‘Massive’ Russian air attack hits Western Ukraine, Kyiv; Poland says its airspace violated

‘Massive’ Russian air attack hits Western Ukraine, Kyiv; Poland says its airspace violated

Post By World attack, Europe, Kyiv, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, War

Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and the western region of Lviv came under a “massive” Russian air attack early Sunday, officials said, and Polish forces were also placed on heightened readiness.

Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with Sunday’s strikes also coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske west of Bakhmut.

A militant attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed at least 133 people also became a new flashpoint between the two arch-rivals.

“Explosions in the capital. Air defence is working. Do not leave shelters,” Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko posted on Telegram on Sunday.

Lviv regional governor Maksym Kozytskyi said Stryi district, south of the city of Lviv, near the Polish border, was also attacked.

05:20

Ukraine was earlier placed under a nationwide air alert that warned of cruise missiles being launched from Russian Tu-95MS strategic bombers. The alert was lifted about two hours later.

Sergiy Popko, head of the Kyiv city military administration, said the missiles were fired at the capital “in groups” in the third pre-dawn attack in four days.

Preliminary reports suggested there were no casualties or damage, he said, and the city’s air defences had hit “about a dozen” missiles.

“The enemy continues massive missile terror against Ukraine,” Popko said on Telegram. “It does not give up its goal of destroying Kyiv at any cost.”

US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink also noted the increased frequency of recent attacks.

For the third pre-dawn morning this week, all of Ukraine is under an air alert and has been advised to seek shelter. Russia continues to indiscriminately launch drones and missiles with no regard for millions of civilians, violating international law.

— Ambassador Bridget A. Brink (@USAmbKyiv) March 24, 2024

“Russia continues to indiscriminately launch drones and missiles with no regard for millions of civilians, violating international law,” Brink wrote on social media platform X.

In Lviv, Mayor Andriy Sadovy said about 20 missiles and seven Iranian-made Shahed drones were fired at the region.

“They targeted critical infrastructure facilities,” Sadovy said.

Poland to demand explanation from Moscow

Poland’s foreign ministry on Sunday said it would demand an explanation from Moscow over this “new violation of airspace” after one of the Russian cruise missiles fired at western Ukraine breached Polish airspace overnight.

“Above all, we ask the Russian Federation to end its terrorist airstrikes against the population and territory of Ukraine, to end the war and to focus on the country’s own internal problems,” ministry spokesman Pawel Wronski said in a statement.

Following a “massive attack” on Ukraine by Russia, Poland activated “all air defence systems, all air force systems”, the country’s Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said.

He said that the missile would have been shot down “had there been any indication it was heading for a target on Polish territory”.

The army said the missile, which was travelling at almost 800 kilometres per hour (500 mph) around 400 metres (1,300 feet) above the ground, had crossed about two kilometres over the border into Poland.

“Polish airspace was breached by one of the cruise missiles fired in the night by the air forces… of the Russian Federation,” the army wrote on X.

“The object flew through Polish airspace above the village of Oserdow (Lublin province) and stayed for 39 seconds,” the statement said, adding that it was tracked by military radar throughout its flight.

“The Polish army is constantly monitoring the situation on Ukrainian territory and remains on permanent alert to ensure the security of Polish airspace,” the army said.

Kyiv says it hit two Russian ships in Crimea strikes

Russia and Ukraine have increased their air attacks in recent weeks.

Kyiv, which has struggled to find weapons and soldiers after more than two years of war, has promised to retaliate by taking the fighting to Russian soil.

Multiple air attacks Saturday on the Russian border region of Belgorod adjoining Ukraine killed two people and injured at least seven, the regional governor said.

Further east, a drone attack on the Samara region caused a fire at a major oil refinery, the latest in a series of strikes against Russia’s energy industry.

Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram that two districts in his region, as well as the regional capital, Belgorod, had been hit in drone and air attacks.

A man was killed when three balconies on an apartment building collapsed, Gladkov said.

Russia said later Saturday that it had repulsed a barrage of more than 10 Ukrainian missiles fired at the city of Sevastopol in Crimea, which it annexed in 2014.

Sevastopol’s governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said rocket fragments had killed a 65-year-old resident and four other people had been wounded.

“It was the biggest attack in recent times,” he said.

Ukraine said early on Sunday that it had hit two large Russian landing ships, a communications centre and other infrastructure used by the Russian navy in the Black Sea during its strikes on the annexed Crimean peninsula.

Its statement did not say how it hit the targets. “The defence forces of Ukraine successfully hit the Azov and Yamal large landing ships, a communications centre and also several infrastructure facilities of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in temporarily occupied Crimea,” said Ukraine’s military.

Territorial gains by Russia

Moscow has escalated its own strikes, firing dozens of missiles on Friday and launching dozens of explosive drones to destroy Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

Russian forces have also taken control of a string of frontline settlements in recent weeks.

The capture last month of Adviivka, near the Russian-held stronghold of Donetsk, was the first major territorial gain made by Russia since the devastated city of Bakhmut was seized 10 months ago.

Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed that success as a sign that Russian forces are back on the offensive.

Putin has also sought to tie Kyiv to the Moscow concert hall attack, saying four “perpetrators” were detained while travelling towards Ukraine.

Kyiv has strongly denied any involvement, saying that Russia was looking for excuses to step up the war.

The United States has said it has seen no sign of Ukrainian involvement in the Crocus City Hall attack.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, Reuters)

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Anti-Putin Russian groups stage new cross-border raids into Russia

Post By World Europe, Features, Kyiv, propaganda, Russia, Russian politics, Ukraine, Ukraine war analysis, Vladimir Putin

Pro-Ukrainian forces are conducting incursions into Russian territory, temporarily seizing a village in the border region of Kursk, reminiscent of similar operations in the spring of 2023 but occurring in a very different military and political context.

Ukraine-based Russian militias are again on the attack, staging cross-border raids this week into Russian territory. Pro-Ukrainian forces even claimed on Tuesday, March 12, to have taken full control of a Russian village. The Freedom of Russia Legion, mainly composed of anti-Putin Russian fighters, posted a video showing Russian soldiers deserting Tetkino, a municipality in the Kursk region, on the Russian side of the border.

Forces from other pro-Ukrainian groups – the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Siberian Battalion – also announced incursions into the Kursk and Belgorod regions. These attacks were carried out with the support of “tanks, armoured vehicles, and drones“, according to analysts from the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based research group.

Moscow initially denied the attackers had entered areas inside Russia before stating later that the enemy fighters did not advance very far into Russia and were all driven back. “Thanks to the sacrifice of Russian soldiers, all attacks by Ukrainian terrorists have been repelled,” affirmed the Russian ministry of defence.

The situation on the ground appears to be somewhat less clear than suggested by Russian authorities. “Currently, there are still battles around Tetkino and pro-Ukrainian forces still seem capable of controlling part of this locality,” says Sim Tack, chief military analyst at Force Analysis, a conflict monitoring company.

Russia’s national guard said on Thursday it was fighting off attacks from pro-Ukrainian groups in the Kursk region, as clashes continued at the border.

The Russian defence ministry claimed its troops killed 195 Ukrainian soldiers and destroyed five tanks and four armoured infantry vehicles, two days after saying it killed 234 Ukrainian troops in another border assault.

In a joint statement, three pro-Kyiv militia groups called on Russian authorities to evacuate civilians from the regions of Belgorod and Kursk, saying that “civilians should not suffer from the war”.

The current incursions are “very similar to what happened in the spring and summer of 2023”, notes Huseyn Aliyev, a specialist in the Russia-Ukraine war at the University of Glasgow. In that incursion, pro-Kyiv Russian troops had crossed the border – a little further south, in the Belgorod region – and temporarily seized a village before retreating under pressure from Russian artillery.

At the time unprecedented, last year’s incursions served to put pressure on Russia by highlighting that its national territory was poorly protected. The dynamics of the war were then in Ukraine’s favour, given its army had managed to fend off Russian offensives. The 2023 raids had begun just before the start of Kyiv’s counteroffensive and gave the impression that Ukraine could strike anywhere.

The situation today is very different. The counteroffensive has fizzled out and Ukraine is now more on the back foot. As Aliyev notes: “Moscow has built a defensive line – similar to the one it set up in Ukraine – about twenty kilometres inside Russian territory.” This line of trenches extends from the north of the Kursk region to the south of the Belgorod region.

