Russia says it captured town of Chasiv Yar in eastern Ukraine
Reuters could not independently confirm the battlefield report.
Ukraine's general staff on Thursday morning said Russian forces had attacked locations near Chasiv Yar.
DeepState, a Ukrainian open-source mapping site that charts the front lines, showed Ukraine's forces controlling the western part of the town.
Chasiv Yar lies just west of Bakhmut, which Russia captured in 2023 after one of the bloodiest battles of the war.
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Telegraph
9 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Trump must not abandon Ukraine by settling for unjust peace
Should Donald Trump's meeting with Vladimir Putin go ahead, one principle must rest at the core of discussions: the United States should not make concessions over Ukrainian territory and sovereignty without having first agreed them with Kyiv. Early assurances of a swift end to the war and attempts to pile pressure on Kyiv to make concessions were a disastrous mistake, and it is clearly for the good that the White House now appears to understand that Putin is the primary barrier to peace. It is to Mr Trump's credit that he seems, belatedly, to have come to this conclusion, and that he has accompanied this with measures targeting Russia's wartime economy. The declaration that Moscow poses an 'extraordinary threat' to the US, and the sanctions on India over purchases of Russian oil, both speak to a willingness to put pressure on the Kremlin to make concessions. This pressure should be maintained. But Mr Trump must not allow himself to fall into the trap of making compromises for a swifter peace. Putin may well feel that attrition is now working in his favour, or that Ukraine's forces are on the back foot, and wish to either play for time or use his perceived battlefield advantage for leverage. The line that must not be crossed is the US agreeing to attempt to force a deal on Ukraine that Putin finds favourable, and Kyiv intolerable. The cost of this war is terrible, but an unjust peace would be worse than its continuation.
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
First Ukraine peace deal details emerge ahead of Trump-Putin summit with plan to ‘put war in deep freeze' next week
DETAILS of a possible peace deal for Ukraine are now emerging as Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump prepare to meet for a historic summit. Washington and Moscow are eyeing a deal to put an end to the bloody conflict - but it may not be all good news for Kyiv. Top diplomats from the US and Russia and currently working on an agreement to finalise post-war territories, senior officials told Bloomberg. It comes as Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk suggested that a "freeze" in the conflict may be close. Sources said Trump's team is trying to get Ukraine and its European allies on board to get a peace deal that would see Kyiv make some concessions - but it is far from certain. And Putin is sticking to his long-term demands, which include the cessation of Ukrainian territory. He is reportedly demanding that Ukraine cede its entire eastern Donbas area to Russia, as well as Crimea - which Moscow annexed in 2014. This means Ukrainian troops will need to withdraw from the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk - the regions still being held by Kyiv. In return, Moscow would stop its offensive in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine along the current battlelines, according to the officials. Such a peace plan is yet to be finalised, but is understood to be discussed between Trump and Putin when they meet - which could be as early as next week. But if agreed upon, it would be the win Putin has been looking for since waging his bloody war in 2022 - which he claimed would be over in three days. Zelensky, on the other hand, has been adamant that Ukraine will not accept any cession of territories. Everything you need to know about a Trump, Putin, Zelensky showdown summit – and who has the upper hand But it could be a take-it-or-leave-it offer during the high-stakes meeting, which Kyiv risks being presented. Igor Novikov, Zelensky's ex-adviser, told The Sun: "Trump understands that he needs to put enough sanction pressure and military pressure on Russia for them to consider ending this war. "But at the same time, Putin tries to manipulate and charm him, massage his ego into a position where Russia wins time and the US moves further away from helping Ukraine. "Whatever they decide upon. It won't be taken for granted by the Ukrainian people." The peace summit now is understood to be advanced planning, with Turkey, Italy, Hungary, China, and the UAE all floated as possible venues. A final decision could be announced in the coming days. Trump has reportedly spoken directly with Italian PM Giorgia Meloni about hosting the summit in the Vatican. But with an International Criminal Court arrest warrant hanging over Putin, any meeting on Italian soil would carry major diplomatic risks. 'There's a very good prospect that they will' meet, Trump told reporters on Thursday when asked about a summit involving Putin and maybe Zelensky. Donald Tusk said after meeting Zelensky: "There are certain signals, and we also have an intuition, that perhaps a freeze in the conflict - I don't want to say the end, but a freeze in the conflict - is closer than it is further away. "There are hopes for this." Tusk said Zelensky was "very cautious but optimistic" and that Ukraine was keen that Poland and other European countries play a role in planning for a ceasefire and an eventual peace settlement. Uncertainty over showdown Putin has said he's ready to meet Trump "next week" calling the summit a "mutual" goal. But he signalled reluctance on meeting Zelensky directly, saying: "I have nothing against it in general… But certain conditions must be created for this. "But unfortunately, we are still far from creating such conditions." Despite that, the White House is preparing for the possible bilateral or trilateral summit. