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The Russian invasion of Ukraine

Poland Mulls Shooting Down Russian Missiles over Ukraine​


Poland is weighing the possibility of downing Russian missiles over Ukraine using its air defense systems.

"This issue is being considered from a legal and technical point of view, but there are no decisions in this matter," Polish Foreign Ministry spokesman Pawel Wronski told Ukrainian news outlet Ukrinform on Wednesday.

The news comes amid rising tensions between Russia and NATO member Poland over the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Warsaw has been forced to scramble its fighter jets to protect its airspace during large-scale Russian missile strikes on Ukraine. Poland has said that Russian missiles fired at western Ukraine entered its airspace on multiple occasions. Russia has said incursions were accidental.

www.newsweek.com

Poland mulls shooting down Russian missiles over Ukraine

A Polish official said discussions about stepping up NATO country's role in the conflict were underway, according to reports in Ukrainian media.
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Fatal strikes rock Kharkiv as Russia claims fresh advances​


The surrounding region of Kharkiv has become the latest flashpoint of the war after Russian forces launched a surprise ground offensive in the northeast border territory this month, forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents.

The barrage of more than a dozen projectiles came as Moscow said it captured Andriivka in the industrial Donetsk region, one of the few villages Ukraine wrested back in its lacklustre counteroffensive last summer.

Kyiv's forces are suffering manpower and ammunition shortages and struggling to hold off Russian attacks.

Emergency workers were clearing debris, extinguishing flames and retrieving victims from the rubble in the aftermath of the latest attack on Kharkiv, images distributed by Ukrainian officials showed.

President Volodymyr Zelensky described the barrage as "brutal" and said Russia was "taking advantage" of Ukraine's lack of air defence systems to launch fatal attacks on towns and cities at his country's border.

The regional governor said seven people had been killed and that another 16 were wounded.

Ukraine's national railway operator said civilian railway infrastructure had been hit in Kharkiv and the surrounding region in the aerial assault and that six employees had been wounded.

Regional authorities said a printing press had also been damaged.

Kharkiv, which is the second-largest city in Ukraine and lies just dozens of kilometres from the border with Russia, has been under persistent shelling since Moscow's forces invaded in February 2022.

"Russian terrorists are taking advantage of the fact that Ukraine still lacks sufficient air defence protection," Zelensky said on social media.

Ukrainian officials have been urging allies to send more air defences and this week suggested that Kyiv's neighbours shoot down Russian missiles using systems deployed in their own countries.

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba again called on Ukraine's Western partners to send seven Patriot systems, saying "they are needed now, not tomorrow."

"No naming and shaming, but I once again urge countries that have Patriots to speed up decisions and provide these systems to Ukraine," Kuleba added in a social media post.

Separately, the head of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region, which the Kremlin claims is part of Russian territory, said a 74-year-old man was killed by Russian shelling on the village of Mala Tokmachka.

Russian forces have in recent weeks made their biggest territorial gains in a year in the war-battered east as Ukraine waits for desperately needed US and European weapon supplies.

The defence ministry in Moscow said on Thursday it had recaptured the village of Andriivka in the eastern Donetsk region.

The advances in Kharkiv have forced nearly 11,000 people to flee their homes since Moscow launched its ground assault on May 10, regional officials meanwhile said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said his army launched the offensive in Kharkiv to create a buffer zone that would protect Russian border villages from Ukrainian attacks.

www.rfi.fr

Fatal strikes rock Kharkiv as Russia claims fresh advances

Russian strikes on Ukraine's second-largest city Kharkiv killed at least seven people, authorities said Thursday, as Moscow claimed fresh advances on the front line.
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Russia is fast losing their future. Their already declining population is losing more marriage aged men due to this war.

Putin must go. He still dreams of old soviet glory.
 
Champ_Pal said:
Russia is fast losing their future. Their already declining population is losing more marriage aged men due to this war.

Putin must go. He still dreams of old soviet glory.
Click to expand...
He has no intentioned of restoring the Soviet era. Stop parroting BBC news.

Putin wanted this war to end a long time ago but Boris Johnson under the mentorship of the Biden administration forced Zelensky to not agree to the terms.
 

Russia Loses 40 Artillery Systems, 27 APVs and 1 Aircraft in a Day: Kyiv​


Russian forces lost 40 artillery systems, 27 armored personnel vehicles and one jet in the past day, Ukraine's military said on Thursday.

In an update posted to social media, Ukraine said Russia had lost a total of 12,860 artillery pieces and 14,748 armored personnel vehicles since the conflict began in February 2022. Newsweek couldn't independently verify Ukraine's tally, and reached out to the Russian defense ministry for comment via email. Russia doesn't give updates on its own losses, and experts are cautious about statistics put forward by both sides.

Late on Wednesday, Ukraine's General Staff said its fighters had destroyed a Russian Su-25 jet in fighting close to the Donetsk city of Pokrovsk. The figures released on Thursday included the loss of one Russian aircraft, increasing Ukraine's count of downed Russian jets to 355 since the outbreak of full-scale war.

Ukraine and Western sources have said fighting on the eastern front lines, including east to Pokrovsk, is blazing on despite Russia's offensive on Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region. Pokrovsk sits west of the former Ukrainian stronghold of Avdiivka, captured by Russia in February, and is a hotspot for clashes.

Moscow's defense ministry said on Thursday that Ukraine had lost more than 600 aircraft since February 2022, as well as 9,771 field artillery and mortar guns. This also couldn't be independently verified.

Last month, Leo Docherty, Britain's minister of state for the armed forces, said U.K. intelligence indicated Moscow had lost over 10,000 armored vehicles, including around 3,000 main battle tanks. Russia has lost approximately 109 fixed-wing aircraft, he added, as well as more than 1,500 artillery systems. This equipment has been destroyed, abandoned, or captured by Ukraine, he said.

Reports from Ukraine's military, and Russian and Ukrainian media, indicate that Kyiv has likely destroyed at least six Russian aircraft of various types, including MiG-31 and Su-25 jets, since May 14.

Over the weekend, Ukraine's SBU security service damaged a Russian Su-27 jet during an attack on Russia's Kushchyovskaya air base, independent Russian outlet Astra reported. Separately, on Saturday, Ukraine's 110th Separate Mechanized Brigade, fighting on the eastern front, said its fighters had shot down a Russian Su-25.

www.newsweek.com

Russia loses 40 artillery systems, 27 APVs and an aircraft in one day: Kyiv

Ukraine said Russia has lost a total of 12,860 artillery pieces and 14,748 armored personnel vehicles since the conflict began.
www.newsweek.com www.newsweek.com
 
Russian strike on Kharkiv supermarket kills 12

At least 12 people have been killed and 43 others wounded after Russian forces hit a supermarket in the northern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv with two glide bombs, local officials say.

A large fire could be seen raging at the Epicentr K home improvement store on the northern outskirts of the city.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said over 200 people could have been inside the supermarket when it was attacked.

President Zelensky added: "This strike on Kharkiv is another manifestation of Russian madness.

"Only madmen like [Russian President Vladimir] Putin are capable of killing and terrorising people in this way."

A second strike in central Kharkiv later on Saturday injured eight people, according to Mr Terekhov.

The attack will underline the anxiety that Ukrainians feel about not having suitable air defences.

Mr Zelensky reiterated that Ukraine needed to be able to defend itself and needed air defence systems from Western allies.

The attack followed a summit in Italy where G7 finance ministers backed the idea of using profits from frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine's war effort.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said there was broad-based support for the idea.

Under an American proposal, the G7 and its allies would use frozen Russian assets held in Western banks as collateral for a $50 billion loan to Kyiv. The idea will be discussed further next month.

Russia has threatened retaliation.

The latest attack on Kharkiv is another sign of Moscow's growing confidence. Its forces appear to be taking advantage of a window of opportunity to push their advantage while Ukraine waits for further Western weapons to arrive at the front.

Glide bombs of the type used in the attack on are built by adding fold-out wings and satellite navigation to old Soviet bombs. They are cheap but destructive.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said 3,000 such bombs were dropped on the country in March alone.

The Centre for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) said in a recent report that they were decisive in February’s capture of the key eastern town of Avdiivka.

BBC
 
Russia strikes crowded store in Ukraine’s Kharkiv

This is the moment Russian strikes hit a crowded hardware store in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, killing at least four people and injuring dozens.


Al Jazeera
 

Force Russia to make peace, Zelensky urges West​

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged Western leaders to pressure Russia into peace using "all means" necessary.

Speaking in Spain, Mr Zelensky said there needed to be "tangible coercion of Russia" , which was seeking to "destroy Ukraine and move on".

Mr Zelensky has long said he will not negotiate with Russia directly until Moscow's forces leave all Ukrainian territory, including Crimea.

His call, however, comes as Russia makes gains against Ukraine, with Kyiv suffering from a shortage of Western-supplied weapons.

Russia, President Zelensky said, was dropping some 3,200 guided aerial bombs on Ukraine each month.

"How do you fight that?" he asked reporters in Madrid where he met Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.

The Ukrainian leader rejected the idea of inviting Russia to a planned peace summit in Switzerland next month.

The summit is expected to include representatives of more than 90 countries.

Delegates will try to chart a course for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine based on 10 demands set forth by Kyiv calling for the return of all invaded territory, reparation payments for war-related damages and the creation of a special tribunal to prosecute Russian war crimes, a plan that Moscow has flatly rejected.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready for talks but only "to achieve the objectives now being achieved via the special military operation", as Russia describes the Ukraine war.

In Madrid, Mr Zelensky urged Western leaders to lift bans on donated weapons being used to strike internationally recognised Russian territory.

Most Western countries, including the US, have insisted Kyiv focuses its attacks on Russian forces occupying Ukrainian territory.

"We need to work together and put pressure not only on Russia, but also on our partners to give us the opportunity to defend ourselves against Russia," the Ukrainian leader said.

One of the conditions for receiving billions of pounds worth of aid from Western allies, is for Kyiv to outline its own vision for how this war should end.

It’s why President Zelensky previously published a “10-point peace plan” which includes the complete withdrawal of Russian forces and guarantees against future Russian aggression.

It is what Kyiv has always called for, but the tone has changed.

The summit in Switzerland is generating urgency for President Zelensky. He wants to galvanise international momentum behind his terms.

Until now it has mostly been Ukraine calling for a complete Russian retreat, and the West has tried to support it in that endeavour. The summit could be his only chance to make it a non-negotiable for his allies, too, and keep the negotiating table at bay.

The more nations turn up, the more political pressure could be felt by the Kremlin.

Or at least that is the hope.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said any kind of peace deal would have to “reflect the reality on the battlefield”. That reality involves his troops continuing to wage a major cross-border offensive into Ukraine’s north-eastern Kharkiv region. More villages are being captured as a result.

As has been the case for the past 18 months, his soldiers are not just capturing territory, they are keeping hold of it. Russia, or Vladimir Putin, isn’t having to compromise on anything, yet.

But what Kyiv argues is that any compromise or grey area plays into Moscow’s hands. It points to previous failed ceasefires during Russia’s decade of aggression, as well as the argument that Mr Putin will want to take the whole of Ukraine eventually, as the world’s gaze turns elsewhere.

Ukrainian commanders are claiming to be in control of the situation, and President Zelensky resuming international travel possibly reflects that.

What will have also fuelled his trip to Madrid, is his constant need to combat war fatigue and secure continued military and humanitarian aid.

An announced $1bn (£783m) package from Spain shows Mr Zelensky’s diplomacy can still bear fruit.

President Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Source: BBC
 
He should be demanding this a lot earlier but he was just concerned on getting more aid and weapons.
 

Ukraine striking targets deep inside Russia with Western weapons – AFP​


Ukraine has used Western weapons against targets inside what it recognizes as Russian territory on multiple occasions, Agence France Presse (AFP) has claimed.

Some senior Western officials have urged nations that donate longer-range munitions to Ukraine not to ban their use deep inside Russia, while others have publicly objected to the idea. A restriction against such strikes has notably been imposed by the US, the main supplier of arms to Kiev. Washington has said the ban is meant to prevent an escalation of the conflict, and has made no indication that it will be lifted.

On Tuesday, the news agency cited several experts, who believe that donors should not be concerned, because several other Russian red lines have supposedly been crossed without consequence.

”Western weapons have already been used on several occasions against Russia’s territory, most recently against the southern town of Krasnodar, several Western sources said,” the report claimed.

AFP offered no details on those incidents or the weapons involved. British Foreign Secretary David Cameron has publicly stated that Ukraine “has the right” to hit targets in Russia with UK-made arms.

Last week, a Ukrainian intelligence source claimed that the country had targeted an early warning radar station based in Russia’s Krasnodar Region on May 22, and later another site in Orenburg Region.

Both locations have roles in nuclear deterrence. Their primary task is to detect an incoming missile and give the military enough time to launch a retaliation before nuclear weapons hit Russian territory.

The claim was given some credence by Dmitry Rogozin, a former senior Russian military official and now a lawmaker. He said it could be false, but if true, it means that Washington “has hired a reckless bandit, who is trying to damage… a key element of our system of strategic nuclear forces combat control.”

According to public statements by the Russian leadership, the country does retaliate when its red lines are crossed in the Ukraine conflict. After Kiev damaged the Crimean Bridge with a truck loaded with explosives in 2022, Moscow added Ukraine’s power grid to its list of military targets.

This year’s campaign of Ukrainian kamikaze drone raids on Russian oil facilities resulted in retaliatory missile strikes against Ukrainian thermal power stations. As of this week, all of them were either destroyed or damaged, according to Yury Boyko, a senior Ukrainian energy official.

www.rt.com

Ukraine striking targets deep inside Russia with Western weapons – AFP

Ukraine has already used Western-provided weapons against targets deep inside Russia, AFP has claimed
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Soldiers in Ukraine say US-supplied tanks have made them targets for Russian strikes​

Ukrainian crews working on US-supplied Abrams tanks have told CNN of a series of the weaknesses and flaws with the armored vehicles, calling into doubt their utility on the war’s ever-changing frontlines. The donation was announced by US President Joe Biden as evidence of the United States’ “enduring and unflagging commitment to Ukraine.”

CNN journalists were the first reporters to see the M1 Abrams in Ukraine, at a location in the country’s east, where around six vehicles were visible, hiding in the foliage.

Crews trained in Germany said the vehicles – the US military’s main $10 million battle tank used in Iraq against Saddam Hussein’s forces and insurgents – lacked armor that could stop modern weapons.

“Its armor is not sufficient for this moment,” said one crew member, callsign Joker. “It doesn’t protect the crew. For real, today this is the war of drones. So now, when the tank rolls out, they always try to hit them.”

His colleague, Dnipro, added they are the “number one target.”

“Without defense, the crew doesn’t survive at the battlefield,” he said.

All 31 Abrams deployed to Ukraine are engaged near the frontline in the east, according to officials in the 47th Mechanised Brigade, who took receipt of them all. The Ukrainian request for Abrams, complex and heavy tanks, sparked significant debate in early 2023, as the American vehicle has a complex supply chain. Some versions even run on jet fuel.

Pentagon officials said in April that the Abrams were pulled back from the frontline due to the threat of Russian attack drones, although the 47th said some were still in action, despite the deficiencies that had materialized.

Much of the Ukrainian frontline is now dominated by the use of self-destructing attack drones, tiny and accurate devices that can swarm infantry and even cause significant damage to tanks. The advent of these so called First-Person Vision (FPV) drones, flown by soldiers wearing gaming goggles, has changed the nature of the war, limiting movement and introducing a new element of vulnerability to armored vehicles.

This Ukrainian crew have learned of the Abrams’ limitations the hard way, in pitched battles around the town of Avdiivka, which Russia finally took control of in February. A driver lost a leg when the armor was penetrated. Yet it is not just innovation that is hamstringing the tanks — they appear to have technical issues too.

