Ukraine says eastern front stabilized after recent Russian thrust
Ukraine said small groups of Russian infantry had thrust some 10 kilometers (six miles) toward its main defensive line near the town of Dobropillia, raising fears of a wider breakthrough that would further threaten key cities.
The advance, just days before Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin were due to meet in Alaska, appeared aimed at pressuring Kyiv to give up land in pursuit of peace three-and-a-half years into Russia's invasion of its neighbor.
'The situation in the Dobropillia sector has stabilized,' Vadym Filashkin, governor of the embattled Donetsk region, wrote the Telegram messaging app. 'Thanks to the heroic efforts of our Defense Forces, the front line is reliably holding.'
Kyiv's military, which has played down the scale of the Russian thrust, had dispatched extra forces to the area including units of the battle-hardened Azov Corps.
General Staff spokesperson Andriy Kovalyov, in comments to the Interfax Ukraine news agency, echoed Filashkin's statement and credited Azov forces with inflicting heavy enemy casualties.
The Russian thrust had also fueled criticism of Ukraine's military high command.
Defense analyst Konrad Muzyka wrote on X that Russian forces had made 'minimal gains' in the area on Wednesday but had inched forward further south, near the strategic city of Pokrovsk.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Arabiya
43 minutes ago
- Al Arabiya
Aid groups accuse Israel of ‘weaponizing aid' amid Gaza starvation
In this episode of W News Extra, presented by Leigh-Ann Gerrans, we report on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's meeting with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London ahead of a key US-Russia summit in Alaska. We also have the latest on the war in Gaza, where more than 100 nonprofit groups warn that Israel's new rules for aid agencies operating in the Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank will block vital relief and replace independent organizations with those aligned with Israel's political and military agenda. In a letter signed by Oxfam, Doctors Without Borders, CARE, and others, the groups accuse Israel of 'weaponizing aid' as hunger grips war-torn Gaza and of using it as a tool to entrench control.
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
Trump says Putin ready to make deal on Ukraine
MOSCOW/LONDON/KYIV: US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he thought Vladimir Putin was ready to make a deal on ending his war in Ukraine after the Russian president floated the prospect of a nuclear arms agreement on the eve of their summit in Alaska. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his European allies have intensified their efforts this week to prevent any deal between the US and Russia emerging from Friday's summit that leaves Ukraine vulnerable to future attack. 'I think he's going to make a deal,' Trump said in a Fox News radio interview, adding that if the meeting went well, he would call Zelensky and European leaders afterwards, and that if it went badly, he would not. The aim of Friday's talks with Putin is to set up a second meeting including Ukraine, Trump said, adding: 'I don't know that we're going to get an immediate ceasefire.' Putin earlier spoke to his most senior ministers and security officials as he prepared for a meeting with Trump in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday that could shape the endgame to the largest war in Europe since World War Two. In televised comments, Putin said the US was 'making, in my opinion, quite energetic and sincere efforts to stop the hostilities, stop the crisis and reach agreements that are of interest to all parties involved in this conflict.' This was happening, Putin said, 'in order to create long-term conditions for peace between our countries, and in Europe, and in the world as a whole — if, by the next stages, we reach agreements in the area of control over strategic offensive weapons.' His comments signalled that Russia will raise nuclear arms control as part of a wide-ranging discussion on security when he sits down with Trump. A Kremlin aide said Putin and Trump would also discuss the 'huge untapped potential' for Russia-US economic ties. A senior Eastern European official, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said Putin would try to distract Trump from Ukraine at the talks by offering him possible progress on nuclear arms control or something business-related. 'We hope Trump won't be fooled by the Russians; he understands all (these) dangerous things,' the official said, adding that Russia's only goal was to avoid any new sanctions and have existing sanctions lifted. 'Like a chess game' Trump said there would be a press conference after the talks, but that he did not know whether it would be joint. He also said there would be 'a give and take' on boundaries and land. 'The second meeting is going to be very, very, very important. This meeting sets up like a chess game. This (first) meeting sets up a second meeting, but there is a 25 percent chance that this meeting will not be a successful meeting,' he said. Trump said it would be up to Putin and Zelensky to strike an agreement, saying: 'I'm not going to negotiate their deal.' Russia controls around a fifth of Ukraine, and Zelensky and the Europeans worry that a deal could cement those gains, rewarding Putin for 11 years of efforts to seize Ukrainian land and emboldening him to expand further into Europe. An EU diplomat said it would be 'scary to see how it all unfolds in the coming hours. Trump had very good calls yesterday with Europe, but that was yesterday.' Trump had shown willingness to join the security guarantees for Ukraine at a last-ditch virtual meeting with European leaders and Zelensky on Wednesday, European leaders said, though he made no public mention of them afterwards. Friday's summit, the first Russia-US summit since June 2021, comes at one of the toughest moments for Ukraine in a war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. Speaking after Wednesday's meeting, French President Emmanuel Macron said Trump had said the transatlantic NATO alliance should not be part of any security guarantees designed to protect Ukraine from future attacks in a post-war settlement. However, Trump also said the US and all willing allies should be part of the security guarantees, Macron added. Expanding on that, a European official told Reuters that Trump said on the call he was willing to provide some security guarantees for Europe, without spelling out what they would be. It 'felt like a big step forward,' said the official, who did not want to be named. It was not immediately clear what such guarantees could mean in practice. On Wednesday, Trump threatened 'severe consequences' if Putin does not agree to peace in Ukraine and has warned of economic sanctions if his meeting on Friday proves fruitless. Russia is likely to resist Ukraine and Europe's demands and has previously said its stance had not changed since it was first detailed by Putin in June 2024.
Al Arabiya
7 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Ukraine says eastern front stabilized after recent Russian thrust
Ukrainian troops have stabilized the battlefield in an area of eastern Ukraine where Russian forces had made a sudden push this week to pierce Ukrainian defenses, the regional governor said on Thursday. Ukraine said small groups of Russian infantry had thrust some 10 kilometers (six miles) toward its main defensive line near the town of Dobropillia, raising fears of a wider breakthrough that would further threaten key cities. The advance, just days before Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin were due to meet in Alaska, appeared aimed at pressuring Kyiv to give up land in pursuit of peace three-and-a-half years into Russia's invasion of its neighbor. 'The situation in the Dobropillia sector has stabilized,' Vadym Filashkin, governor of the embattled Donetsk region, wrote the Telegram messaging app. 'Thanks to the heroic efforts of our Defense Forces, the front line is reliably holding.' Kyiv's military, which has played down the scale of the Russian thrust, had dispatched extra forces to the area including units of the battle-hardened Azov Corps. General Staff spokesperson Andriy Kovalyov, in comments to the Interfax Ukraine news agency, echoed Filashkin's statement and credited Azov forces with inflicting heavy enemy casualties. The Russian thrust had also fueled criticism of Ukraine's military high command. Defense analyst Konrad Muzyka wrote on X that Russian forces had made 'minimal gains' in the area on Wednesday but had inched forward further south, near the strategic city of Pokrovsk.
