Russia could launch another hypersonic ballistic missile in Ukraine in the coming days, but Washington does not consider the Oreshnik weapon a game-changer in the war, a US official has said.
Russia first fired the Oreshnik missile at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on 21 November, in what President Vladimir Putin cast as a response to Ukraine’s first use of US ATACMs ballistic missiles and British Storm Shadows to strike Russian territory with Western permission.
“We assess that the Oreshnik is not a game-changer on the battlefield, but rather just another attempt by Russia to terrorize Ukraine, which will fail,” the official said.
Putin has claimed that the Oreshnik, or hazel tree, is impossible to intercept and that it has destructive power comparable to that of a nuclear weapon, even when fitted with a conventional warhead.
But the US official downplayed the usefulness of the missiles, calling them “experimental” in nature and said that “Russia likely possesses only a handful” of them.
There was no immediate response from Russia.
Key Points
- Zelensky seeks 10-12 more Patriot systems: ‘Don’t let them gather dust'
- US clears sale of F-16 sustainment services worth millions to Ukraine
- Ukraine peace talks possible this winter, says Polish PM Donald Tusk
- Missile hits industrial facility in Russia’s Taganrog
Russia teams up with BRICS to create AI alliance, Putin says
Wednesday 11 December 2024 16:30
Jabed Ahmed
President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia would develop artificial intelligence with BRICS partners and other countries, a bid to challenge the dominance of the United States in one of the most disruptive technologies of the 21st Century.
“I am confident that the international alliance of national associations and development institutes in the field of AI of BRICS countries and other interested states will give a significant boost to such cooperation,” Putin told an AI conference in Moscow.
“We will launch this alliance today,” he said.
Russia’s largest lender Sberbank said that the new AI Alliance Network would include national AI associations from China, ranked as one of the world’s top two AI powers, along with Russia, India, Brazil and South Africa, in a partnership.
Modi’s minister tells Putin India-Russia friendship is ‘deeper than deepest ocean’ despite Ukraine pressure
Wednesday 11 December 2024 15:18
Jabed Ahmed
Ukraine loses ground near Pokrovsk with Russian force within 3 km of strategic hub
Wednesday 11 December 2024 14:48
Jabed Ahmed
Russian troops destroyed or captured several Ukrainian positions near the eastern city of Pokrovsk, Kyiv’s military has said, as Moscow bears down on the strategic logistics hub that is home to a unique Ukrainian coking mine.
After months of accelerating advances towards Pokrovsk, Moscow’s forces are now as close as 3 kilometres (1.9 miles) from the southern outskirts of the city, according to Ukraine‘s DeepState, which maps the front lines using open sources.
“As a result of prolonged clashes, two of our positions were destroyed, one was lost. Currently, measures are being taken to restore positions,” Nazar Voloshyn, Ukraine‘s military spokesman for the eastern front, said in televised comments.
Pokrovsk, situated about 18 kilometres (11 miles) from the boundary of Ukraine‘s Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions, has for months been the area of the fiercest battles in Russia’s 33-month-old full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
In October and November, the Russian military advanced towards the city at its fastest rate since the early months of the war, analysts said. Ukraine, which has been on the back foot since its failed 2023 counteroffensive, says Russia has been sustaining some of its heaviest losses of the war to date.
Russia could launch another new missile in Ukraine soon, US official says
Wednesday 11 December 2024 14:42
Jabed Ahmed
Russia could launch another experimental hypersonic ballistic missile in Ukraine in coming days, but Washington does not consider the Oreshnik weapon a game changer in the war, a US official has said.
“We assess that the Oreshnik is not a game-changer on the battlefield, but rather just another attempt by Russia to terrorize Ukraine, which will fail,” the official told Reuters. Russia previously used the new weapon on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, according to two senior Ukrainian government sources.
Germany's Scholz: Ukraine's path of European integration is irreversible
Wednesday 11 December 2024 14:19
Jabed Ahmed
Ukraine‘s course of European integration is irreversible, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said, adding Russian President Vladimir Putin had not achieved a single war goal.