Before last year, “Russia didn’t have any defensive positions there”, Aliyev adds, meaning incursions could be made deeper into Russian territory.

Pro-Ukrainian forces chose to attack Tetkino for its vulnerable position.

“The village captured is not behind the defensive line. It’s a buffer zone, what Russia calls a security zone,” Aliyev says. “On the other side of the border the region is mostly under control of Ukrainians, so it’s not difficult for pro-Ukraine forces to cross the border and occupy that village”

An attempt to influence the Russian election?

If taking a border village like Tetkino was a relatively easy objective for the Freedom of Russia Legion and other armed groups of anti-Putin Russians, it remains to be seen how long they’ll be able to stay there. “If they’ve taken armoured vehicles, it’s also in anticipation of a rapid retreat, so they suspect they won’t be able to occupy Tetkino” for long, notes Tack.

But why expend resources on a raid into Russia instead of strengthening defences on the front line in the Donbas, where Ukraine’s forces are under great duress? Officially, the Freedom of Russia Legion claimed it wanted to “influence the presidential election” to be held March 15-17, according to the Moscow Times

The pro-Kyiv Russians aim to show their compatriots that there is an alternative to Putin. “It is a way for them to try to prove to the Russians that they have the means to ‘liberate Russia from Putin’,” explains Nicolo Fasola, a specialist in Russian military issues at the University of Bologna.

The Ukrainian military leadership also stated that the Russian militia groups had acted on their own without informing Kyiv. According to Tack, this is unlikely “because to be able to move troops and tanks in this region, at least tacit approval from the Ukrainian army is needed. But this helps strengthen the narrative of an operation carried out by Russians to overthrow Vladimir Putin“.

But the ambitions of the anti-Putin forces are obviously unattainable, Tack says. “These fighters do not have the means to go very far,” he notes, adding that they did not even attempt to break through the new Russian defensive lines.

Few Russians will even hear about the capture of Tetkino, says Aliyev. “The problem is that most Russian don’t follow independent media or Western mass media. And they will be fed with the Russian propaganda about a Ukrainian failed ‘terrorist’ attempt” against Russia.”

Kyiv’s ‘diversion capabilities’

In this regard, the cross-border raids could even be counterproductive. Coming just days before the Russian presidential election, “these incursions will likely cement the attractiveness of Putin as president”, says Fasola. “The rhetoric of a ‘besieged Russia’ is key to Putin’s platform and these attacks on Russian territory basically prove he’s right, in the eyes of the larger Russian public.”

But these operations are not useless in the eyes of the Ukrainian high command. “These anti-Putin Russian forces are part of the diversion capabilities at Kyiv’s disposal,” notes Tack. “Each of their operations serves to push Moscow to allocate resources capable of intervening quickly to defend the entry points into Russian territory.”

The raids are part of “a broader strategy at work in recent weeks”, says Tack. There were attacks against Russian warships in the Black Sea at the end of February, followed by the strike using dozens of drones against the Lukoil oil refinery in Kirichi, near Saint Petersburg. These diversions are intended to demonstrate Ukraine’s disruptive capability, even when pushed into an essentially defensive role on the front line.

This article has been translated from the original in French.

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“Everyone that dies feels like a family member that has been killed”

Post By World Kyiv, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine

Euronews spoke to Kyiv-resident Maya, who tells us about her life before the full-scale invasion and now, two years after. With three friends she is raising money to buy drones and cars, to support those, who are fighting at the frontline.

“2021 was the best year of my life,” 30-year-old Kyiv-resident, Maya, told me. Throughout the year, she immersed herself in Kyiv’s vibrant nightlife, becoming an integral part of its emerging cultural scene. Alongside her best friend, Tanya, she worked for one of the city’s most prominent nightclubs, K41, and co-founded a since closed-down music magazine, called TIGHT. After a global pandemic, life seemed to finally go back to normal.

Back then, Ukraine had been at war for eight years already, fighting against Russian separatists in the Donbas, but even after reports from international media organisations and governments, many Ukrainians refused to believe what was about to happen to them. Maya couldn’t imagine it, either; even though she’d also read those reports.

“Looking back at it, everything happening before the invasion seems so obvious. I feel like a fool because I refused to believe it,” she says. Then, for the first time in her life, she woke up to explosions in the early hours of the 24th February. Having never been so panicked in her life, she decided to leave Kyiv. She was forced to leave her hometown and went to the western city of Lviv first before moving to Berlin. She has since realised that leaving was the worst decision of her life. “Being away from my home and not going through this together with my family, which was around ten kilometres away from Russian forces, was the worst time of my life”, she adds.

Euronews spoke to Maya and Tanya, two best friends who have known each other since their early twenties, to better understand how their lives had changed in the last two years. Maya lives in Kyiv after briefly having left, while Tanya fled to the UK and made London her new home.

“In 2021, Kyiv felt like the centre of the universe”

When Maya thinks of her life before the full-scale invasion, she gets emotional and is briefly lost for words. Tanya jumps in and talks about their community in the nightlife scene. “We were a tight-knit community. We worked, partied together and made ambitious plans for the future. Unfortunately, none of them have happened,” she says. Maya adds that back then, Kyiv went through the peak of club tourism.

“It felt like the last place on earth where people were going crazy every night. In 2021, Kyiv felt like the centre of the universe. I’m grateful we were lucky enough to experience it.” Talking about the past has become something of a norm for Ukrainians. Thinking back about the years before the full-scale invasion leaves a bitter taste. On the one hand, the feeling of gratitude for the joyful experiences, on the other, the feeling of frustration, uncertainty, and fear of what’s to come.

“We will find a way!”

“Now, the mood can be described as frustrated,” Maya said. “People tend to forget we’re defending ourselves in this war”, added Tanya. This sense of hopelessness came up in a conversation Maya had with one of her friends, who is currently serving in the military. He told her that of course they would continue fighting. “We will find a way,” he added.

Like Maya, many Ukrainians are bracing for a long war. Living through frequent air raids, drone attacks and shelling takes a toll not only on one’s physical, but also on one’s mental health.

But how do you take care of your mental health when your country is at war? Just like for any other person, social media plays a big role here. Doom-scrolling and arguments no one can win take a toll on everyone. “I muted everything and everyone who triggered me,” Maya said, adding that controlling the intake of news also played a big role in preserving her mental sanity. Especially, the recent news of Oleksandr Syrskyi replacing General Valerii Zaluzhnyi as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces stirred up confusion and panic in the country due to his reputation.

“Clubs a space where people can transform their fear, anger, frustration into something positive”

Even with the country at war, Kyiv’s nightlife – or rather daylife? – is thriving. Due to curfew restrictions, bars, restaurants, and clubs must close at midnight, which is why clubs have shifted to daytime events. Maya talks about New Year’s Eve, after Kyiv was heavily shelled again, and how she was supposed to go to an event at the techno club K41 the next day.

Naturally, she didn’t feel like going. She was convinced that heavy shelling would continue and that she would die soon. In the end, she went to the party anyway.

At the club, she met some of her friends, who told her they were feeling the same. “That’s what Russia wants, though,” said one of her friends. They put on their best outfits, went to the club and shared this experience with each other.

“What we felt, how we were dancing, it really helped us go through this trauma together.” She mentioned the importance of these spaces, where you can support each other in person. “Of course, the vibe was different. It felt like escapism.” This opportunity to escape on the dancefloor is important for civilians, as well as servicemen who are on holiday. “They’re off for one day or two and go clubbing, to escape reality,” she added.

Clubs serve a different function now in Ukraine. “It’s a space where people can transform their fear, anger, frustration into something positive. You can go through this experience of being alive. It’s an existential place for people to come together and enjoy the company of each other,” Tanya explained.

“Every person that dies – whether I know them or not – feels like a family member that has been killed”

Reality catches up quickly, though. Can you get used to war and the violent images and videos posted online? Both Tanya and Maya said “no”. “Every person that dies – whether I know them or not – feels like a family member that has been killed,” said Maya. This sense of community in Ukraine has become even more important in times of war. “We’re used to poverty. We’re used to sharing our homes with many family members. We’ve always had to support each other, even before the war.” That’s why every death hits her as hard as the last one. “You suffer and breathe with every loss as if it is yours, because there is no separation between us as a nation and the individual. We go through this trauma together,” she adds.

