Russia says captured two more east Ukraine settlements
Russia announced the capture of two more settlements in eastern Ukraine. The locations are Piddubne in Donetsk and Sobolivka in Kharkiv. Piddubne housed around 500 people before the conflict. Sobolivka is near Kupiansk. The Russian military has increased its advances for three months straight. June saw the biggest territorial gains since last November.
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The Advertiser
17 minutes ago
- The Advertiser
Russia steps up attacks on Ukrainian draft offices
Russia has struck two military recruitment centres in separate drone attacks, doubling down on a new campaign of strikes that Kyiv says is aimed at disrupting military recruitment. Monday's attacks damaged draft offices in the regional capitals of Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia and came a day after a Russian drone struck a recruitment centre in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk. Last week, Russian attacks targeted draft offices in Poltava, another regional capital, as well as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's hometown of Kryvyi Rih. Both strikes on Monday took place in densely populated areas, wounding dozens of civilians and damaging homes and apartment buildings. In Kharkiv, rescue workers sifted through debris as stunned residents recovered. "This is the tactic our enemy has chosen," Mayor Ihor Terekhov told reporters in front of a badly charred building. In its daily briefing on Monday, Russia's defence ministry confirmed it had struck an unspecified number of draft offices. The string of attacks has prompted recruitment centres to disperse some personnel and temporarily suspend work at the locations damaged, ground forces spokesperson Vitaliy Sarantsev told Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne. However, he added that recruitment was still on track. Ukraine's resource-strapped military has struggled to fend off a bigger and better-equipped Russian army on the battlefield, where Moscow has made gradual advances across parts of the east in a grinding summer campaign. Enthusiasm for joining up in Ukraine has also been dampened by reports of corruption, as well as poor training and command. Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council warned on Monday that Russia was also waging an "information campaign" by spreading a bot on messaging platform Telegram that purports to collect information about the location of draft offices. " a coordinated attempt by Russia to destabilise the mobilisation process and sow panic among the population," the Centre for Countering Disinformation said in a statement. The recent strikes also follow a string of bombings at recruitment centres and arson attacks on military vehicles earlier this year, which Ukraine's domestic security service has said is Russian sabotage. Russia has struck two military recruitment centres in separate drone attacks, doubling down on a new campaign of strikes that Kyiv says is aimed at disrupting military recruitment. Monday's attacks damaged draft offices in the regional capitals of Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia and came a day after a Russian drone struck a recruitment centre in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk. Last week, Russian attacks targeted draft offices in Poltava, another regional capital, as well as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's hometown of Kryvyi Rih. Both strikes on Monday took place in densely populated areas, wounding dozens of civilians and damaging homes and apartment buildings. In Kharkiv, rescue workers sifted through debris as stunned residents recovered. "This is the tactic our enemy has chosen," Mayor Ihor Terekhov told reporters in front of a badly charred building. In its daily briefing on Monday, Russia's defence ministry confirmed it had struck an unspecified number of draft offices. The string of attacks has prompted recruitment centres to disperse some personnel and temporarily suspend work at the locations damaged, ground forces spokesperson Vitaliy Sarantsev told Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne. However, he added that recruitment was still on track. Ukraine's resource-strapped military has struggled to fend off a bigger and better-equipped Russian army on the battlefield, where Moscow has made gradual advances across parts of the east in a grinding summer campaign. Enthusiasm for joining up in Ukraine has also been dampened by reports of corruption, as well as poor training and command. Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council warned on Monday that Russia was also waging an "information campaign" by spreading a bot on messaging platform Telegram that purports to collect information about the location of draft offices. " a coordinated attempt by Russia to destabilise the mobilisation process and sow panic among the population," the Centre for Countering Disinformation said in a statement. The recent strikes also follow a string of bombings at recruitment centres and arson attacks on military vehicles earlier this year, which Ukraine's domestic security service has said is Russian sabotage. Russia has struck two military recruitment centres in separate drone attacks, doubling down on a new campaign of strikes that Kyiv says is aimed at disrupting military recruitment. Monday's attacks damaged draft offices in the regional capitals of Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia and came a day after a Russian drone struck a recruitment centre in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk. Last week, Russian attacks targeted draft offices in Poltava, another regional capital, as well as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's hometown of Kryvyi Rih. Both strikes on Monday took place in densely populated areas, wounding dozens of civilians and damaging homes and apartment buildings. In Kharkiv, rescue workers sifted through debris as stunned residents recovered. "This is the tactic our enemy has chosen," Mayor Ihor Terekhov told reporters in front of a badly charred building. In its daily briefing on Monday, Russia's defence ministry confirmed it had struck an unspecified number of draft offices. The string of attacks has prompted recruitment centres to disperse some personnel and temporarily suspend work at the locations damaged, ground forces spokesperson Vitaliy Sarantsev told Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne. However, he added that recruitment was still on track. Ukraine's resource-strapped military has struggled to fend off a bigger and better-equipped Russian army on the battlefield, where Moscow has made gradual advances across parts of the east in a grinding summer campaign. Enthusiasm for joining up in Ukraine has also been dampened by reports of corruption, as well as poor training and command. Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council warned on Monday that Russia was also waging an "information campaign" by spreading a bot on messaging platform Telegram that purports to collect information about the location of draft offices. " a coordinated attempt by Russia to destabilise the mobilisation process and sow panic among the population," the Centre for Countering Disinformation said in a statement. The recent strikes also follow a string of bombings at recruitment centres and arson attacks on military vehicles earlier this year, which Ukraine's domestic security service has said is Russian sabotage. Russia has struck two military recruitment centres in separate drone attacks, doubling down on a new campaign of strikes that Kyiv says is aimed at disrupting military recruitment. Monday's attacks damaged draft offices in the regional capitals of Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia and came a day after a Russian drone struck a recruitment centre in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk. Last week, Russian attacks targeted draft offices in Poltava, another regional capital, as well as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's hometown of Kryvyi Rih. Both strikes on Monday took place in densely populated areas, wounding dozens of civilians and damaging homes and apartment buildings. In Kharkiv, rescue workers sifted through debris as stunned residents recovered. "This is the tactic our enemy has chosen," Mayor Ihor Terekhov told reporters in front of a badly charred building. In its daily briefing on Monday, Russia's defence ministry confirmed it had struck an unspecified number of draft offices. The string of attacks has prompted recruitment centres to disperse some personnel and temporarily suspend work at the locations damaged, ground forces spokesperson Vitaliy Sarantsev told Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne. However, he added that recruitment was still on track. Ukraine's resource-strapped military has struggled to fend off a bigger and better-equipped Russian army on the battlefield, where Moscow has made gradual advances across parts of the east in a grinding summer campaign. Enthusiasm for joining up in Ukraine has also been dampened by reports of corruption, as well as poor training and command. Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council warned on Monday that Russia was also waging an "information campaign" by spreading a bot on messaging platform Telegram that purports to collect information about the location of draft offices. " a coordinated attempt by Russia to destabilise the mobilisation process and sow panic among the population," the Centre for Countering Disinformation said in a statement. The recent strikes also follow a string of bombings at recruitment centres and arson attacks on military vehicles earlier this year, which Ukraine's domestic security service has said is Russian sabotage.
