Page 72 - Ukraine

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

Lloyd Austin makes unannounced visit to Ukraine, to meet senior officials

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin made an unannounced visit to Kyiv on Monday in a high-profile push to keep money and weapons flowing to Ukraine even as US and international resources are stretched by the new global risks raised by the Israel-Hamas conflict. Austin, who traveled to Kyiv by train from Poland, is scheduled to meet with senior Ukrainian officials and publicly press Ukraine's urgent military needs as it enters another tough winter of fighting. This is Austin's second trip to Kyiv, but he's making it under far different circumstances. His first visit occurred in April 2022, just two months after Russia's large-scale invasion. At the time, Ukraine was riding a wave of global rage at Moscow's invasion, and Austin launched an international effort that now sees 50 countries meet monthly to coordinate on what weapons, training and other support could be pushed to Kyiv. But the conflict in Gaza could pull attention and resources from the Ukraine fight. The US has worked ...

European Union struggles to produce, send ammunition promised to Ukraine

European Union nations acknowledged on Tuesday that they risk failing to provide Ukraine with the ammunition they pledged to help Kyiv stave off the Russian invasion and win back its territory. Early this year, EU leaders promised to provide 1 million rounds of ammunition to Ukraine's front line by spring next year in what would have amounted to a serious ramp-up of production. But the 27-nation bloc, for over half a century steeped in a peace, not war message and sheltering under a US military umbrella, is finding it tough to come up with the goods. The 1 million will not be reached, you have to assume that, said German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, ahead of a meeting of EU defence and foreign affairs ministers in Brussels. Estonia's defence minister, Hanno Pevkur, said it was crucial to ramp up supply of the ammunition. Look at Russia. They are producing today more than ever. They are getting shells from North Korea. Europe cannot say that ... Russia and North Korea can deliv

Convicted killer of Putin's critic pardoned after fighting against Ukraine

The European Court of Human Rights has condemned Russia for failing to take adequate steps to find those who ordered Politkovskaya's murder, Moscow Times reported

German budget sees more cash for Ukraine, green buildings, industry: Report

Some of the additional spend would be used to replenish the German military's own arsenal, as it has been shipping weapons to Ukraine

Cash-strapped Pakistan sold weapons worth $364 mn to Ukraine: Report

Cash-strapped Pakistan reportedly earned USD 364 million in an arms deal with two private US companies last year to supply ammunition to Ukraine in its war with Russia, according to a media report. A British military cargo plane flew from Pakistan Air Force Base Nur Khan in Rawalpindi to the British military base in Cyprus, Akrotiri, and then to Romania a total of five times to supply arms to the war-torn country, the BBC Urdu reported on Monday. Islamabad has, however, consistently denied that it has provided any ammunition to Ukraine, a neighbouring country to Romania. Citing details of the contract from the American Federal Procurement Data System, the BBC report claimed that Pakistan signed two contracts with American companies named Global Military and Northrop Grumman for the sale of 155mm shells. These agreements to provide weapons to Ukraine were signed on August 17, 2022, and were specifically linked to the purchase of 155mm shells. The Foreign Office in Islamabad has den

Ukraine war: Russia rebuts West's human rights violations charge at UN meet

Western countries on Monday repeatedly called on Russia to end domestic repression of dissident voices and end its war in Ukraine and human rights violations related to it as Russia came under a regular review at the UN's top rights body. A delegation from Moscow, led by State Secretary and Deputy Justice Minister Andrei Loginov, defended Russia's right to ensure law and order by restricting some forms of protest or voices that might threaten domestic security. He also said Russia's special military operation in Ukraine had no relation to the subject matter" at issue in the review. Monday's three-and-half-hour hearing in Geneva was part of an exercise known as the universal periodic review, or UPR, which all UN member states face about every four or five years in connection with the UN-backed Human Rights Council. Russia came under widespread international condemnation after President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February last year. Two separate teams of ...

Ukrainian commander played key role in Nord Stream sabotage: Reports

Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukraine's ground forces, said on Telegram that Russia is trying to recapture positions they previously lost around Bakhmut

Germany set to double Ukraine military aid under Scholz plan: Report

A spokesperson for Germany's Ministry of Defence said the Bundestag committee has not finished negotiations and declined to comment further

Ukraine President Zelenskyy rules out holding elections next spring

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy late Monday ruled out holding a presidential vote in the spring and urged his countrymen to avoid political divides, saying they must concentrate all resources on fighting Russia. Zelenskyy's comments in a video address follow increasing discussions about the possibility of a presidential election in March. Zelenskyy, who was elected for a five-year term in March 2019, had previously avoided definitive statements on the question. His associates had said he was pondering various possibilities. Now, in wartime, when there are so many challenges, it is absolutely irresponsible to throw the topic of elections into society in a lighthearted and playful way, Zelenskyy said, adding that the waves of any politically divisive things must stop". We must realise that now is the time of defense, the time of the battle that determines the fate of the state and people, not the time of manipulations, which only Russia expects from Ukraine, he said. I believe

Ukrainian missile strike on shipyard in Crimea damages Russian ship

The Russian military said a Ukrainian missile strike on a shipyard in annexed Crimea had damaged a Russian ship. The Russian Defence Ministry said late Saturday that Ukrainian forces fired 15 cruise missiles at the Zaliv shipyard in Kerch, a city in the east of the Crimean Peninsula. Air defences shot down 13 missiles but others hit the shipyard and damaged a vessel, a statement from the ministry said. The ministry didn't give details about the ship or the extent of the damage. The Ukrainian air force commander, Mykola Oleshchuk, said in a statement that at the time of the attack carried out by Ukrainian tactical aviation, one of the most modern ships of Russia's Black Sea fleet was at the shipyard carrier of the Kalibr cruise missiles. He didn't say directly, however, that this particular ship was damaged by the strike. The Crimean Peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014, has been a frequent target since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale

Russian attack kills 2 in Ukraine that also damaged Kherson city center

A Russian attack on Kherson in eastern Ukraine killed one person and caused serious damage in the city's center, the region's governor said, and a Russian drone strike killed another civilian in the frequently targeted city of Nikopol. On Wednesday, the attack on Kherson, which Russian forces seized early in the war but then abandoned a year ago, also wounded two people. Despite the withdrawal, Russian attacks from the other side of the Dnieper River persist. Again an apocalyptic scene," regional Gov. Oleksandr Prokudin said on the Telegram messaging app. Broken glass, torn window frames, ruined homes. People with trembling voices telling about what they have been through." In Nikopol, which is on the opposite bank of the Dniper from the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, four people were wounded in the drone strike along with the woman who was killed, according to regional Gov. Serhii Lysak. Oleksii Kuleba, deputy head of Ukraine's presidential office, said "the occupi

Over 40% of Ukrainians need humanitarian help under war conditions: UN

Russian strikes are inflicting unimaginable suffering on the people of Ukraine and more than 40 per cent of them need humanitarian assistance, a senior UN official told the UN Security Council. Ramesh Rajasingham, director of coordination in the UN humanitarian office, said thousands of civilians have been killed in strikes on homes, schools, fields and markets since Russia's invasion in February 20022. The UN human rights office has formally verified 9,900 civilians killed, but he said the actual number is certainly higher. Ukrainian civilians are suffering horrendous humanitarian consequences and unimaginable levels of suffering from the Russian strikes, Rajasingham said. About 18 million Ukrainians more than 40 per cent of the population need some form of humanitarian assistance, and as winter approaches needs will be magnified," he said. Rajasingham said significant damage and destruction of critical infrastructure continues to severely impact civilian access to electricity, .