Soledar is ‘Verdun for 21st century’, says Ukraine; hundreds of civilians trapped, including 15 children
Continue reading...Category Archives: Russia
Russia-Ukraine war: Kyiv warns of threat of missile attacks from Belarus – as it happened
This live blog has now closed, you can read more of our coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war here
The Russian human rights commissioner Tatiana Moskalkova said both Moscow and Kyiv were interested in future contacts between their rights commissioners, the Russian state-owned Tass news agency has reported.
Following a meeting this week in Turkey with her Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Lubinets, Moskalkova said she believed Ukraine had adopted a pragmatic approach to discussions between the two sides.
Continue reading...Putin’s military reshuffle is more about politics than a change of strategy
The Russian president may have put Gen Gerasimov in charge of the invasion to balance tensions between the army and the Wagner group
Another month, another Russian military reshuffle: Vladimir Putin changes the general in charge of his forces in Ukraine with something of the frequency of a Premier League club desperate to secure immediate success.
It is obvious that such inconsistency demonstrates that the Kremlin is dissatisfied with the conduct of the war but the decision to put Gen Valery Gerasimov, the head of the armed forces, in charge of the invasion is eye-catching for other reasons too.
Continue reading...Hundreds of civilians trapped in Soledar amid fierce fighting, Ukraine says
Donetsk governor says 559 civilians could not be evacuated, while Ukraine claims troops are ‘holding on’ to city
Hundreds of civilians remain trapped in Soledar, Ukraine has said, as bloody fighting continues over control of the largely destroyed salt mining town in eastern Ukraine.
Pavlo Kyrylenko, the governor of Donetsk, told Ukrainian state TV that 559 civilians remained in Soledar, including 15 children, and could not be evacuated.
Continue reading...Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 323 of the invasion
Russian mercenaries make claim about missing Britons; Ukrainian military claims forces killed more than 100 Russian soldiers in single strike
Continue reading...Russia replaces general in charge of Ukraine war in latest military shake-up
Valery Gerasimov to replace Sergei Surovikin, who was appointed in October, as Zelenskiy mocks claims of Russian victory in Soledar
Russia has appointed Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff, as its overall commander for the war in Ukraine, in the latest of several major shake-ups of Moscow’s military leadership during the stumbling invasion of its neighbour.
In a statement on Wednesday, the defence ministry said that Gerasimov’s appointment constituted a “raising of the status of the leadership” of the military force in Ukraine and was implemented to “improve the quality … and effectiveness of the management of Russian forces”.
Continue reading...Ukraine military denies Russian forces have captured Soledar
Claims by Wagner mercenary group come as Poland announces transfer of German-made Leopard 2 tanks
Ukraine’s military has denied that Russian forces have encircled and captured Soledar after claims by the head of the Wagner mercenary group that the eastern city had fallen.
The claims about the status of the fighting on the eastern Donbas front were made by Yevgeny Prigozhin as Poland announced that it planned to transfer 10 German-made Leopard 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine, in a move with wide significance.
Continue reading...Russian conscript sentenced to years in prison after rebelling against superiors
It is the first known ruling against a soldier who criticised Kremlin’s unpopular mobilisation
A Russian conscript has been sentenced to five and a half years in prison after getting into an altercation with his superiors over poor training conditions, in the first known ruling against a soldier who criticised the Kremlin’s unpopular mobilisation.
In a widely shared video filmed on 13 November, draftee Alexander Leshkov is seen shouting profanities and shoving Lt Col Denis Mazanov at a training ground outside Moscow.
Continue reading...Russia-Ukraine war: Putin replaces general in charge of Russian forces in Ukraine – as it happened
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Politico reports that Germany is facing pressure from France and Poland to supply Ukraine with the powerful Leopard 2 tanks.
Politico reports:
Supplying modern western tanks such as the Leopard 2 would be a big boost for Ukraine’s military, as Kyiv’s allies have so far only been willing to send older Soviet-era tanks that had still been in the stocks of eastern European countries, as well as other weapon systems such as howitzers and air defences.
A French official told Politico that Paris is turning the screws on Germany in the hope of extracting an agreement from Berlin to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine ahead of a Franco-German summit on January 22, the 60th anniversary of the Élysée partnership treaty between the two nations.
Continue reading...Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 322 of the invasion
Russia’s mercenary firm Wagner claims it has taken control of eastern salt mining town of Soledar
Continue reading...Head of Russia’s Wagner group says his troops have taken control of Soledar
Yevgeny Prigozhin poses with some of his mercenaries in Ukrainian town renowned for its salt mines
The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group has claimed his forces have completed the takeover of the Ukrainian town of Soledar, which if confirmed would mark Moscow’s first major battlefield success since last summer.