That sense of community isn’t only as broad as the country, though. Each industry, subculture, and scene has its own tight-knit community that has grown closer in the last two years. Priorities have shifted, and the aim has become to do everything to retain your freedom as an individual, and a country.

“Everyone is doing their part to defend our country”

It is not just soldiers who are defending the country, but also civilians. Though, many Ukrainians have turned away from their passions and crafts to join the army. “During these two years, our problems and the focus have changed. The focus now for us is the frontline and supporting them as much as we can,” Maya said, adding that Russian forces are deliberately targeting civilians.

For her, civilians are also the people who signed up to the army to help defend their country. “They didn’t choose to fight; they were forced to because we’ve been attacked.” Of course, both Maya and Tanya have lots of friends who are currently fighting to defend the country. These people leave behind a gaping hole in the community, but the aim is to continue fighting.

“We are fighting the biggest country in the world, we’re in desperate need of resources”

Since the onset of the full-scale war, Ukrainians have been trying to do everything they can to help and collectively donated 1 billion euros through the ‘Bankas’ feature on the Monobank online platform, as the Kyiv Post reports. This digital piggy bank, unique in the world, serves as a secure means for fundraising. Dozens of fundraisers to support the army are regularly posted on Monobank, each with a specific fundraising goal. According to Oleh Gorokhovsky, co-founder of Monobank, ‘bankas’ holds immense significance for Ukrainian volunteers, akin to the importance of HIMARS for Ukrainian soldiers.

Alongside two other friends, Nastya and Vita, Maya and Tanya decided to establish their own fundraising aid organisation, AIDх10, to contribute to the purchase of the crucially needed drones and cars at the frontline. According to the Times, donations have played an integral role in preventing the collapse of the Ukrainian economy thus far. However, with several million Ukrainians having left the country, Maya, Tanya, Nastya and Vita aimed to start an organisation that also involved Ukrainians who were forced to leave the country.

“Ukrainians are tired and strapped for cash. It’s difficult for each Ukrainian to donate now,” said Tanya, adding, “this sense of urgency, coupled with the feeling we’re in this for the long haul, exhausts people, which is why we wanted to make reaching out abroad an integral part of our fundraising strategy, as well as raising awareness. We are fighting the biggest country in the world; we’re in desperate need of resources.”

Both emphasise the aid mentioned in the news falls far short and often fails to reach those in dire need. “We watch our friends struggle on the frontline,” Maya said. The frontline is extremely perilous, with equipment such as drones and vehicles easily breaking down. Both assert that soldiers are in desperate need of these resources, alongside the weapons volunteers cannot afford, such as long-range weapons, mines, to name a few. Maya stressed that everyone must understand that drones are consumables, and the military sometimes uses a dozen drones a day to neutralise their targets. “Nothing can replace the weapons we require, as Zelenskyy mentioned at this year’s Munich Security Conference,” she added.

“We’d love to invest our money into a better, greener future and the environment, but we have to spend this money to defend our country instead,” Maya said. “Drones are so important, but they break so easily.” The reality for her and other Ukrainians is the need to support the thousands of soldiers fighting at the frontline. “We, as civilians, are fighting to gain as many donations to help safe as many lives as we can,” Tanya added.

“I don’t ever want to leave Ukraine; I want to live here”

“I don’t know what the future will look like, it’s a hard question,” confessed Maya as she voices her fear of the worst-case scenario. “I don’t know what I should do if Kyiv or Ukraine end up occupied by Russia. I know I won’t be kept alive,” she said, stating that she’s a vocal activist connected to the LGBTQIA+ community. The LGBTQIA+ community was labelled as an ‘extremist organisation’ and banned by the Kremlin last year.

“It’s so painful for me to think about, but I am thinking about it quite often.” She wants her life to be in Ukraine without living in fear, to raise her future children there and live in peace. Maya doesn’t spend much time thinking about the end of the war, though. “We’ve lost so many people and sacrificed so much, I don’t think I could celebrate”, she added.

There are no official numbers about how many civilians have died since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. US officials estimate near half a million war casualties.

There is hardly a Ukrainian who doesn’t know someone who has been killed or died defending their country.

If you want to donate to AIDx10, you can do so here.

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Almost a dozen killed in Russian strike on Pokrovsk in east Ukraine

Post By World Crimea, drones, Europe, Kyiv, Russia, Ukraine, Ukraine war analysis

A Russian strike on the eastern Ukrainian town of Pokrovsk killed almost a dozen people on Saturday, regional officials said. President Volodymyr Zelensky said that “all necessary rescue forces” had been deployed to the town and that a recovery mission was continuing. Read our liveblog to see how the day’s events unfolded.

8:00pm: ‘All necessary rescue forces’ deployed, Zelensky says

Reacting to the deadly strike in the eastern town of Pokrovsk, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that “all necessary rescue forces” had been deployed and that emergency services were still sifting through the rubble.

Zelensky went on to offer his condolences to all those who had lost loved ones in the strike.

00:22

6:04pm: Almost a dozen killed by Russian strike on eastern Ukraine town of Pokrovsk

At least 11 people were killed by a Russian missile strike on the eastern Ukrainian town of Pokrovsk on Saturday, the regional governor said. Eight people were also wounded when Russian forces hit the area with S-300 missiles.

“Eleven dead, including five children – these are the consequences, for now, of strikes on Pokrovsk district,” wrote Vadim Filashkin, the governor of the Ukrainian-held part of the Donetsk region, on Telegram.

“The main blow was dealt to Pokrovsk and Rivne in the community of Myrnograd,” he added.

The town of Pokrovsk, which had a population of 60,000 before the war, was hit by a deadly bombardment last August that left nine people dead and 82 injured.

Pictures that Filashkin posted online showed rescue squads sifting through large piles of smouldering rubble in the dark as well as a burned-out vehicle.

Filashkin said the attack showed Russian forces were “trying to inflict as much grief as possible on our land”.

Deadly Russian strike on the eastern Ukrainian town of Pokrovsk

4:02pm: Blinken presses Turkey on Sweden’s NATO bid

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed the importance of Turkey ratifying Sweden’s NATO membership in talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Saturday in Istanbul, the first leg of Blinken’s trip to the Mideast focused on the war in Gaza.

The State Department said Blinken and Erdogan discussed both “completing Sweden’s accession to NATO and strengthening trade and investment between the United States and Turkey”.

A key committee in the Turkish parliament approved Sweden’s bid to join NATO in late December after months of delays but it awaits a vote by the full Turkish parliament.

Foreign Minister Fidan said Turkey was awaiting the outcome of Ankara’s request to upgrade its fleet of US-made F-16 fighter jets and stressed that the ratification of Sweden’s NATO membership ultimately lay in the hands of the Turkish parliament. Erdogan has also linked Swedish ratification to the delivery of F-16s.

Erdogan has used Turkey’s veto power in NATO to compel Sweden to take a tougher stance with pro-Kurdish groups in Stockholm that Ankara views as “terrorists”.

Sweden and Finland dropped decades of military non-alignment and sought to join the alliance after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Their bids won fast-track approval from all NATO members except Turkey and Hungary.

3:10pm: Russia cancels Orthodox Christmas masses in Ukraine border city

Russia said Saturday that it would cancel Orthodox Christmas midnight masses in the city of Belgorod near the Ukraine border, a day after officials offered to evacuate worried residents amid increasing attacks.

Belgorod has been hit with near daily Ukrainian attacks in recent days, the deadliest of which killed 25 people on December 30.

Russia celebrates Orthodox Christmas on January 7 and midnight masses are held on the night of January 6.

The mayor of Belgorod, Valentin Demidov, said on social media he agreed with local church leaders that “night masses in Belgorod would be cancelled in connection to the operational situation”.

2:04pm: Ukraine shows evidence Russia fired North Korean missile at Kharkiv

The Kharkiv region prosecutor’s office provided further evidence on Saturday that Russia attacked Ukraine with missiles supplied by North Korea, showcasing the fragments.

A senior adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that Russia hit Ukraine this week with missiles supplied by North Korea for the first time during the February 2022 invasion.

Dmytro Chubenko, spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office, said the missile – one of several that hit the city of Kharkiv on January 2 – was visually and technically different from Russian models.