Speaking at a German-Ukrainian economic forum, Scholz also said a lot of private investment was needed in Ukraine‘s energy sector.
EU envoys agree 15th sanctions package against Russia
Wednesday 11 December 2024 15:36
Jabed Ahmed
European Union ambassadors have agreed to a 15th package of sanctions on Russia over its war against Ukraine, the Hungarian EU presidency said.
The presidency said in a post on X that the sanctions would limit the activity of vessels of third states operating in ways that supported Russia’s actions against Ukraine and added more people and entities to the sanctions list.
The sanctions package is likely to be formally adopted at a meeting of EU foreign ministers on Monday.
2 Ukrainian women are pulled alive from rubble hours after Russian missile strike
Wednesday 11 December 2024 13:19
Jabed Ahmed
Rescue crews working through the night pulled two women from rubble more than seven hours after a Russian missile struck a private medical clinic in a southern Ukraine city, killing six people and wounding 22 others, authorities have said.
The women called rescue services on their cellphones to say they were buried under the rubble after the attack late Tuesday in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine’s Emergency Services said.
Deadly Russian strikes on civilian areas have been a feature of the almost three-year war. Ukraine’s Western allies are sending more aid to help it keep fighting Russia’s invasion, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Zaporizhzhia strike showed that his country still needs more air defence systems.
Read the full report below:
Russia tells citizens: do not visit US and major Western countries
Wednesday 11 December 2024 12:49
Jabed Ahmed
Russia has said that relations with the United States were so confrontational that Russian citizens should not travel to the United States, Canada and some EU countries because they were at risk of being "hunted" by US authorities.
Maria Zakharova, foreign ministry spokeswoman, said that relations with the United States were teetering on the verge of rupture.
“In the context of the increasing confrontation in Russian-American relations, which are teetering on the verge of rupture due to the fault of Washington, trips to the United States of America privately or out of official necessity are fraught with serious risks,” Zakharova told a news briefing.
“We urge you to continue to refrain from trips to the United States of America and its allied satellite states, including, first of all, Canada and, with a few exceptions, European Union countries, during these holidays,” she said.
Pictured: Strike on oil depot in Bryansk, Russia
Wednesday 11 December 2024 12:19
Jabed Ahmed
Russia's Putin and Hungary's Orban discuss Ukraine and energy, Kremlin says
Wednesday 11 December 2024 11:49
Jabed Ahmed
Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the situation in Ukraine in a phone call with Hungarian President Viktor Orban, the Kremlin has said.
Putin told Orban that Kyiv’s policy continues to exclude the possibility of a peaceful settlement of the conflict, according to the statement which did not say when the call took place.
They also discussed bilateral trade and economic cooperation, as well as the further promotion of joint energy projects, the report said.
Kremlin plays down blow to Russia from Assad's fall
Wednesday 11 December 2024 11:18
Jabed Ahmed
The Kremlin has played down the damage to Russian influence in the Middle East from the fall of Syrian ally Bashar al-Assad, saying that its focus was Ukraine and that Moscow was in contact with the new rulers of Syria.
When Russia intervened in the Syrian Civil War in 2015, it helped tip the balance in Assad’s favour, so his fall from power dealt a serious setback to both Russia, which is fighting a major land war in Ukraine, and to Iran, which is battling US-backed Israel across the Middle East.
“You know, of course, that we are in contact with those who are currently in control of the situation in Syria,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Asked how much the fall of Assad had weakened Russia’s influence in the region, Peskov said that Moscow maintained contacts with all countries in the region and would continue to do so.
Moscow’s priority, Peskov said, was the war in Ukraine, which President Vladimir Putin calls a “special military operation”.
Moscow has supported Syria since the early days of the Cold War, recognising its independence in 1944 as Damascus sought to throw off French colonial rule. The West saw Syria as a Soviet satellite.