One, parked under a tree, was almost immobile during CNN’s visit, due to an engine problem, the crew say, despite the vehicle having just been shipped in from Poland. They also complain of how, in rain or fog, condensation can fry the electronics inside the vehicle.

Source: CNN
 
Soldiers in Ukraine say US-supplied tanks have made them targets for Russian strikes

Ukrainian crews working on US-supplied Abrams tanks have told CNN of a series of the weaknesses and flaws with the armored vehicles, calling into doubt their utility on the war’s ever-changing frontlines. The donation was announced by US President Joe Biden as evidence of the United States’ “enduring and unflagging commitment to Ukraine.”

CNN journalists were the first reporters to see the M1 Abrams in Ukraine, at a location in the country’s east, where around six vehicles were visible, hiding in the foliage.

Crews trained in Germany said the vehicles – the US military’s main $10 million battle tank used in Iraq against Saddam Hussein’s forces and insurgents – lacked armor that could stop modern weapons.


 
hassan918 said:
He should be demanding this a lot earlier but he was just concerned on getting more aid and weapons.
Click to expand...
He is not running the show. The Americans are. There will be peace when the Americans decide to have peace.
 
Biden gives Ukraine permission to carry out limited strikes within Russia using US weapons


President Joe Biden has given permission to Ukraine to strike inside Russian territory with American munitions, though he has restricted their use so Kyiv can only hit targets over the border close to Kharkiv after Russia made significant advances around the city in the northeastern part of the country close to the Russian border, two US officials told CNN on Thursday.

“The president recently directed his team to ensure that Ukraine is able to use US supplied-weapons for counterfire purposes in Kharkiv so Ukraine can hit back at Russian forces hitting them or preparing to hit them,” one of the officials said.

The loosening of the restrictions marks a break from long-standing policy and comes amid growing international pressure from close US allies. But it is limited to the area around Kharkiv, and Ukraine has not requested permission beyond that, the official said, adding that they do not anticipate the US widening the area allowed.


 

Russia pounds Ukrainian energy facilities with missile and drone barrage​

Russian forces have launched a barrage of missiles and drones across Ukraine that damaged energy infrastructure in five regions, according to Ukrainian officials.

Ukraine’s national grid operator Ukrenergo said on Saturday the attacks struck facilities in the eastern Donetsk, southeastern Zaporizhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions, as well as the Kirovohrad and Ivano-Frankivsk region in the centre and west of the country, respectively.

“Today morning the Russians launched another strike on Ukrainian energy facilities. Since March it is already the sixth massive, complex, missile and drone attack against the civilian energy infrastructure,” Ukrenergo said.

Ukrainian air defence shot down 35 of 53 Russian missiles and 46 of 47 Russian drones, the air force commander said.

The defence ministry of Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of neighbouring Ukraine in February 2022, said later on Saturday that its forced that Russia had launched retaliatory strikes with high-precision weapons on Ukraine’s energy facilities operating for its military industrial complex, as well as depots with weapons supplied from Western countries.

Since March, Russia has stepped up its bombardments of the Ukrainian power infrastructure, knocking out the bulk of the thermal and hydropower generation, causing blackouts, and pushing electricity imports to record highs.

DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy-generating company, said its two thermal power plants had been hit and equipment “seriously damaged”.

Regional officials reported that firefighters were extinguishing fires on several sites following the strikes. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

www.aljazeera.com

Russia pounds Ukrainian energy facilities with missile and drone barrage

Ukrainian officials say the attacks damaged infrastructure in five regions across the country.
www.aljazeera.com www.aljazeera.com
 
Pakistan may skip Ukraine peace summit amid efforts to maintain neutrality

Pakistan is unlikely to attend the Ukraine peace summit in Switzerland as the South Asian country carefully treads its way on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, The Express Tribune reported.

Despite being extended an invitation for the first time to such an international conference on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, sources told the news outlet that Pakistan is likely to skip the summit as part of its efforts to maintain “neutrality” on the issue.

The two-day summit, scheduled for June 15-16, will bring together various countries from the so-called Global South. However, Russia, a main party to the conflict, has not been invited to the event, raising questions about the credibility of the process.

While quoting a source, the newspaper reported that it might not be beneficial for Pakistan to attend the conference as Russia was not invited to it. The source added that a final decision on Pakistan’s participation has yet to be made.

China, another key player, has already decided to stay away from the summit, with officials in Beijing questioning the credibility of the process.

Observers believe that while Pakistan usually takes cues from China on such international and regional issues, Western countries may be quietly persuading Islamabad to attend the conference.

The invitation to the Ukraine Peace Summit comes against the backdrop of Pakistan’s diplomatic maneuvers during the early stages of the Russian invasion. In February 2022, then-Prime Minister Imran Khan was in Moscow, a visit that raised eyebrows, particularly in the West.

Imran Khan later cited the Moscow trip as one of the main reasons behind his ouster through a vote of no confidence, claiming that the US was unhappy with his move and conspired against his government. However, the US has denied the allegations, and opposition parties dismissed the involvement of any foreign hand.


AAJ News
 

Is Iranian military support for Russia’s war in Ukraine ‘at a new level’?​


Iranian drones are ‘a danger we’re fighting with’, a Ukrainian expert warns, as conflict rages for a third year.

In a video posted online on May 26, the unidentified man said the white drone belonged to Ukraine and carried “missiles”.

German military analyst Julian Roepke said the drone was a malfunctioned heavy, Iranian-made Mohajer-6 drone.

“Iranian arms support for Russia at a new level,” he posted on X.

The crash landing revealed an unpleasant surprise for Ukraine.

The alleged “missiles” attached to the crashed drone were high-precision aerial bombs that were supposed to be dropped on the northern Ukrainian region of Sumy, analyst Roepke said.

Tehran supplies them to Moscow – along with cheaper, slower Shahed “kamikaze” drones, artillery shells and, reportedly, ballistic missiles. Observers say they are sent in return for the Kremlin’s international backing and far more advanced Russian weaponry that can shield Iran from potential Israeli and United States attacks.

Since 2022, Shaheds have become “ersatz cruise missiles” that allow Moscow to launch massive, frequent assaults on energy infrastructure and civilian sites, according to Ukrainian military analyst Mykhailo Zhirokhov.

“In the fall of 2022, Russians almost succeeded in plunging the entire country into darkness with the help of such drones,” Zhirokhov told Al Jazeera.

The sight and sound of Shaheds horrified Ukrainians, and the destruction they caused brought the war to the doorsteps of millions.

“I thought I saw my death,” retired nurse Oleksandra Kozodub told Al Jazeera, recalling the white, triangular Shahed she had seen in central Kyiv during a first heavy drone attack in October, 2022.

“I just sat on the asphalt and looked at it fly by,” she said about the attack that killed six, including a pregnant woman.

In dozens of subsequent attacks, swarms of the drones killed hundreds, destroyed power and transmission stations, and damaged residential buildings.

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Tehran’s arms put “Iran in a place where it could potentially be contributing to widespread war crimes”.

Kyiv accused Tehran of dispatching Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps servicemen to Russia-occupied Ukrainian regions to instruct Russian troops on how to launch the Shaheds.

“We strongly deny this news,” Nasser Kanani, an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, was quoted by AFP as saying on October 24, 2022.

Yet weeks later in November, Ukrainian intelligence claimed to have killed 10 such instructors in annexed Crimea.

Ukrainians learned quickly how to shoot down the Shaheds with assault rifles and advanced Western air defence systems.

They derogatorily nicknamed them “mopeds” for their slow speed and the sound they make.

But Russia started assembling hundreds of modified Shaheds, which it calls Gerans, monthly near the western Russian city of Yelabuga.

They are painted black for lower visibility and have Russian-made Kometa-M antennae to suppress radio-electronic jamming.

In April, Ukraine struck the Yelabuga plant with long-distance drones.

Protokol, an independent Russian media outlet, reported in July, 2023 that Russian college students are forced to assemble the drones at the factory, working long shifts without breaks alongside dozens of young women hired from Uganda, Ethiopia and Tanzania.

Shaheds and Gerans overwhelm Western-supplied air defence systems, forcing Kyiv to spend expensive missiles on them – and then the Russians launch faster and much more destructive cruise missiles.

“Unfortunately for us, [Shaheds] are a danger we’re fighting with – rather effectively,” Lieutenant General Ihor Romanenko, ex-deputy chief of Ukraine’s General Staff of Armed Forces, told Al Jazeera. “But they still get through, strike, kill people.”

He compared the swarms of Shaheds with “meat marches”, frontal assaults by hundreds of Russian servicemen to identify weak spots in Ukrainian positions.

“They’re meat marches midair,” Romanenko said.

Russia’s use of Mohajer drones has mostly been limited to air patrols and the correction of strikes over the Black Sea.

Equipped with infrared target seekers and a televised guidance system, the Qaem-5 bombs that weigh up to 25kg can glide towards their target for up to 40km (25 miles) using six tiny wings around their bodies.

But experts doubt they will become a game-changer.

Russia already uses much heavier, domestically manufactured gliding bombs that destroy the most fortified Ukrainian defence installations.

These weapons spurred a string of recent takeovers of several towns in eastern Ukraine.

The use of smaller Iranian bombs may be limited to striking tanks, said a military analyst with Germany’s Bremen University.

“Which [bombs] are better will become known by the results of their use on the front line,” Nikolay Mitrokhin told Al Jazeera.

Iran has also supplied the Russian military with limited numbers of 152mm artillery shells and 120mm mortar mines, the analyst Zhirokhov said.

“However, according to feedback from Russian military, this ammunition’s quality was inadequate,” he said.

Ukraine’s military shared this opinion after receiving some intercepted Iranian-made ammunition intended for Yemen’s Houthi rebels from the US, he said.

Reuters reported in February, citing sources in the Iranian military, that Tehran provided Russia with some 400 surface-to-surface missiles with a range of up to 700km (435 miles).

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy backed the claim recently, saying that Iran supplies “not just drones, but missiles too”.

Source: Al Jazeera
 
Russian authorities say they detained a French citizen on suspicion of spying, the latest of several arrests of foreigners in the country since the start of the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine.

Bloomberg
 

NATO Has 'No Plans To Deploy Forces To Ukraine': Stoltenberg​


NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday said that the alliance had no plans to deploy forces to Ukraine, despite many of its members supplying Kyiv with weapons since Russia's invasion.

"NATO has no plans to deploy forces to Ukraine," Stoltenberg said during a visit to Finland, adding that the alliance was seeking "long term financial commitment to ensure that we stand by Ukraine for as long as it takes".

"Over the last months, we have seen some gaps, some delays in the provision of military support to Ukraine," Stoltenberg said, adding: "we need to ensure that that doesn't happen again."

The visit marked Stoltenberg's first to Finland since the country joined NATO in April 2023, prompted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, thereby leaving decades of military non-alignment behind.

Stoltenberg's visit came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday joined Western leaders in France to commemorate D-Day.

While there, Zelensky is due to meet US President Joe Biden for talks on how Ukraine can gain back ground after recent Russian advances.

Asked to comment on the risk of a Russian attack against a Nato member, Stoltenberg replied: "We don't see an imminent military threat against any NATO ally."

"This idea that there's a kind of a countdown to the next war is wrong."

www.barrons.com

NATO Has 'No Plans To Deploy Forces To Ukraine': Stoltenberg

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday said that the alliance had no plans to deploy forces to Ukraine, despite many of its members supplying Kyiv with weapons since Russia's invasion.
www.barrons.com www.barrons.com
 
President Joe Biden announced a new $225 million aid package for Ukraine during a meeting with his counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and pledged continued US support as Kyiv looks to turn the tide in the war with Russia.

Bloomberg
 
US President Joe Biden compared the Second World War fight with resisting Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He was speaking in Normandy as part of commemorations marking 80 years since the D-Day landing.

Sky News
 

Plan to Protect F-16s from Russian Attacks Revealed by Ukrainian Commander​


Ukraine will base some of its Western-donated F-16 fighter jet fleet outside of the country to avoid Russian strikes on the advanced aircraft, a senior Ukrainian commander has said.

"There is a certain number of aircraft that will be stored at secure airbases outside of Ukraine so that they are not targeted here," Serhiy Golubtsov, the head of aviation for Ukraine's air force command, told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Four countries — Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Belgium — have committed to providing tens of F-16 aircraft to Ukraine to boost its aging and depleting fleet, up against superior and more numerous Russian aircraft.

Kyiv had long requested the Lockheed Martin-made jets, although when exactly the jets would arrive and be operational has never been clear. Ukrainian pilots have been undergoing training in several NATO countries while Ukraine puts in place the necessary infrastructure to operate the jets.

Some of the donated jets will "remain in the centres where our pilots and aviation personnel are trained," Golubtsov said. "These will be Ukrainian aircraft that will be used to train our own pilots."

www.newsweek.com

Plan to protect F-16s from Russian attacks revealed by Ukrainian commander

Ukraine's senior aviation chief commented on plans to deploy the incoming batch of American fighter jets and hinted more could arrive soon.
www.newsweek.com www.newsweek.com
 

Russia test: Will Pakistan attend the Ukraine peace summit?​

Days before Switzerland hosts a global summit aimed at thrashing out a path towards peace in Ukraine, Pakistan is trapped in a quandary – should it attend?

Pakistan has maintained a neutral stance on Russia’s war on Ukraine, and many analysts believe that the country of 236 million people has far too much at stake – from Ukrainian weapons to Russian oil – to skip the conclave. But others caution that Pakistan’s decision might partly be influenced by China’s move to boycott the summit, which Russia, too, will not be attending. China is arguably Pakistan’s most important strategic partner today.

The Pakistani Foreign Ministry confirmed last month that it received an invitation from Swiss authorities for the two-day summit in Lucerne, starting on June 15. Yet it is still to decide whether to participate. “Still under discussion,” Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, told Al Jazeera via WhatsApp on Thursday.

More than 160 countries have been invited to participate in the summit, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy requested Switzerland to host. At least 90 countries have confirmed participation. But Moscow and Beijing will not be joining the meeting.

Tughral Yamin, a former military official and senior research fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies Islamabad (IPSI), said it was important for Pakistan to participate.

“Pakistan must attend the summit. It has stakes in the war. We have strong defence relations with Ukraine, whereas we are trying to build strong ties with Russia as well which can provide us oil, so attending this makes complete sense,” he told Al Jazeera.

Fahd Humayun, an assistant professor of political science at Tufts University, concurred, pointing to how Pakistan has argued for an end to the war while maintaining a neutral position on the conflict.

“There is of course the imperative of not wanting to be seen as being aligned with any one party,” he said. “However, since this is a peace summit, there is also an opportunity for Pakistan to have a voice on an important regional issue and to signal that its attendance is not in any way tantamount to taking sides in the conflict,” Humayun told Al Jazeera.

Source: Al Jazeera
 

Ukraine 'hits missile launch sites in Russia'​

The mayor of the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv has said that the situation there has been "calmer" since Russian missile launchers shelling it were hit by Ukrainian fire.

Ihor Terekhov's comments came nearly two weeks after the US and other Western nations gave the go-ahead for Ukraine to hit targets inside Russia near Kharkiv.

He was speaking at a conference in Germany attended by President Volodymyr Zelensky which is aimed at encouraging European nations to support and invest in Ukraine.

Russia says it has captured two Ukrainian villages as it continues its offensive begun in May.

The defence ministry said Tymkivka in Kharkiv region and Miasozharivka in Luhansk region had been taken by its forces. Ukraine has not commented.

However, on Monday Mr Zelensky said Ukraine was continuing "counter-strike activities" in Kharkiv region.

He also denied reports by the pro-Russian Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov that his forces had captured a village in Sumy region, which borders Russia to the west of Kharkiv, saying there was no Russian presence in the area.

