Page 98 - Ukraine

Vladimir Putin claims Moscow ready for Ukraine talks as attacks go on

President Vladimir Putin claimed that Russia is ready for talks to end the war in Ukraine even as the country faced more attacks from Moscow a clear sign that peace wasn't imminent. Putin said in a state television interview, excerpts of which were released on Sunday afternoon that Russia is prepared to negotiate some acceptable outcomes with all the participants of this process. He said that it's not us who refuse talks, it's them" something the Kremlin has repeatedly stated in recent months as its 10-month old invasion kept losing momentum. Putin also repeated that Moscow has no other choice and said he believed the Kremlin was acting in the right direction. We're defending our national interests, the interests of our citizens, our people, he said. Putin's remarks come as attacks on Ukraine continue. A country-wide air raid alert was announced twice on Sunday alone, and three missiles in the afternoon hit the city of Kramatorsk in the partially occupied Donetsk region, local .

Nearly 10 dead, 55 wounded after Russian shells strike Ukraine's Kherson

Russian shells pummelled the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson on Saturday, killing at least 10 people and injuring 55 in the city that Moscow's troops were forced to abandon last month. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, just back from his quick trip to Washington, posted photos of the wreckage on his social media accounts. He noted the destruction came as Ukrainians were beginning Christmas celebrations that for many Orthodox Christians will culminate in the traditional celebration on January 7. This is not sensitive content it's the real life of Kherson, Zelenskyy tweeted. The images showed cars on fire, bodies on the street and building windows blown out. Yaroslav Yanushevych, the governor of the Kherson region, said in televised remarks that the number of people killed in the latest shelling of the city has risen from seven to 10. He added that 55 people were wounded, 18 of them in grave condition, including a 6-year-old child. Saturday marks 10 months since the star

Ukraine to require at least $39.5-billion external financing in 2023: IMF

Ukraine will require at least $39.5 billion in external financing in 2023 to keep its economy afloat, a media report said, citing a recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) projection

Russia, IAEA discuss safety of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant

Russian officials and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) held a new round of consultations in Moscow on cooperation in ensuring the safety of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant

'Sooner, the better': Russian Prez Putin says wants to end war in Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow was aiming for a speedy end to the conflict in Ukraine and that fighting should end as soon as possible, a news report said

Ukraine welcomes president Zelenskyy back from US; Putin dismisses trip

Ukrainians welcomed President Volodymyr Zelenskyy back from a wartime visit to the United States, hailing his trip as successful while Russian officials said on Thursday that the visit only fuelled the conflict. The US has announced a new USD 1.8 billion military aid package, including supplies of the Patriot air defense systems, the most powerful such weapons to be delivered to Ukraine yet. They say they may send Patriot there, fine, we will crack the Patriot too, Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters, adding that the deliveries will only extend the fighting. Those who do it do so in vain, it only drags out the conflict. Ukranians saw their president's trip as a rousing success. It's an historical visit, the first one since the war began, said Illia Shvachko, a 32-year-old computer specialist in Kyiv. Getting weapons helps. Putin reaffirmed that Russia is ready for talks with Ukraine on ending the conflict. One way or another, all armed conflicts end with talks, Putin

Zelenskyy urges US Congress to help Ukraine turn the corner in war

"If your Patriots stop the Russian terror against our cities, it will let Ukrainian patriots work to the full to defend our freedom," said Zelenskyy

Zelenskyy tells US Congress he proposed 10-point peace formula to Biden

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the US Congress that he proposed a 10-point peace formula during his meeting with President Joe Biden, which he hoped would result in joint security guarantees for decades ahead. Zelenskyy, 44, met President Biden in the Oval Office and jointly addressed a press conference at the White House on Wednesday. He was given the rare distinction of addressing a joint session of the US Congress on a day packed with back-to-back meetings. We need peace. Ukraine has already offered proposals, which I just discussed with President Biden, our peace formula, ten points which should and must be implemented for our joint security guarantees for decades ahead. And the summit, which can be held, Zelenskyy said in his historic address to the joint session of the Congress. He said that any such discussions would also depend on Russia's willingness to negotiate and the participation of the international legal order, even as he slammed Russian President ...

'Ukraine is alive and kicking', says Zelenskyy in address to US Congress

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed members of the US Congress saying, 'Against all odds, and doom and gloom, Ukraine did not fall. Ukraine is alive and kicking'

Ukraine President Zelenskyy thanks 'every American,' sees 'turning point'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked every American for their support of Ukraine as he delivered an address to Congress on Wednesday aimed at sustaining U.S. and allied support for his country's defense against Russia's brutal invasion. Zelenskyy called U.S. support vital to Ukraine's efforts to beat back Russia, and thanked lawmakers and everyday citizens for tens of billions of dollars in military and economic assistance over the last year. The Ukrainian leader predicted that next year would be a turning point in the conflict, when Ukrainian courage and American resolve must guarantee the future of our common freedom the freedom of people who stand for their values. Zelenskyy received thunderous applause from members of Congress and presented lawmakers with a Ukrainian flag autographed by front-line troops in Bakhmut, in Ukraine's contested Donetsk province, which was held up behind him on the rostrum by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Schumer urges show of support for Ukraine with spending Bill amid war