“Wagner units have taken the whole territory of Soledar under control,” said Yevgeny Prigozhin in an audio message released on his Telegram channel late on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Family of Briton missing in Ukraine ‘very worried’; German foreign minister pledges more weapons – as it happened
Missing British men named as volunteers Andrew Bagshaw and Christopher Parry; Annalena Baerbock makes surprise visit to Kharkiv. This live blog is now closed
The Russian energy ministry says it is working on additional measures to limit discounts to international benchmarks on Russian oil prices, Reuters reports. The move comes after the west imposed price caps.
Last month Vladimir Putin signed a decree that banned the supply of crude oil and oil products from 1 February for five months to nations that abide by the cap.
Continue reading...Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 321 of the invasion
Russia attempting another advance in Soledar; UK considering supplying small number of tanks to Ukraine
Continue reading...Russia renews ‘powerful assault’ on Soledar in Donetsk, says Ukrainian minister – as it happened
Bakhmut and Soledar under intense attack after Russian forces regroup and change tactics, Ukraine deputy defence minister says. This live blog is now closed
Here are the latest photos to come out of Ukraine:
This OpEd ran in the Washington Post over the weekend. Condoleezza Rice – former secretary of state and Robert M Gates, former secretary of defense, write:
Both of us have dealt with Putin on a number of occasions, and we are convinced he believes time is on his side: that he can wear down the Ukrainians and that U.S. and European unity and support for Ukraine will eventually erode and fracture. To be sure, the Russian economy and people will suffer as the war continues, but Russians have endured far worse.
Under current circumstances, any negotiated cease-fire would leave Russian forces in a strong position to resume their invasion whenever they are ready. That is unacceptable
The only way to avoid such a scenario is for the United States and its allies to urgently provide Ukraine with a dramatic increase in military supplies and capability — sufficient to deter a renewed Russian offensive and to enable Ukraine to push back Russian forces in the east and south.
Continue reading...Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 320 of the invasion
Moscow’s claim of killing 600 Ukrainian troops rejected by Kyiv; Ukrainian forces holding positions in Bakhmut under heavy attack, says Zelenskiy
Ukrainian forces are repelling constant attacks on Bakhmut in the eastern Donbas region and holding their positions in nearby Soledar in arduous conditions, Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said. The Ukrainian president said in his Sunday night video address: “Bakhmut is holding on despite everything. And even though most of the town has been destroyed by Russian strikes, our soldiers are repelling constant Russian attempts to advance. Soledar is holding on, even though there is even greater destruction and things are very difficult.”
Russia has claimed to have killed more than 600 Ukrainian troops in a “retaliatory strike” in the eastern town of Kramatorsk, but Ukraine’s armed forces rejected the claim. The mayor of the town, near the frontline city of Bakhmut, said there had been no deaths from strikes over the weekend, while a witness told Reuters on Sunday that buildings had been damaged but not destroyed and there were no obvious signs of casualties. The Russian claim seems suspicious for several reasons.
Zelenskiy denounced what he said was Russia’s failure to observe a 36-hour ceasefire it had declared for Orthodox Christmas by launching attacks on Ukrainian cities.
At least two people were killed during fighting in eastern Ukraine, officials said. Donetsk’s governor, Pavlo Kyrylenko, said one person was killed in strikes on Bakhmut and eight others in the region were wounded, Associated Press reported. Kyrylenko also said rocket attacks on Kramatorsk and Konstantynivka.
Russia and Belarus have expanded their joint military training exercises in Belarus, the country’s defence TV channel said on Sunday, as concern grows that Moscow is pressuring its closest ally to join the war in Ukraine. The two countries added weapons, soldiers and specialised equipment to the exercises, Reuters reported.
One person was killed from the attack on the Starobesheve power plant in Novyi Svit, Russia’s state news agency Tass said on Sunday. The thermal power plant was one of two – in part of Ukraine’s Donetsk region controlled by Russian forces – damaged in a rocket attack by the Ukrainian army, Moscow-installed officials said.
Demands for a special tribunal to investigate Russia for a “crime of aggression” against Ukraine have been backed by senior UK politicians from across the political divide in a move to show Vladimir Putin and his generals that they will be held to account.
The Russian government extended support to a legislative amendment that would classify maps that dispute the country’s official “territorial integrity” as punishable extremist materials, Reuters reported the state-owned Tass news agency as saying on Sunday.
About 50 Ukrainian soldiers who were released from Russian detention on Sunday as part of a prisoner swap posed for a photo on their release.
Continue reading...Russia and Belarus extend military drills amid fears of new push into Ukraine
Weapons, soldiers and equipment added to exercises, as concern grows Minsk is being pressured to join war
Russia and Belarus have expanded their joint military training exercises in Belarus, the country’s defence TV channel said on Sunday, as concern grows that Moscow is pressuring its closest ally to join the war in Ukraine.