On Tuesday the Ukrainian president gave his first ever speech to the Bundestag, the German parliament, making emotional references to Germany’s Cold War history of division and calling on future reparations from Russia for the damage it had caused.

“We will finish this war, in the interests of all of us, of all Europe. We will finish this war according to our conditions,” he said.

"You can understand why we are fighting so hard against Russia's attempts to divide us, to divide Ukraine. Why we are doing absolutely everything to prevent a wall between parts of our country," he said, in reference to the Berlin Wall.

He also warned of the danger to the European Union of pro-Russian rhetoric, days after far right parties, some of which are pro-Russian, made gains in EU elections.

Mr Zelensky received a standing ovation, but his speech was boycotted by the far-right AfD and the far-left BSW parties - both of which made big gains in Sunday's European elections. The BSW has campaigned against weapons deliveries to Ukraine.

The AfD characterised the boycott as a protest against Mr Zelensky as a "war president".

Ukrainian officials have reported five deaths in Russian bombardments in the last 24 hours, four of them in Kharkiv region.
Mr Terekhov said that the shelling of Kharkiv had become more frequent in the last two days, but it had generally been calmer.

"There has been a break in the shelling, which I think is connected with the fact that the equipment that Kharkiv was being shelled with has been successfully hit," he told Reuters news agency.

"As compared to May, we experienced a more or less calm week until Sunday... Therefore, it's been a bit calmer, but I can't say that it's been completely so."

Speaking alongside the Ukrainian president on Tuesday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Germany was sending more air defences, including a third Patriot system, and missiles to help Ukraine.

At the end of May, US officials said President Joe Biden had allowed Ukraine to use American-supplied weapons to strike targets in Russia, but only near the Kharkiv region.

The city of Kharkiv is close to the Russian border and therefore vulnerable to attack from within Russia.

Previously Western nations had restricted targeting of weapons they provided to Russian-held areas of Ukraine, because of fears that attacking Russia itself could lead to escalation of the conflict.

Source: BBC
 

Pakistan to skip Ukraine peace summit in Switzerland​


Pakistan on Thursday decided not to participate in the Ukraine Peace Summit as stated by the Foreign Office.

During a media briefing, FO spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch stated Switzerland had invited Pakistan to attend the summit on June 15 and 16. However, due to other commitments, Pakistan will not be participating. She emphasised that Pakistan is at the forefront of efforts for global peace.

The spokesperson further said that there has been no exchange of letters between Pakistan and India. She mentioned that Indian media often reports based on speculation.

"Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has already congratulated Narendra Modi via a tweet when he assumed office. It is customary for governments to formally congratulate the elected leaders of other countries," she said.

Regarding the repatriation plan for illegal foreign residents, the spokesperson confirmed that implementation is ongoing. Pakistan has repeatedly highlighted the threat of terrorism and has communicated its concerns to Afghanistan about individuals wanted for terrorism residing there, Baloch added.

Additionally, the spokesperson expressed expectations for progress in the strategic cooperative partnership between Pakistan and China in the coming months. All matters, including the protection of Chinese citizens and bilateral relations, are outlined in the joint statement between the two countries.

She also addressed the case of Khadija Shah, stating that it is currently under trial and will be resolved according to Pakistani laws, with the courts making the final decision.

It is noteworthy that China has also decided not to attend the Ukraine Peace Conference. Russia has indicated that Beijing understands that such a conference would be pointless without Russia's involvement.

More than two years after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Pakistan is now facing yet another diplomatic challenge.

Pakistan is among the countries from the so-called Global South invited to the Ukraine Peace Summit to be held in Switzerland on June 15 and 16. Islamabad was extended an invitation for the first time to such an international conference on the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Previously, Baloch confirmed at the weekly briefing last week that Pakistan was invited to the summit. She said the invitation was under consideration.

tribune.com.pk

Pakistan to skip Ukraine peace summit in Switzerland | The Express Tribune

FO spokesperson says there has been no exchange of letters between Pakistan and India
tribune.com.pk tribune.com.pk
 

G7 leaders reach 'political deal' on new Ukraine funds: US​


G7 leaders agreed at a summit in Italy on Thursday on a new $50-billion loan for Ukraine using profits from frozen Russian assets, a US official said.

"We have political agreement at the highest levels for this deal," a senior Biden administration official said on condition of anonymity.

"And it is $50 billion this year that will be committed to Ukraine."

US President Joe Biden and the leaders of Italy, Britain, France, Germany, Canada and Japan on Thursday began two days of summit talks in Puglia, southern Italy.

Increasing support for Ukraine - now in the third year of its war with Russia - was top of the agenda, with President Volodymyr Zelensky joining for a special session on Thursday.

The EU agreed earlier this year to help Kyiv using the profits from the interest on Russian central bank assets frozen by Western allies.

But the US has been pushing for more and faster help through a massive upfront loan - although it was not clear who would issue the money, and who covered the risk.

The US was willing to provide up to $50 billion, the official said on Thursday, but said its contribution could be "significantly less" as it would be a shared initiative.

"We will not be the only lenders. This will be a loan syndicate. We're going to share the risk, because we have a shared commitment to get this done," the official said.

He would not say how much other G7 countries would contribute, beyond saying that the final summit statement in Puglia would speak of "loans plural".

The G7 countries - which count the European Union as their unofficial eighth member - have been Ukraine's key military and financial backers since Russia invaded in February 2022.

"Today the G7 in Bari will show unity. Unity for Ukraine's freedom," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote earlier on X.

Germany's finance minister, Christian Lindner, added: "Good news from the G7: another $50 billion for Ukraine."

He said it showed Russian President Vladimir Putin our "unity, greatly helps Ukraine and relieves the burden on budgets" - but confirmed the details still needed working out.

French President Emmanuel Macron's office has also said there was agreement, without providing details.

President Zelensky, who was due to hold a joint press conference with Joe Biden later on Thursday, has been engaged in a flurry of diplomacy aimed at boosting international support.

He spoke earlier this week in Berlin at a reconstruction conference and is set to join more than 90 countries and organisations this weekend for a peace summit in Switzerland.

Mr Zelensky said he would sign two more security agreements with Japan and the United States in Puglia.

The G7 and the EU have frozen some €300 billion ($325 billion) of Russian assets, much of it frozen by Euroclear, an international deposit organisation based in Belgium.

EU countries say they could generate between €2.5 and €3 billion per year for Kyiv from the profits on the interest.

The summit comes at a time of extraordinary global turmoil.

Apart from the conflict in Ukraine, the Hamas-Israel conflict is raging and economic tensions are rising between China and Western countries.

Many G7 countries are also in political flux. Everyone in Puglia is aware this could be Biden's last G7 summit if he loses to Donald Trump in November US elections.

Britain's Rishi Sunak is tipped to be ousted in July 4 elections, while France's Macron and Germany's Olaf Scholz are both under pressure after gains by the far right in EU elections last weekend.

By contrast, meeting host Giorgia Meloni, Italy's prime minister, is riding high after her far-right party topped European Parliament elections last weekend.

Ms Meloni laughed and joked with her G7 counterparts as she welcomed them among the olive trees of the luxury Borgo Egnazia resort, and took a selfie with reporters.

But she had a serious message.

"The Group of Seven in recent decades has assumed an irreplaceable role in the management of global crises, especially those that jeopardise our freedom and our democracy," she told an opening session.

The talks began with short session on Africa, development and climate change, before turning to the Middle East.

The G7 leaders have already announced their support for a Gaza truce deal outlined by Biden, which would also see the release of hostages taken in Hamas's 7 October attack on Israel.

Another key issue in Puglia, to be discussed Friday, will be concerns about China's so-called "industrial overcapacity", particularly in green energy and technology sectors such as solar panels and electric vehicles.

www.rte.ie

G7 leaders reach 'political deal' on new Ukraine funds

G7 leaders agreed at a summit in Italy on Thursday on a new $50-billion loan for Ukraine using profits from frozen Russian assets, a US official said.
www.rte.ie www.rte.ie
 
This is only now turning into a real war . If nato weapons keep hitting inside Russia , it’s fireworks 🧨 for Europe .
 
Ukraine-Russia war: Biden and Zelenskyy sign 10-year security deal; Putin's plan 'has failed', Germany says; Russia tells West not to 'worry' as its warships arrive in Cuba

Russia reassures the West as its warships arrive in Cuba - while its troops elsewhere practise the electronic launch of missiles in tactical nuclear drills. Meanwhile, world leaders gather in Italy today for a G7 meeting - with the US and Ukraine signing a 10-year security deal.


SKY News
 
Putin pledges truce if Ukraine exits Russian- occupied areas and drops NATO bid
Russian President Vladimir Putin promised Friday to “immediately” order a cease-fire in Ukraine and begin negotiations if Kyiv started withdrawing troops from the four regions annexed by Moscow in 2022 and renounced plans to join NATO.

Such a deal appears a nonstarter for Kyiv, which wants to join the military alliance and has demanded that Russia withdraw its troops from all of its territory. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine on Putin’s proposal.

“We will do it immediately,” Putin said in a speech at the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow.

His remarks came as leaders of the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations met in Italy and as Switzerland prepared to host scores of world leaders — but not from Moscow — this weekend to try to map out first steps toward peace in Ukraine. The U.S. and Ukraine this week also signed a 10-year security agreement that they hailed as a milestone in relations.

Russia launched its a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. After Ukrainian forces thwarted a Russian drive to the capital, much of the fighting has focused in the south and east — and Russia illegally annexed regions in the east and the south, although it doesn’t fully control any of them.

Putin said his proposal is aimed at a “final resolution” of the conflict in Ukraine rather than “freezing it,” and stressed that the Kremlin is “ready to start negotiations without delay.”

Broader demands for peace that the Russian leader listed included Ukraine’s non-nuclear status, restrictions on its military force and protecting the interests of the Russian-speaking population in the country. All of these should become part of “fundamental international agreements,” and all Western sanctions against Russia should be lifted, Putin said.

“We’re urging to turn this tragic page of history and to begin restoring, step-by-step, restore the unity between Russia and Ukraine and in Europe in general,” he said.

Putin’s remarks represented a rare occasion in which he clearly laid out his conditions for ending the war in Ukraine, but it didn’t include any new demands. The Kremlin has said before that Kyiv should recognize its territorial gains and drop its bid to join NATO.

Russia doesn’t fully control neither of the four regions it illegally annexed in 2022, but Putin insisted Friday that Kyiv should withdraw from them entirely and essentially cede them to Moscow within their administrative borders.

In Zaporizhzhia in the southeast, Russia still doesn’t control the region’s namesake administrative capital of 700,000 people, and in the neighboring Kherson region, Moscow withdrew from Kherson’s biggest city and capital of the same name in November 2022.

Putin said that if “Kyiv and Western capitals” reject his offer, “it is their business, their political and moral responsibility for continuing the bloodshed.”

www.nbcnews.com

Putin lays out Russia's hardline stance on peace talks

Ukraine responded by calling Putin’s proposal “manipulative” and “absurd.”
www.nbcnews.com www.nbcnews.com
 
FearlessRoar said:
Putin pledges truce if Ukraine exits Russian- occupied areas and drops NATO bid
Russian President Vladimir Putin promised Friday to “immediately” order a cease-fire in Ukraine and begin negotiations if Kyiv started withdrawing troops from the four regions annexed by Moscow in 2022 and renounced plans to join NATO.

Such a deal appears a nonstarter for Kyiv, which wants to join the military alliance and has demanded that Russia withdraw its troops from all of its territory. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine on Putin’s proposal.

“We will do it immediately,” Putin said in a speech at the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow.

His remarks came as leaders of the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations met in Italy and as Switzerland prepared to host scores of world leaders — but not from Moscow — this weekend to try to map out first steps toward peace in Ukraine. The U.S. and Ukraine this week also signed a 10-year security agreement that they hailed as a milestone in relations.

Russia launched its a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. After Ukrainian forces thwarted a Russian drive to the capital, much of the fighting has focused in the south and east — and Russia illegally annexed regions in the east and the south, although it doesn’t fully control any of them.

Putin said his proposal is aimed at a “final resolution” of the conflict in Ukraine rather than “freezing it,” and stressed that the Kremlin is “ready to start negotiations without delay.”

Broader demands for peace that the Russian leader listed included Ukraine’s non-nuclear status, restrictions on its military force and protecting the interests of the Russian-speaking population in the country. All of these should become part of “fundamental international agreements,” and all Western sanctions against Russia should be lifted, Putin said.

“We’re urging to turn this tragic page of history and to begin restoring, step-by-step, restore the unity between Russia and Ukraine and in Europe in general,” he said.

Putin’s remarks represented a rare occasion in which he clearly laid out his conditions for ending the war in Ukraine, but it didn’t include any new demands. The Kremlin has said before that Kyiv should recognize its territorial gains and drop its bid to join NATO.

Russia doesn’t fully control neither of the four regions it illegally annexed in 2022, but Putin insisted Friday that Kyiv should withdraw from them entirely and essentially cede them to Moscow within their administrative borders.

In Zaporizhzhia in the southeast, Russia still doesn’t control the region’s namesake administrative capital of 700,000 people, and in the neighboring Kherson region, Moscow withdrew from Kherson’s biggest city and capital of the same name in November 2022.

Putin said that if “Kyiv and Western capitals” reject his offer, “it is their business, their political and moral responsibility for continuing the bloodshed.”

www.nbcnews.com

Putin lays out Russia's hardline stance on peace talks

Ukraine responded by calling Putin’s proposal “manipulative” and “absurd.”
www.nbcnews.com www.nbcnews.com
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come Trump election .. putin gets what he wants and we will have peace
 
Aang_The_last_airbender said:
come Trump election .. putin gets what he wants and we will have peace
Click to expand...
Yes I would guess that's Putin's main hope for ending the war any time soon i.e. the next couple of years. Trump will cut off aid and the European leaders will try and stretch it for little while but they just don't have the resources.

If Biden's back, this is likely to be a long drawn out war of attrition.
 
Putin lays out his terms for ceasefire in Ukraine

Vladimir Putin has said Ukraine would need to withdraw troops from territories Russia claims to have annexed before a ceasefire could begin - a proposal Ukraine's president called a Hitler-like "ultimatum".

Volodymyr Zelensky has long said Ukraine will not negotiate with Moscow until Russian forces leave all Ukrainian territory, including Crimea.

The Russian president also said Ukraine would have to give up on joining Nato before peace talks could start.

Mr Putin's statement setting out his ceasefire conditions comes as leaders from 90 countries prepare to meet in Switzerland on Saturday to discuss paths towards peace in Ukraine - a summit Russia has not been invited to.

Speaking to a meeting of Russian ambassadors in Moscow on Friday, Mr Putin called on the Ukrainian government to withdraw from four regions partially occupied by Russia - Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.

He also said Ukraine would need to officially give up in its efforts to join the Nato military alliance for the Russian advance to be halted.

Mr Putin said: "As soon as Kyiv declares that it is ready for such a decision... an order to cease fire and begin negotiations will immediately follow from our side, literally at the same minute."

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak called the proposal a "complete sham" and "offensive to common sense".

Later on Friday, President Zelensky told Italy's Sky TG24 television: "These messages are ultimatum messages. It's the same thing Hitler did, when he said 'give me a part of Czechoslovakia and it'll end here'."

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin also dismissed the Russian demands, saying: "Putin has illegally occupied sovereign Ukrainian territory.

"He is not in any position to dictate to Ukraine what they must do to bring about a peace."

Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Mr Putin's proposal was "not made in good faith".


www.bbc.com

Vladimir Putin lays out terms for Ukraine ceasefire

Ukraine immediately branded the Russian president's proposals "offensive to common sense".
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Red-Indian said:
Yes I would guess that's Putin's main hope for ending the war any time soon i.e. the next couple of years. Trump will cut off aid and the European leaders will try and stretch it for little while but they just don't have the resources.

