Category Archives: Ukraine

Russia-Ukraine war live: three killed as huge explosion causes key Crimea-Russia road bridge to collapse

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Blast early on Saturday causes road bridge to collapse and engulfs rail bridge in flames

The parliamentary leader of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s party has stopped short of claiming that Kyiv was responsible for the Kerch bridge explosion but appeared to cast it as a consequence of Moscow’s takeover of Crimea and attempts to integrate the peninsula with the Russian mainland.

“Russian illegal construction is starting to fall apart and catch fire. The reason is simple: if you build something explosive, then sooner or later it will explode,” David Arakhamia, the leader of the Servant of the People party, wrote on Telegram.

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Putin dealt bitter blow as blast cripples key bridge to Crimea

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Ukrainians relish show of Russian vulnerability after explosion on supposedly untouchable 18-mile prestige structure

An explosion has crippled the heavily guarded bridge connecting Crimea to the Russian mainland, a hated symbol of Russian occupation and key logistics link for Russian troops in southern Ukraine, in the latest heavy blow to Vladimir Putin after weeks of military humiliation.

The Kerch bridge was a personal prestige project for the Russian president, and the hit came the day after his 70th birthday. The blast destroyed the road into Crimea and left the railway link in flames.

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Russia appoints notorious general to lead Ukraine offensive

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Sergei Surovikin appointed on same day as explosion on Kerch bridge that has dealt blow to Vladimir Putin

Russia has appointed a notorious general who opened fire on pro-democracy protesters in the 1990s as its first overall commander for the war in Ukraine, as the Kremlin struggles to halt a Ukrainian counteroffensive that has left its forces in disarray.

The appointment of Gen Sergei Surovikin came on the same day as Vladimir Putin was dealt a humiliating blow after an explosion on the Kerch bridge sank a section of the motorway into the Kerch Strait and caused a major fire on the railway.

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Behind Moscow’s bluster, sanctions are making Russia suffer

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High oil and gas revenues notwithstanding, Putin’s ability to fight is being eaten away as the months go by

Fears that Russia is navigating its way around sanctions are unfounded, according to experts who say Moscow is suffering a bigger hit than institutions such as the World Bank have been predicting.

Some analysts have interpreted the strength of the rouble, the size of the warchest of cash available to Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin’s ability to redirect exports destined for Europe to willing southern neighbours as a signal that the arsenal of sanctions deployed against Moscow is failing to bite.

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Key bridge linking Crimea to Russia hit by huge explosion

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Section of Kerch bridge collapses after blast, seen as major blow to Russian military prestige

A huge explosion has destroyed part of the Kerch bridge from Russia to Crimea, a hated symbol of the Kremlin’s occupation of the southern Ukrainian peninsula, one of Vladimir Putin’s prestige projects and a vital logistical link for the Russian military.

A section of the Ukraine-bound road bridge collapsed into the Kerch strait after the blast, and a fierce fire engulfed a train on the parallel railway connection, creating a vast column of black smoke. The parallel road towards Russia still appeared passable in images from the blast site.

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Russia declares popular rapper and writer ‘foreign agents’

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Oxxxymiron added to an updated list alongside four journalists and Dmitry Glukhovsky, a prominent writer

The Russian justice ministry has declared one of the country’s most popular rappers to be a “foreign agent”, a legal designation that has been used to hound Kremlin critics and journalists.

Oxxxymiron, whose real name is Miron Fyodorov, was added to an updated list of foreign agents alongside four journalists and Dmitry Glukhovsky, a prominent writer.

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Biden’s ‘Armageddon’ warning wasn’t based on new intelligence, US says

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US president made most outspoken remark on threat of wartime nuclear weapons when speaking at a fundraiser on Thursday

The White House has said that Joe Biden’s warning of “Armageddon” if Russia uses a nuclear weapon in Ukraine was not based on any new intelligence suggesting such nuclear use is imminent.

The US president issued his warning at a private fundraising event in New York on Thursday evening, in his most outspoken remarks yet on the threat of wartime nuclear weapons being used for the first time since 1945.

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Liverpool to host Eurovision song contest on behalf of Ukraine

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City beat 19 others to host 67th contest after Volodymyr Zelenskiy agreed staging event in Mariupol was not possible

The Eurovision song contest will be hosted by Liverpool next year after it beat 19 other cites to stage the event on behalf of war-torn Ukraine.

The annual extravaganza will be held in the UK for the first time in 25 years on 13 May as Ukraine is unable to host the event due to the Russian invasion.

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Russia-Ukraine war: Russians being prepared for nuclear war, warns Zelenskiy; White House says no indication of immediate Russian plans – as it happened

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This live blog is now closed. You can find our latest Ukraine stories below:

Reuters has a quick snap that a team of four specialists from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IEAE) is expected be arrive at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant later today.

At least five people were killed and as many injured after Ukrainian forces struck a bus while shelling a strategically important bridge in the Russian-controlled part of Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, Russia’s Tass news agency has reported.

