Page 72 - Ukraine

Biden invites Zelenskyy amid a stepped-up push for Congress to approve aid

President Joe Biden has invited Ukraine's leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to the White House on Tuesday as the US administration steps up the pressure on Congress to provide billions more in aid to Kyiv in the war with Russia. The visit is intended "to underscore the United States' unshakeable commitment to supporting the people of Ukraine as they defend themselves against Russia's brutal invasion," the White House said in a statement Sunday. As Russia ramps up its missile and drone strikes against Ukraine, the leaders will discuss Ukraine's urgent needs and the vital importance of the United States' continued support at this critical moment." Biden has asked Congress for a USD 110 billion package of wartime funding for Ukraine (USD61.4 billion) and Israel, along with other national security priorities. But the request is caught up in a debate over US immigration policy and border security. Earlier, Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday defended the emergency sale to Israel of .

Ukraine war: Samarkand university sees rise in Indian MBBS students

With the war closing Ukraine's door for MBBS aspirants from India, 93-year-old State Samarkand Medical University in Uzbekistan is seeing an exponential rise in the number of Indian students. Till 2021, the public university used to receive around 100 to 150 Indian students and the number has gone up to 3,000 in 2023. The varsity has also accommodated over 1,000 Indian students who were earlier enrolled in various universities in Ukraine and had to leave their courses midway. The number of Indian students has risen exponentially and we are also making adequate arrangements to ensure the trend continues and the students do not have to face any discomfort," Dr Zafar Aminov, Vice Chancellor, State Samarkand Medical University told PTI. "We have hired over 40 teachers from India this year. Our teaching and learning in English only but we wanted to ensure that students do not find it difficult to deal with any difference in accent, Aminov said. This way, the teachers are culturally clos

US aid for Ukraine by yr-end seems out of reach as GOP ties it to security

A deal to provide further US assistance to Ukraine by year-end appears to be increasingly out of reach for President Joe Biden. The impasse is deepening in Congress despite dire warnings from the White House about the consequences of inaction as Republicans insist on pairing the aid with changes to America's immigration and border policies. After the Democratic president said this past week he was willing to make significant compromises on the border, Republicans quickly revived demands that they had earlier set aside, hardening their positions and attempting to shift the negotiations to the right, according to a person familiar with the talks who was not authorized to publicly discuss them and spoke on condition of anonymity. The latest proposal, from the lead GOP negotiator, Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., came during a meeting with a core group of senators before they left Washington on Thursday afternoon. It could force the White House to consider ideas that many Democrats will ...

Ukraine condemns Russian presidential election bid in occupied territory

Ukraine on Saturday strongly condemned Russia's plans to hold presidential elections on occupied Ukrainian territory in the spring. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry called the planned elections null and void and pledged that any international observers sent to monitor them would face criminal responsibility. Lawmakers in Russia on Thursday set the country's 2024 presidential election for March 17. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday moved to prolong his repressive and unyielding grip on Russia for at least another six years, announcing his candidacy in the election. He is all but certain to win. Russian authorities plan to arrange voting in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson territories Moscow illegally annexed from Ukraine in September last year but does not fully control together with the Crimean peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014. The announcement of the presidential election follows local elections for Russian-installed legislatures in occupied parts

Russia launches cruise missile barrage on Ukraine after extended pause

The air raid in Kyiv lasted for nearly two hours, but air defences successfully intercepted all missiles heading towards the capital, said Serhii Popko

'World is watching,' says US President Biden as Israel, Ukraine aids stall

Biden said he was willing to consider immigration policy changes to secure a deal, winning praise from a key Republican lawmaker

Russia intensifies attacks on Ukraine's energy facilities, say UN officials

Intensifying Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy facilities are worsening humanitarian conditions across the war-torn country, where heavy snow and freezing temperatures have already arrived, UN officials said Wednesday. Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenca told the UN Security Council that Russia's continuing daily attacks on Ukraine's critical civilian infrastructure have resulted in civilian casualties, and Moscow recently escalated its barrages in populated areas including the capital, Kyiv. All attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure must stop immediately, he said. They are prohibited under international humanitarian law and are simply unacceptable. Jenca also raised the risks to all four of Ukraine's nuclear power plants. The Zaporizhzhia plant, which is Europe's largest, suffered its eighth complete off-site power outage since the invasion on Saturday, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Jenca said. And IAEA staff at the Khmelnitsky plant