Biden pushes new Russia, Iran, Korea and China effort before Trump term
Wednesday 11 December 2024 10:49
Jabed Ahmed
President Joe Biden is pushing US national security agencies ahead of Donald Trump's inauguration to devise new strategies to tackle the risky, deepening ties among Russia, Iran, North Korea and China, according to US officials.
In exchange for Iran's help with the Russian war effort in Ukraine, Moscow is giving its ally fighter aircraft, missile defence and space technology, Biden concluded in a national security memorandum issued on Tuesday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is giving North Korea fuel, money and technology, and is recognizing it as a de facto nuclear state. Russia is conducting joint patrols with China in the Arctic, the administration said.
The classified document was described in general terms to reporters. Russia, China, Iran and North Korea have disputed similar assessments in the past and accused Washington of destabilizing behaviour.
Biden's new document orders various arms of the U.S. government to restructure groups currently organized by region to better focus on issues linking the four countries that span Europe and Asia.
The document's strategies and policy suggestions could be implemented - or rejected altogether - by President-elect Trump, a Republican who takes office on 20 January.
Kazakhstan says Druzhba oil pipeline in Russia is unscathed after Ukrainian attacks
Wednesday 11 December 2024 10:23
Jabed Ahmed
Kazakhstan pipeline operator Kaztransoil said on Wednesday that the Druzhba oil pipeline, which brings Russian and Kazakh oil to Europe, was not damaged during Ukrainian overnight attacks on Russian targets.
Kent animal sanctuary meets £500,000 fundraising target to rescue Ukraine lions
Wednesday 11 December 2024 09:57
Jabed Ahmed
A cat sanctuary rescuing lions from war-torn Ukraine has successfully met its fundraising target to help provide “forever homes” for the animals.
The Big Cat Sanctuary is a Kent-based charity behind the Big Cats in Crisis campaign, and reached its fundraising target of £500,000 to help rescue five lions, Yuna, Rori, Vanda, Amani and Lira, from Ukraine to the Lion Rescue Centre in Smarden.
The money will help towards transportation costs, veterinary treatment and a new habitat, which the sanctuary started creating in July and expects to finish in the new year.
African lioness Yuna was taken to the Lion Rescue Centre, a journey spanning six countries and lasting more than four days, in August, after she suffered shell shock and psychological issues from heavy bombing.
She was found cramped in a concrete enclosure with an aggressive male, and the continued shelling left her unable to stand or walk, according to the Big Cat Sanctuary.
The three-year-old lioness has seen grass for the first time, after being rescued by the sanctuary.
The sanctuary thanked people for their donations.
Pictured: People rescued after Russian missile strike in Zaporizhzhia
Wednesday 11 December 2024 09:27
Jabed Ahmed
Attack on Russian oil depot had no impact on oil transit to Europe, Ukrainian source says
Wednesday 11 December 2024 09:01
Jabed Ahmed
A Ukrainian overnight attack on an oil depot in Russia's Bryansk region did not affect oil transit to Europe via Ukraine, a Ukrainian industry source has said.
Ukraine's military said on Wednesday the depot is a part of Druzhba oil export pipeline and that a "massive fire" broke out following the strike.
"The attack does not concern oil transit, as it is a facility that works to ensure the supply of diesel fuel and petroleum products. Everything is going on as planned with transit," the source told Reuters.
Ukraine strikes Russia with missiles and hits oil depot with drones
Wednesday 11 December 2024 08:42
Jabed Ahmed
Ukraine struck a southern Russian port on the Azov Sea with missiles and triggered a fire at an oil depot in the Bryansk region of western Russia with drones, according to officials and media reports.
The extent of the damage and the exact weapons used in the attack was unclear, though Russia has repeatedly cautioned that Ukraine's use of U.S. ATACMS to strike sovereign Russian territory risks triggering a wider war.
Russia's defence ministry said its air defence units destroyed 14 Ukrainian drones overnight over the Bryansk region that borders Ukraine. It did not say what was hit.
