Ukrainian Troops Struggle to Hold the Line on the Eastern Front
His unit had told him by radio that they could not send anyone to evacuate him. The road to their base in the nearby city of Kostiantynivka had become a kill zone. 'There were too many drones flying around,' recalled the infantryman, Oleh Chausov, as he described the experience.
Instead, he was told, the brigade would try to get him out with a small, robot-like tracked vehicle remotely operated from miles away and less visible to Russian drones than an armored carrier.
When the vehicle arrived, Mr. Chausov dragged himself aboard, his wounded legs dangling. But within 20 minutes, the vehicle hit a mine and blew up, he said. Miraculously, Mr. Chausov survived, crawled out and took shelter in a nearby trench.
He was back to square one, still trapped on the battlefield.
25 miles
UKRAINE
Detail
area
Ukraine
Kramatorsk
Druzhkivka
Bakhmut
AREA UNDER
RUSSIAN CONTROL
Kostiantynivka
Avdiivka
Donetsk
Russia
Note: As of July 1
Source: Institute for the Study of War with American Enterprise Institute's Critical Threats Project
By The New York Times
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
36 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Ukraine officials held in military drone corruption probe
A Ukrainian MP and other officials have been arrested after the country's anti-corruption agencies uncovered what they call a large-scale bribery scheme in the purchase of drones and electronic warfare systems. In a statement on X, President Volodymyr Zelensky said a Ukrainian MP, heads of district and city administrations and several National Guard service members had been exposed for their involvement, which involved state contracts with suppliers being signed at prices inflated by up to 30%. Zelensky wrote that there can be "zero tolerance" for corruption in Ukraine, and thanked the agencies for their work. The independence of Ukraine's anti-corruption agencies was restored on Thursday, following nationwide protests. Zelensky's government faced an extensive backlash after introducing a bill that would strip the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, known as Nabu and Sap respectively, of their independence. The president claimed the agencies needed to be "cleared of Russian influence", and sought to give the general prosecutor the authority to decide who should be prosecuted in high-level corruption cases. Many saw the move as a step backwards for corruption in Ukraine, resulting in the largest anti-government demonstrations since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of the country in 2022. Zelensky acknowledged public anger and submitted a new bill restoring the agencies' former independence, which was voted through by parliament just nine days after the original bill had been passed. The head of the Ukrainian Defence Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR), Kyrylo Budanov, thanked Zelensky for "hearing the public's call" regarding the powers of anti-corruption agencies and "not making a mistake". The move was also praised by EU allies, who had voiced concerns over the implications of the original bill. Young Ukrainians get their way as Zelensky overturns law to defuse crisis Backlash grows after Zelensky strips anti-corruption bodies of independence The fight against corruption is significant in Ukraine's bid to join the EU. The creation of Nabu and Sap was a requirement set by the European Commission and International Monetary Fund in 2014, in order to move towards a relaxation of visa restrictions. As a result, Kyiv was granted EU candidate status in 2022, bringing the nation another step towards closer ties with the West. Since their establishment, Nabu and Sap have been involved in far-reaching investigations into the misappropriation of millions of dollars' worth of assets and bribes across various ministries and sectors. A joint investigation in 2023 resulted in the arrest of the head of Ukraine's Supreme Court, Vsevolod Kniaziev, in connection with a $3m (£2.4m; €2.9m) bribe.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Ukraine's drone attack injures one, sets homes on fire in Voronezh, Russia says
(Reuters) -A woman sustained a leg injury from Ukraine's overnight drone attack on Voronezh that also resulted in several homes and utility buildings catching fire from falling drone debris, the governor of the southern Russian region said on Sunday. Air defence units destroyed about 15 Ukrainian drones over the region, the governor of Voronezh, Alexander Gusev, wrote on the Telegram messaging app. "The threat of further drone attacks remains," Gusev said in the post early on Sunday. Reuters could not independently verify Gusev's report. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine. Both sides deny targeting civilians in their strike in the war that Russia launched with a full-scale invasion on Ukraine in February 2022. Kyiv says that its attacks inside Russia are aimed at destroying infrastructure key to Moscow's war efforts and are in response to Russia's relentless strikes on Ukraine. The Russian defence ministry said that its units destroyed 41 drones just before midnight on Saturday over Russian regions bordering Ukraine and over the waters of the Black Sea.
CNN
5 hours ago
- CNN
Ukraine says it uncovers major drone procurement corruption scheme
Ukraine's anti-corruption bodies said on Saturday they had uncovered a major graft scheme that procured military drones and signal jamming systems at inflated prices, two days after the agencies' independence was restored following major protests. The independence of Ukraine's anti-graft investigators and prosecutors, NABU and SAPO, was reinstated by parliament on Thursday after a move to take it away resulted in the country's biggest demonstrations since Russia's invasion in 2022. In a statement published by both agencies on social media, NABU and SAPO said they had caught a sitting lawmaker, two local officials and an unspecified number of national guard personnel taking bribes. None of them were identified in the statement. 'The essence of the scheme was to conclude state contracts with supplier companies at deliberately inflated prices,' it said, adding that the offenders had received kickbacks of up to 30% of a contract's cost. Four people had been arrested. 'There can only be zero tolerance for corruption, clear teamwork to expose corruption and, as a result, a just sentence,' Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on Telegram. Zelensky, who has far-reaching wartime presidential powers and still enjoys broad approval among Ukrainians, was forced into a rare political about-face when his attempt to bring NABU and SAPO under the control of his prosecutor-general sparked the first nationwide protests of the war. Zelensky subsequently said that he had heard the people's anger, and submitted a bill restoring the agencies' former independence, which was voted through by parliament on Thursday. Ukraine's European allies praised the move, having voiced concerns about the original stripping of the agencies' status. Top European officials had told Zelensky that Ukraine was jeopardizing its bid for European Union membership by curbing the powers of its anti-graft authorities. 'It is important that anti-corruption institutions operate independently, and the law adopted on Thursday guarantees them every opportunity for a real fight against corruption,' Zelensky wrote on Saturday after meeting the heads of the agencies, who briefed him on the latest investigation.