The Advertiser
18 minutes ago
- The Advertiser
Sacked Russian transport minister found dead in his car
Russia's sacked transport minister has been found dead in his car outside Moscow with a gunshot wound, hours after President Vladimir Putin fired him. A presidential decree published earlier on Monday gave no reason for the dismissal of Roman Starovoit after barely a year in the job. Political analysts were quick to raise the possibility that he may have been dismissed in connection with an investigation into corruption in the region he once ran. Reuters could not independently confirm these suggestions, though a transport industry source, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, said Starovoit's position had been in question for months due to questions about the same corruption scandal, which centred on funds earmarked for fortifying Russia's border with Ukraine in the Kursk region. There were conflicting reports about the timing of Starovoit's death. The principal hypothesis is that he took his own life, state investigators said on Monday. Russia's Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said that it was working to establish the precise circumstances. Various Russian media cited law enforcement sources as saying a pistol belonging to Starovoit had been found alongside his body in his car. Before being appointed transport minister in May 2024, Starovoit had been the governor of the Kursk region for nearly five years. Three months after he became transport minister, Ukrainian troops crossed the border into Kursk in the biggest foreign incursion into Russian territory since the Second World War and were only pushed out earlier this year after fierce fighting and widespread destruction. In April this year, Starovoit's successor as governor, Alexei Smirnov, was charged with embezzling money earmarked for defence purposes amid accusations that the funds for border defences had been stolen, leaving Kursk more vulnerable to Ukrainian attack. Pressed earlier on Monday by reporters on whether his dismissal meant Putin had lost trust in Starovoit over Kursk, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said "a loss of trust is mentioned if there is a loss of trust". "There is no such wording in the (Kremlin) decree." Starovoit's dismissal comes at a time of significant challenges for Russia's transport sector as the war in Ukraine drags on for a fourth year. Russia's aviation sector is short of spare parts and Russian Railways, the country's largest employer, is grappling with soaring interest costs as high rates, needed to curb higher inflation exacerbated by the war, take their toll. The Kremlin said Andrei Nikitin, a former governor of the Novgorod region, had been appointed acting transport minister and it published photographs of him shaking hands with Putin in the Kremlin. Asked about Nikitin's swift appointment, Kremlin spokesman Peskov said: "At present, in the president's opinion, Andrei Nikitin's professional qualities and experience will best contribute to ensuring that this agency, which the president described as extremely important, fulfils its tasks and functions." Two transport industry sources said plans to replace Starovoit with Nikitin had been in the works since before last month's International Economic Forum in St Petersburg. The transport ministry declined to comment on Monday. At his meeting with Putin, Nikitin spoke about working on the huge task of digitising Russia's transport industry in an effort to reduce cargo bottlenecks and ensure smoother cross-border flows of goods. Lifeline 13 11 14 beyondblue 1300 22 4636 Russia's sacked transport minister has been found dead in his car outside Moscow with a gunshot wound, hours after President Vladimir Putin fired him. A presidential decree published earlier on Monday gave no reason for the dismissal of Roman Starovoit after barely a year in the job. Political analysts were quick to raise the possibility that he may have been dismissed in connection with an investigation into corruption in the region he once ran. Reuters could not independently confirm these suggestions, though a transport industry source, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, said Starovoit's position had been in question for months due to questions about the same corruption scandal, which centred on funds earmarked for fortifying Russia's border with Ukraine in the Kursk region. There were conflicting reports about the timing of Starovoit's death. The principal hypothesis is that he took his own life, state investigators said on Monday. Russia's Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said that it was working to establish the precise circumstances. Various Russian media cited law enforcement sources as saying a pistol belonging to Starovoit had been found alongside his body in his car. Before being appointed transport minister in May 2024, Starovoit had been the governor of the Kursk region for nearly five years. Three months after he became transport minister, Ukrainian troops crossed the border into Kursk in the biggest foreign incursion into Russian territory since the Second World War and were only pushed out earlier this year after fierce fighting and widespread destruction. In April this year, Starovoit's successor as governor, Alexei Smirnov, was charged with embezzling money earmarked for defence purposes amid accusations that the funds for border defences had been stolen, leaving Kursk more vulnerable to Ukrainian attack. Pressed earlier on Monday by reporters on whether his dismissal meant Putin had lost trust in Starovoit over