“The production method is not very modern. There are deviations from standard Iskander missiles, which we previously saw during strikes on Kharkiv. This missile is similar to one of the North Korean missiles,” Chubenko told the media as he displayed the remnants.

He said the missile was slightly bigger in diameter than the Russian Iskander missile while its nozzle, internal electrical windings and rear parts were also different.

“That is why we are leaning towards the version that this may be a missile which was supplied by North Korea.”

Chubenko declined to give the exact name of the missile’s model.

A Kharkiv prosecutor's office expert on January 6 inspects the remains of a missile used during an attack on the city on January 2, 2024. — A Kharkiv prosecutor’s office expert on January 6 inspects the remains of a missile used during an attack on the city on January 2, 2024. © Sergey Bobok, AFP

2:02pm: Denmark to complete transfer of US-made F-16s to Ukraine by June

Denmark’s transfer of 19 American-made F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine will take place in the second quarter of 2024, once Ukrainian pilots have completed training, the defence ministry said Saturday.

“Based on the current timetable, the donation should take place in the second quarter of 2024,” the Danish ministry said in a statement.

“It’s mainly an issue of finishing the training of Ukrainian personnel who will operate the planes.”

12:00pm: Russia on track to lose half a million soldiers, UK defence ministry says

If the numbers of Russian losses continue at the current rate over the next year, Russia will have lost over half a million personnel in Ukraine, the UK ministry of defence said in a post on X on Saturday.

The average daily number of Russian casualties in Ukraine has risen by almost 300 during the course of 2023.

If the numbers continue at the current rate over the next year, Russia will have lost over half a million personnel in Ukraine.

🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/m4SV6XMRMS

— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) January 6, 2024

10:11am: Kyiv says its drone attack hit Crimean airbase

Ukraine‘s air force says it hit the Saki airbase in western Crimea in an overnight drone attack. Moscow previously said that it had successfully downed four drones over the peninsular overnight.

“Saki airfield! All targets have been shot!” Mykola Oleshchuk, the commander of Ukraine’s air force, said on social media.

Ukraine has targeted Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, since the start of Moscow’s full-scale offensive.

Kyiv said Friday that it had targeted a command post near Sevastopol on Thursday.

9:31am: Russia to produce over 32,000 drones each year by 2030, state media says

Russia plans to produce more than 32,000 drones each year by 2030 and for domestic producers to account for 70 percent of the market, the TASS news agency cited First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov as saying on Saturday.

Drones have been widely used by Moscow and Kyiv since Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine and both sides are sharply increasing military production as the war drags on.

“The annual production volume of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) – excluding educational UAVs – is planned at 32,500 units,” Belousov told TASS. “This is almost three times higher than current production volumes.

“At the same time, it is planned that the share of Russian UAVs will make up 70 percent of the market in this type of UAV.”

9:27am: Russia says it downed four Ukrainian missiles over Crimea overnight

Russia on Saturday said its forces shot down four Ukrainian missiles over Moscow-annexed Crimea over night.

“Air defence on duty intercepted and destroyed four Ukrainian missiles over the Crimea peninsula,” the Russian defence ministry said.

4:18am: Russia offers to relocate Belgorod residents after shelling

Russian officials in the southern border city of Belgorod offered to evacuate worried residents on Friday, an unprecedented announcement that follows waves of fatal Ukrainian attacks.

The Kremlin has tried to maintain a semblance of normalcy on the home front, but the recent strikes on Belgorod have brought the Ukraine conflict closer to home for Russians.

Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov’s assurance that scared civilians can relocate represents the furthest-reaching measure taken by any major Russian city since Moscow ordered the invasion of Ukraine nearly two years ago.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and Reuters)

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Russia launches 122 missiles in one of biggest attacks on Ukraine since start of war

Post By World drones, Europe, Kremlin, Kyiv, Odesa, rishi sunak, Russia, Ukraine, USA, Volodymyr Zelensky, War

Russia launched 122 missiles and 36 drones against Ukrainian targets, officials said Friday, killing at least 18 civilians across the country in what an air force official said was the biggest aerial barrage of the 22-month war.

AFP reporters in Kyiv heard several powerful explosions in the early hours of Friday and saw thick black smoke billowing from a warehouse.

“We haven’t seen so much red on our monitors for a long time,” said Yuriy Ignat, a spokesman for Ukraine‘s air force, explaining that Russian forces had first launched a wave of suicide drones followed by missiles.

The Ukrainian air force intercepted 87 of the missiles and 27 of the Shahed-type drones overnight, Ukraine’s military chief Valery Zaluzhnyi said.

Air Force commander Mykola Oleshchuk wrote on his official Telegram channel: “The most massive aerial attack” since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

According to the Ukrainian air force, the previous biggest assault was in November 2022 when Russia launched 96 missiles against Ukraine. This year, the biggest was 81 missiles on March 9, air force records show.

“There are people killed by Russian missiles today that were launched at civilian facilities, civilian buildings,” presidential aide Andriy Yermak said.

“We are doing everything to strengthen our air shield. But the world needs to see that we need more support and strength to stop this terror,” he said on Telegram.

Two people were confirmed dead in the capital Kyiv, with more people thought to be trapped under rubble at a warehouse damaged by falling debris, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram messenger.

He also said the capital’s air defences were working intensively.

A metro station whose platforms were being used as an air raid shelter was damaged, he said.

Sergiy Popko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said a warehouse with an area of around 3,000 square metres (32,300 square feet) was burning in the northern Podil district.

“There are many wounded, the number is being clarified,” he said.

In other districts of the city, an uninhabited multistorey block of flats also caught fire and a private house was damaged, Popko said.

Maternity hospital struck

In the central Shevchenko district, a residential building was damaged and there was also a fire in a warehouse with six believed to be injured, Popko said.

Klitschko wrote on social media that there appeared to be three people still under rubble of the warehouse while three others had been rescued.

The overnight attacks came days after Ukraine struck a Russian warship in the occupied Crimean port of Feodosia in a major setback for the Russian navy.

Drones and missiles struck at least five other Ukrainian cities on Friday, including Kharkiv in the northeast, Lviv in the west, Dnipro in the east and Odesa in the south, the cities’ mayors and police said.

“So far we have counted 22 strikes in different districts of Kharkiv,” the mayor, Igor Terekhov, said on television.

“There are currently seven injured in hospital. Unfortunately one person has died.”

In Lviv, governor Maksym Kozytsky said that “one person was killed and three wounded”.

In Dnipro, the mayor, Borys Filatov, said there were injured and dead. The health ministry said that a maternity hospital in the city had been “severely damaged”.

Two people were killed in the Black Sea port city of Odesa and at least 15 were injured, including two children, as missiles hit residential buildings, the regional governor said.

Ukraine’s southern command said 14 attack drones had been destroyed in the south of the country and there were no casualties reported.

The Polish army said a Russian missile passed through Polish airspace on Friday, entering from and then back into Ukraine, as Russia pummelled Ukraine with the barrage.

“Everything indicates that a Russian missile entered Polish airspace … It also left our airspace,” General Wieslaw Kukula, chief of the general staff of the Polish armed forces, told reporters.

“The object arrived from the Ukrainian border,” Colonel Jacek Goryszewski, spokesman of the operational command of the armed forces, earlier told news channel TVN24.

“There was intense shelling of Ukrainian territory at night so this incident could be linked to that.”

He said the airspace violation occurred near the Polish border city of Zamosc.

Crucial Western support

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Friday said Moscow’s latest missile strikes on Ukraine showed Russian President Vladimir “Putin will stop at nothing to achieve his aim of eradicating freedom and democracy”.

“We will not let him win. We must continue to stand with Ukraine – for as long as it takes,” he added on X, formerly Twitter.

These widespread attacks on Ukraine’s cities show Putin will stop at nothing to achieve his aim of eradicating freedom and democracy.

We will not let him win.

We must continue to stand with Ukraine – for as long as it takes. https://t.co/cf6aDNwPjD

— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) December 29, 2023

On Thursday, President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the United States for releasing the last remaining package of weapons available for Ukraine under existing authorisation, as uncertainty surrounds further aid to his war-torn country.

Zelensky had warned that any change in policy from the US – Kyiv’s main backer – could have a strong impact on the course of the war.