Dutch govt pledges 2.5 bn euro for Ukraine; Zelensky to address US senators

The Dutch government has allocated 2.5 billion euros (nearly $2.7 billion) to support Ukraine in 2024, the country's foreign minister announced during a visit on Tuesday. The announcement comes as the 21-month war drags into another winter and concerns grow that Kyiv's war effort may falter without continued Western support. Foreign Minister Hanke Bruins Slot sought to assure Ukrainian authorities, telling journalists after a meeting with Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba: "My main message to Minister Kuleba was the same as to all of you here. Be assured of our support. Bruins Slot said her country opened a training centre for F-16s in Romania on Nov 13 and is working with the US, Denmark and other countries to see that Ukraine can deploy the fighter jets as soon as possible. Your security is our security, she said. She added that the meeting also touched on Ukraine's aspiration to become a member of the European Union: Your future is with us, she said. Kuleba said while me

Nepal urges Russia not to recruit its citizens into army; says six killed

The small Himalayan nation, wedged between China and India, has no such agreement with Russia, which invaded neighbouring Ukraine in February 2022 and has been engaged in a war since

US nearly out of funds for Ukraine aid, White House warns Congress

The Biden administration on Monday sent Congress an urgent warning about the need to approve tens of billions of dollars in military and economic assistance to Ukraine, saying Kyiv's war effort to defend itself from Russia's invasion may grind to a halt without it. In a letter to House and Senate leaders and also released publicly, Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young warned the US will run out of funding to send weapons and assistance to Ukraine by the end of the year, saying that would kneecap Ukraine on the battlefield. She added that the US already has run out of money that it has used to prop up Ukraine's economy, and if Ukraine's economy collapses, they will not be able to keep fighting, full stop. We are out of money and nearly out of time, she wrote. Biden has sought a nearly USD 106 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other needs, but it has faced a difficult reception on Capitol Hill, where there is growing scepticism about the magnitude of ...

Ukrainian diplomats negotiate climate change at COP28 summit in Dubai

While Ukrainian diplomats take part in negotiations at the United Nations COP28 climate talks, Russia's war on the country lurks just in the background even as the United Arab Emirates has seen its business ties to Moscow surge despite Western sanctions. As Ukraine announced a 450 million euro ($489 million) expansion Monday of a wind farm in its Mykolaiv region, officials highlighted how its turbines would be spread far enough apart to survive any Russian missile attack. They decried continued attacks by Moscow on its energy infrastructure as snow storms grip the country. And an American diplomat forcefully denounced Russian President Vladimir Putin at an event that's seen demonstrators stopped from naming Israel in their protests over its pounding airstrikes and ground offensive in the Gaza Strip against Hamas. The war in Ukraine Putin's invasion represents a fundamental challenge to the international system that the United States and our allies and partners are trying to build,

Nato should be prepared for bad news from Ukraine: Jens Stoltenberg

"I will leave it to the Ukrainians and military commanders to make these difficult operational decisions," Stoltenberg said

President Zelenskyy faces manpower dilemma in Ukraine's stalled offensive

Kostenko, 40, who is also fighting in southern Ukraine, said the military is struggling after long queues at recruitment centers last year have dwindled, with volunteer fighters long at the front line

Russia attacked with 21 drones, 3 cruise missiles: Ukraine's Air Force

The Iranian-made Shahed drones were headed towards the Khmelnitskyi region, and the missiles for the southern parts of Ukraine, the air force said on the Telegram messaging app

Baltic nations boycott OSCE meet over Russian foreign minister's attendance

The foreign ministers of the three Baltic states have said they will boycott a meeting by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe being held this week in North Macedonia, in objection to the participation of Russia's foreign minister. The foreign ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania issued a joint statement on Tuesday saying they deeply regret the decision enabling the personal participation of Russia's Sergey Lavrov. It will only provide Russia with yet another propaganda opportunity. Lavrov said on Monday he planned to travel to Skopje for the OSCE foreign ministers' meeting, a trip which would mark his first visit to a NATO member country since Russia invaded Ukraine. In September, he was in New York to attend the United Nations' annual gathering of world leaders. The 57-nation OSCE was set up during the Cold War to help defuse tension between East and West. North Macedonia currently holds the organisation's rotating presidency and its foreign minister invit

