Category Archives: Ukraine

Russia-Ukraine war: Kremlin refuses to comment on Trump’s claims he would settle war – as it happened

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Russia has taken control of village of Shumy in the Donetsk region, Russian-state media reports.

Citing the country’s ministry of defence, Russian state-owned news agency Ria reported on Saturday that the army had seized control of the settlement, which is near the city of Toretsk.

This is why we constantly remind all of our partners: only a sufficient amount of high-quality of air defense systems, only a sufficient amount of determination from the world at large can stop Russian terror,” he said.

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‘Biden can’t do it’: European politicians shocked by US president’s debate flop

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Some call for rethink by Democrats and say continent must step up preparations for another Trump term

European politicians, already drowning in multiple crises of their own, were left shell-shocked and aghast at Joe Biden’s meandering performance in Thursday’s presidential debate, aware that a second Trump term had drawn that much nearer – with all that this implies for the rise of populism in the continent, the future of Nato, and for Ukraine and the Middle East.

The voices of despair came from across the mainstream political spectrum, interspersed with the odd call for Europe to prepare even more intensively for a Trump second coming.

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Zelenskiy says Russia’s recent offensive shows pressure on Kremlin ‘not enough’

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Ukrainian president signs military agreement with EU and says ‘fulfilment of every promise’ of support is important

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has told EU leaders that Russia’s spring offensive in Kharkiv showed that international pressure on the Kremlin was “not enough”, as he signed a military agreement with the bloc.

Vladimir Putin had tried to “expand the war” in May with a new offensive in eastern Ukraine, Zelenskiy said on Thursday, referring to relentless attacks on the Kharkiv region.

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Russia-Ukraine war: ICC issues arrest warrants for Russian officials over attacks on Ukrainian civilian targets – as it happened

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International criminal court issues arrest warrants for Russia’s former defence minister Sergei Shogu and military chief of staff Valery Gerasimov

President Maia Sandu welcomed the start of the EU accession talks with Moldova, stressing that her country is within the European family.

“We are stronger together,” she said on X.

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

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Army chief and ex-minister of defence accused over missile attacks on civilian targets including power plants

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.

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Zelenskiy replaces commander leading war on Russia in eastern Ukraine

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Dismissal of Lt Gen Yuriy Sodol comes amid series of personnel changes by Ukrainian president

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has replaced the commander of the Joint Forces Command of Ukraine’s military, after a well-known soldier accused the commander of causing mass casualties in the war with Russia.

In his nightly video address on Monday, Zelenskiy said Lt Gen Yuriy Sodol had been replaced by Brig Gen Andriy Hnatov, without giving a reason for the shake up.

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Russia-Ukraine war live: Volodymyr Zelenskiy orders purge of Ukraine state guard after alleged assassination plots

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State security service said last month it had caught two guard service colonels accused of cooperating with Russia to plot Zelenskiy’s assassination

Ukraine’s state security service (SBU) said it had detained a “mole” spying for Russia who passed on information about Ukrainian troop positions on the border with Belarus.

The SBU wrote on Telegram:

At the instruction of the occupiers (Russian military), the ‘mole’ established the locations of fortified areas and the approximate number of Ukrainian troops defending the border with Belarus.

He also tried to transmit the coordinates of warehouses with weapons and ammunition of the armed forces of Ukraine in the region.

For the first time, the EU has adopted a measure targeting specific vessels contributing to Russia’s warfare against Ukraine, which are subject to a port access ban and ban on provision of services.

These vessels can be designated for various reasons such as the transport of military equipment for Russia, the transport of stolen Ukrainian grain, and support in the development of Russia’s energy sector, for instance through the transport of LNG components or transshipments of LNG.

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Ukraine endures widespread blackouts as Russia attacks critical infrastructure

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Moscow’s renewed assault on Ukraine’s energy grid has seen worst rolling outages since full-scale invasion began

Ukrainians are having to cope with widespread emergency blackouts as Russia continues to pound critical infrastructure.

In recent months, Moscow has intensified its attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid. On Friday night, energy facilities came under a “massive attack”, Ukraine’s energy ministry said. Several workers were injured as a result of shelling at one of the facilities.

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‘A return to the cold war’: Putin and Kim have joined forces as global delinquents | Andrew Roth

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The defiant Russia-North Korea friendship pact raises big questions for Washington and Seoul – but also for Beijing

A quarter of a century ago, Vladimir Putin flew to Pyongyang to sign a ­“friendship treaty” with Kim Jong-il that helped revive Russia’s relations with North Korea without obliging the two sides to come to each other’s aid in case of a military attack.

With his visit last week, Putin has in effect gone further into the past, signing a deal with Kim Jong-un reminiscent of the 1961 security pact that existed under the Soviet Union during the cold war. But today Russia is engaged in a hot war in Ukraine that Putin has made his ­foreign policy priority, and a nuclear North Korea has become a crucial lifeline of munitions for his military.

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Russian bomb attack on Kharkiv kills at least three and wounds 52

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President Zelenskiy calls for ‘bold decisions from our partners’ following aerial assault on Ukraine’s second city

At least three people were killed in a Russian bombing attack on Ukraine’s second city, Kharkiv, on Saturday afternoon, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.

Another 52 people were wounded in the attack, Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov said. Four aerial bombs were launched against the city, damaging residential buildings, shops and public transport stops, said Kharkiv’s regional governor Oleh Syniehubov. He said four of the wounded were in serious condition.