Kursk, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said "a loss of trust is mentioned if there is a loss of trust". "There is no such wording in the (Kremlin) decree." Starovoit's dismissal comes at a time of significant challenges for Russia's transport sector as the war in Ukraine drags on for a fourth year. Russia's aviation sector is short of spare parts and Russian Railways, the country's largest employer, is grappling with soaring interest costs as high rates, needed to curb higher inflation exacerbated by the war, take their toll. The Kremlin said Andrei Nikitin, a former governor of the Novgorod region, had been appointed acting transport minister and it published photographs of him shaking hands with Putin in the Kremlin. Asked about Nikitin's swift appointment, Kremlin spokesman Peskov said: "At present, in the president's opinion, Andrei Nikitin's professional qualities and experience will best contribute to ensuring that this agency, which the president described as extremely important, fulfils its tasks and functions." Two transport industry sources said plans to replace Starovoit with Nikitin had been in the works since before last month's International Economic Forum in St Petersburg. The transport ministry declined to comment on Monday. At his meeting with Putin, Nikitin spoke about working on the huge task of digitising Russia's transport industry in an effort to reduce cargo bottlenecks and ensure smoother cross-border flows of goods. Lifeline 13 11 14 beyondblue 1300 22 4636 Russia's sacked transport minister has been found dead in his car outside Moscow with a gunshot wound, hours after President Vladimir Putin fired him. A presidential decree published earlier on Monday gave no reason for the dismissal of Roman Starovoit after barely a year in the job. Political analysts were quick to raise the possibility that he may have been dismissed in connection with an investigation into corruption in the region he once ran. Reuters could not independently confirm these suggestions, though a transport industry source, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, said Starovoit's position had been in question for months due to questions about the same corruption scandal, which centred on funds earmarked for fortifying Russia's border with Ukraine in the Kursk region. There were conflicting reports about the timing of Starovoit's death. The principal hypothesis is that he took his own life, state investigators said on Monday. Russia's Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said that it was working to establish the precise circumstances. Various Russian media cited law enforcement sources as saying a pistol belonging to Starovoit had been found alongside his body in his car. Before being appointed transport minister in May 2024, Starovoit had been the governor of the Kursk region for nearly five years. Three months after he became transport minister, Ukrainian troops crossed the border into Kursk in the biggest foreign incursion into Russian territory since the Second World War and were only pushed out earlier this year after fierce fighting and widespread destruction. In April this year, Starovoit's successor as governor, Alexei Smirnov, was charged with embezzling money earmarked for defence purposes amid accusations that the funds for border defences had been stolen, leaving Kursk more vulnerable to Ukrainian attack. Pressed earlier on Monday by reporters on whether his dismissal meant Putin had lost trust in Starovoit over Kursk, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said "a loss of trust is mentioned if there is a loss of trust". "There is no such wording in the (Kremlin) decree." Starovoit's dismissal comes at a time of significant challenges for Russia's transport sector as the war in Ukraine drags on for a fourth year. Russia's aviation sector is short of spare parts and Russian Railways, the country's largest employer, is grappling with soaring interest costs as high rates, needed to curb higher inflation exacerbated by the war, take their toll. The Kremlin said Andrei Nikitin, a former governor of the Novgorod region, had been appointed acting transport minister and it published photographs of him shaking hands with Putin in the Kremlin. Asked about Nikitin's swift appointment, Kremlin spokesman Peskov said: "At present, in the president's opinion, Andrei Nikitin's professional qualities and experience will best contribute to ensuring that this agency, which the president described as extremely important, fulfils its tasks and functions." Two transport industry sources said plans to replace Starovoit with Nikitin had been in the works since before last month's International Economic Forum in St Petersburg. The transport ministry declined to comment on Monday. At his meeting with Putin, Nikitin spoke about working on the huge task of digitising Russia's transport industry in an effort to reduce cargo bottlenecks and ensure smoother cross-border flows of goods. Lifeline 13 11 14 beyondblue 1300 22 4636 Russia's sacked transport minister has been found dead in his car outside Moscow with a gunshot wound, hours after President Vladimir Putin fired him. A presidential decree published earlier on Monday gave no reason for the dismissal of Roman Starovoit after barely a year in the job. Political analysts were quick to raise the possibility that he may have been dismissed in connection with an investigation into corruption in the region he once ran. Reuters could not independently confirm these suggestions, though a transport industry source, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, said