Ukraine shipping more grain through Black Sea despite threat from Russia

Grain thunders into rail cars and trucks zip around a storage facility in central Ukraine, a place that growing numbers of companies turned to as they struggled to export their food to people facing hunger around the world. Now, more of the grain is getting unloaded from overcrammed silos and heading to ports on the Black Sea, set to traverse a fledgling shipping corridor launched after Russia pulled out of a UN-brokered agreement this summer that allowed food to flow safely from Ukraine during the war. It was tight, but we kept working we sought how to accept every ton of products needed for our partners, facility general director Roman Andreikiv said about the end of the grain deal in July. Ukraine's new corridor, protected by the military, has now allowed him to free up warehouse space and increase activity. Growing numbers of ships are streaming toward Ukraine's Black Sea ports and heading out loaded with grain, metals and other cargo despite the threat of attack and floating .

Russia launched largest drone attack since start of the invasion: Ukraine

Russia on Saturday morning launched its most intense drone attack on Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion in 2022, targeting the Ukrainian capital, military officials said. In total, Russia launched 75 Iranian-made Shahed drones against Ukraine, of which 74 were destroyed by air defences, Ukraine's air force said. Kyiv was the main target, Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk wrote on his Telegram channel. The attack was the most massive air attack by drones on Kyiv, said Serhii Popko, head of the Kyiv city administration. Ukrainian air force spokesman Yurii Ihnat confirmed later that the air defences shot down 66 air targets over the capital and surrounding region throughout the morning. At least five civilians were wounded in the hourslong assault, which saw several buildings damaged by falling debris from downed drones, including a kindergarten. The wounded included an 11-year-old child, according to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko. In the city's Solomia

Russia launches 'largest drone attack' on Ukraine since start of invasion

Russia launched Saturday morning its most intense drone attack on Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion in 2022, targeting the Ukrainian capital, military officials said. Kyiv was the main target, wrote Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk, on his Telegram channel. In total, Russia launched around 75 Iranian-made Shahed drones against Ukraine, of which 71 were destroyed by air defense, Ukraine's armed forces said. The attack was the most massive air attack by drones on Kyiv, said Serhii Popko, head of the Kyiv city administration, noting that air defense shot down more than 60 air targets over the capital throughout the morning. The assault on Kyiv began at 4 am local time, continuing in waves for over six hours, and caused power outages in 77 residential buildings and 120 institutions, according to Popko. At least five civilians were wounded in the hours-long drone assault on Kyiv, which saw several buildings damaged, including a kindergarten. The wound

Half of Americans think US spending too much on Ukraine aid: Poll

As lawmakers in Washington weigh sending billions more in federal support to Kyiv to help fight off Russian aggression, close to half of the US public thinks the country is spending too much on aid to Ukraine, according to polling from The Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research. Those sentiments, driven primarily by Republicans, help explain the hardening opposition among conservative GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill who are rebuffing efforts from President Joe Biden to approve a new tranche of Ukraine aid, arguing that the money would be better spent for domestic priorities. Yet opposition to aid is down slightly from where it was a month ago in another AP-NORC poll. Now, 45 per cent say the US government is spending too much on aid to Ukraine in the war against Russia, compared with 52 per cent in October. That shift appears to come mostly from Republicans: 59 per cent now say too much is spent on Ukraine aid, but that's down from 69 per cent in October. Nonetheles

Ukrainians who fled nation for Israel find themselves living with war again

Tatyana Prima thought she'd left the bombs behind when she fled Ukraine more than a year and a half ago, after Russia decimated her city, Mariupol. The 38-year-old escaped with her injured husband and young daughter, bringing the family to safety in southern Israel. The calm she was slowly regaining shattered again on October 7, when Hamas militants invaded. All these sounds of war that we hear now, they sometimes work as a trigger that brings back memories of what we've gone through in Mariupol, she said. "It's hard feeling like that you're the one responsible for your child, the one who wants what's best for them, and in some way like you've failed them. Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, more than 45,000 Ukrainians have sought refuge in Israel, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics and aid groups. Like Prima, most of them were slowly picking up the pieces of their lives and finding ways to cope when the war in Israel erupted. Now they are reliving their traum