Bryansk Governor Alexander Bogomaz said on his Telegram channel that a production facility caught a short-lived fire as result of the attack. He did not say what facility was damaged.
Ukraine's military said it had caused a "massive fire" at an oil depot with a strike on the Bryansk region.
The Soviet-built Druzhba oil pipeline, which pumps oil from the fields in Western Siberia and the Caspian Sea to the markets of Europe, runs through the Bryansk region, as does the Baltic Pipeline System (BPS) which runs to the Baltic Sea.
About 750 km (465 miles) south, the Russian port of Taganrog was hit by missiles from Ukraine, damaging an industrial facility and numerous cars, the acting governor of Rostov region said.
“According to preliminary information, no one was hurt,” Yuri Slyusar said on the Telegram messaging app.
Slyusar said 14 cars had caught fire, but he did not disclose details on what else was hit or how big the attack was.
Ukraine's military says it struck oil depot in Russia's Bryansk region
Wednesday 11 December 2024 08:26
Jabed Ahmed
Ukraine's military has said that it struck an oil depot in Russia's Bryansk region overnight.
The Ukrainian military said that a "massive fire" broke out following the strike, in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.
Russia claims Ukraine attacked cars used to carry IAEA experts
Wednesday 11 December 2024 08:02
Tara Cobham
Russia has claimed Ukraine's armed forces launched a series of strikes on a convoy of cars on Tuesday, which had been used to transport experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
IAEA Director General Mariano Grossi said that a drone hit and severely damaged an official vehicle of the agency on the road to Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on Tuesday.
Zelensky made case for security guarantees at meeting with Trump
Wednesday 11 December 2024 07:30
Tara Cobham
President Volodymyr Zelensky used his first meeting with Donald Trump since the US election to explain Ukraine's need for security guarantees in any negotiated end to the war with Russia, two sources familiar with the 7 December discussions said.
French President Emmanuel Macron hosted the meeting in Paris, during which Ukraine's leader sought to build a rapport with Trump, whose promise to end the conflict swiftly has raised concerns in Kyiv that it could be largely on Moscow's terms.
The three leaders, who talked for 35 minutes without advisers, did not discuss specific details of any vision for peace, but Trump repeated that he wanted an immediate ceasefire and negotiations to end the war quickly, four of the people said.
The meeting offered some early clues as to how negotiations on ending the conflict might play out, although the process that would involve Russian President Vladimir Putin is fraught with difficulty and the role of the United States as yet unclear.
Trump behaved in a friendly, respectful and open manner and appeared to be in listening mode, one of the sources said. Trump's team did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this article.
Neither Trump nor officials close to him dealing with Ukraine have been forthcoming on how exactly they envisage a solution to the war and to Ukraine's insistence that it has to receive security guarantees as part of any settlement.
That has created a mounting sense of uncertainty in Kyiv that has been compounded by months of steady Russian territorial gains in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region and nightly drone attacks on cities far behind the front lines.
"Some key points were mentioned during the meeting, for example, it was said that peace needs guarantees because a ceasefire alone isn't enough, Putin could break it again, as he has done before, without proper guarantees," a source in the Ukrainian president's office said.
Asked how that was received, the source said, referring to Trump, "He's thinking about all the details."
US Treasury transfers $20bn in Ukraine loan funds to World Bank facility
Wednesday 11 December 2024 06:30
Arpan Rai
The US Treasury says it has transferred the $20bn US portion of a $50bn G7 loan for Ukraine to a World Bank intermediary fund for economic and financial aid to the war-torn country.
The disbursement prior to president-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration in January is aimed at protecting the funds from being clawed back by his administration. Mr Trump has complained that the US is providing too much aid to Ukraine and said he will end the war quickly, without specifying how.
The Treasury said the disbursement makes good on its October commitment to match the European Union’s commitment to provide $20bn in aid backed by frozen Russian sovereign assets alongside smaller loans from Britain, Canada and Japan to help the Eastern European nation fight Russia’s invasion.