If Biden's back, this is likely to be a long drawn out war of attrition.
Click to expand...
Biden is not winning Jack! The only saving grace for democrats is the abortion issue that is saving them bulk of women voters. Trump has already shown that he will backtrack on abortion or take a mild approach.

End of this war with Trump election would be instant.
 
Ukrainian forces strike military airfield in Russia amid 'sustained campaign' on Putin's RAF

Ukrainian forces have struck a military airfield in Russia, targeting warplanes and glide-bomb facilities used to launch deadly attacks against Ukraine, a security source has revealed.

The source said the operation on Thursday night was part of a "sustained campaign to degrade the Russian Air Force" just as Ukraine has done with Russia's Black Sea Fleet.

Satellite imagery shared by the source purported to show two SU-34 fighter-bombers at the Morozovsk airbase in southern Russia as well as a white structure before the attack.

A second image is purported to show the aftermath, with both aircraft and the structure destroyed.

There has been no official confirmation about the strikes from Ukraine.



news.sky.com

Ukrainian forces strike military airfield in Russia amid 'sustained campaign' on Putin's RAF

Ukrainian troops launched "precision strikes" on SU-34 bombers used by Russia to drop glide bombs, a source told Sky News.
news.sky.com news.sky.com
 
Zelensky seeks show of support at giant Ukraine peace summit

This weekend, a secluded Swiss resort above Lake Lucerne will be transformed as dozens of world leaders and thousands of soldiers and police descend on Bürgenstock.

More than 90 countries and global institutions are attending the event, which aims to discuss basic principles for ending the conflict in Ukraine.

The Swiss hope that the Ukraine summit might produce the first tentative sketch marks for a peace process, some 28 months after Russia invaded its neighbour.

It is the biggest gathering for Ukraine since the full-scale invasion.

But with key players like China staying away, and Russian President Vladimir Putin issuing a new ultimatum - demanding Ukraine’s capitulation and calling that a peace proposal - expectations of significant progress are low.

Russia has not been invited.

For Ukraine, the mere fact this meeting is taking place is positive.

Politicians in Kyiv have been hailing every confirmed participant as a gesture of support. For them, the giant summit should demonstrate to Moscow that the world stands on the side of Ukraine - and of international law.

It comes at a tough time.

There has been a new Russian offensive in the northeast, near Kharkiv, and missiles are slamming into homes and power plants across Ukraine with renewed intensity.

So size matters when it comes to the summit. But so does the substance.

"It’s important to establish a political and legal framework for future peace. To show that peace can only be achieved in the framework of Zelensky’s 10 points," Ukrainian MP Oleksandr Merezhko sets out the case from Kyiv. "That includes the territorial integrity of Ukraine and its sovereignty."

He is referring to a peace formula put forward in late 2022 by Ukraine's president that insists on compelling Russia to return all the occupied land.

Ukraine now wants to rally as many countries as possible behind its formula, putting "psychological pressure" on Russia to accept such terms, should it come to that stage.

Right now, that looks unlikely.

This summit was first mooted when the situation on the battlefield looked more promising for Kyiv: a prime time to try to shape the terms of any future peace deal.

Since then the dynamic has shifted.

"I think the constituency that believes this may not be a war that’s winnable for Ukraine is growing," argues Sam Greene of the Centre for European Policy Analysis, or CEPA.

He points to a "significant chunk" of the US foreign policy establishment who believe Ukraine should "cut its losses", as well as the rise in support in Europe for right-wing parties more sympathetic to Moscow.

"I think one thing this event is meant to do, is to galvanise support behind Ukraine’s vision of an acceptable outcome," Professor Greene says.

But the turnout is less promising than Ukraine and Switzerland once hoped.

Joe Biden will not come in person, a decision that upset Mr Zelensky. And the attempts to get key countries from the "Global South" – not instinctive allies of Ukraine – to sign up, were only partially successful.

India, Brazil and China are all either no-shows or sending low level representatives.

Russian officials have been lining up to dismiss the event as insignificant. It is "worthless" and a "dead end", according to Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. But Moscow has been pushing its allies to boycott the summit nonetheless.

"That is a minus," Oleksandr Merezhko admits. "It seems China decided to support its strategic partner without limits, Russia, not the peace process: the aggressor, not the peace."

On the eve of the event, Vladimir Putin tried to drop another spanner in the works by outlining his own conditions for a supposed peace: the man who invaded Ukraine, unprovoked, now wants Kyiv to capitulate.

Amongst other things, Mr Putin demands Ukraine hand over all four regions that Russia claims to have annexed, including areas that remain under Kyiv’s control.

Kyiv dismissed that right away as "ludicrous".

The meeting on Lake Lucerne will home in on three of the least contentious points in President Zelensky’s peace formula: the issues of nuclear security, getting food to global markets and getting abducted Ukrainian children and prisoners back home.

Straying beyond that is unlikely to be productive.

Not right now, when neither Ukraine nor Russia is ready to give up the fight.

"I think from the Ukrainian perspective, looking at what’s going on the frontlines, what they really need is not a commitment to peace, certainly not at any cost," Sam Greene argues, of Kyiv’s allies.

"They need a commitment to winning the war."

BBC
 

EU's 14th package of Russia sanctions held up by Germany, diplomats say​


The European Union failed on Friday to agree a 14th package of sanctions against Russia, EU diplomats said, as Germany held out over the extent to which EU companies would be responsible for sanctions violations.

Officials from the 27 EU countries have been debating for more than a month on a package including a ban on Russian LNG trans-shipments and a plan to make EU operators responsible for sanctions violations by subsidiaries and partners in third countries.

Ambassadors were set to discuss and decide on the issue on Friday evening, but the sanctions topic was withdrawn from the meeting agenda at the last moment. The ambassadors are next due to meet on Wednesday.

The late Friday meeting had been meant to reach an agreement before a Ukraine peace conference in Switzerland this weekend.

Hungary, Russia's closest EU ally, was previously holding out, but appeared willing to accept the sanctions package, which requires EU unanimity.

However, EU diplomats said that Germany expressed reservations about the impact on its industry of the clause on third country subsidiaries and partners.

Under the sanctions package, the EU was also set to ban from its ports ships that have contributed to Russia's war effort.

This could include the transport of goods generating significant revenue for Russia, goods or technology used in the defence and security sector or shipment of fuels outside the G7 price cap system.

 
Putin peace terms slammed at Ukraine summit

The leaders of Italy and Germany have strongly rejected ceasefire terms laid out by Vladimir Putin to stop the war in Ukraine, as scores of countries gathered at a two-day summit in Switzerland to discuss ending the conflict.

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called the Russian president's plan "propaganda" which effectively suggested that Ukraine "must withdraw from Ukraine".

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz dismissed it as a "dictatorial peace".

A draft declaration issued at the summit reaffirms Ukraine's territorial integrity and unambiguously rejects any nuclear threat against the country.

On Friday, Mr Putin claimed he would agree to a ceasefire if Ukraine withdrew troops from four regions which Russia partially occupies and claims to have annexed.

Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, told the BBC at the Swiss summit that there would be "no compromise on independence, sovereignty or territorial integrity".

Mr Putin revealed his terms ahead of the two-day Summit on Peace in Ukraine which is aimed at discussing the basic principles for ending the war.

More than 90 countries and global institutions are attending the event. It is the biggest gathering for Ukraine since the full-scale invasion.

But Russia was not invited, and China - a key ally of Russia - is not attending, so expectations of significant progress at this stage are low.

Commenting on Mr Putin's proposal, Ms Meloni said: "It doesn't seem particularly effective to me as a negotiation proposal to tell Ukraine that it must withdraw from Ukraine."

Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak accused the Russian president of "spinning a phoney narrative about his willingness to negotiate".

He added that countries helping Russia with weapon supplies "are on the wrong side of history".

Ukraine is already presenting the gathering at the secluded spot in Bürgenstock as a success, pointing to its global reach and the number of countries represented.

Mr Zelensky said Ukraine wanted to "give diplomacy a chance", and show that "joint efforts" could stop wars.

"I believe that we will witness history being made here at the summit. May a just peace be established as soon as possible," he said.

His aide Mr Yermak - an influential figure in Ukrainian politics - brushed aside the absence of China, and suggested that when a joint plan for peace talks is ready it could be be presented to Russia.

"We think that can happen at the second summit at the level of leaders," he said.

Mr Putin has already ruled out any kind of peace process on Ukraine’s terms. The four Ukrainian regions he wants Ukraine to withdraw from are only partially occupied by Russia, which claims to have annexed them in 2022. The voting process held then was denounced in Ukraine and the West as a sham.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said that "freezing the conflict today with foreign troops occupying Ukrainian land is not an answer".

"In fact, it is a recipe for future wars of aggression," she said.

Mr Putin's terms for a ceasefire were branded "offensive to common sense" by Ukraine.

Participating countries are due to formally adopt the draft declaration reaffirming Ukraine's territorial integrity on Sunday.

The leaders also state that the safe transit of commercial shipping in the Black and Azov Seas is vital for global food security. The draft text also calls for a prisoner of war exchange.

The Swiss summit comes after G7 leaders agreed to use interest from frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine defend itself against the invading Russian forces.

Around $325bn (£256bn) in assets were frozen by the G7 countries and the EU after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The interest generated by those assets amounts to some $3bn a year.

Under the G7 plan, that $3bn will be used to pay off the annual interest on a $50bn loan for Ukraine, taken out on the international markets.

The money is not expected to arrive until the end of the year but is seen as a longer-term solution to support Ukraine's war effort and economy.

In the immediate term, Ukraine says it urgently needs more weapons - primarily air defence systems to combat Russia’s missile and drone attacks, as well as F-16 fighter jets, which it hopes will start arriving as early as this summer.

BBC
 
Peace talks tomorrow if Russia leaves Ukraine - Zelensky

Kyiv will hold peace talks with Russia tomorrow if Moscow pulls out of all Ukrainian territory, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

But speaking at the close of a summit for peace in Switzerland, he said Russian President Vladimir Putin would not end the war and had to be stopped "in any way we can", whether by military or diplomatic means.

Western aid was not enough to win the war, he added, but the summit had shown that international support for Ukraine was not weakening.

The meeting concluded with dozens of countries committing to Ukraine's territorial integrity.

A final document was adopted which blamed the war's widespread suffering and destruction firmly on Russia.

However, several countries attending including India, South Africa and Saudi Arabia did not sign it.

The summit was aimed at creating the broadest possible backing for a process that could help end the war in Ukraine.

More than 90 countries and international organisations attended the summit.


www.bbc.com

Peace talks 'tomorrow' if Russia leaves Ukraine - Zelensky

The remarks come as Ukraine's president hails international support at a summit in Switzerland.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
 
Kyiv will hold peace talks with Russia tomorrow if Moscow pulls out of all Ukrainian territory, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said

But speaking at the close of a summit for peace in Switzerland, he said Russian President Vladimir Putin would not end the war and had to be stopped "in any way we can", whether by military or diplomatic means.

Western aid was not enough to win the war, he added, but the summit had shown that international support for Ukraine was not weakening.

The meeting concluded with dozens of countries committing to Ukraine's territorial integrity. A final document was adopted which blamed the war's widespread suffering and destruction firmly on Russia.

However, several countries attending including India, South Africa and Saudi Arabia did not sign it. The summit was aimed at creating the broadest possible backing for a process that could help end the war in Ukraine.

More than 90 countries and international organisations attended the summit.

Russia was not invited, and its biggest backer China was not present, leading some to cast doubt on the summit's effectiveness.

Some of those gathered in the Swiss resort of Bürgenstock were not Ukraine's closest supporters, including Saudi Arabia, whose foreign minister has warned that Ukraine will have to make difficult compromises, and Kenya, which spoke out against recent sanctions on Russia.

The final document calls for Ukrainian control to be restored over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is currently occupied by Russia.

It also refers to Russia's invasion as a "war", a label which Moscow has rejected.

It called for the exchange of all prisoners and the return of children abducted by Russia. The most contentious topics, like the status of land under Russian occupation, will be left for later. Speaking to journalists after the summit, Mr Zelensky thanked world leaders who attended, saying he was grateful that they had shown independence in coming despite pressure from Russia for them to stay away.

"This summit says that international support [for Ukraine] is not weakening," he said, noting that states not previously involved in diplomatic efforts had joined the process.

And asked by the BBC if Ukraine's weaker position on the battlefield had forced him to consider diplomatic moves, he replied that this was not the case and Ukraine had always talked about peace. He said Moscow's presence at negotiations would demonstrate its willingness for peace.

"Russia can start negotiations tomorrow if they pull out of our territories," he said. Mr Zelensky also said that China was not Ukraine's enemy. "We respect China and its territorial integrity, we want China to do the same for us," he said, while calling on Beijing to seriously engage with developing peace proposals.

Source: BBC​

 
Russia tells US: we need to talk, but Ukraine must be on agenda

Russia sees a pressing need for security talks with the United States but they must be "comprehensive" and include the subject of Ukraine, the Kremlin said on Friday.

"It is impossible to rip out any individual segments from the general complex of accumulated problems, and we will not do this," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said when asked if Moscow was ready to talk to Washington about nuclear risks.

"So we are open to dialogue, but to a broad comprehensive dialogue that covers all dimensions, including the current dimension related to the conflict around Ukraine, related to the direct involvement of the USA in this conflict," Peskov told reporters.

The United States rejects Russia's contention that by arming Ukraine it has become a direct protagonist in a war aimed at inflicting a crushing "strategic defeat" on Moscow. The U.S. says any negotiations over the war are a matter for Ukraine.


 
Russia launches 'massive' attack on Ukrainian power grid

Ukraine says its energy facilities have come under a “massive” attack from Russia overnight, in the latest onslaught targeting the country's power grid.

It is the eighth time Russia has launched an attack on energy infrastructure facilities in the past three months, Ukraine’s energy ministry said.

Air defence systems shot down 12 of 16 missiles and all 13 drones launched by Russia at several regions through the night, the Ukrainian air force said.

Two energy workers were wounded and taken to hospital in the Zaporizhzhia region, and energy equipment was damaged in the Western city of Lviv, officials added.

In the south-western region of Ivano-Frankivsk, the authorities also reported damage to houses and a kindergarten.

Russia has renewed its campaign of strikes on Ukrainian energy targets over spring and early summer, causing frequent blackouts across the country. President Volodymyr Zelensky recently said Moscow had destroyed half of his country’s electricity-generating capacity since it began pummelling its energy facilities in late March.

Saturday night's attack is the second to target energy infrastructure this week.

On Thursday, Ukrainian authorities said seven employees were wounded and energy infrastructure, including a power station, had been damaged in a major overnight attack.

Ukraine is buying energy from the European Union, however, this is not enough to make up the deficit.

This means that most days involve a planned nationwide blackout to protect critical infrastructure such a hospitals and military facilities.

"We urgently need to close our skies or Ukraine faces a serious crisis this winter," the chief executive DTEK, of one of Ukraine's largest private energy companies, Maxim Timchenko said.

"My plea to allies is to help us defend our energy system and rebuild in time.”

Mr Zelensky has repeatedly called on Ukraine's allies to send more air defence systems. He has specifically requested seven sophisticated air defence systems called Patriots from the US.

Ivan Fedorov, Zaporizhzhia's governor, echoed Mr Zelensky's message on Saturday morning in a message posted to Telegram.

"We can say for sure: the enemy will not stop. Ukraine needs air defence systems." he said.

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Thursday that Washington would put Ukraine at the top of the queue for Patriot deliveries, ahead of other countries that have ordered them.