The Senate inched closer to passing a $1.7 trillion government funding bill Wednesday with supporters pointing to a visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the evening as another reason to advance the measure in a show of support for the beleaguered nation. The measure includes $44.9 billion in emergency assistance to Ukraine and NATO allies, above even President Joe Biden's request, and ensures that funding flows to the war effort for months to come. The measure would also boost U.S. defense spending by about 10% to $858 billion, addressing concerns from some lawmakers that more investment in the nation's military is needed to ensure America's security. The Senate could approve the bill as soon as Wednesday. The House will then have to take it up and pass the measure before midnight Friday to avoid a partial-government shutdown. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., took to the floor Wednesday urging colleague

Washington trip tops Ukrainian prez Zelenskyy's list of surprise war moves

President since 2019, Zelenskiy has made it a point of his leadership to stay in his battered country, close to the people and soldiers fighting in a war

IMF approves new program to support Ukraine's macroeconomic stability

The programme is aimed at mobilising state budget revenues, strengthening the financial sector, and improving management transparency and effectiveness for state-owned enterprises

Russian govt intensifies crackdown targeting human rights group and maps

The Russian government has intensified its crackdown on critics and what it sees as harmful information about its special military operation in Ukraine with moves to ban a human rights group and publication of maps that omit annexed Ukrainian land. The crackdown fits a theme Russian President Vladimir Putin sounded Tuesday in a video address honouring Russia's military and security agencies. Putin, a former KGB operative, called on those forces to redouble their efforts to protect the stability of society and the security of the government against direct threats to internal security. His speech coincided with a report by the state Tass news agency that Russia's Justice Ministry filed a lawsuit to disband one of the country's oldest human rights organizations, the Moscow Helsinki Group. No reason was given for the action, but it fits a pattern against other organizations the government accuses of working against the country's interests. One of the group's leaders told the Meduza news

Zelenskyy visits front-line city of Bakhmut; Putin meets troops in Kremlin

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met Tuesday with troops in the eastern city of Bakhmut, the scene of some of the most intense combat since Russia invaded the country, praising their courage, resilience and strength" as artillery boomed in the background. For his part, Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed the courage and self-denial of his forces in Ukraine but he did so at a ceremony in an opulent and glittering hall at the Kremlin in Moscow, not on the battlefield. Both leaders sought to build morale as the stalemated conflict grinds through its 10th month and winter sets in. Zelenskky met with military personnel in a dimly lit building possibly a disused factory in Bakhmut, which he has called the hottest spot on the entire front line, his office said. The city, about 600 kilometers (380 miles) east of Kyiv, has remained in Ukrainian hands, thwarting Moscow's goal of capturing the rest of Donetsk province and the entire Donbas industrial region. The Ukrainian leader

Ukraine accelerates efforts to erase Russian influence from public spaces

On the streets of Kyiv, Fyodor Dostoevsky is on the way out. Andy Warhol is on the way in. Ukraine is accelerating efforts to erase the vestiges of Soviet and Russian influence from its public spaces by pulling down monuments and renaming hundreds of streets to honour its own artists, poets, soldiers, independence leaders and others including heroes of this year's war. Following Moscow's invasion on Feb. 24 that has killed or injured untold numbers of civilians and soldiers and pummeled buildings and infrastructure, Ukraine's leaders have shifted a campaign that once focused on dismantling its Communist past into one of de-Russification. Streets that honoured revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin or the Bolshevik Revolution were largely already gone; now Russia, not Soviet legacy, is the enemy. It's part punishment for crimes meted out by Russia, and part affirmation of a national identity by honouring Ukrainian notables who have been mostly overlooked. Russia, through the Soviet .

Ukraine boosts border defence with Belarus amid fear of fresh attacks

Amid fears that Russia may be preparing for a fresh attack, Ukraine is boosting the defences of its border with Belarus, a Minister in Kiev has confirmed

UN chief Antonio Guterres strongly hopes for Ukraine war to end in 2023

The United Nations chief expressed strong hopes that the Ukraine war will end in 2023 and on other global hotspots condemned the Iranian government's crackdown on demonstrators, urged all countries to fight terrorist threats from the extreme right and called on the international community to tell Israel's new right-wing government that there is no alternative to the two-state solution. In a wide-ranging end-of-year news conference on Monday, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he sees no prospect of talks to end the war in Ukraine in the immediate future and expects the already escalating military conflict to continue. But he called for everything possible to be done to halt the most devastating conflict in Europe since World War II by the end of 2023 -- which he strongly hopes will happen. On other issues, Guterres urged Afghanistan's Taliban rulers to include all ethnic groups in the government, restore girls' rights to education at all levels and women's rights to work, and to

Russia fires 70 missiles in one of its biggest blitz on Ukraine: Report

Either we'll win the war or world would be destroyed: Putin's key aide

Russia launches another missile attack, explosions in 3 Ukrainian cities

Ukrainian authorities reported explosions in at least three cities on Friday, saying Russia has launched a major missile attack on energy facilities and infrastructure. Local authorities on social media reported explosions in the capital, Kyiv, southern Kryvyi Rih and northeastern Kharkiv as authorities sounded air raid alarms across the country warning of a new devastating barrage of the Russian strikes that have occurred intermittently since mid-October. Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on Telegram that the city is without electricity. The strikes targeting energy infrastructure have been part of a new Russian strategy to try to freeze Ukrainians into submission after several key battlefield losses by Russian forces in recent months.