“I thank President Joe Biden, Congress, and the American people for the $250 million military aid package announced yesterday,” Zelensky said on social media.

In an interview published on Friday, Christian Freuding, a German general who oversees the German army’s support for Kyiv, said Russia was severely weakened but was showing greater “resilience” than Western allies had expected at the start of the war.

“We perhaps did not see, or did not want to see, that they are in a position to continue to be supplied by allies,” he told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, Reuters, AP)

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Maidan Square: ‘A rather modest Ukrainian protest turned revolution’

Post By World EU-Ukraine 2013, european integration, Kyiv, protest, Ukraine, Ukraine politics

November marked 10 years since the start of the Maidan revolution which ousted pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych.

On November 21, 2013, Yanukovych announced he was shelving an agreement to bring the country closer to the European Union and instead would deepen ties with President Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

Outraged crowds soon filled Independence Square, or Maidan Square, for peaceful anti-government protests. Later, after riot police used truncheons and tear gas to disperse the people, demonstrators set up tent camps with barricades, self-defence units and banners with revolutionary slogans. In response to the police violence, hundreds of thousands joined the demonstrations in early December.

The standoff reached a climax in February 2014, when police unleashed a brutal crackdown on the protests and dozens of people were slain between February 18 and 21, many by police snipers. A European-mediated peace deal between the government and protest leaders envisioned the formation of a transition government and an early election, but demonstrators later seized government buildings, and Yanukovych fled to Russia.

The Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance said 107 people were killed in the uprising that became known as the “Maidan Revolution” or the “Revolution of Dignity.”

Euronews asked several people in Kyiv during those months to share their memories of the revolution.

“I think that then, actually, for every Ukrainian there was not even a choice to leave or not for every conscious Ukrainian. We knew what we wanted, and we understood that our government, Yanukovych, somehow decided to deceive us. At first, he told us that this is how we would have a path to European integration, and then at one point, he signed some new agreements with Russia. And we understand we are not moving where we want,” recalled Kyiv-based documentary filmmaker Marina Chankova.

Ukrainian historian Yevhenii Monastyrskyi told Euronews that he found himself in Kyiv in the early days of Euromaidan because he had come to the capital for a scientific conference.

“I then went out to see what was happening in the centre. And this is the first moment that I remember very well: a small group of students gathered together on the first night in Independence Square, and then on the second and third days I just watched other people joining them,” Yevhenii said.

The first to express their discontent in the centre of Kyiv were mostly young people. The protest was peaceful, but after a few days, the authorities decided to disperse the protesters, motivating their actions by the fact that a Christmas tree was planned to be installed in the central square.

“The events that stuck with me took place on 30 November: students were beaten up,” recalled Marcy Shore, a specialist in Eastern European history at Yale University in the United States. “Most people in the square were young because they had the most to lose. Europe was close to them, and Euromaidan in November 2013 belonged to this generation.”

According to Marcy Shore, Viktor Yanukovych was counting on the fact that the massacre of students would scare their parents and force them to take their children away from the square.

“And then something unexpected happened: instead of taking the children off the street, the parents joined them,” said Shore.

After the dispersal of the student protest “many people said, you know, I went to bed in Kiev, I woke up in Moscow,” recalled Atlantic Council contributor Peter Dickinson.

“And at that point, the protests mushroomed massively. So this was the 1st of December 2013. And then within hours, the next day, you had almost a million people on the streets of central Kyiv. Buildings were occupied. A permanent tent city was established on Maidan. And what had been a pretty modest protest movement had become a revolution, essentially,” said Dickinson.

Sergio Cantone was running Euronews’ Kyiv bureau in those days.

“It was extremely cold and they were burning the tyres. The protesters burned the tyres and then also the Molotov cocktails. And I remember this kind of almost, if I may say so, legendary. I have a kind of legendary feeling, mythological feeling. It was the war of the ice and the fire because the two things were together,” Cantone remembered.

“And then, of course, the stun bombs used by the Berkut to contain the protest. The sound of stun bombs,” he added, referring to the riot police.

“Most people I spoke to at the time considered it a decisive moment for Ukraine in terms of how it would develop, what kind of state it would become. Would it become a European country or suffer the fate of a Soviet-type authoritarian state? It was a civilisational choice,” said Peter Dickinson.

“The idea was to get rid of an unjust, immoral and corrupt system,” Cantone said.

In January three protesters were shot dead, the first fatalities of the protests.

Then, between February 18 to 20, dozens of people were killed in clashes with the police in the city, the most tragic days of the revolution.

“Before our eyes, people in the city centre were killed by our authorities. Well, that was the kind of turning point that caused even more outrage. And at that moment, the Ukrainian people in general, and as much as they felt later, understood that no, we will go to the end, we will go to the end, and no one was afraid,” Marina Chankova said.

“Presumably the mass killings were designed to disperse the crowd. They were designed to terrify Ukrainians and to send them out. What I saw as I came down and began walking towards Maidan was a vast sea of humanity going towards Maidan of Ukrainians. And people were carrying bottles of water, medicines, coats, food, anything they had, and to go and see if they could help. So the killings had the exact opposite impact,” Dickinson recalled.

“People were deeply shocked and traumatised, but they were very determined and their response to these mass killings was, no, we will not, we will not flee, we will not run, we will go, we will confront this threat to all our nation, our independence, our democracy,” he added.

“The Maidan shootings were the biggest shock of all these months,” Yevhenii Monastyrskyi said.

“Such a thing cannot be forgiven by anyone. The long journey of building civil society, which began in the early 2000s, reached its first peak precisely in February 2014, when it became clear that we, the citizens of Ukraine, civil society, had reached the point where we could no longer co-exist with this government and something had to change,” recalled Yevhenii.

“This is this very long movement to create a civil society, which began in the early 2000s. We reached this first peak, in fact, in February of the fourteenth year, when it became clear that we’re citizens of Ukraine. Civil society has reached the point where we can no longer coexist with this government and something needs to change.”

After Yanukovych’s ouster, Russia responded in March 2014 by illegally annexing Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula. Then, separatist forces backed by Moscow began an uprising in the eastern Ukraine region known as the Donbas, which grew into a long-running conflict, leaving thousands dead.

Finally, in February 2022, Putin launched his war that continues to this day, with tens of thousands of deaths on both sides amid Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II.

Ukrainians in 2013 had wanted the country to enter into a deal with the EU, but Putin pressured Yanukovych to pull out at the last minute. Ukrainian leaders who followed were more eager than ever to bring Kyiv into the Western fold.

Despite the calamities, Ukraine has become more united than in its 32 years of independence and has drawn closer to the EU, the United States and the West in general — an outcome Putin had tried to prevent. Today, under President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the country has won widespread support and admiration amid the Russian invasion.

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Wartime Ukrainian football is having one of its most riveting seasons

Post By World euroviews, football, Kryvyi Rih, Kyiv, Russia's war in Ukraine, Shakhtar Donetsk

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent in any way the editorial position of Euronews.

Amidst Russia’s continued full-scale invasion of Ukraine, having two underdogs — FC Kryvbas and Polissya Zhytomyr — sit at the top of the Ukrainian football league is a welcome surprise, Andrew Todos and David Kirichenko write.

Amid Russia’s continued full-scale invasion, Ukrainian football is pressing on in its second season in wartime conditions.

This year, a major surprise is unfolding, and few could’ve ever predicted the league standings as less-resourced clubs are currently leading the league. Ukrainian football fans can expect an unpredictable season, with the potential end of the dominance of Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk.

The war abruptly halted the 2021/22 season, leaving Shakhtar Donetsk just shy of a title they were on the verge of winning.

During the 2022/23 season, Dnipro-1 nearly clinched the championship but faltered at the end of it, allowing Shakhtar to claim the trophy again.

Now the league gave us another shocker: FC Kryvbas are at the forefront, with newly-promoted Polissya Zhytomyr in close pursuit.

Kryvyi Rih’s team’s thunderous rise

But first, a quick flashback to the 1992 season — the first-ever league competition in a newly independent Ukraine.

Tavriya Simferopol won the title, marking the first and last time a team other than Dynamo or Shakhtar took gold. Despite their efforts, clubs like FC Metalist Kharkiv and FC Dnipro made valiant attempts to win the league, but always fell a step too short from glory.