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Nobel peace prize given to human rights activists in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine

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Jailed campaigner Ales Bialiatski, Memorial and Center for Civil Liberties win award that will be seen as condemnation of Putin

The jailed Belarusian human rights activist Ales Bialiatski, the Russian human rights organisation Memorial and the Ukrainian human rights organisation Center for Civil Liberties have won the 2022 Nobel peace prize, in an award the committee said was to honour champions of “peaceful coexistence” during the most tumultuous period in Europe since the second world war.

“The peace prize laureates represent civil society in their home countries,” said Berit Reiss-Andersen, the chair of the Norwegian Nobel committee. “They have for many years promoted the right to criticise power and protect the fundamental rights of citizens.”

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Russian mercenaries ‘exploiting Africa to fund war in Ukraine’

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US ambassador to the UN said Wagner Group are trafficking natural resources from African nations

The United States has accused Russian mercenaries of exploiting natural resources in Central African Republic, Mali, Sudan and elsewhere to help fund Moscow’s war in Ukraine, a charge Russia rejected as “anti-Russian rage”.

The US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said the Wagner Group of mercenaries are exploiting natural resources and “these ill-gotten gains are used to fund Moscow’s war machine in Africa, the Middle East and Ukraine”.

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Russia-Ukraine war live: Putin must lose or he will invade other European countries, Zelenskiy says

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Ukraine’s president makes comments during address to other European leaders

Two people have been killed after an alleged Russian missile attack hit Ukraine’s southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Regional governor, Oleksandr Starukh, said one woman was confirmed to have died in the attack while another person died in an ambulance.

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Ukraine president urges world not to give in to Russia’s ‘nuclear blackmail’ during Australian address

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Volodymyr Zelenskiy calls on leaders to back next week’s UN vote condemning Russia’s purported annexation of four regions

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has urged world leaders not to give in to Russia’s “nuclear blackmail” and has appealed to Australia for help in a critical UN vote next week.

Addressing the Sydney-based Lowy Institute by video link on Thursday evening, Zelenskiy revealed Australia was offering heavy arms to Ukraine in its next package of military support to defend against Russia’s invasion.

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Poland suggests hosting US nuclear weapons amid growing fears of Putin’s threats

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Request is widely seen as symbolic, as moving nuclear warheads closer to Russia would make them less militarily useful

Poland says it has asked to have US nuclear weapons based on its territory, amid growing fears that Vladimir Putin could resort to using nuclear arms in Ukraine to stave off a rout of his invading army.

The request from the Polish president, Andrzej Duda, is widely seen as symbolic, as moving nuclear warheads closer to Russia would make them more vulnerable and less militarily useful, according to experts. Furthermore, the White House has said it had not received such a request.

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Putin appears to admit severe Russian losses in Ukraine

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Ukrainian army making ‘fast and powerful progress’ in south, says Volodymyr Zelenskiy

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has appeared to concede the severity of the Kremlin’s recent military reversals in Ukraine, insisting Russia would “stabilise” the situation in four Ukrainian regions it illegally claimed as its own territory last week.

Russia has suffered significant losses in two of the four regions since Friday, when Putin signed treaties to incorporate them into Russia by force, with Russian officials saying their forces were “regrouping”.

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Putin and the prince: fears in west as Russia and Saudi Arabia deepen ties

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Prince Mohammed’s decision to strengthen relations has alarmed allies, but he has long admired Russian leader

They both started wars in neighbouring countries, hold significant sway over energy markets, are known to brook no dissent and to covet spots in history. Russia’s embattled president, Vladimir Putin, and Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Mohammed bin Salman, seem to have a lot in common.

Nearly eight months into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, relations between Riyadh and Moscow are at a high point. As much of Europe, the US and the UK double down on attempts to combat an ever more menacing Russian leader, Prince Mohammed has instead chosen to deepen ties.

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Russia-Ukraine war: Putin changes mobilisation rules as Kremlin defends retreat from occupied regions – as it happened

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This live blog has now closed, you can read more about Russia’s recent defeats here

The UK ministry of defence has published its daily intelligence update on the war, reporting that “Ukraine continues to make progress in offensive operations along both the north-eastern and southern fronts. In the north-east, in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine has now consolidated a substantial area of territory east of the Oskil River.”

The other developments included in the report were:

Ukrainian formations have advanced up to 20km beyond the river into Russia’s defensive zone towards the supply node of the town of Svatove.

It is highly likely that Ukraine can now strike the key Svatove-Kremina road with most of its artillery systems, further straining Russia’s ability to resupply its units in the east.

Politically, Russian leaders will highly likely be concerned that leading Ukrainian units are now approaching the borders of Luhansk Oblast, which Russia claimed to have formally annexed last Friday.

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‘What was it all for?’: recaptured Lyman left shattered by Russian occupation

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People in Ukrainian city try to pick up pieces amid remains of Russia’s chaotic and bloody withdrawal

In the shattered streets of Lyman, a Ukrainian city that has lived through the Russian invasion, months of occupation and last week’s brutal battle to liberate it, evidence of the chaotic and bloody Russian withdrawal and defeat is everywhere.

Emerging from the dugout of a former Russian checkpoint on the outskirts of the Donbas city, a Ukrainian soldier appears clasping a Russian copy of Tolstoy’s War and Peace, which he places next to a discarded water bottle cut in half and filled with rifle ammunition. He points inside to an Orthodox icon left pinned to a wall.

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