Starovoit's position had been in question for months due to questions about the same corruption scandal, which centred on funds earmarked for fortifying Russia's border with Ukraine in the Kursk region. There were conflicting reports about the timing of Starovoit's death. The principal hypothesis is that he took his own life, state investigators said on Monday. Russia's Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said that it was working to establish the precise circumstances. Various Russian media cited law enforcement sources as saying a pistol belonging to Starovoit had been found alongside his body in his car. Before being appointed transport minister in May 2024, Starovoit had been the governor of the Kursk region for nearly five years. Three months after he became transport minister, Ukrainian troops crossed the border into Kursk in the biggest foreign incursion into Russian territory since the Second World War and were only pushed out earlier this year after fierce fighting and widespread destruction. In April this year, Starovoit's successor as governor, Alexei Smirnov, was charged with embezzling money earmarked for defence purposes amid accusations that the funds for border defences had been stolen, leaving Kursk more vulnerable to Ukrainian attack. Pressed earlier on Monday by reporters on whether his dismissal meant Putin had lost trust in Starovoit over Kursk, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said "a loss of trust is mentioned if there is a loss of trust". "There is no such wording in the (Kremlin) decree." Starovoit's dismissal comes at a time of significant challenges for Russia's transport sector as the war in Ukraine drags on for a fourth year. Russia's aviation sector is short of spare parts and Russian Railways, the country's largest employer, is grappling with soaring interest costs as high rates, needed to curb higher inflation exacerbated by the war, take their toll. The Kremlin said Andrei Nikitin, a former governor of the Novgorod region, had been appointed acting transport minister and it published photographs of him shaking hands with Putin in the Kremlin. Asked about Nikitin's swift appointment, Kremlin spokesman Peskov said: "At present, in the president's opinion, Andrei Nikitin's professional qualities and experience will best contribute to ensuring that this agency, which the president described as extremely important, fulfils its tasks and functions." Two transport industry sources said plans to replace Starovoit with Nikitin had been in the works since before last month's International Economic Forum in St Petersburg. The transport ministry declined to comment on Monday. At his meeting with Putin, Nikitin spoke about working on the huge task of digitising Russia's transport industry in an effort to reduce cargo bottlenecks and ensure smoother cross-border flows of goods. Lifeline 13 11 14 beyondblue 1300 22 4636
New Straits Times
23 minutes ago
- New Straits Times
Anwar slams US-Israel strike on Iran as 'wrong move'
KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim expressed his concern over the joint United States-Israel bombing of Iran's main nuclear sites last month following the Gaza conflict, calling it a wrong move that disregards diplomacy and the resilience of the Iranian people. In an interview with France 24 published on the network's digital platforms today, the Prime Minister emphasised that resolving the Gaza issue required multilateral and fair negotiations. "I wasn't terribly pleased because I think the way forward is only through negotiations. They (the US) have tried to destroy Iran too many times and you should never ignore the people's resilience," Anwar said. "It failed to account for the resilience, capacity and tenacity of the Iranian people. What we welcome, of course, is a ceasefire," he added. Commenting on Western nations' demands – including France's – for Iran to abandon its nuclear programme, Anwar stressed that such calls must be fair and consistent. "If they want non-proliferation with the understanding that nuclear technology shouldn't be weaponised, that's fair. But it must be applied consistently. These contradictions and hypocrisy have become too apparent, and people no longer accept them," he said. "This isn't the imperialist or colonial era where you can dictate terms. There must be fairness – why impose restrictions on Iran but not Israel? Why these double standards?" Anwar questioned. When asked about his decision to contact Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh after Oct 7, 2023, the Prime Minister said it was in support of a ceasefire initiative, not violence, and stressed that some Western leaders were completely blinded to the atrocities for decades. Anwar explained he had met Hamas leaders to facilitate dialogue through Qatar, Egypt and the US, adding that there was nothing wrong with pursuing a peace deal through negotiation. "I was not there to provoke violence, but to support dialogue. But I won't be a lackey who condemns Hamas while remaining silent on Israel's actions," he said. On criticism that he has been more vocal on Gaza than the war in Ukraine, Anwar rejected claims of double standards by saying that Malaysia has expressed its position clearly, including having spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin to pursue negotiations. "He told me, he's prepared, but don't dictate. I don't represent anyone. We come from a different region and smaller country, but as a friend, I urge him to then seek some sort of an amicable, peaceful resolution of the conflict," said Anwar. - BERNAMA