BBC
 
Ukraine says it destroyed Russian drone base

Ukraine satellite pictures show the destruction of a Russian warehouse used to launch Iranian-made drones and to train cadets.

The photos - posted by Ukraine's Navy - follow reports of a massive explosion near a Russian airfield in the southern region of Krasnodar.

Moscow has yet to comment on the reports, but did say it has shot down a number of drones in region overnight on Friday.

Navy officials in Kyiv said a number of training instructors and cadets learning to operate the Iranian-made Shahed drones were killed by the attack, which they said happened on Friday night.

In a post to Telegram, Navy officials in Kyiv said the operation was planned and conducted in partnership with Ukrainian intelligence agencies.

The base sat on the Sea of Azov opposite the occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol, data from Planet Labs - the US-based company who took the photos - showed.

"New satellite images confirm the destruction on the night of June 21 of the Shahed-136/Geran-2 storage and preparation facilities, training buildings, control and communication points of these UAVs located in the Krasnodar Territory," naval officials wrote in a post to Facebook.

The photos posted to social media appeared to show two large warehouses bisected by a road running north-south on 11 April. Subsequent photos taken on Saturday showed one of the warehouses completely destroyed, with the other having sustained significant damage.

Russia said on Friday that it had shot down 114 drones during a Ukrainian attack on oil refineries and military targets in the south of the country. Officials said that one person was killed by falling debris, but did not mention the attack on the drone base.

On Saturday Russian-installed officials in occupied Crimea said two people including a two-year-old child - were killed in a Ukrainian missile attack on the peninsula.

Mikhail Razvozhaev - who was installed by Moscow as the regional governor in 2020 - said a further 22 people were injured.

He said five projectiles had been destroyed by air defences but debris from the interceptions fell on coastal areas.

Elsewhere, the governor of Russia's Belgorod region said further Ukrainian drone attacks overnight on Sunday left one person dead and three more injured.

Vyacheslav Gladkov said one of the drones destroyed a car park in Graivoron - about six kilometres (3.7 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

Meanwhile, officials in Kyiv said two people were injured and scores of residential buildings were damaged in a Russian missile and drone attack on the Ukrainian capital on Saturday night.

Ruslan Kravchenko, head of the Kyiv regional administration, said the people were injured by falling debris. He noted that six tower blocks, 20 private homes and several shops were damaged in the attack.

Ukraine's air force said it destroyed two of three missiles launched by Russia towards the Kyiv region.

During his nightly address from the capital, President Volodymyr Zelensky once again renewed his appeal to Western nations to supply new air defences to Ukraine, specifically calling for Us-made Patriot systems.

"Ukraine needs the necessary forces and means to destroy the carriers of these bombs, particularly Russian combat aviation wherever it is," he said.

BBC
 
Russia promises retaliation against US for Ukraine strike on Crimea

The Kremlin on Monday squarely blamed the United States for an attack on Crimea with U.S.-supplied ATACMS missiles that killed at least four people and injured 151, and Moscow formally warned the U.S. ambassador that retaliation would follow.

The war in Ukraine has deepened a crisis in relations between Russia and the West, and Russian officials have said the conflict is entering the most dangerous escalation to date.

But directly blaming the United States for an attack on Crimea - which Russia unilaterally annexed in 2014 although most of the world considers it part of Ukraine - is a step further.

"You should ask my colleagues in Europe, and above all in Washington, the press secretaries, why their governments are killing Russian children," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

At least two children were killed in the attack on Sevastopol on Sunday, according to Russian officials. People were shown running from a beach near Sevastopol and some of the injured being carried off on sun loungers. Kyiv did not comment on the attack but denies targeting civilians.


 
Zelensky sacks top general accused of incompetence

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has dimissed a top general after public criticism about excessive casualties and accusations of incompetence.

Lt Gen Yuriy Sodol had been in the post of commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine since earlier this year.

Brig-Gen Andriy Hnatov has now been appointed in his stead.

Mr Zelensky did not give a reason for his decision, which he announced during his nightly video address on Monday.

However, only hours before, the chief of staff of the Azov Brigade, Maj Bohdan Krotevych, filed a complaint to the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), alleging that Gen Sodol "had more Ukrainian soldiers killed than any Russian general".

Maj Krotevych wrote on Telegram that Gen Sodol was "not being investigated for the loss of regions and dozens of cities and the loss of thousands of soldiers".

"Sometimes it seems to me that the world sends us scum [to fight against] in order to unite us," Maj Krotevych wrote. "And the whole military understand who I'm talking about because 99% of the military hate him for what he does."

Maj Krotevych's post on Telegram was viewed over 800,000 times. He later praised the appointment of Gen Hnatov, saying he was a "very worthy officer".

Following Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, Gen Sodol took part in the defence of the city of Mariupol and battles near the eastern Ukrainian town of Volnovakha. Both locations are now under Russian control.

Gen Sodol was made commander of the Joint Forces since February 2024, when Oleksandr Syrskyy was appointed commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces.

Ukraine's military hierarchy has undergone considerable changes in recent months, as Russian forces make slow but steady advances in the east of the country.

Since the beginning of 2024, Kyiv's under-resourced forces have been struggling to hold the line.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces have in recent months upped their attacks on Russian territory.

Kyiv has carried out multiple attacks on Russian oil refineries this year, arguing they are fair targets as they fuel Moscow's military.

And Moscow blamed Ukraine for a missile strike on occupied Crimea on Sunday, which officials say killed four people and injured over 100 more.

BBC
 

UAE says it succeeded in mediating an exchange of 180 prisoners of war between Russia and Ukraine​

CAIRO, June 25 (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates said it succeeded in mediating an exchange of 180 prisoners of war between Russia and Ukraine, the state news agency WAM said on Tuesday.

The Emirati foreign ministry said the mediation succeded because the UAE leveraged "its distinct ties and partnership with both sides, including as a reliable mediator among both parties," WAM said.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Russian Defence Ministry said that Moscow and Kyiv have each returned 90 prisoners of war in a swap.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy confirmed the return of 90 prisoners with the UAE acting as an intermediary.

Since the start of Russia's war in Ukraine, the UAE has maintained neutral rhetoric on the conflict and continued mediating between the two sides to exchange prisoners.

Source: Reuters
 
ICC issues arrest warrants for Russian officials over alleged Ukraine war crimes

The international criminal court (ICC) at The Hague has issued arrest warrants for Russia’s ex-minister of defence and current army chief of staff for alleged war crimes in Ukraine after a missile campaign targeting Ukrainian power plants and other civilian infrastructure during the full-scale invasion.

Ex-minister of defence Sergei Shoigu and the chief of the general staff of the Russian armed forces, Valery Gerasimov, are accused of the war crimes of directing attacks at civilian objects and of causing excessive incidental harm to civilians or damage to civilian objects. They are also accused of crimes against humanity.

The Hague issued warrants for their arrest, but they are unlikely to be able to serve them as the pair are in Russia, which is not a party to the ICC and has denounced the court. Ukraine is not a member of the ICC but has given the court jurisdiction to prosecute war crimes committed on its territory since 2022. Shoigu was removed as the minister of defence last month but has remained a senior government official as the head of Russia’s security council.

The court has previously issued warrants for the arrest of Vladimir Putin and Russia’s human rights ombudsman, Maria Lvova-Belova, for their role in the forcible deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia. A number of the children have been adopted by Russian officials or put up for adoption under false identities.

The Ukrainian president, Volodomyr Zelenskiy, said the ICC’s decision to issue the warrants against Shoigu and Gerasimov was “a clear indication that justice for Russian crimes against Ukrainians is inevitable”.

He wrote on Telegram: “Every criminal involved in the planning and execution of these strikes must know that justice will be served. And we do hope to see them behind bars.” He added that he looked forward to “more arrest warrants in order to deprive Russia of its sense of impunity”.

Announcing the warrants, the court wrote there “are reasonable grounds to believe that the two suspects bear responsibility for missile strikes carried out by the Russian armed forces against the Ukrainian electric infrastructure from at least 10 October 2022 until at least 9 March 2023. During this timeframe, a large number of strikes against numerous electric power plants and substations were carried out by the Russian armed forces in multiple locations in Ukraine”.

The court said it had “reasonable grounds to believe that the suspects intentionally caused great suffering or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health, thus bearing criminal responsibility for the crime against humanity of other inhumane acts”.

Russia has argued that electrical infrastructure in Ukraine represents a legitimate military target. The strikes have led to rolling blackouts across Ukraine, and have threatened crucial supplies of heating to the population in winter when temperatures fall below freezing.

Zelenskiy said this month that Russia had damaged or destroyed more than half of Ukraine’s power generation, causing the worst rolling blackouts since the invasion began in 2022.

In its statement, the court said it believed the strikes were “directed against civilian objects, and for those installations that may have qualified as military objectives at the relevant time, the expected incidental civilian harm and damage would have been clearly excessive to the anticipated military advantage”.

THE GUARDIAN
 

Putin says Russia should produce previously banned land-based missiles​


President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia would resume production of short and medium range nuclear-capable land-based missiles due to what he said were moves by the United States to deploy them in both Europe and Asia.

The United States formally withdrew from the landmark 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with Russia in 2019 after saying that Moscow was violating the accord, an accusation the Kremlin denied.

Russia then imposed a moratorium on its own development of missiles previously banned by the INF treaty.
“It is known that the United States not only produces these missile systems, but has already brought them to Europe for exercises in Denmark,” Putin told a meeting of Russia’s Security Council.

“It was recently announced that they are in the Philippines. It is not known whether they took the missiles out of there or not.”

Putin said that Russia was thus forced to respond.

“Apparently, we need to start manufacturing these strike systems and then, based on the actual situation, make decisions about where – if necessary to ensure our safety – to place them,” Putin said.

 
Ukraine’s Zelenskyy charting ‘comprehensive plan’ to end war with Russia

Ukrainian president says as the war rages and casualties mount, a plan to end the 28-month conflict is ‘the diplomatic route we are working on’.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he’s drawing up a “comprehensive plan” for how Kyiv believes the war with Russia should end.

“It is very important for us to show a plan to end the war that will be supported by the majority of the world,” the Ukrainian president said at a news conference in Kyiv alongside Slovenian President Natasa Pirc Musar on Friday.

“This is the diplomatic route we are working on.”

There are no current negotiations between Ukraine and Russia and, based on public statements by Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the two sides appear as far apart as ever when it comes to the terms of a potential peace settlement.

Ukraine has repeatedly said Russia must pull its troops out of its internationally recognised territory – including the peninsula of Crimea that Moscow annexed in 2014 – before peace talks can start.

Meanwhile, Putin, who launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, is demanding Ukraine effectively capitulate by evacuating even more territory across its east and south that Russia now occupies.

Zelenskyy hosted a major international summit in Switzerland earlier this month — and Russia was not invited — to rally support for Ukraine’s position.


www.aljazeera.com

Ukraine’s Zelenskyy charting ‘comprehensive plan’ to end war with Russia

Ukrainian president says as the war rages and casualties mount, a plan to end the 28-month conflict is in the works.
www.aljazeera.com www.aljazeera.com
 
Zelensky renews long-range arms call after attack

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has renewed his appeal for more long-range weapons and air defences after a missile attack killed seven people including two children.

The Russian attack on the town of Vilniansk, near the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, also injured 31 others, Ukrainian officials said.

In total, at least 11 civilians were killed and a further 37 wounded in missile attacks across Ukraine on Saturday, Reuters reported.

"Our cities and communities suffer daily from such Russian strikes," Mr Zelensky wrote in a post on Telegram.

But he added that there were "ways to overcome this", including "destroying Russian missile launchers, striking with real long-range capability and increasing the number of modern air defence systems".

He posted images from Vilniansk showing a large crater near a smouldering building, as well as several bodies laid out on the ground.

Ukraine's Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said two missiles hit the town, damaging infrastructure, a shop and residential buildings.

The Russian defence ministry has not publicly commented on the attack.

On its own Telegram channel, it posted footage of a missile strike on a railway it claimed was near the settlement of Ukrainka - less than six miles (10km) from Vilniansk - and was being used by Ukrainian forces to unload arms and military equipment.

Mr Kostin also said four people were killed and seven wounded in artillery strikes on three villages near the frontline in the eastern Donetsk region.

Western allies have already supplied Ukraine with a number of long-range weapons - including Scalp missiles from France, Storm Shadow from the UK and ATACMS from the US - as well as US-made Patriot air defence systems.

However, the flow of weapons from the US - Ukraine's largest arms supplier by far - falterered earlier in 2024 after a bill designating further military aid was held up in Congress.

The legislation was eventually passed in April, and air defence systems and long-range missiles were arriving on front lines the following month.

But Ukraine has blamed losses of life and Russian territorial gains in the interim on shortages of ammunition and air defence missiles the delay caused, while Mr Zelensky has continued to call for further support to win the war.

On Telegram, he thanked allies for their help, but said decisions to send further weaponry "must be accelerated" as "any delay in decisions in this war means the loss of human lives."

BBC
 
Sanctions against Russia failed to achieve goals, claims Moscow's UK ambassador

Andrei Kelin says "business is pure business" as an investigation reveals glaring loopholes in the restrictions regime, which has allowed British companies - legally - to help keep Russian gas flowing and generate huge revenues for the Kremlin's war machine.

Sanctions imposed against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine have failed to achieve any of their aims, the country's ambassador has told Sky News.

Andrei Kelin was speaking to Sky News as an investigation by Sky's Ed Conway revealed glaring loopholes in the restrictions regime, which has allowed British companies - legally - to help keep Russian gas flowing and generate huge revenues for the Kremlin's war machine.

He defended the continued trade with Europe despite the heightened tensions, arguing "business is pure business".

He also argued the supply of weapons by the West, including Britain, to Ukraine was "bad", as it perpetuated the conflict, which he claimed would be worse for Kyiv in the long-term.

Speaking to The World With Yalda Hakim programme, Mr Kelin said: "The goal of the sanctions was first of all to spoil (the) normal life of Russians so they will say that (Vladimir) Putin is wrong.

"The second point of sanctions was to damage the Russian economy as much as possible.


news.sky.com

Ukraine war: Sanctions against Russia failed to achieve goals, claims Moscow's UK ambassador

Andrei Kelin says "business is pure business" as an investigation reveals glaring loopholes in the restrictions regime, which has allowed British companies - legally - to help keep Russian gas flowing and generate huge revenues for the Kremlin's war machine.
news.sky.com news.sky.com
 

Five killed by Russian strike in central Ukraine​


At least five people have been killed by a Russian drone and missile strike on the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, officials say.

A further 39 people were injured in the blast early on Wednesday morning, regional governor Serhii Lysak wrote on Telegram. Officials said shops, schools and hospitals were damaged by the strike.

Mr Lysak described the attack as "vicious". Footage shared on social media showed a large plume of smoke and fire erupting from buildings after the blast.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the attack and renewed his appeal to Western allies to supply his government with further air defence systems.

"Only two things can stop this Russian terror – modern air defence systems and the long-range capabilities of our weapons," he wrote on social media.

Dnipro, a city with a pre-war population of about a million people, has been a frequent target for Russian attacks since the war began over two years ago. Last year, 40 people were killed after a Russian missile slammed into a residential apartment building in the city.

Ukraine's air force said it downed six drones and five out of seven missiles which had targeted the city early on Wednesday.
But images posted by Mr Lysak after the barrage showed buildings ripped open in the city centre, with glass shattered and strewn across the ground.

Georgii, an elderly witness sporting a bandaged nose and bloodied face, told the Reuters news agency: "There was such a strong explosion that the wave hit me and I fell."

Among the injured was a 14-year-old girl, Mr Lysak said. Two other people in serious conditions were being treated at hospital, he added.

The head of the regional council, Mykola Lukashuk, condemned what he called an act of "cynical terror" by Russian forces. An official day of mourning has been declared by city officials.