The $50bn in credit for 30 years will be serviced with the interest proceeds from some $300bn in frozen Russian sovereign assets that have been immobilised since Russia invaded in February 2022. The G7 democracies have been discussing the plan for months and agreed on terms in October, prior to Trump’s election.
UK animal sanctuary reaches half a million goal to rescue Ukraine lions
Wednesday 11 December 2024 06:00
Steffie Banatvala
A cat sanctuary that rescues lions from war-torn areas Ukraine has successfully met its fundraising goal to offer “forever homes” for the animals.
The Big Cat Sanctuary, the Kent-based charity behind the Big Cats in Crisis campaign, raised £500,000 to help rescue five lions, Yuna, Rori, Vanda, Amani, and Lira, from Ukraine to the Lion Rescue Centre in Smarden.
The funds will cover transportation fees, veterinary treatment, and the construction of a new habitat, which the sanctuary began in July and hopes to complete by the new year.
One African lioness, Yuna, was has seen grass for the first time since being rescued by the sanctuary after significant trauma.
Russia downs 14 Ukrainian drones overnight
Wednesday 11 December 2024 05:59
Arpan Rai
Russia’s air defence units destroyed 14 Ukrainian drones overnight, all of them over the Bryansk region that borders Ukraine, Russia’s defence ministry said this morning.
The ministry did not mention a missile attack on Russia’s Rostov where local officials say an industrial facility was damaged.
Ukraine peace talks possible this winter, says Donald Tusk
Wednesday 11 December 2024 05:39
Arpan Rai
Peace talks on the war in Ukraine could possibly start this winter, Donald Tusk said on Tuesday as Warsaw seeks to play a leading role in ending the conflict.
Poland has been one of Kyiv’s staunchest supporters since Russia’s 2022 invasion, and prime minister Tusk pledged to be heavily involved in any talks when it takes up the European Union’s rotating presidency on 1 January.
Russia’s hypersonic Oreshnik missile explained
Wednesday 11 December 2024 05:00
Steffie Banatvala
The silent black-and-white surveillance camera video of the Russian missile attack in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro was brief but chilling: six huge fireballs pierced the darkness and slammed into the ground at astonishing speed.
Within hours of the 21 November attack on the military facility, Putin took the rare step of speaking on national TV to boast about the new, hypersonic missile. He warned the West that its next use could be against Ukraine’s Nato allies who allowed Kyiv to use their longer-range missiles to strike inside Russia.
Putin said the missile was called the “Oreshnik” — Russian for “hazelnut tree.”
Read more here:
Mapped: Where has Russia made advances on the frontline in Ukraine?
Wednesday 11 December 2024 04:57
Arpan Rai
Ukrainian forces defending the eastern region of Donetsk are heading into the “moment of maximum tension” as Russian forces rush to take territory across Ukraine ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration next year, war monitors have claimed.
Mr Trump’s comprehensive victory in the US election, which came off the back of his promises to end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours, has brought into sharp relief the difficult situation on the frontline for Kyiv.
Russian forces have continued to make gains in the eastern region of Donetsk, advancing along several fronts towards the city of Pokrovsk, a linchpin of the wider area’s defence.
Zelensky seeks 10-12 more Patriot systems: ‘Don’t let them gather dust'
Wednesday 11 December 2024 04:29
Arpan Rai
Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine needs 10-12 more Patriot air defence systems that he said would fully protect its skies, asking his allies to not let the systems “gather dust”.
His plea came after a Russian missile killed at least four people and injured 20 more, including a child, in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia.
Signalling his frustration, Mr Zelensky said: “I sometimes do not get it... Everyone understands that an additional 10-12 Patriot systems for Ukraine will ensure life for us and make the war for (Russian president Vladimir) Putin meaningless”.
“We repeat again and again that air defences should save lives, not gather dust at storage bases,” he said.