Hailing from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih, FC Kryvbas, a team that was once a regular top-tier competitor, met an unexpected downfall in 2013.

However, in 2020, under Zelenskyy’s vision of revitalising football in overlooked Ukrainian cities, the club was resurrected.

With local mine owner, Kostyantyn Karamanyts steering the ship, the rechristened Hirnyk-Kryvyi Rih — now Kryvbas — made a thunderous return to the top flight, finishing 7th in their comeback season under the guidance of one of Ukraine’s master tacticians, Yuriy Vernydub.

When war broke out in 2022, Vernydub swapped his coaching tracksuit for a soldier’s armour, joining an artillery brigade on the frontlines.

His commitment to both his nation and the sport eventually saw him juggle his military duties with managing Kryvbas, a feat that now sees them leading the Ukrainian Premier League this campaign.

Sport is not shielded from war

Credit for Kryvbas’ impressive run goes beyond Vernydub’s tactical brilliance. The squad’s harmony, built around a blend of homegrown talent and international flair, has reaped dividends.

Players like Danylo Beskorovaynyi, Maksym Zaderaka, and the dazzling Cameroonian, Yvan Dibango, have turned heads with their exemplary performances.

Off the pitch, Kryvbas’s PR team has captured the imagination of fans beyond Ukrainian borders, with viral content celebrating their on-field exploits, commemorating their fallen fans from the front and creatively raising money for the war effort.

On 31 July, Kryvyi Rih was hit by a Russian missile strike, killing three people including a four-year-old child, and injuring another 33. The football club published a social media post reminding its fans around the world that Russia was recognised by the EU “as a state sponsor of terrorism and as a state which uses means of terrorism.”

The post concluded with this line: “31/07/23. We’ll never forgive. We hate you all.” In Ukraine, sport is not shielded from war just as normal civilians aren’t. People and sports simply adapt to the wartime conditions.

Zhytomyr and Odesa have hot competitors, too

Close on Kryvbas’ heels, FC Polissya Zhytomyr’s journey is equally remarkable. Spearheaded by billionaire Hennadiy Butkevych, they’ve risen from obscurity to challenge the might of Dynamo and Shakhtar.

Under the guidance of a 1990’s Dynamo Kyiv star, Yuriy Kalitvinstev, Polissya are showing they’re more than just a brief sensation.

Butkevych is deeply committed to his project, and the club even boasts heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk on their roster. Although he hasn’t featured for Polissya just yet, his debut may come about at some stage after the annual winter break and the fighter’s upcoming bout with Tyson Fury.

Another team catching attention is Chornomorets Odesa. Currently amongst the top 5 places, their re-emergence in recent years is attributed to new leadership and the comeback of renowned coach, Roman Hryhorchuk.

Under Hryhorchuk, the team once soared in the Europa League during the early 2010s.

Now, they boast an exciting blend of local talent and international players. However, a cloud hangs over the club as co-owner Borys Kaufman faces legal troubles, and its implications on the team remain uncertain.

Meanwhile, star-studded teams are struggling

Last year’s runners-up Dnipro-1 have experienced a resurgence of their own after a disappointing start to the championship.

They failed to make it past the qualifying rounds of all three UEFA competitions and saw star striker Artem Dovbyk leave to play for La Liga’s Girona.

However, ever since seasoned Ukrainian coach Yuriy Maksymov’s arrival in September which coincided with the club’s return to the city of Dnipro after a year of living in Uzhhorod; the club remain unbeaten in the league and have bolted back up into the European spots.

Meanwhile, Shakhtar have been in the midst of an uncharacteristic bumpy period. After a change in leadership from Croatian coach Igor Jovičević to Dutchman Patrick Van Leeuwen, the club experienced instability.

Despite Van Leeuwen’s departure after only 12 games, there’s hope in the form of new coach Marino Pušić who was only appointed on 24 October.

It is worth keeping in mind that the current league table may not provide the clearest picture of real standings due to varying match counts — a byproduct of European competition schedules.

For instance, while Dynamo Kyiv is currently seventh, they have played three games less than leader Kryvbas. Yet, given their recent form and a significant injury to star player Andriy Yarmolenko, nothing is guaranteed.

Long-time manager, Mircea Lucescu, faces mounting pressure after the team’s European struggles that have reared themselves domestically now too.

Two underdogs at the top a welcome distraction from war

Nonetheless, the war continually casts a shadow over football in Ukraine, where the lines between football, politics, and war are indelibly blurred.

There are frequent disruptions in matches because of air raid alerts, coupled with the absence of fans in stadiums, standing as sombre markers of the times.

As a football spokesperson from FC Karpaty Lviv illustrated, “When the air raid siren goes off, the match is stopped and everyone on the pitch and off the pitch goes to the bomb shelter. We cannot host our supporters in the stadium because our bomb shelter doesn’t have the capacity to host thousands of people.”

Personal tragedies have also struck some players; Dynamo Kyiv’s Oleksandr Tymchyk and Shakhtar Donetsk’s Dmytro Riznyk have both lost brothers serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

According to a survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, 78% of Ukrainians have close relatives or friends who have been injured or killed by Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Each time Ukraine’s footballers play, they represent more than just a game. They show their country’s strength and unity against Russia’s barbaric war.

Their heart on the field mirrors the courage of the Ukrainian people and continuing to play sports in wartime shows that Ukrainians simply refuse to let the Kremlin disrupt the normal functioning of society.

Most intriguingly, amidst all the chaos and instability, having two underdogs leading Ukrainian football is a welcomed surprise and will continue to make for an interesting season.

Andrew Todos is a British-Ukrainian freelance sports journalist and broadcaster. He is the founder of the leading English language resource on Ukrainian football, Zorya Londonsk, and is a co-host of the “Ukraine + Football” podcast. David Kirichenko is a freelance journalist and an associate research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, a London-based think tank.

At Euronews, we believe all views matter. Contact us at [email protected] to send pitches or submissions and be part of the conversation.

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Ukraine war: Kim Jong Un continues Russia visit as Moscow refutes claims over village ‘dislodging’

Post By World Kyiv, Russia-Ukraine invasion, Russia's war in Ukraine, ukraine war, UNESCO, UNESCO Cultural Heritage List

All the latest developments from the war in Ukraine.

Kim Jong Un continues his visit to Russia

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Saturday in Vladivostok in Russia’s Far East, where he reviewed advanced Russian weapons, including a hypersonic missile system.

At the Knevichi air base, Kim was welcomed by Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s Minister of Defence, who showed the North Korean a MiG-31 fighter and its Kinjal hypersonic missile system, according to Russian state-owned news agency TASS.

The North Korean leader was also said to have reviewed Тu-160, Tu-95MS and Тu-22М3 bombers.

“These aircraft constitute the air component of Russia’s strategic nuclear forces,” the Defence Ministry said in a statement.

According to images released by Moscow, Kim listened attentively to senior representatives of the Russian army.

On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin met the North Korean at the Vostochny cosmodrome, nearly 8,000 kilometres east of Moscow.

Kim invited Putin to visit North Korea soon, but no agreement has been signed between the two countries, according to Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.

Westerners suspect Moscow of wanting to buy weapons from Pyongyang for the conflict in Ukraine. North Korea, for its part, is suspected of wanting to acquire technologies for its nuclear and missile programs.

Displaying their apparent closeness, Kim Jong Un commented that rapprochement with Moscow was an “absolute priority” of foreign policy, while Putin praised the “strengthening” of their cooperation.

Washington has expressed its “concern” about the possible purchase of North Korean munitions, while Seoul has “firmly warned” against any transaction of this type.

After turning to Iran to deliver hundreds of explosive drones, there are concerns that Russia could find useful resources in Pyongyang, which has large stockpiles of Soviet equipment and mass produces weapons.

Russian army refutes claims over “dislodging” from Andriïvka village

The Russian army maintained on Saturday that it had not been “dislodged” from the village of Andriïvka in Ukraine, south of the devastated town of Bakhmut on the eastern front. That statement contradicts an announcement made on Friday by Ukrainian authorities.

“In the Donetsk sector, the enemy (…) continued to carry out assault operations (…), trying in vain to dislodge Russian troops from the localities of Klichtchiïvka and Andriïvka,” the Russian Defence ministry said as part of its daily bulletin.