Elsewhere, two civilians were killed in overnight strikes in eastern Ukraine, officials in Donetsk and Luhansk have said.

Russia has intensified its aerial attacks on Ukraine in recent months. While Moscow denies targeting civilian infrastructure, the UN's human rights monitoring mission said May was the deadliest month for civilian casualties in almost a year.

President Zelensky has issued increasingly urgent requests for new air defence systems in that time, urging his allies in the West to ignore Russian threats that such actions could trigger an escalation of tensions.

On Tuesday, he met with Hungary's Prime Minister, Victor Orban, who has just taken over the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Mr Orban has long been Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest ally in Europe and has frequently criticised EU aid packages for Ukraine. The men's body language was not warm during the tense meeting in Kyiv, with Mr Orban urging Mr Zelensky to seek a ceasefire and expedited peace negotiations.

Elsewhere, Russia's defence ministry said on Wednesday that it had captured a key district in the hilltop settlement of Chasiv Yar. The small town in eastern Ukraine has been at the centre of intense fighting for months.

The town, which has been flattened by endless shelling, is viewed as a potential staging ground for Russian forces as they advance on the remaining Ukrainian-held areas in the Donetsk region.

Kyiv has yet to comment on the claims.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's military intelligence agency has said it was behind a fire which broke out on a Russian warship in the Baltic Sea in April.

GUR spokesperson Andriy Yusov told Reuters that the agency had targeted the Serpukhov missile ship, operating in tandem with a pro-Kyiv group called the Freedom of Russia legion.

"As a result of the sabotage, [we] managed to ruin the ship from inside and completely destroy communication and its means of automation," the legion said on its Telegram account.

www.bbc.com

Dnipro: Five killed by Russian missile strike in central Ukraine

A further 53 people are injured, after blasts rocked the city of Dnipro early on Wednesday morning.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
 
With Trump in US, Le Pen in France and right wing rising in Germany, end is close for Zelensky.
UK Labour govt. will be a no factor. Italy already has Meloni desperate to move on from Ukraine. 4 months left for Ukraine.

Doesn't bode well for Taiwan in the future.
 
Ukraine calls them meat assaults: Russia's brutal plan to take ground

On the frontlines, Ukrainian soldiers use a graphic term to describe the Russian tactics they face daily.

They call them "meat assaults": waves of Russian soldiers coming at their defensive positions, sometimes nearly a dozen times in a day.

Lt Col Anton Bayev of the Khartia Brigade of Ukraine’s National Guard says wave after wave can arrive in just a few hours at frontlines positions north of Kharkiv.

“The Russians use these units in most cases purely to see where our firing equipment is located, and to constantly exhaust our units,” he said.

“Our guys stand in positions and fight, and when four or five waves of the enemy come at you in a day, which you have to destroy without end, it is very difficult - not only physically, but also psychologically.”

This tactic has led to staggering Russian casualties since Moscow launched its latest offensive two months ago. Around 1,200 Russian soldiers were being killed or wounded every day in May and June, the highest rate since the beginning of the war, according to Western officials.

Those attacking are normally quickly spotted by drones above and the Russians leave their dead and wounded on the battlefield, Lt Col Bayev says. “Their main task is simply meat assaults and our total exhaustion.”

The tactic is a sign that Russia is seeking to make the most of its key advantage - numbers.

In Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region, Captain Ivan Sekach from Ukraine’s 110th Brigade compares what he sees to a conveyor belt bringing Russians to be killed, although still allowing them to push forward slowly.

Russia benefits from a significantly larger population than Ukraine. Some of those in the assaults are former prisoners, but Russia is also able to recruit through making one-off payments, sometimes thousands of dollars.

And there have been complaints from the Russian side about “crippled regiments”, in which wounded soldiers are forced back into fighting. One video shows dozens of men, some on crutches, appealing to their commanders because they say they are wounded and require hospital treatment, but instead are being sent back into combat.

All of this, Western officials say, means Moscow can keep throwing soldiers, even if poorly trained, straight on to the front lines at the same rate they are being killed or wounded.

Ukraine could not match the Russian tactics even if it had the numbers, partly due to a different attitude towards casualties. A senior general was removed in recent weeks after complaints he was using what are often called Soviet tactics - throwing people at the front lines.

“There are a lot of criticisms because we have lost a lot of our guys because of Soviet-type mindset and strategy,” says Ivan Stupak, a former Security Service officer. “We are limited with manpower. We have no other options than thinking of our people.”

In the area around Kharkiv, Russian advances have been stopped. But in the east, Russia’s attritional approach is making slow but steady advances.

“Unfortunately there are a lot of Russians. And they are trying to conduct this rolling operation centimetre by centimetre, inch by inch, 100m per day, 200m per day. And unfortunately, it's successful for them,” says Stupak.

There is frustration in Kyiv about the pace of Western support. One senior official complains they are receiving enough help to ensure they do not lose but not enough to make sure they win.

Western officials acknowledge 2024 has been a tough year for Ukraine, with delays in the arrival of US military aid creating a major strain on defences which has cost territory and lives.

“It seems like a so-called incremental approach,” Oleksandr Merezhko, chair of Ukraine’s parliamentary foreign affairs committee, told the BBC.

“We receive little by little, and I get the impression that our Western allies give a little bit of weaponry, and they see what happens next, as if they're afraid of what they refer to as escalation.”

The lifting of restrictions on using US weapons over the border into Russia has made a difference and helped stall Moscow’s assault on Kharkiv.

“If we have to fight with our hands tied behind our back, you know we'll be only bleeding to death,” says Mr Merezhko. “That's why it's crucially important to be allowed to use long range missiles in the territory of Russia, and we already have results.”

But a Ukrainian official said the use of longer range strikes into Russia had only been a palliative and was not fundamentally altering the dynamic of the war.

“We are driving towards stalemate,” former security service officer Ivan Stupak says, acknowledging that this may lead eventually to the “bitter pill” of some form of negotiation.

During a visit to Kyiv this week, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban suggested a ceasefire first to hasten negotiations, a position that officials in Kyiv are wary of.

“We [are] not ready to go to the compromise for the very important things and values,” Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to Ukraine’s President Zelensky, told reporters in Washington.

Ukrainians fear without hard security guarantees - such as Nato membership, rather than vague talk of a bridge to such status - Russia may simply regroup and attack again in the future.

Vladimir Putin is counting on wearing down Ukraine on the battlefield and outlasting the West’s resolve to provide support. As well as launching guided aerial bombs against frontline positions and civilians in Kharkiv, Moscow has also targeted energy infrastructure across the country, leading to increasingly frequent power blackouts and concerns over what winter might bring.

November’s US election adds another layer of uncertainty, along with a question mark as to whether the European Union could realistically pick up any slack.

For Lt Col Anton Bayev on the frontline near Kharkiv, the ability to strike into Russia may have been vital, but he now sees his enemy adapting its tactics - and not just with “meat assaults”.

His losses now come from mortars and glide bombs, while his Ukrainian forces remain short of ammunition.

“We need everything, and there is always a lack,” he says.

“The boys are holding on. We're all hanging on. It's hard, but everyone knows the price and why it's all being done.”

BBC
 
Hungary's PM arrives in Moscow for Putin talks

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban has arrived in Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, Hungary's government has confirmed.

The visit has been criticised by EU leaders, who have emphasised that Mr Orban is not acting on behalf of the bloc.

Mr Orban is the EU's only head of national government to have kept close ties to the Kremlin following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

He described the trip as a "peace mission" in a post on X. It comes days after he visited Kyiv.

Some European leaders openly condemned the Moscow trip. Finland's Prime Minister Petteri Orpo called it "disturbing news", while Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk tweeted: "The European Council is clear: Russia is the aggressor, Ukraine is the victim. No discussions about Ukraine can take place without Ukraine."

He went on: "The rumours about your visit to Moscow cannot be true, @PM_ViktorOrban, or can they?"

"Appeasement will not stop Putin," European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X.

"Only unity and determination will pave the path to a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine."

Hungary has just taken over the EU's rotating presidency.

In a statement, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell said the trip "takes place, exclusively, in the framework of the bilateral relations between Hungary and Russia".

Earlier this week, Mr Orban visited Kyiv, saying a "a quick ceasefire could be used to speed up peace negotiations".

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky - who has had frosty relations with Mr Orban - did not publicly respond to the proposal.

But many Ukrainians believe any ceasefire would simply cement Russia’s hold over territory it has seized from Ukraine and, if negotiations were to take place, they would prefer them to be conducted from a position of strength rather than on the back foot.

President Putin has said he is open to negotiating with Kyiv. The Kremlin leader recently voiced a number of tough pre-conditions for such talks, but Kyiv and its Western allies say these would be tantamount to Ukraine's capitulation.

Mr Orban has been a vocal critic of Western support for Ukraine. He previously slowed agreement on a €50bn ($54bn; £42bn) EU aid package designed to support Ukraine in its defence against Russia.

Tuesday's visit to Kyiv was his first in 12 years, while he met Mr Putin repeatedly during that time.

During Mr Orban's joint appearance with Mr Zelensky, the body language between them was not warm, and neither took questions from the media after they gave their statements.

But for the next six months Mr Orban's position as head of the European Council means he has an influential role as a figurehead for Europe.

He came to Ukraine on his second day in that role for discussions, saying there was a need to solve previous disagreements and focus on the future.

BBC
 
BouncerGuy said:
Hungary's PM arrives in Moscow for Putin talks

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban has arrived in Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, Hungary's government has confirmed.

The visit has been criticised by EU leaders, who have emphasised that Mr Orban is not acting on behalf of the bloc.

Mr Orban is the EU's only head of national government to have kept close ties to the Kremlin following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

He described the trip as a "peace mission" in a post on X. It comes days after he visited Kyiv.

Some European leaders openly condemned the Moscow trip. Finland's Prime Minister Petteri Orpo called it "disturbing news", while Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk tweeted: "The European Council is clear: Russia is the aggressor, Ukraine is the victim. No discussions about Ukraine can take place without Ukraine."

He went on: "The rumours about your visit to Moscow cannot be true, @PM_ViktorOrban, or can they?"

"Appeasement will not stop Putin," European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X.

"Only unity and determination will pave the path to a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine."

Hungary has just taken over the EU's rotating presidency.

In a statement, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell said the trip "takes place, exclusively, in the framework of the bilateral relations between Hungary and Russia".

Earlier this week, Mr Orban visited Kyiv, saying a "a quick ceasefire could be used to speed up peace negotiations".

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky - who has had frosty relations with Mr Orban - did not publicly respond to the proposal.

But many Ukrainians believe any ceasefire would simply cement Russia’s hold over territory it has seized from Ukraine and, if negotiations were to take place, they would prefer them to be conducted from a position of strength rather than on the back foot.

President Putin has said he is open to negotiating with Kyiv. The Kremlin leader recently voiced a number of tough pre-conditions for such talks, but Kyiv and its Western allies say these would be tantamount to Ukraine's capitulation.

Mr Orban has been a vocal critic of Western support for Ukraine. He previously slowed agreement on a €50bn ($54bn; £42bn) EU aid package designed to support Ukraine in its defence against Russia.

Tuesday's visit to Kyiv was his first in 12 years, while he met Mr Putin repeatedly during that time.

During Mr Orban's joint appearance with Mr Zelensky, the body language between them was not warm, and neither took questions from the media after they gave their statements.

But for the next six months Mr Orban's position as head of the European Council means he has an influential role as a figurehead for Europe.

He came to Ukraine on his second day in that role for discussions, saying there was a need to solve previous disagreements and focus on the future.

BBC
Click to expand...

Hungarian PM seems confused.

On one hand, he seems anti-Iran and Iran is an ally of Putin. But, he also seems anti-Ukraine by being close to Putin.

I guess that's geopolitics.
 
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Moscow supports "a complete and final end" to the Ukraine conflict rather than "some kind of truce or cease-fire"

Putin, however, reiterated his demand that Ukrainian forces must withdraw from the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions during a press conference in Moscow after meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Other terms are "a subject for consideration," he added.

"Russia is committed to the complete and definitive resolution of the conflict. The conditions for this are outlined in my speech (to the Foreign Ministry) – the withdrawal of all troops from the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions. There are other conditions which are a subject for consideration in the course of possible joint work," he noted.

Putin argued that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy avoids peace talks because doing so would require him to lift martial law and hold a presidential election, and his chances of winning are close to zero.

Regarding Russia's relations with the EU, Putin said they are currently "at the lowest ebb," and that he has discussed the future security architecture in Europe with Orban.

During the talks, the Russian president said, the Hungarian prime minister primarily expressed Western views, including those on Ukraine.

"We perceive the prime minister's visit as an attempt to restore dialogue and give it an additional impetus," Putin said.

For his part, Orban said Hungary considers ensuring peace in Europe its main task during the presidency of the EU Council, for this purpose he came to Moscow.

"I wanted to know what is the shortest way to end the war, and I wanted to know the president's opinion on three issues -- what does he think about the existing peace initiatives on Ukraine, the possibility of a cease-fire and peace talks -- what should be the order to hold them, and the vision of Europe after the war," he said.

The prime minister emphasized that in recent years, "there have been almost no countries that could have contacts with both sides, and Hungary is one of the few such countries."

"There are still a lot of steps to be taken to get closer to the end of the war. We have made the most important step today by establishing contacts and will continue to work in this direction," he said.

Source: Anadolu Agency
 

At least 20 dead in Russian attack on Ukraine cities​


At least 20 people have been killed after Russia launched a massive missile attack against cities across Ukraine, according to officials.

In the capital, Kyiv, at least seven people were killed in a rare daytime attack. The city's mayor said a children's hospital was hit by the missile strike and was being evacuated.

The head of the military administration in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih said at least 10 people had been killed there, with three killed in the eastern town of Pokrovsk.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is visiting Poland, said that Russia had fired some 40 missiles at targets across the country.

Mr Zelensky, who is due to travel to the US for this week's Nato summit in Washington, said Russia had "massively attacked" Ukraine.

"Different cities: Kyiv, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, Sloviansk, Kramatorsk. More than 40 missiles of various types. Residential buildings, infrastructure and a children's hospital were damaged," he said.

Plumes of smoke could be seen across the capital Kyiv, while video posted on social media showed the destruction inside and outside of the Okhmadyt children's hospital. It is not clear if anyone inside was injured.

But Mr Zelensky said in a social media post that people were trapped under the rubble of the hospital. He added that the number of people injured at Okhmadyt hospital was unclear.

Vitaliy Klitschko, Kyiv's mayor, told the Reuters news agency the bombardment was the worst attack on the capital since the start of the war.

Elsewhere, Oleksandr Vilkul, head of the military administration in Kryvy Rih, posted on the Telegram messaging app that at least 10 people were killed and 31 wounded following the attack on the city. Of those, he said 10 were seriously injured.

Kryvy Rih is Mr Zelensky's home town and has been repeatedly attacked by Russia since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The Russian bombardment comes as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Moscow for a two-day state visit to Russia where he is due to hold talks with President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin.

www.bbc.com

At least 20 dead after 'massive' Russian missile attack on Ukraine cities

At least seven people were killed in the capital Kyiv and 10 in the city of Kryvyi Rih.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
 
FearlessRoar said:

At least 20 dead in Russian attack on Ukraine cities​


In the capital, Kyiv, at least seven people were killed in a rare daytime attack. The city's mayor said a children's hospital was hit by the missile strike and was being evacuated.
Click to expand...

Western media is saddened and goes berserk after Russia strikes a hospital in Ukraine.

Nethenyahu: 'Pulkes, hold my beer!'
 
Ukraine mourns after day of Russian air strikes

A day of mourning is being observed in Ukraine after one of the worst waves of Russian missile strikes in months, with at least 41 people killed and 166 injured.