Mr Zelensky urged allies to use frozen Russian funds to pay for more Patriots as Ukraine braces for another winter of Russian attacks on its devastated power system. “Please take the money from Russian assets – 30 billion it will cost. But it will fully close our skies,” he said, without specifying the currency.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine has consistently asked its allies to supply more advanced air-defence systems.
US clears sale of F-16 sustainment services worth millions to Ukraine
Wednesday 11 December 2024 04:13
Arpan Rai
The US State Department has approved the potential sale to Ukraine of F-16 sustainment services and related equipment for $266.4m (£208m), the Pentagon said.
The principal contractors will be Sabena, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics and Pratt and Whitney, the Pentagon said in a statement yesterday.
President Joe Biden is rushing out billions of dollars more in military aid before US support for Kyiv’s defences is thrown into question under the new administration.
The US has sent a total of $62bn in military aid since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and officials from the outgoing administration have said more help is on the way.
Putin’s aide Medvedev reaches China for talks
Wednesday 11 December 2024 04:03
Arpan Rai
Close Putin aide and senior Russian security official Dmitry Medvedev has arrived in Beijing for two days of talks with Chinese leaders, Russian news agencies reported.
The visit by Mr Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s powerful Security Council, is the latest signal of the deepening relationship between Moscow and Beijing. Both sides have pledged to intensify a “no limits” partnership proclaimed in February 2022 just ahead of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Russian defence minister Andrei Belousov visited Beijing in October, with both sides saying his meetings focused on “substantive” defence and military talks to bolster ties.
Mr Medvedev, a former Russian president, has taken on the role of one of Moscow’s most vociferous hawks in justifying Moscow’s Ukraine invasion.
UK sanctions illegal gold trade players to reduce Russia’s war funding
Wednesday 11 December 2024 04:00
Steffie Banatvala
Britain announced a new round of sanctions on Monday, accusing Russia of supporting its war efforts in Ukraine and fostering corruption through the illicit gold trade.
According to an official notice, the government added one new designation under the Russia sanctions regime, one under the Democratic Republic of the Congo regime and three under the global anti-corruption system.
Following Russian president Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Britain and other major Western economies banned the import of new Russian gold in 2022. Russia has since found new outlets for the gold it produces.
Last week, Britain and the United States said that they had broken a global money laundering conspiracy used by wealthy Russians to circumvent sanctions.
Missile hits industrial facility in Russia’s Taganrog
Wednesday 11 December 2024 03:53
Arpan Rai
An overnight missile attack has damaged an industrial facility and scores of cars in Russia, officials said. The industrial facility is in the southwestern Russian port of Taganrog.
“According to preliminary information, no one was hurt,” the acting governor of Rostov region Yuri Slyusar said on his Telegram channel.
Russian officials rarely disclose the scale of damage and losses in Ukrainian strikes on its land.
Belarus has dozens of Russian nuclear weapons, says Lukashenko
Wednesday 11 December 2024 03:14
Arpan Rai
Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko said his country is hosting dozens of Russian nuclear weapons and will prepare facilities for the planned deployment of Moscow’s newest hypersonic ballistic missile.
His remarks came after he and president Vladimir Putin signed a treaty last week that gave security guarantees to Belarus, Moscow’s closest ally, including the possible use of Russian nuclear weapons to help repel any aggression.
The pact follows Moscow’s revision of its nuclear doctrine, which for the first time placed Belarus under the Russian nuclear umbrella amid the tensions with the West over the conflict in Ukraine.
Drone hits UN nuclear watchdog’s vehicle near Zaporizhzhia plant
Wednesday 11 December 2024 03:02
Arpan Rai
A drone hit and severely damaged an official vehicle of the International Atomic Energy Agency on the road to the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine yesterday.
There were no casualties and the UN team is safe, said Rafael Grossi, director general of the nuclear watchdog. “I condemn in the most firm terms this attack on the IAEA staff,” Mr Grossi said. “We call, once again, as we have done it before, for the utmost restraint.”
