine will get more US support for war with Russia: Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday he's certain the United States will make good on its promise to provide billions of dollars in further aid for Kyiv to continue its fight against Russia, and he bluntly replied No, to a question about whether his country might lose the war. Speaking at an end-of-year news conference in Kyiv, Zelenskyy also dismissed suggestions that Moscow's forces have come out of 2023 on top after mostly beating back Ukraine's counteroffensive and stepping up its military production. Russia failed to achieve any of its goals this year, he said, although he conceded Ukraine still faces lots of challenges after expending Western military hardware in the counteroffensive that failed to make an impression on the 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line. The US Congress has left town for the holidays without a deal to send some USD 61 billion to Ukraine, and the US Defence Department says it is almost out of money to help Kyiv after almost 22 months

Weighing request for mobilisation of up to 500,000 troops: Zelenskyy

Ukraine's military wants to mobilise up to 500,000 more troops to fight Russia's invasion, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday that he has asked them to spell out their plans in detail on what is a very sensitive matter before deciding whether he grants their wish as the war approaches the two-year mark. Such a major mobilisation would cost Ukraine around 500 billion hryvnias ($13.4 billion), Zelenskyy said. Other aspects to be considered include whether troops currently on the front line would be rotated or allowed home leave after almost 22 months of full-scale war. Ukrainian Ministry of Defence statistics say the Ukrainian army had nearly 800,000 troops in October. That doesn't include National Guard or other units. In total, 1 million Ukrainians are in uniform. Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the country's military to increase the number of troops by nearly 170,000 to a total of 1.32 million. Russia, Ukraine's far bigger neighbo

Biden's push for Ukraine aid stalls in Senate as negotiations drag on

President Joe Biden's push to have Congress replenish wartime aid for Ukraine as part of a deal on border and immigration policy changes will almost certainly drag into next year. The Senate, which had postponed its holiday recess, returned to Washington on Monday after negotiators worked through the weekend on the border legislation, trying to reach an agreement that could unlock the Republican votes for Biden's USD 110 billion package of aid for Ukraine, Israel and other security priorities. But senators said they still had plenty of work ahead, and it remained uncertain how many more days the Senate will remain in session this week. Barely half of the senators returned for a Monday evening vote. Obviously we need time, said Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, the top Democratic negotiator. The delay heaps more uncertainty on the future of the Biden administration's priority of providing support against Russia's invasion. It also puts a potential pause on politically fraught ...

Russia and Ukraine exchange drone attacks hours after EU funding stalled

Russia and Ukraine each reported dozens of attempted drone attacks in the past day, just hours after Hungary vetoed 50 billion Euros (USD 54.5 billion) of EU funding to Ukraine. Ukraine's air force said Saturday that Ukrainian air defense had shot down 30 out of 31 drones launched overnight against 11 regions of the country. Russia also said Friday evening that it had thwarted a series of Ukrainian drone attacks. Russian anti-aircraft units destroyed 32 Ukrainian drones over the Crimean peninsula, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Telegram. Russia annexed the peninsula from Ukraine in 2014, a move that most of the world considered illegal, and has used it as a staging and supply point during the war. Earlier, Russia's Defense Ministry said that six drones had been shot down in the Kursk region, which borders Ukraine. In Ukraine's partially occupied southern Kherson region, Russian-installed governor Vladimir Saldo reported on Telegram that Russian anti-aircraft units had downed

Is the West abandoning Ukraine? Prez Volodymyr Zelenskiy's tough week

France and Germany and others let it be known showing up wouldn't be a good idea, according to people familiar with the discussion, who spoke on condition of anonymity

Village council member in Ukraine sets off grenades during meet, injures 26

A village council member in western Ukraine detonated three hand grenades during a meeting on Friday, critically injuring himself and at least two dozen other people, authorities said. A video posted on social media showed a man entering a room where the village council of Keretsky was meeting to discuss and approve the community's budget. The man, who was preliminary identified as Serhii Batryn, a council member who belongs to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Servant of the People party, took three grenades from his pockets, removed the pins and threw the weapons on the floor in front of him. Thranscarpathian region police said in an official statement that 26 people were injured, six of them critically. The man who set off the grenades suffered grave injuries and medics worked to save his life, police said. There was no immediate word on a possible motive or if the attack was somehow connected to Russia's war in Ukraine.

Hungary blocks European Union aid for Ukraine after membership talks nod

EU leaders will reconvene for a second day of their summit meeting on Friday with several topics on the agenda, including the conflict between Israel and Hamas

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Advantage Moscow: 'Fortress Russia' hasn't turned into 'rubble Russia'

Russia will pay a long-term price, of course, but it has weathered Western sanctions. Its current position isn't what Western powers would have predicted in February 2022, writes T N Ninan

US keeps funding Ukraine's military even as it says it's out of money

The White House has been increasingly pressuring Congress to pass stalled legislation to support Ukraine's war against Russia, saying that funding has run out. On Tuesday, however, President Joe Biden touted a new military aid package worth $200 million for Ukraine. Money is dwindling. But the announcement of more weapons being sent to Kyiv just underscores the complexity of the funding. So has the money run out? Or are there still a few billion dollars floating around? It's complicated. Store credit ... In a Nov. 4 letter to Congress, White House budget director Shalanda Young said flatly: We are out of money to support Ukraine in this fight. This isn't a next year problem. The time to help a democratic Ukraine fight against Russian aggression is right now. Since then, the U.S. has announced three more aid packages totaling $475 million. That may seem contradictory, but it's due to the complex programs used to send aid to Ukraine. There are two pots of money for weapons and sec

Russian President Putin vows victory in war as West wavers on Ukraine

Putin is holding the news conference for the first time since he ordered the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine

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617,000 Russian troops in Ukraine: Putin at rare 4 hour media interaction

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday there would be no peace in Ukraine until the Kremlin realises its goals, which remain unchanged after nearly two years of fighting that has sent tensions soaring between Moscow and the West. Speaking at a year-end news conference that lasted over four hours and offered him an opportunity to reinforce his grip on power, Putin gave some rare details on what Moscow calls its special military operation. He dismissed the need for a second wave of mobilisation of reservists to fight in Ukraine a move that has been deeply unpopular. He said there are some 617,000 Russian soldiers there, including around 244,000 troops who were called up to fight alongside professional military forces. There will be peace when we will achieve our goals, Putin said, repeating a frequent Kremlin line. Victory will be ours. Putin highlighted Russian military gains in Ukraine as the conflict's second winter approached. Almost all along the line of contact our ar

European Union struggles to keep its elementary promises to Ukraine intact

European Union leaders struggled at the start of a two-day summit Thursday to keep their two most elementary promises to Ukraine at war intact to give it the money and wherewithal to stave off the Russian invasion and maintain its hope that one day it will be able to join the wealthy bloc. And stunningly, the threat to that commitment does not come from outside, but from within, from its increasingly recalcitrant member Hungary. The vision of its prime minister, Viktor Orban, heartily shaking hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin two months ago still hung heavy over the summit. Orban came into the summit vowing to both block the plans by his 26 fellow leaders to officially declare that membership negotiations with Ukraine can start, and more pressingly, deny Kyiv 50 billion Euros (USD 54 billion) in financial aid that the country dearly needs to stay afloat. The challenge comes at an especially dire time for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, straight off a trip to ...