The main children's hospital in the capital Kyiv was among buildings hit in cities across the country on Monday.

Two people died when a missile flattened part of the Ohmatdyt Children's Hospital - Ukraine's biggest paediatrics facility - and a search for survivors beneath the rubble continued into the early hours of Tuesday.

Elsewhere, the governor of Russia's southern Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, said four people had died in Ukrainian strikes in the last 24 hours.

On Monday, Russia denied targeting the Kyiv hospital, saying it had been hit by fragments of a Ukrainian air defence missile, while Ukraine said it had found remnants of a Russian cruise missile.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the attack "brutal" and described his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin as a "bloody criminal".

Nato is preparing to hold a summit later on Tuesday in Washington, where the military bloc's response to the invasion of Ukraine will be high on the agenda.

World leaders allied to Ukraine have condemned the attack, including the new British Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer.

He said "attacking innocent children" was "the most depraved of actions" and promised continued support for Kyiv after the change of government in the UK.

Calling the strikes a "horrific reminder of Russia's brutality", US President Joe Biden said additional support for Ukraine's air defence systems would soon be announced.

Mr Zelensky said that Russia had launched more than 40 missiles on Monday, damaging almost 100 buildings in Kyiv, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.

Pictures from the scene of the blast at the Kyiv hospital - which specialises in cancer treatment and organ transplants - showed children hooked up to IV drips sitting outside the damaged facility awaiting evacuation.

Rescue workers and medics dug through the rubble to look for survivors, though it was unclear how many were still trapped.

On Monday afternoon, Kyiv's Mayor Vitali Klitschko said 16 people, including seven children, had been injured in the hospital strike.

He said the attacks across the city were among the worst Kyiv had faced since the beginning of the war, as he ordered flags to be flown at half-mast on Tuesday and cancelled entertainment events.

Following the strike, Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina wore a black ribbon as a mark of respect when she played in the round of 16 at Wimbledon on Monday afternoon.

She fought back tears during her post-match interview, saying: "It wasn't easy to focus today on the match.

"Since the morning it was difficult to read the news. To go on the court is extremely tough."

The UN's human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine has said civilian casualties have been mounting in recent months, as Russia renewed its air campaign.

A recent report said May was the deadliest month for civilian deaths in almost a year.

On Tuesday morning, the governor of the Rostov region in southern Russia said a fire had broken out at a powerplant after Ukraine launched "tens" of drones.

BBC
 
shortbread said:
Western media is saddened and goes berserk after Russia strikes a hospital in Ukraine.

Nethenyahu: 'Pulkes, hold my beer!'
Click to expand...
It does seem like they're co-ordinating tactics to an extent. Both Putin and Netanyahu seen to have decided that hitting schools, hospitals is the best way to break the will of the public and kill resistance.

I think it'll backfire for both of them.
 
Biden condemns 'Russian brutality' after deadly Ukraine strikes

US President Joe Biden has condemned a wave of Russian missile strikes that killed at least 38 people in Ukraine as a "horrific reminder of Russia's brutality", as he vowed to strengthen Kyiv's air defences.

At least 190 were injured across the country, including some at a children's hospital in the capital Kyiv on Monday.

It comes as Mr Biden prepares to host a Nato summit in Washington on Tuesday.

The US president said further boosts to Ukraine’s air defences would be announced at the meeting.

Leaders from the 32 Nato members states, their partner countries and the EU are gathering to mark the 75th anniversary of the bloc.

Mr Biden said he will be welcoming Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and other Nato leaders.

The summit will focus on defence and deterrence in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

"We will be announcing new measures to strengthen Ukraine’s air defences to help protect their cities and civilians from Russian strikes," Mr Biden said.

"I will be meeting with President Zelenskyy to make clear our support for Ukraine is unshakeable."

The UN Security Council is also meeting on Tuesday at Ukraine’s request.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres joined Western officials in condemning Russia's missile attack on Ukraine.

Kyiv's mayor, Vitali Klitschko, declared 9 July as a day of mourning following the deadly attacks on the capital.

Two people died when a missile flattened part of the Ohmatdyt Children's Hospital - Ukraine's biggest paediatrics facility - and a search for survivors beneath the rubble continued into the early hours of Tuesday.

President Zelensky has been urging Western allies to step up deliveries of air defences for months, amid increased Russian attacks. UN officials said May was the deadliest month for civilian casualties in almost a year.

The government in Kyiv says it desperately needs new US-made Patriot air defence systems. But Western officials have been reluctant to surrender any more of the limited number of surface-to-air batteries scattered across the Nato alliance.

Meanwhile, Russian officials said a fire had broken out at a power substation in the Rostov region, bordering Ukraine, after overnight drone attacks.

The regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said four people were killed and 20 injured in attacks by Ukraine over the past day.

On Tuesday, Russia repeated its denials that it targeted the Kyiv hospital, with President Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying "we do not conduct strikes on civilian targets".

Russia said the hospital had been hit by fragments of a Ukrainian air defence missile, while Ukraine said it had found remnants of a Russian cruise missile.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the attack "brutal" and described his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin as a "bloody criminal".

Mr Zelensky said that Russia had launched more than 40 missiles on Monday, damaging almost 100 buildings in Kyiv, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.

Pictures from the scene of the blast at the Kyiv hospital - which specialises in cancer treatment and organ transplants - showed children hooked up to IV drips sitting outside the damaged facility awaiting evacuation.

The UK's new Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, condemned the attack, calling it "the most depraved of actions".

Britain has been one of Ukraine's key Western allies, and Sir Keir has vowed that his new administration will maintain support for Kyiv. He is set to meet President Biden at the White House on Wednesday on the sidelines of the Nato summit.

Mr Peskov told the BBC that the Kremlin would be following the Nato summit "extremely closely".

"It is an alliance which has repeatedly and openly declared that its aim is to deliver Russia a strategic defeat on the battlefield," Mr Peskov said.

BBC
 
US President Joe Biden is now speaking at a NATO summit in Washington.

Mr Biden begins his speech by speaking about how NATO was formed following the Second World War in a bid to "answer threats at once" and to "prevent future wars and protect democracy".

Speaking about the growth of NATO, he says that "Finland and Sweden joined the alliance not just because their leaders thought it, but because their citizens called for it, in overwhelming number".

Mr Biden adds that Russian President Vladimir Putin "wants nothing less than Ukraine's total subjection".

"Make no mistake, Russia is losing this war," he says.

He tells the room that "Putin won't stop at Ukraine" but that NATO's full support can help Ukraine stop Putin's aggression.


SKY News
 

UK’s Starmer says Ukraine can use British missiles to strike inside Russia​


Keir Starmer signaled Ukraine can use Britain’s Storm Shadow missiles to strike military targets inside Russia, confirming he would continue the previous UK government’s policy on the use of its long-range weapons in the Russia-Ukraine war.

Starmer agreed it was up to Ukraine how it used the Storm Shadow missiles donated by the UK, when asked by a Bloomberg reporter. He was speaking to journalists while traveling to the NATO summit in Washington late Tuesday.

The missiles must “obviously to be used in accordance with international humanitarian law as you would expect,” the premier added, stating his position that Storm Shadows were to be used “for defensive purposes.”

“But it is for Ukraine to decide how to deploy it for those defensive purposes,” he said. Storm Shadows are precision-guided cruise missiles with a firing range in excess of 250 kilometers (155 miles).

Ukraine has said it needs to strike military targets inside Russia to defend itself and repel Russian attacks, and it’s one of the main issues that will be discussed at the NATO summit.

Some European countries such as the UK have expressed support for Ukraine’s position, but the US government has so far resisted lifting all restrictions on the use of its weapons by Kyiv. The Biden administration says it has not enabled Ukrainian strikes deep within Russia, considering that a red line in order to prevent escalation with Moscow.

The remarks are the first time Starmer has committed his new administration to the policy following his UK general election victory last week.

They echo the words used by predecessor Rishi Sunak’s government, which never explicitly said Ukraine could use Storm Shadows to strike inside Russia, but indicated that was the case by saying it was up to Kyiv how to deploy them. At the time, the Kremlin called that a “very dangerous statement.”

“Keir Starmer has given President Zelenskyy a shot in the arm,” Jamie Shea, a former NATO official and now associate fellow at Chatham House, told Bloomberg Radio on Wednesday. The Ukrainians “have to be able to strike back against those significant Russian military targets — but obviously not Russian civilian targets. I think Keir Starmer and other NATO leaders will draw a red line on that, the strikes have to be against the genuine military targets.”

Responding to the strike on a hospital in Ukraine by Russia, Starmer said it was an “absolutely shocking, appalling attack” that provided “a very important if tragic backdrop to this summit.” He added: “It’s the duty of everyone to describe it in those terms.”

“My message to President Putin is this: This NATO summit should be seen as a clear and united resolve by NATO allies and others that are there at the same time to stand with Ukraine and stand up to Russian aggression,” Starmer said.

 
FearlessRoar said:

UK’s Starmer says Ukraine can use British missiles to strike inside Russia​


Keir Starmer signaled Ukraine can use Britain’s Storm Shadow missiles to strike military targets inside Russia, confirming he would continue the previous UK government’s policy on the use of its long-range weapons in the Russia-Ukraine war.

Starmer agreed it was up to Ukraine how it used the Storm Shadow missiles donated by the UK, when asked by a Bloomberg reporter. He was speaking to journalists while traveling to the NATO summit in Washington late Tuesday.

The missiles must “obviously to be used in accordance with international humanitarian law as you would expect,” the premier added, stating his position that Storm Shadows were to be used “for defensive purposes.”

“But it is for Ukraine to decide how to deploy it for those defensive purposes,” he said. Storm Shadows are precision-guided cruise missiles with a firing range in excess of 250 kilometers (155 miles).

Ukraine has said it needs to strike military targets inside Russia to defend itself and repel Russian attacks, and it’s one of the main issues that will be discussed at the NATO summit.

Some European countries such as the UK have expressed support for Ukraine’s position, but the US government has so far resisted lifting all restrictions on the use of its weapons by Kyiv. The Biden administration says it has not enabled Ukrainian strikes deep within Russia, considering that a red line in order to prevent escalation with Moscow.

The remarks are the first time Starmer has committed his new administration to the policy following his UK general election victory last week.

They echo the words used by predecessor Rishi Sunak’s government, which never explicitly said Ukraine could use Storm Shadows to strike inside Russia, but indicated that was the case by saying it was up to Kyiv how to deploy them. At the time, the Kremlin called that a “very dangerous statement.”

“Keir Starmer has given President Zelenskyy a shot in the arm,” Jamie Shea, a former NATO official and now associate fellow at Chatham House, told Bloomberg Radio on Wednesday. The Ukrainians “have to be able to strike back against those significant Russian military targets — but obviously not Russian civilian targets. I think Keir Starmer and other NATO leaders will draw a red line on that, the strikes have to be against the genuine military targets.”

Responding to the strike on a hospital in Ukraine by Russia, Starmer said it was an “absolutely shocking, appalling attack” that provided “a very important if tragic backdrop to this summit.” He added: “It’s the duty of everyone to describe it in those terms.”

“My message to President Putin is this: This NATO summit should be seen as a clear and united resolve by NATO allies and others that are there at the same time to stand with Ukraine and stand up to Russian aggression,” Starmer said.

Click to expand...
He is inviting 3rd world war
 

Norway says it will donate six F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine​


Norway will donate six F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, the Norwegian government said in a statement on Wednesday as NATO leaders attended a summit in Washington.

Leaders of NATO member states are poised to unveil new aid for Ukraine to help it defend itself following Russia's invasion in February 2022.

Hoping to change the course of the war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wants the 32-member collective security alliance to send more weapons and money, and to offer security guarantees.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said deliveries of the F-16s by Norway were planned to start in 2024.

A senior NATO official said this week that Ukraine had not yet amassed the munitions and personnel it needs to mount its own large-scale offensive operations.

 
Nato vows 'irreversible path' to Ukraine membership

Nato members have pledged their support for an "irreversible path" to future membership for Ukraine, as well as more aid.

While a formal timeline for it to join the military alliance was not agreed at a summit in Washington DC, the military alliance's 32 members said they had "unwavering" support for Ukraine's war effort.

Nato has also announced further integration with Ukraine's military and members have committed €40bn ($43.3bn, £33.7bn) in aid in the next year, including F-16 fighter jets and air defence support.

The bloc's Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said: "Support to Ukraine is not charity - it is in our own security interest."

The ongoing invasion of Ukraine was top of the agenda at Nato's summit, and a declaration agreed by all members said Russia "remains the most significant and direct threat" to security.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed US-built F-16 jets are in the process of being transferred to Ukraine from Denmark and the Netherlands.

It will be the first time Ukraine has received the advanced aircraft, something which Kyiv has long called for. Mr Blinken told the summit the jets will be in use "this summer".

Nato members agreed to set up a new unit to coordinate military aid and training for the Ukrainian army as part of measures designed to deepen ties between the alliance and Ukraine.

The joint statement said these measures, combined with aid commitments from individual members, "constitute a bridge to Ukraine's membership in Nato".

It said Ukraine had made "concrete progress" on "required democratic, economic, and security reforms" in recent months - but that a formal membership invitation would only be extended when "conditions are met".

"As Ukraine continues this vital work, we will continue to support it on its irreversible path to full Euro-Atlantic integration, including Nato membership," the statement added.

It also accused China of being a "decisive enabler" for Russia's war against Ukraine, in some of its harshest remarks yet on Beijing's involvement.

This prompted an angry response from Beijing's mission to the EU, which called on Nato to "stop hyping up the so-called China threat, and provoking confrontation and rivalry".

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was invited to the Nato summit and had meetings with world leaders, including his first with Sir Keir Starmer since he became prime minister of the United Kingdom.

Sir Keir told Mr Zelensky there would be "no change in support" for Ukraine's war effort despite there being a new government in London.

Mr Zelensky also met US politicians from both the Democrat and Republican parties, a move designed to shore up cross-party support for Ukraine after a stand-off in Congress earlier this year saw a large military aid package delayed for several months.

Nato leaders had hoped this week's summit would provide an opportunity to present a united front on Ukraine after modest Russian gains on the battlefield in recent months.

However, there may be some disappointment in Kyiv that there was no clear public indication on how long it would be until Ukraine is offered full membership.

The summit - which marked the 75-year anniversary of the alliance's foundation - came months ahead of an election which could see Donald Trump, a Nato critic, return to the White House, and amid political troubles for US President Joe Biden.

As Mr Biden, 81, met other Nato leaders on Wednesday, some influential Democrats publicly called for him to quit the race over fears he is too old to perform against Mr Trump, 78, in what is likely to be a closely fought campaign.

Responding to a question from the BBC, Mr Stoltenberg refused to be drawn on whether the US's domestic politics could impact the alliance.

He said: "Nato is the most successful alliance in history because we have been able to stay out of domestic political debates.

"It's important for me to continue to do what I can to ensure that that continues to be the case."

Mr Biden used the summit to reaffirm his support for Ukraine and call for more defence investment from other members which have lagged behind on spending.

He said Russia is on a "wartime footing" in terms of defence production with support from Russia, North Korea and Iran - and leaders "cannot allow the alliance to fall behind".

"We can and will defend every inch of Nato territory", the president added.

BBC
 
China tells NATO not to create chaos in Asia and rejects label of ‘enabler’ of Russia’s Ukraine war

China accused NATO on Thursday of seeking security at the expense of others and told the alliance not to bring the same “chaos” to Asia.

The statement by a Foreign Ministry spokesperson came a day after NATO labeled China a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s war against Ukraine.

“NATO hyping up China’s responsibility on the Ukraine issue is unreasonable and has sinister motives,” spokesperson Lin Jian said at a daily briefing. He maintained that China has a fair and objective stance on the Ukraine issue.

