Fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces has reached the outskirts of Severodonetsk, a significant eastern Ukraine city, according to the regional governor, who described the battle as “extremely difficult.” “Russian troops have moved far enough that they may already fire mortars” on the city, according to Lugansk governor Sergiy Gaiday, who added that “there was … Read more
Dennis Christensen, a Danish Jehovah’s Witness, was released from a Russian prison on Tuesday and will have to leave the country, according to the Christian evangelical movement based in the United States. Christensen was sentenced to six years in prison in 2019, the first such conviction since Russia outlawed the religious movement in 2017. His … Read more
President Vladimir Putin’s top allies said Tuesday that Moscow was prepared for a protracted conflict in Ukraine to achieve the Kremlin’s goals in the pro-Western country. The fighting, which entered its fourth month on Tuesday, has killed thousands of people, displaced over eight million people, and forced over six million refugees to flee across borders. … Read more
The Russia-appointed administration of Ukraine’s Kherson region will seek Moscow’s permission to establish a military facility on its territory, according to a local government source reported by Russia’s RIA news agency on Tuesday. In February, Russia invaded Ukraine, capturing the Kherson area, which is next to Crimea, which Moscow had occupied since a previous fight … Read more
Russia’s Foreign Minister stated on Monday that Moscow will study offers to re-establish connections with the West and assess if they are necessary, but that the country’s priority will be to strengthen relations with China. According to a translation on the foreign ministry’s website, “If they (the West) want to offer something in terms of … Read more
The Biden administration is prepared to tap into America’s national diesel reserves to tame hovering prices amid a supply crunch, a White House spokeswoman stated Monday. The Russian war against Ukraine and resulting monetary sanctions against Moscow have brought about gas costs to leap around the arena. The issue, along with rising inflation, is a … Read more
A Kyiv court found a 21-year-old Russian soldier guilty of war crimes and sentenced him to life in prison on Monday, the first verdict against Moscow’s forces since their invasion. “The court has found that (Vadim) Shishimarin is guilty and sentences him to life imprisonment,” judge Sergiy Agafonov said. In court, the Russian sergeant admitted … Read more
The mayor of Ukraine’s southern city of Enerhodar, which is home to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, was injured in an explosion on Sunday, according to a Ukrainian official and Russian news agencies. Andrey Shevchik was appointed mayor of Enerhodar after Russian troops took control of the city and the nearby Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant on … Read more
After the alleged mass deaths of Ukrainian citizens and war crimes attributed on Moscow’s soldiers, Poland’s president warned on Sunday that “business as usual” with Russia was impossible. Hundreds of civilian bodies have been found in towns near Kyiv previously occupied by Russian troops such as Bucha and Borodianka. The southeastern port city of Mariupol … Read more
MOSCOW – A Russian negotiator claimed on Saturday that Moscow is considering trading captives from Ukraine’s Azov battalion for Viktor Medvedchuk, a wealthy Ukrainian businessman close to President Vladimir Putin. “We are going to explore the idea,” Leonid Slutsky, a senior member of Russia’s negotiation team on Ukraine, told the RIA Novosti news agency from … Read more
Russia published a list of 963 prominent Americans, including US Vice President Joe Biden, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Hollywood actor Morgan Freeman, who have been barred from entering the country in retaliation for similar moves by Washington since the Ukraine offensive began. The list on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website also includes US government … Read more
In the midst of an impasse in discussions between Kyiv and Moscow, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declared Saturday that only “diplomacy” can end the Ukraine conflict. “The end will be through diplomacy,” he told a Ukrainian television channel. The war “will be bloody, there will be fighting but will only definitively end through diplomacy”. “Discussions … Read more
As Moscow stopped gas supplies to Finland, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky cautioned that only a political breakthrough, not an overwhelming military victory, could end Russia’s war on his nation. “There are things that can only be reached at the negotiating table,” Zelensky said, just as Russia claimed its long-range missiles had destroyed a shipment of … Read more
Gazprom, the Russian energy company, announced on Saturday that it had halted all natural gas deliveries to Finland due to a lack of ruble payment. Following the deployment of Russian soldiers in Ukraine on February 24, Moscow has requested consumers from “unfriendly countries,” including EU member states, to pay for gas in rubles, circumventing Western … Read more