On Friday, though, the Ukrainian army said it had “liberated Andriïvka, in the Donetsk region”.

Kyiv claimed that their troops had inflicted, during “offensive operations”, “significant losses on the enemy in terms of manpower and equipment”.

The Russian denial sows seeds of confusion as to the real situation in the very small village.

In a video published on Telegram on Saturday by Oleksandr Borodin, spokesperson for a brigade engaged fighting in the region, the capture of Andriïvka by the Ukrainian army is supposedly shown.

The fierce and bloody battle for Bakhmut, just north of the tiny village, has been raging for over a year.

Since the beginning of June, the Ukrainian army has been leading a slow counter-offensive intended to push back Russian forces in the East and South, but it faces powerful defensive lines made up of trenches, minefields and anti-tank traps.

This operation has, so far, only allowed the capture of a handful of villages, but the Ukrainian push has intensified in recent weeks, particularly on the southern front.

UNESCO puts 2 locations in war-ravaged Ukraine on its list of historic sites in danger

The UN’s World Heritage Committee has placed two major historical sites in Ukraine on its list of such sites that it considers to be in danger.

The iconic St Sophia’s Cathedral in the capital, Kyiv, as well as the mediaeval centre of the western city of Lviv, are UNESCO World Heritage Sites central to Ukraine’s culture and history.

The decision to put those two on the body’s list of sites “in danger” has no enforcement mechanism, but could help deter Russian attacks.

Neither site has been directly targeted since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 – and Lviv has largely been spared from the fighting. But Russia has unleashed waves of strikes on Kyiv and other cities, hitting residential areas and critical infrastructure.

The decision was made at the 45th session of the World Heritage Committee, which is being held in Saudi Arabia. The committee maintains UNESCO’s World Heritage List and oversees conservation of the sites.

A Ukrainian government official welcomed the move.

“We are very happy to have a very rich history and culture of our country, and we would like to say that it has been over thousands of years, and we try to preserve it for our future generations,” Deputy Culture Minister Anastasia Bondar said, adding, “so it’s very much important that the whole world community will join us also”.

The gold-domed St Sophia’s Cathedral, located in the heart of Kyiv, was built in the 11th century and designed to rival the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. The monument to Byzantine art contains the biggest collection of mosaics and frescoes from that period, and is surrounded by monastic buildings dating back to the 17th century.

The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, also known as the Monastery of the Caves, is a sprawling complex of monasteries and churches – some underground – which were built from the 11th to the 19th century. Some of the churches are connected by a labyrinthine complex of caves spanning more than 600 metres.

The two sites on the Dnipro River, a 15-minute drive from one another, are “a masterpiece of human creative genius,” according to UNESCO.

The other site is the historic centre of Lviv, near the Polish border. A fifth-century castle overlooks streets and squares built between the 13th and 17th centuries. The site includes a synagogue as well as Orthodox, Armenian and Catholic religious buildings, reflecting the city’s diversity.

Lviv is more than 500 kilometres from Kyiv and even further from any front lines, but it hasn’t been spared entirely. Russian cruise missiles slammed into an apartment building in the city in July, killing at least six people and wounding dozens.

UNESCO added Ukraine’s Black Sea port city of Odesa to its list of endangered heritage sites in January. Russian forces have launched multiple attacks on the city, a cultural hub known for its 19th-century architecture. Russia claims that it only strikes military targets.

Under the 1972 UNESCO convention, ratified by both Ukraine and Russia, signatories undertake to “assist in the protection of the listed sites” and are “obliged to refrain from taking any deliberate measures” which might damage World Heritage sites.

Inclusion on the List of World Heritage in Danger is meant to rally urgent international support for conservation efforts. The list includes more than 50 sites around the world.

Russia may have stockpiled ALCMs – British Ministry of Defence

Between October 2022 and March 2023, Russia focused long-range strikes against Ukraine’s national energy infrastructure.

Air launched cruise missiles (ALCMs), especially the modern AS-23a KODIAK, were at the heart of most of these strike missions. Russia uses strategic bomber aircraft to release these munitions from deep within Russian territory.

Open source reports suggest that since April 2023, ALCM expenditure rates have reduced, while Russian leaders have highlighted efforts to increase the rate of cruise missile production.

Russia is therefore likely able to generate a significant stockpile of ALCMs. There is now said to be a realistic possibility Russia will again focus these weapons against Ukrainian infrastructure targets over the winter.

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Ukraine war: Kyiv denounces G20 declaration as UN warns of potential nuclear safety threat

Post By World Kyiv, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Russia's war in Ukraine, Ukraine, ukraine war, Volodymyr Zelenskyy

All the latest developments from the war in Ukraine.

G20 declaration on Ukraine: “nothing to be proud of” – Kyiv

Kyiv has criticised the G20 leaders’ statement on the war in Ukraine, in which they denounced the use of force, but neglected to mention Russia.

“Ukraine is grateful to the partners who tried to include strong wording in the text. At the same time, regarding Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, the G20 has nothing to be proud of,” said a spokesperson for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Oleg Nikolenko.

Nikolenko posted on his Facebook account a modified version of the official communiqué of the G20 summit in New Delhi, with words or expressions crossed out and replaced by others in red, reflecting notions the Ukrainian authorities would have preferred.

Examples included the phrase “concerning the war in Ukraine” becoming “concerning the war against Ukraine”, and “all states must refrain from the threat or use of force” replaced by “Russia must refrain…”.

The text adopted by the G20 does not explicitly mention Russian “aggression” in Ukraine, a term used in 2022 during the previous G20 summit in Bali.

That use was a reference to a Security Council resolution which had criticised “in the strongest terms strongly condemn the aggression committed by the Russian Federation against Ukraine”.

Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor of the United States, however, welcomed the wording of the text.

“From our point of view, it’s a very good job,” he told reporters.

Nikolenko expressed disappointment, though, adding that he believed it was “obvious that Ukraine’s participation in this G20 summit would have allowed the participants to better understand the situation”.

Threat to nuclear safety as fighting spikes near Ukraine plant – UN atomic watchdog

The United Nations atomic watchdog warned of a potential threat to nuclear safety due to a spike in fighting near Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in Ukraine, whose forces continued pressing their counteroffensive on Saturday.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said its experts deployed at the Russia-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant reported hearing numerous explosions over the past week, in a possible indication of increased military activity in the region. There was no damage to the plant.

“I remain deeply concerned about the possible dangers facing the plant at this time of heightened military tension in the region,” IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi warned in a statement issued late on Friday.

He noted that the IAEA team was informed that staff at the nuclear power plant had been reduced temporarily to minimum levels due to concerns of more military activity in the area.

“Whatever happens in a conflict zone, wherever it may be, everybody would stand to lose from a nuclear accident, and I urge that all necessary precautions must be taken to avoid it happening,” Grossi added.

The IAEA has repeatedly expressed concern that the fighting could cause a potential radiation leak from the facility, which is one of the world’s 10 biggest nuclear power stations. The plant’s six reactors have been shut down for months, but it still needs power and qualified staff to operate crucial cooling systems and other safety features.

Ukraine makes tactical advances near Robotyne

The Ukrainian Armed Forces have advanced into the multi-layered main Russian defensive line east of the town of Robotyne.

Ukrainian dismounted infantry forces are continuing to make gradual tactical advances against Russian positions and attrite Russian forces in the area.

Ukrainian forces have also maintained pressure on Russian positions to the south of Bakhmut, making gradual gains between Klishchiivka and Adriivka.

It is highly likely that Russia has redeployed forces from other areas of the frontline to replace degraded units around Robotyne. These redeployments are likely limiting Russia’s ability to carry out offensive operations of its own along other areas of the front line.

The redeployments are also highly likely an indication of pressure on their defensive lines, particularly around Robotyne.

Counter-offensive threatened by slow Western aid – Zelenskyy

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that Russia was slowing down the Ukrainian counter-offensive, blaming the “slowness” of Western arms deliveries. The leader also renewed calls for long-range weapons as well as new sanctions against Moscow.

Speaking on Friday, Zelenskyy also stressed that time was against Ukraine, with Russia banking on a Republican victory in the 2024 presidential election to weaken American support for Kyiv.

According to him, “the processes are becoming more complicated and slower when it comes to economic sanctions against Moscow or the supply of weapons” from the West.