China has broken with the United States and its European allies over the war in Ukraine, refusing to condemn Russia’s invasion. Its trade with Russia has grown since the invasion, at least partially offsetting the impact of Western sanctions.

NATO, in a communique issued at a summit in Washington, said China has become a enabler of the war through its “no-limits partnership” with Russia and its large-scale support for Russia’s defense industrial base.

Lin said that China’s trade with Russia is legitimate and reasonable and based on World Trade Organization rules.

He said that NATO’s “so-called security” comes at the cost of the security of other countries. China has backed Russia’s contention that NATO expansion posed a threat to Russia.

China has expressed concern about NATO’s budding relationships with countries in the region. Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea sent their leaders or deputies to the NATO summit this week.

“China urges NATO to ... stop interfering in China’s internal politics and smearing China’s image and not create chaos in the Asia-Pacific after creating turmoil in Europe,” Lin said.

Chinese troops are in Belarus this week for joint drills near the border with Poland, a NATO member. The exercises are the first-ever with Belarus, an ally of Russia.

Lin described the joint training as normal military exchange and cooperation that is not directed at any particular country.

AP NEWS
 

NATO allies call China a ‘decisive enabler’ of Russia in Ukraine war as bloc eyes Asia security threats​


China is a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s war against Ukraine, NATO leaders said Wednesday, as the defense alliance hardens its stance on Beijing and the “systemic challenges” they say it poses to their countries’ security.

The joint declaration marks NATO’s most pointed tone yet on China’s role in a war that has galvanized the 75-year-old bloc, which celebrated its anniversary this week at a three-day leaders’ summit in Washington hosted by US President Joe Biden.

China’s “no limits” partnership with Russia and its “large-scale support for Russia’s defense industrial base” are enabling Moscow to wage its war, the NATO leaders’ statement said, as they urged Beijing to “cease all material and political support to Russia’s war effort.”

The US and European leaders in recent months have accused China of bolstering Russia’s defense sector with the export of dual-use goods. Beijing has denied supplying weaponry and maintains it keeps strict controls on such goods.

The NATO leaders also elaborated to a greater extent than in the past on concerns over China’s growing capabilities and activities in outer space, and reiterated their previous unease about what they called Beijing’s “malicious cyber and hybrid activities,” including disinformation, and “rapidly” expanding nuclear arsenal.

“We remain open to constructive engagement with the PRC, including to build reciprocal transparency with the view of safeguarding the Alliance’s security interests,” the statement said, referring to China by the initials of its official name.

“At the same time, we are boosting our shared awareness, enhancing our resilience and preparedness, and protecting against the PRC’s coercive tactics and efforts to divide the Alliance.”

The NATO leaders’ declaration Wednesday comes as the 32-member alliance - historically focused on security in North America and Europe - has in recent years upped its engagement with US allies in Asia and increasingly seen its security as linked to the region, even as member countries have pursued divergent policies toward China.

For the third consecutive year, leaders of New Zealand, Japan and South Korea attended the NATO leaders’ summit in another sign of closer ties between the bloc and those countries, as well as Australia.

Source: CNN
 

Russia says it is not preparing to attack NATO​


Russia said on Friday it was not planning to attack NATO and it was the alliance that was aggravating tensions.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova was referring to a NATO Summit declaration that said: “Russia remains the most significant and direct threat to Allies’ security.”

Zakharova said NATO was trying to “justify its existence and strengthen Washington’s control over European satellites.”

Western leaders have repeatedly said that President Vladimir Putin will order his military to go further and attack NATO countries in central and eastern Europe if he is not stopped in Ukraine.

 
Six killed, 13 hurt in Russian attacks on Ukraine's Donetsk region, officials say

Russian attacks killed at least six people and injured 13 in Ukraine's eastern frontline Donetsk region on Friday, regional prosecutors said.

A Russian missile landed near an administrative building and a bus stop in the town of Myrnohrad, northwest of the Russian-held city of Donetsk, killing four people and injuring 10.

Donetsk region Governor Vadym Filashkin posted images from the impact sites showing badly damaged building facades and a bus with shattered windows. There was also a burnt car that appeared to have been thrown to the side by a blast.

A separate attack on an unnamed enterprise in the town of Kostiantynivka, northwest of Bakhmut, seized by Russian forces last year after months of battles, killed two civilians and injured three.

Another attack, on the town of Lyman, further north, injured seven people.

Reuters could not independently confirm the accounts. Donetsk region, which Russian troops partially occupy, regularly comes under Russian shelling and air strikes.

Moscow denies targeting civilians or civilian infrastructure in its invasion of Ukraine, although thousands of people have been killed.

REUTERS
 

Russia denies failure of Kharkiv offensive amid plans to seal border villages​


The Kremlin on Wednesday denied a major ground offensive on Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region had failed, after Russian officials said they would seal off border villages to protect civilians from Ukrainian shelling.

Russia in May launched a surprise assault into the Kharkiv region, which sits across the border from Russia’s Belgorod region, in a bid to push Ukrainian forces back and establish what President Vladimir Putin called a “security zone.”

But on Tuesday, Belgorod’s regional governor announced that civilian access to 14 Russian border villages would be restricted given the ongoing intensity of Ukrainian cross-border attacks.

Asked on Wednesday whether that decision meant the Kharkiv offensive had failed, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “No, it doesn’t.”

“This operation is ongoing, it will continue until it has been successfully completed,” he told reporters in a briefing call.

“But while it has not been completed, barbaric attacks by the Kyiv regime on civilian infrastructure continue. In order to take the necessary measures to ensure the safety of the population, new practices are being introduced,” he added.

Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said Tuesday that over 200 people had been killed and hundreds more wounded in the region since Moscow launched its full-scale military offensive in February 2022.

He said entry to the border area would be limited from next Tuesday, with only adult men wearing bullet-proof vests and helmets permitted to pass through checkpoints.

Kyiv has stepped up attacks on Russian territory throughout the conflict.

It says these are justified responses to Moscow’s aggression.

Last week, Ukrainian strikes on the Belgorod region killed four people in one 24-hour period, while 20 more were injured.

Ukraine was forced to scramble troops to reinforce the Kharkiv area after Moscow launched the offensive in May.

Russian troops have since claimed a number of modest territorial gains in the eastern Donetsk region, and independent military analysts said Russia’s real goal could have been to force Ukraine to divert troops away from other areas of the front line.

 
Germany plans to halve military aid for Ukraine

Germany is planning to nearly halve military aid for Ukraine next year, from around €8bn (£6.7bn; $8.7bn) to around €4bn, according to a draft budget approved by the government.

Finance Minister Christian Lindner said Ukraine's financing was "secure for the foreseeable future" due to a G7 group of rich nations scheme to raise $50bn from interest on frozen Russian assets.

Germany is Ukraine's second biggest military donor, after the US. In 2024, Berlin's budget for Kyiv is set at nearly €7.5bn.

The planned aid cut comes amid fears in Ukraine and among its European allies that US funds could be slashed or even stopped if Donald Trump wins the presidency in November's election.

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The draft budget was approved by the German government on Wednesday.

Although military aid to Ukraine is set to be reduced, the defence budget for 2025 will be raised by €1.3bn to €53.25bn.

This is still less than the €6bn for which Defence Minister Boris Pistorius had been pushing.

Overall, Germany is planning to meet the target of 2% GDP spending on defence as required by the Nato alliance.

The defence budget still needs to be approved by lawmakers.

In other developments:
  • Russia and Ukraine on Wednesday carried out the latest swap of prisoners of war, with each side receiving back 95 military personnel. The United Arab Emirates facilitated the exchange
  • A source in Ukraine’s military confirmed to the BBC that Ukrainian troops had withdrawn from the village of Krynky - a key foothold on the Russian-occupied eastern bank of the Dnipro river in the southern Kherson region. But the source added that Ukraine's operations in the area continued
  • Britain's new Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will host some 45 European leaders on Thursday at a summit he hopes will begin to reset London's relationship with the continent. The gathering of the European Political Community (EPC) will also give leaders a chance to reaffirm support for Ukraine.
BBC
 
PM Modi ji has asked President Putin ji to take it easy on Ukraine and adopt the path of ahimsa as was once followed by Ashoka The Great. Also in parallel, government of Bharat remains in touch with President Zelenski and has offered full support in mediation.
 

Russia jails US journalist Gershkovich on spying charges​


US journalist Evan Gershkovich has been sentenced by a Russian court to 16 years in a high-security penal colony on espionage charges, after a secretive trial decried as a "sham" by his employer, his family and the White House.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reporter was first arrested last March while on a reporting trip in the city of Yekaterinburg, about 1,600km (1,000 miles) east of Moscow, by security services.

Prosecutors have accused him of working for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), accusations Mr Gershkovich, the WSJ and the US vociferously deny.

It marks the first conviction of a US journalist for espionage in Russia since the Cold War ended more than 30 years ago.

Both sides in the trial have 15 days to appeal against the verdict, the judge said.

The trial began last month, and the last two days' proceedings had originally been scheduled for August. Prosecutors had asked for an 18-year prison sentence.

But in an unexpected move, the hearing was brought forward to Thursday, and the judge gave the verdict late on Friday afternoon.

In a charging indictment, prosecutors accused Mr Gershkovich, 32, of acting “under instructions from the CIA" to collect "secret information" about a factory that produces tanks in the Sverdlovsk region.

The reporter has consistently denied the accusations, and in a statement on Thursday the WSJ called the trial a "shameful sham" and his detention an "outrage".

Washington accuses Russia of holding him as a bargaining chip, to be used for a possible prisoner swap with Russian citizens in foreign jails.

But Moscow knows that the US is prepared to make swaps in order to release its own citizens, and the two countries are known to have been discussing such a swap.

Russian observers say a quick conviction could mean that an exchange is imminent. According to Russian judicial practice, an exchange generally requires a verdict to already be in place.

www.bbc.com

US journalist Evan Gershkovich jailed for 16 years in Russia

His employer, The Wall Street Journal, has called the allegations "shameful" and a "sham".
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
 

Russian forces take control of village in eastern Ukraine​


Russia's army has said it has captured another village in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region, where its troops have been grinding forwards over recent months.

Russia's defence ministry said its troops had "liberated the village of Yurivka," a tiny settlement around 30km north of the regional capital, also called Donetsk.

In southern Ukraine, Russian attacks killed two people on the right bank of the Kherson region, a day after Kyiv acknowledged its foothold on the left bank was mostly destroyed.

Ukraine managed to establish a small bridgehead on the left bank of the Dnipro river that cuts through the Kherson region last year in an attempt to create a buffer zone against Russian attacks.

However, yesterday the military acknowledged that while fighting was still ongoing there, "most of the main positions of Ukrainian troops" in the village of Krynky where it had a foothold had been completely destroyed.

In the town of Bilozerka, about 5km inland from the Dnipro river, "massive strikes by Russian rocket artillery" left two dead, Kherson region's governor Oleksandr Prokudin said.

At least five others were injured, including a paramedic who was hit by a drone while helping the injured, he added.

Russian forces captured swathes of the Kherson region when they invaded in February 2022 but Ukrainian troops forced Moscow to withdraw its troops from the right bank later that year.

The Kremlin claims the Kherson region as its own and its forces on the opposite bank of the Dnipro river have continued to shell civilian areas.

Separately, in Ukraine's northeast Kharkiv region, an Iskander missile attack injured at least nine people including a 14-year-old boy, the interior ministry said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, meanwhile, is in London and has addressed UK senior ministers, becoming the first foreign leader to address the British cabinet in person since 1997.

Mr Zelensky gave members of the new Labour government a rundown of the latest situation in Ukraine after a red-carpet welcome at British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's 10 Downing Street residence and office.

www.rte.ie

Russian forces take control of village in eastern Ukraine

Russia's army has said it has captured another village in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region, where its troops have been grinding forwards over recent months.
www.rte.ie www.rte.ie
 
Ukrainian allies: no you can't use the weapons we gave you in russia! You have to use them in ukraine even though Russia invaded you!!!
 

Russian missile and drone attack kills two in Ukraine, hits energy infrastructure​


Russian drones and missiles struck overnight in Ukraine, killing two civilians and hitting energy facilities and railway infrastructure across the country, officials said on Saturday.

Oleh Syniehubov, regional governor for the Kharkiv region, said Iskander missiles targeted an infrastructure facility in the small town of Barvinkove in the northeast, killing two people and injuring three more.

He gave no details about the facility, but said on the Telegram messaging app that more than 50 residential houses and administrative and commercial buildings were also damaged in the strike.

The Ukrainian air force said Russian forces launched four ballistic Iskander missiles in the overnight attack. The Ukrainian air defense failed to shoot them down.

The air defense shot down 13 of 17 Russian drones over five regions in the east, north, and center of the country, the air force said.

Ukrenergo, the national grid operator, said the drones attacked electricity distribution facilities in the central Poltava region, in the Sumy region in northeast and in the northern Chernihiv region.

Ukrenergo imposed emergency power cuts for industrial and residential consumers in Poltava and Chernihiv regions, it said on the Telegram messaging app.

Russian forces have stepped up missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure since March, knocking out about half of the available energy generation and forcing extended blackouts for millions.

The Ukrainian Railways said the overnight attacks damaged railway infrastructure in some parts of Kharkiv region and briefly delayed some passenger trains.

 

Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 876​


A Russian missile hit a children’s playground in Ukraine’s southern city of Mykolaiv, killing a child and two adults, and injuring five others, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Telegram. Vitaliy Kim, the regional governor, praised residents who rushed to the site to help before medics arrived and said another missile had landed elsewhere in the region.

Russian attacks killed two people on the right bank of the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson, a day after Ukraine acknowledged its foothold on the left bank was mostly destroyed. In the town of Bilozerka, about 5km (3 miles) inland from the Dnipro river, “massive strikes by Russian rocket artillery” left two dead, said Kherson Governor Oleksandr Prokudin.
At least five others in Kherson were wounded, including a paramedic who was hit by a drone while helping the injured, Prokudin added.

Russian drones launched in an overnight attack on Ukraine hit energy infrastructure facilities in two regions in the country’s north, the Reuters news agency reported, citing Ukrainian regional officials. One of the Shahed drones hit an energy facility in the Sumy region while another struck a site in the Chernihiv region. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Ukrainian air defence forces shot down 13 of 17 Russian drones over five regions in the east, north, and centre of the country, the air force said.

Russian forces have captured the village of Yurivka in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, according to Russia’s Ministry of Defence. The claim could not be independently verified.

Russia shot down 26 Ukrainian drones overnight in the southern Rostov region, several hundred kilometres from the front line, Vasily Golubev, the regional governor said, but there were no casualties. Last week, an oil depot in the Rostov region caught fire after a Ukrainian drone attack.

Source: Al Jazeera
 
Ukraine’s foreign minister will head to China on Tuesday for two days of talks in a bid to persuade Beijing to reduce its support for Russia and get behind Kyiv’s push for “sustainable” peace

The main topic of discussion on Dmytro Kuleba’s trip, the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Monday, will be “the search for ways to stop Russian aggression and China’s possible role in achieving a sustainable and just peace”.

A close political and economic ally of Moscow, Beijing denies that it supports Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, China has not condemned the war either and refused to join Ukrainian-led international peace conferences.

Beijing confirmed the planned talks with the Ukrainian official. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said that Kuleba’s visit was initiated by China’s foreign minister.

Last year, Beijing released a paper calling for a “political settlement” to the conflict. However, Ukraine dismissed the proposal and Western countries warned that the suggested solution could enable Russia to retain much of the territory it has seized in Ukraine.

During a visit to Beijing in May, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin signalled his approval of China’s plan, calling it a “genuine desire” to end the war.

Source: Al Jazeera
 
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