Mr Grossi said attacking a nuclear power plant is a no-go and attacking those working to prevent a nuclear accident during the military conflict is “even more unacceptable.” He made no suggestion of who might have been responsible.
A picture posted alongside his statement showed a vehicle with clear IAEA markings, its rear portion badly damaged.
While it was not immediately clear which side in the conflict fired the drone, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said it was a “deliberate” attack by Russia.
“This attack clearly demonstrated how Russia treats anything related to international law, global institutions, and safety. “The Russians could not have been unaware of their target; they knew exactly what they were doing and acted deliberately,” he wrote on X.
He called for “a clear and decisive response” from the IAEA and other international bodies.
Full report: Trump calls for Putin to reach ceasefire with Ukraine after Syrian government falls to rebel assault
Wednesday 11 December 2024 03:00
Steffie Banatvala
President-elect Donald Trump publicly urged Russian president Vladimir Putin to reach an “immediate ceasefire” deal with Ukraine’s oresident Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a late-night social media post Saturday evening amid reports that Syria’s capital of Damascus had fallen to a rebel attack.
Read the full report here:
Mapped: Where has Russia made advances on the frontline in Ukraine?
Wednesday 11 December 2024 02:00
Steffie Banatvala
Russian forces have continued to make gains in the eastern region of Donetsk, advancing along several fronts towards the city of Pokrovsk, a linchpin of the wider area’s defence.
Moscow has also mobilised thousands of North Korean soldiers to push back the Ukrainian incursion into the border region of Kursk, with some success.
And in the Kharkiv region, Russian forces are staging an attack on the city of Kupiansk, which is key to that area’s wider defence.
Read more:
What are ATACMS? The US missiles being used inside Russia
Wednesday 11 December 2024 01:00
Steffie Banatvala
Army Tactical Missile Systems are a long-range guided missile that gives operational commanders immediate firepower to strike deep inside Russia.
Produced by US global security and aerospace company Lockheed Martin, the missiles carry a 500lb (227kg) class blast fragmentation warhead.
These missiles can reach up to 300km (186 miles) and are tough to intercept due to their high speed.
The weapons are fitted with a specialised GPS system and carry cluster munitions.
When fired, the clusters open in the air, releasing hundreds of bomblets rather than a single warhead.
What Russia's invasion has cost Ukraine after more than 1,000 days of war
Wednesday 11 December 2024 00:00
Steffie Banatvala
Devastating human and material losses continue to mount, leaving Ukraine more vulnerable than at any time since the early days of the war.
As of 31 August, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine had documented at least 11,743 civilians killed and 24,614 wounded in Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Ukrainian prosecutors have said 589 Ukrainian children had been killed by 15 November.
Western countries believe Russia has suffered far worse casualties than Ukraine, sometimes losing more than 1,000 soldiers killed per day during periods of intense fighting in the east.
But it is Ukraine, with around a third of Russia’s population, that is likely to be facing the more severe manpower shortages arising from battles of attrition.
Russia now occupies and claims to have annexed around a fifth of Ukraine, an area around the size of Greece.
The draft 2025 budget envisages that about 26 percent of Ukraine’s GDP, or 2.2 trillion hryvnias ($53.3 billion), would go on defence. Ukraine has already received more than $100 billion from its Western partners in financial aid.
70 per cent of Ukrainians support ‘West German’ model for NATO accession, survey shows
Tuesday 10 December 2024 23:00
Steffie Banatvala
Just over 70 per cent of Ukrainians support gradual NATO accession akin to West Germany’s model, a new survey by the Kyiv-based New Europe Center.
This invitation would cover Ukraine, but the alliance’s defensive umbrella would only extend to occupied territories after liberation.
Different NATO accession pathways are gaining traction in both the West and Kyiv as Russia holds a military advantage on the battlefield and the prospect of liberating occupied territories militarily remains slim.