Ukraine has complained in particular for months about the slowness of negotiations on the delivery of F-16 fighters. Several dozen of these American aircraft will ultimately be delivered by European countries, but the crews must now be trained for months in order to use them effectively.

The Ukrainian counter-offensive, launched in June, came up against powerful defence lines built by the Russians, including minefields and anti-tank traps.

However, a breakthrough has emerged in recent weeks in the south, which could allow the Ukrainian army to advance to cut Russian lines of communication between the north and Crimea, one of its objectives.

American Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who was in Kyiv on Wednesday and Thursday, judged the “significant progress” of the offensive “very, very encouraging”.

He promised $1 billion (approximately €933m) in new aid. Washington also confirmed the supply of depleted uranium shells to give “momentum” to the offensive.

More Russian bombs hit Ukrainian cities

Ukraine confirmed the deaths of four people on Friday as Russia continues its bombing of Ukrainian cities.

Three civilians were killed in Odradokamianka in the southern Kherson region, according to Ukrainian Interior Minister Igor Klymenko.

In Kryvyï Rig, the hometown of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the south of the country, a bombing hit an administrative building killing a police officer, according to emergency services.

Kyiv denounces upcoming Moscow-organised local elections

Kyiv has poured scorn on the local elections organised by Moscow in regions in Ukraine under its control.

“The pseudo-elections carried out by Russia in the temporarily occupied territories are worthless,” stressed the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, denouncing a “gross violation” of its sovereignty.

France supported the denouncement, condemning on Friday “the organisation by Russia of sham elections on Ukrainian territory, and in particular in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, as well as in the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson”.

These “so-called elections” are “devoid of any legitimacy and are being held in territories that Russia illegally occupies,” continued French diplomacy in a press release, assuring they will not recognise the results.

The Ukrainian Crimean peninsula, with the town of Sevastopol, was annexed in 2014 by Russia after a referendum that almost the entire international community refused to recognize. The four regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson suffered the same fate – referendum and annexation – in 2022.

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Blinken: any future peace talks with Russia must be on Ukraine’s terms

Post By World Belgorod, Kyiv, Ukraine Russia war

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has ruled out any immediate ceasefire, saying any future peace talks with Russia must be on Ukraine’s terms.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday that the United States and its allies should not support a cease-fire or peace talks to end the war in Ukraine until Kyiv gains strength and can negotiate on its own terms.

As an anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive appeared to be taking shape, Blinken said heeding calls from Russia and others, including China, for negotiations now would result in a false “Potemkin peace” that wouldn’t secure Ukraine’s sovereignty or enhance European security.

“We believe the prerequisite for meaningful diplomacy and real peace is a stronger Ukraine, capable of deterring and defending against any future aggression,” Blinken said in a speech in Finland, which recently became NATO’s newest member and shares a long border with Russia.

Potemkin peace

His use of the term “Potemkin” referred to the brightly painted village fronts that 18th century Russian government minister Grigory Potemkin reportedly used to have built to create an illusion of prosperity for Russia’s empress.

Blinken repeated the US view that “a cease-fire that simply freezes current lines in place” and allows Russian President Vladimir Putin “to consolidate control over the territory he has seized, and rest, rearm, and re-attack – that is not a just and lasting peace.”

Allowing Moscow to keep the one-fifth of Ukrainian territory it’s occupied would send the wrong message to Russia and to “other would-be aggressors around the world,” according to Blinken, implying that a cease-fire shouldn’t be arranged until either Ukraine pushes Russia back or Russia withdraws its troops.

Blinken’s position is similar to that of Ukrainian officials, including his statement that Russia must pay for a share of Ukraine’s reconstruction and be held accountable for the full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022.

Counteroffensive

After months of battlefield stalemate across a 1100 km front line, Ukrainian officials have given confusing signals about whether a counteroffensive, relying heavily on recently deployed advanced Western weapons and training, is coming or already underway.

Some have suggested the campaign will not be a barrage of simultaneous attacks across the entire front but rather a series of more targeted, limited strikes, first to weaken Russia’s supply lines and infrastructure, then expanded to broader targets with greater intensity.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy weighed in again on Friday.

“This is not a movie,” he told reporters in Kyiv. “It is hard to say how you’ll see the counteroffensive. The main point here is for Russia to see it. And not just see but feel it. Especially, we speak about the troops that have occupied our territories. De-occupation of our territories – this is the result of our counteroffensive. When you see this, you’ll understand that it has started.”

Zelenskyy has said his goal is to drive Russian troops out of the four territories it partially occupies and illegally annexed last fall, as well as from the Crimean Peninsula the Kremlin illegally seized in 2014.

Crimean Peninsula

Putin has said two of his goals in invading Ukraine were to improve Russia’s security and prevent Ukraine from joining NATO but the Kyiv government has applied to join the alliance, and Sweden is hoping to be accepted as a member in July. That would surround Russia with NATO countries in the Baltic Sea.

Blinken described the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a catastrophic strategic failure for Moscow that had strengthened NATO, the European Union and Ukraine. Russia has become more isolated, he said, shackled to China as a junior partner in a relationship that Beijing has increasingly come to resent, and no longer able to use energy as a political tool in countries it once counted as its own or satellites.

For its part, Russia wants any talks to address Ukraine’s request to join NATO.

“Naturally, this (issue) will be one of the main irritants and potential problems for many, many years to come,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday.

Blinken said Washington was ready to support peace efforts by other countries, including those by China and Brazil but that any peace agreement must uphold the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence.

China, which says it is neutral and wants to serve as a mediator but has supported Moscow politically, on Friday urged countries to stop sending weapons to Ukraine. The United States is a leading Western ally and supplier of arms to Kyiv.

Air-raid shelters

In Kyiv, in the sixth air attack in as many days, Ukrainian air defences late Thursday and early Friday intercepted all 15 incoming cruise missiles and 21 attack drones, Ukraine’s chief of staff, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, said.

The Ukrainian capital was simultaneously attacked from different directions by Iranian-made Shahed drones and cruise missiles from the Caspian Sea region, senior Kyiv official Serhii Popko wrote on Telegram.

A 68-year-old man and an 11-year-old child were wounded in the attack, in which falling debris damaged private houses, outbuildings and cars, according to Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office.

President Zelenskyy ordered an immediate overhaul and inspection of the country’s bomb shelters following the death of a woman on June 1, killed while waiting to get into a locked shelter. The president accused officials in Kyiv of negligence.

Berdyansk explosions

Elsewhere, several explosions occurred Friday in the Azov Sea port of Berdyansk in the Russian-occupied part of Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region, one of the four provinces Russia illegally annexed. Russian-appointed officials blamed Ukrainian rocket attacks and said nine people were wounded. Videos posted on social media appear to show smoke rising in the port area. Ukrainian officials acknowledged their forces were responsible and claimed Russian ships were evacuating the port.

The Moscow-appointed governor of Ukraine’s occupied Donetsk province, Denis Pushilin, claimed Friday that Ukrainian strikes had killed three people and wounded four, including a 3-year-old-girl.

In other developments Friday, border regions of Russia again came under fire. One of the most frequently hit targets of cross-border shelling, Russia’s Belgorod region, was bombarded by artillery shells and drone strikes in multiple villages, Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said. At least two women died in a car, multiple people were injured, and apartment buildings, cars, power transmission lines and farm equipment were damaged, he said on Telegram.

Freedom of Russia Legion

The Freedom of Russia Legion, one of the groups that has claimed responsibility for prior attacks on Belgorod, blamed the Russian military for the deaths. The group alleged the Russian army had mistakenly believed the car belonged to the paramilitary group. Thousands of people have been evacuated from the region, and many roads have been closed.

Air defence systems shot down several Ukrainian drones in Russia’s southern Kursk region, Gov. Roman Starovoit reported. In Russia’s Bryansk region, Gov. Alexander Bogomaz said Ukrainian forces shelled two villages, with no reported casualties.

Two drones also attacked energy facilities in Russia’s western Smolensk region, which borders Belarus, officials said.

The UK Ministry of Defence said the incursions could be a Ukrainian strategy to disperse Russian forces before a counteroffensive.

“Russian commanders now face an acute dilemma of whether to (strengthen) defences in Russia’s border regions or reinforce their lines in occupied Ukraine,” the ministry said.

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