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‘War how it truly is’: Ukrainian director turns accidental footage into a film

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Oleh Sentsov’s film Real is 90 minutes of frontline action captured when he didn’t realise his camera was on

In the new film by the Ukrainian director Oleh Sentsov, soldiers pinned down in a trench try to organise the evacuation of a group of fellow fighters who are stuck and wounded in a frontline position.

Sentsov, who spent several years as a political prisoner in Russia and is now fighting in the Ukrainian army, found the 90 minutes of shaky footage six months after the battle. He was going through old files on his GoPro camera and realised it had been switched on that day.

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Russia-Ukraine war: EU to open enlargement talks with Ukraine and Moldova next week – as it happened

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Countries in the 27-nation bloc formally approve the launch of accession negotiations on Tuesday

A member of Russia’s lower house of parliament said law enforcement authorities need to do more to protect civilians from ex-convicts who have returned home from fighting in Ukraine.

Nina Ostanina, a Communist Party deputy who has been sanctioned by Western countries over Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, told the gazeta.ru newspaper in an interview that violent crimes involving decommissioned soldiers “will be even more numerous” if authorities do not act.

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US ‘incredibly concerned’ over Putin’s threat to supply weapons to North Korea after Asia tour

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State department warns such a move could destabilise the peninsula, as South Korea considers arming Ukraine

Vladimir Putin’s suggestion that Russia could supply weapons to North Korea is “incredibly concerning”, a senior US official has said, days after Putin and North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, signed a defence pact that requires their countries to provide immediate military assistance if either is attacked.

Matthew Miller, a US state department spokesperson, said the provision of Russian weapons to Pyongyang “would destabilise the Korean peninsula, of course, and potentially … depending on the type of weapons they provide … violate UN security council resolutions that Russia itself has supported”.

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Outgoing Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte wins race to head Nato

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Rutte’s appointment comes as Ukraine faces pressure from Russian bombardment in eastern regions

The outgoing Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, has won the race to become the next head of Nato at a perilous moment for the western alliance, after his only rival withdrew his bid.

The long-serving Dutch leader is expected to be confirmed formally as Nato’s secretary general in the coming days and take over when the incumbent head, Jens Stoltenberg, steps down on 1 October after nearly a decade in charge.

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‘It is all lining up’: Plan for Ukraine to finally start using F-16 jets this summer

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After delays in delivery and training pilots and ground staff, Netherlands says Ukraine should get first planes in summer

At a military base in the rural south of the Netherlands, Gen Arnoud Stallmann, a Dutch air force commander, said he expected that at some point this summer, F-16 fighter jets would finally take to the skies over Ukraine.

“Around this summertime, it is all lining up,” he said, speaking in front of two disused F-16s inside a hangar at the base, where a recent programme to train Ukrainian air force instructors in maintenance for the jets had just come to a close.

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Popular Kazakh opposition figure in hospital after being shot in Kyiv

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Aydos Sadykoy has a large YouTube following and is a strong critic of President Tokayev of Kazakhstan

A Kazkah opposition figure and prominent blogger with more than 1 million subscribers on YouTube has been seriously wounded in an attempted killing in Kyiv.

Aydos Sadykov, who was granted asylum in Ukraine in 2014, was shot near his home.

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Vladimir Putin receives warm welcome in North Korea

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Russian president makes first visit to country in 24 years as anti-west relationship deepens

Vladimir Putin has arrived in North Korea for a summit with Kim Jong-un, amid US warnings against any agreement that could add to military pressure on Ukraine and raise tensions on the Korean peninsula.

Making his first visit to the reclusive country since 2000, the Russian president flew to Pyongyang early on Wednesday to be greeted by huge welcome banners and Russian flags. Russian state media said his plane touched down in Pyongyang at about 2.45am local time after a stopover in Russia’s far east.

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Russia and North Korea: what can they do for each other?

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The Russian president’s visit to Pyongyang signals a deepening relationship between two isolated countries

China accounts for more than 90% of North Korea’s trade and has been its most dependable aid donor and diplomatic ally. But as Vladimir Putin’s imminent visit to Pyongyang proves, the secluded state’s behaviour is being increasingly influenced by its security and economic ties with Russia.

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Putin praises North Korea’s ‘firm support’ for war ahead of Pyongyang visit – as it happened

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China has urged Nato to “stop shifting blame” over the war in Ukraine after the western military alliance’s chief accused Beijing of worsening the conflict through support of Russia.

Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, on Monday called for China to face consequences for what US officials have called a major export push to rebuild Russia’s defence industry.

There are reports Putin will be staying at the Kumsusan guesthouse in Pyongyang, which also housed Chinese leader Xi Jinping during a 2019 state visit to North Korea in 2019.

The mansion is located near the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, where Kim Jong-un’s father Kim Jong Il, and grandfather Kim Il Sung, lie in state.

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Putin praises North Korea for Ukraine support ahead of visit to Pyongyang

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Russian leader will have talks with Kim Jong-un with shared aim of expanding security and economic cooperation

Vladimir Putin has praised North Korea for supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine, as he travels to Pyongyang to seek continued military support from one of the world’s most isolated nations.

In his first visit to North Korea since 2000, Putin will meet Kim Jong-un for one-on-one talks in Pyongyang as the two leaders pledge to expand their security and economic cooperation in defiance of western sanctions against both countries.

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