Ukrainians have highest trust for Trump in Europe, survey suggests
Tuesday 10 December 2024 22:00
Steffie Banatvala
Just over 44 per cent of Ukrainians trust US president-elect Donald Trump, around 10 points less than president Joe Biden, a survey by New Europe Center showed.
In comparison, a separate June poll by the Pew Research Center suggested that Hungaraians trusted Mr Trump the most at 37 percent, followed by Britain at 30 per cent and then France with 16 per cent of the population trusting him.
“This high level of support is likely due to the expectation of a clearer and more decisive policy towards Ukraine from the new US administration,” New Europe Center researchers said.
Zelensky open to idea of Western troops in Ukraine
Tuesday 10 December 2024 21:00
Steffie Banatvala
President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that he is open to the potential deployment of Western troops in Ukraine to guarantee the country’s security as part of an effort to end the almost three-year war with Russia.
Mr Zelensky stressed that even with an invitation to the NATO military alliance, long-term protection would still be uncertain in the face of future Russian aggression.
Read more here:
Kitten named Peach saves life of Ukrainian man fleeing war
Tuesday 10 December 2024 20:00
Steffie Banatvala
A Ukrainian man was rescued fleeing his war-torn country from a deep mountain ravine in subzero temperatures with an unlikely companion: his months-old kitten named Peach.
More than a dozen rescuers worked in a harsh blizzard to save Vladislav Duda, 28, who was found “soaked and frozen” and severely hypothermic in a 400-meter (437-yard) deep ravine in the northern Maramures region on Romania last week, according to the region’s mountain rescue service.
“The cat was warm and was warming him … so he saved his life,” Dan Benga, the director of the Maramures mountain rescue service, told The Associated Press. “The only thing we saw he is caring about is the cat. He doesn’t care about himself.”
Poland protests over damage to monuments in Russia
Tuesday 10 December 2024 19:00
Steffie Banatvala
Poland will send a note to Russian authorities to demand an inquiry into the devastation of monuments commemorating Polish Home Army soldiers in the town of Yogla in eastern Russia, the Polish foreign ministry has said.
Relations between Poland and Russia are tense, especially since Moscow invaded neighbouring Ukraine in 2022.
“This is a place where former prisons, gulags were located, to which people from different parts of the world were sent, including Polish soldiers,” Polish foreign ministry spokesperson Pawel Wronski said.
“And there were monuments commemorating prisoners, but they were not just monuments, they stand on the graves of people who died there from hunger, exhaustion, repression and diseases.”
Wronski added that Poland is asking Russia whether an inquiry will be launched and if perpetrators would be punished.
Politico lists Yermak, Zelenskyy among Europe’s most influential people
Tuesday 10 December 2024 18:00
Steffie Banatvala
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and chief of staff Andriy Yermak have been listed amongst Politico’s annual list of the most influential people in Europe.
The list was divided into “dreamers”, “doers” and “disrupters”.
Mr Zelenskyy topped the dreamers for “changing the course of history.... with the power of words” and Mr Yermak as a runner-up doer as “the mastermind behind Kyiv’s push to engage with developing countries”.
Injury toll from Russian missile attacks in Kharkiv rises to 11
Tuesday 10 December 2024 17:00
Steffie Banatvala
Russian missile attacks on Ukraine’s northeastern region of Kharkiv injured at least 11 people, officials said having previously reported 10 injured.
Governor Oleh Syniehubov stated that Russian soldiers launched two missile attacks on the village of Zlatopil.
The first strike harmed non-residential structures and cars, while the second struck an administration facility.
Russia has bombarded the border region with numerous attacks since the beginning of Moscow’s full-fledged invasion in February 2022.
EU envoys to discuss first sanctions targeting Russian hybrid threats
Tuesday 10 December 2024 16:40
Steffie Banatvala
EU envoys are set to discuss on Wednesday the first potential sanctions targeting Russian hybrid threats such as undermining elections, cyber attacks and economic sabotage, EU diplomat