The two countries added weapons, soldiers and specialised equipment to the exercises and were doing drills drawing on Russian experience in Ukraine, Reuters reported.
Continue reading...Russia-Ukraine war: Moscow’s ceasefire ends with no let up in fighting; Ukraine strikes power plants in Donetsk, officials say – as it happened
Russian attacks reported in at least seven Ukraine regions despite Putin’s ceasefire pledge; shelling reportedly damages power plants in Moscow-controlled region
One person was killed as a result of the attack on the Starobesheve power plant in Novyi Svit, Russia’s state Tass news agency said on Sunday.
The thermal power plant was one of two in part of Ukraine’s Donetsk region that is controlled by Russian forces that were damaged in a rocket attack by the Ukrainian army, Moscow-installed officials said.
The body of one dead woman was extracted from under the rubble at the plant.
The tasks set by the president (Putin) for the special military operation will still be fulfilled.
And there definitely will be a victory.
Continue reading...Russia must face tribunal for ‘crime of aggression’ in Ukraine, say cross-party leaders
Pressure grows on Putin as politicians and lawyers point to principles that led to Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals
Demands for a special tribunal to investigate Russia for a “crime of aggression” against Ukraine have been backed by senior UK politicians from across the political divide in a move to show Vladimir Putin and his generals that they will be held to account.
In a joint statement shared with the Observer, figures including the Labour leader Keir Starmer, the former Nato secretary general George Robertson, the former foreign secretary David Owen, and former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith say the tribunal should be set up to look into the “manifestly illegal war” on the same principles that guided the allies when they met in 1941 to lay the groundwork for the Nuremberg war crimes trials of Nazi leaders.
Continue reading...Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 319 of the invasion
At least three killed in Russian attacks on Ukraine despite Moscow’s self-declared ceasefire; UK says fighting continued at ‘routine level’ into Orthodox Christmas
Russian attacks were reported in at least seven regions in Ukraine’s east and south, despite Moscow’s declaration of a 36-hour ceasefire from midday on Friday to midnight on Saturday for Orthodox Christmas. At least three people were killed.
Russian troops shelled the Kherson region 39 times on Friday, according to governor Yaroslav Yanushevych. Residential buildings and a fire station building came under fire in the liberated city of Kherson, where a first responder was killed. Seven civilians were also wounded in the reigon.
Ukraine’s military said two were killed and 13 injured in Russia’s shelling of Bakhmut, eastern Ukraine, during the purported ceasefire. The two dead were a 66-year-old man and 61-year-old woman.
Russian troops were “terrorising” civilians in the north-eastern region of Kharkiv, said its governor, Oleh Syniehubov. No casualties have been reported, but residential and commercial buildings continued to come under fire.
Russian forces shelled Ukrainian positions 14 times and stormed one settlement three times in the frontline eastern Luhansk province in the first three hours of the purported ceasefire, governor Serhiy Haidai said, according to Reuters. It heard explosions of what Ukrainian troops at the frontline described as incoming Russian rocket fire. Ukrainians fired back from tanks.
The Russian-installed governor of the occupied Crimean city of Sevastopol has said air defences shot down a drone in an apparent attack on the port where Russia’s Black Sea fleet is based. Mikhail Razvozhaev alleged that the incident took place early on Saturday.
The UK Ministry of Defence said fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces continued at a “routine level” into the Orthodox Christmas period. The ministry’s daily intelligence update stated that fighting was focused in heavily forested terrain to the west of the town of Kremina in eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk province, where “combat has devolved to dismounted infantry fighting, often at short range”.
The US has asked Italy to provide air defence systems to Ukraine as soon as possible. The Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported that the request was made in a conversation between the US national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, and Francesco Talo, an adviser to the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has praised the US for including tank-killing armoured vehicles in its latest multibillion-dollar package of military aid, saying they are “exactly what is needed”. The latest US military assistance announced on Friday by the White House was the biggest to date for Kyiv, and for the first time included Bradley armoured vehicles.
Services have taken place in Ukraine to mark the first Orthodox Christmas since Russia’s invasion of the country last year. Metropolitan Epiphanius led a Christmas service at the Holy Dormition Cathedral at the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra in the Ukrainian capital.
Ukraine has updated the number of Russian troops it believes it has killed to 110,740. The general staff of the armed forces said in an update on Saturday that a further 490 troops were killed on Friday.
Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report
Continue reading...Russia-Ukraine war, as it happened: Kyiv accuses Putin of breaking his own ceasefire
Reports of strikes on Ukraine’s frontline after Vladimir Putin ordered a truce to observe Russian Orthodox Christmas
Ukraine has updated the number of Russian troops it believes it has killed to 110,740.
The general staff of the armed forces said in its early morning update on Saturday that a further 490 troops were killed on Friday.
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