Several Ukrainians have camped out in the Kharkiv subway system, frightened of Russian shelling and refusing to give up the inconveniences despite Moscow’s withdrawal from the region. “We call ourselves the moles because we live underground,” Kateryna Talpa, 35, a call centre manager, said. Talpa lives in the “Heroes of Labour” station in the Saltivka … Read more
Kyiv has ordered the last Ukrainian forces trapped in Mariupol’s besieged Azovstal steelworks to cease fighting, according to a commander of a battalion heading the trapped units. “The higher military command has given the order to save the lives of the soldiers of our garrison and to stop defending the city,” Denys Prokopenko stated in … Read more
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announced on Thursday that his government had purchased Russian-made Iskander nuclear-capable missiles and S-400 anti-aircraft anti-missile systems. The announcement came on the 85th day of Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine, with thousands killed. Belarus, Moscow’s main ally, has allowed Russian troops to use the country bordering Ukraine as a rear base. “We’ve … Read more
Key developments in the war for Mariupol, Ukraine’s key port, where more than 1,700 Ukrainian fighters surrendered to Russian forces following a week-long siege inside a steelworks. Located on the Sea of Azov, the city, which had a population of 441,000 before the war, is a key prize for Russia in its bid to connect … Read more
According to AFP journalists in the courtroom, Ukrainian prosecutors asked a life sentence for the first Russian soldier on trial for war crimes since Moscow’s invasion began. The prosecution asked the judge to sentence the 21-year-old Russian army sergeant to “life imprisonment” for killing 62-year-old civilian Oleksandr Shelipov in the first days of the Russian … Read more
In a Kyiv court on Thursday, the first Russian soldier on trial for war crimes in Ukraine prayed for “forgiveness” and told how he killed a civilian in the early days of Russia’s invasion. “I know that you will not be able to forgive me, but nevertheless I ask you for forgiveness,” 21-year-old Russian sergeant … Read more
Russia’s defense ministry said 771 Ukrainian fighters surrendered from the Azovstal steel factory in Mariupol in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 1,730 since Monday, according to RIA on Thursday. According to RIA, 80 people were injured, according to the ministry. Hundreds of Ukrainian forces have surrendered from the plant’s maze of bunkers … Read more
During the first war-crimes trial since the war began, a Russian soldier admitted to killing a Ukrainian civilian in the early stages of Moscow’s invasion. The hearing in a packed Kyiv courtroom is the first in a series of proceedings being brought by Ukraine against Russian servicemen who have been accused of carrying out atrocities by … Read more
According to the US Treasury Secretary, the US would likely terminate an exception that allows Moscow to pay its international debts using dollars kept in the country, putting Vladimir Putin’s country at risk of default. “When we first imposed sanctions on Russia, we created an exemption that would allow a period of time for an orderly … Read more
BRUSSELS: After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine upended decades of military non-alignment, Finland and Sweden submitted their applications to join the US-led alliance NATO on Wednesday. “The applications you have made today are an historic step. Allies will now consider the next steps on your path to NATO, ” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg remarked after … Read more
Eni, the Italian energy giant, announced on Tuesday that it was opening accounts in euros and rubles to pay for Russian gas supplies that were due soon, in accordance with Moscow’s requests. It was unclear whether Eni’s decision would trigger European Union sanctions, however, the company stated it was “not incompatible.” In a carefully worded … Read more
Russia may soon cut gas supplies to Finland due to the Nordic country’s refusal to pay Gazprom in rubles, according to the Finnish state-owned Gasum on Tuesday. Gasum said it would take its dispute with Gazprom Export to arbitration, risking further enraged Russia as Helsinki prepares to submit its NATO membership bid on Wednesday. “Gasum … Read more
Ukraine’s foreign minister urged the EU on Monday to overcome Hungary’s opposition to a Russian oil embargo and then “kill” all of Moscow’s exports in order to starve its war machine of funds. Budapest has been blocking a push by Brussels, backed by other European Union member states, to ban Moscow’s vital oil exports, the … Read more
As Ukraine braces for a new assault by Moscow’s soldiers in its eastern Donbas area, Russia warned Finland and Sweden that joining NATO would be a “grave mistake.” The two Nordic countries are poised to jettison decades of military non-alignment due to fears of aggression from Russia, with which Finland shares a 1,300-kilometre (800-mile) border. … Read more