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed: "The White House is working through the details of these potential meetings… details will be provided at the appropriate time." Zelensky, meanwhile, has been working the phones with European leaders, wary of being sidelined in a direct US-Russia deal. Peace deadline looms Trump has expressed frustration with Putin, questioning whether the Russian leader really wants peace with Ukraine. He reiterated that he was "very unhappy" with Putin since their last phone call made no progress on the Ukraine peace deal - something the US president has pushed for since returning to power. Putin has snubbed peace and is instead steadily increasing his overnight bombing raids - which could soon hit 1,000 drones and missiles a day. Just days ago, 31 people died including five children after the Russians fired an Iskander missile into a residential tower block in Kyiv. Putin, who has consistently rejected calls for a ceasefire, said over the weekend that he wants peace but that his demands for ending his invasion were "unchanged". Though on Monday, the Kremlin appeared to propose a direct meeting between Putin and Zelensky"after preparatory work is done at the expert level". The White House's Friday deadline demands "progress" from Moscow towards reaching peace after three years of conflict. Otherwise, Washington will slam down secondary sanctions targeting Russia's oil lifeline and key alleys like India and China. But as the clock ticks, Putin appears defiant. Overnight, Russian drones hit homes, schools, and sports facilities across Ukraine in fresh airstrikes. Ukrainian civilians were wounded in the assault, including a 16-year-old girl in Bucha. The town's mayor Anatoliy Fedoruk said: "We have destruction as a result of a Russian terrorist attack on our community. "Russia is a terrorist country. The whole world should know about this… so that no one would shake hands with Russia knowing about the murders and atrocities against Ukrainians." Unless Putin shifts course today, US officials say secondary sanctions will be activated, targeting foreign firms and governments still trading with Moscow. Meanwhile, Trump's patience is wearing thin ahead of next week's historic meeting. Speaking last night, a visibly frustrated Don said of Putin: "It's going to be up to him. "We're going to see what he has to say. Very disappointed." Trump has made ending the war a top foreign policy priority since returning to office, boasting that he could stop it in a single day. But despite backchannel phone calls and "typically friendly" exchanges with Putin, peace remains elusive. "They would like to meet with me. I'll do whatever I can to stop the killings," Trump said. The Republican strongman previously posted on Truth Social: "These two Nations have been at War for many years… Many Leaders have tried to end the War, with no success, until now, thanks to 'TRUMP'." The US president dismissed claims that next week's historic summit hinges on a three-way meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky. Asked if Putin needed to meet Zelensky in order to meet him, Trump clarified: "No, he doesn't." That's a reversal from earlier statements by US officials, who had hinted that any Trump-Putin summit would only happen if the Russian leader also sat down with Zelensky, the Daily Mail reports. Who has the upper hand? by Juliana Cruz Lima, Foreign News Reporter RIGHT now, everything hangs in the balance - and the power dynamic could shift in a heartbeat. Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, former British Army officer and military analyst, said the fact the summit is even happening is a win in itself. But as for who's calling the shots? That's where things get complicated. Noting the Russian leader still believes he's making ground in Ukraine, the expert told The Sun: 'Until fairly recently, it's been pretty clear that President Putin has absolutely no desire for peace. 'His aim at the beginning of his special military operation over three and a half years ago was to subjugate the whole of Ukraine.' According to de Bretton-Gordon, Trump has only recently woken up to the fact that he's being played. 'It would appear that Trump has had a bit of an epiphany, a bit of a change of mind, and has now realised that Putin has been playing him.' And now, Don is bringing the businessman in him and threatening to hit Russia where it hurts most: the wallet. 'If Trump follows through with his sanctions and tariffs… then this is the reason I think that Putin has come to the table,' de Bretton-Gordon explained. 'Economic and financial analysts who really know about these things believe that the Russian economy would peter out pretty quickly without the massive amounts of money and resources it gets from oil.' In other words, Trump holds the economic sledgehammer — if he's willing to swing it. But Putin isn't out of the game. His forces are still advancing, still hammering Ukrainian cities, and still killing civilians. 'Russia seems to be moving forward slowly,' de Bretton-Gordon warned. 'Attacking civilian targets in Ukraine at an unbelievable scale.' Zelensky, meanwhile, remains the wild card. 'The people who are most important here are the Ukrainians,' he said. 'A bad deal for Ukraine is worse than no deal at all.' And that's the real risk. Trump might be chasing headlines, not justice. 'I think Trump probably just wants to get a deal of some description,' the former army officer said. 'One just hopes that Trump doesn't try and do some sort of backhand deal with Putin, just so that he can claim that there is now peace in Ukraine, because the short-term peace is no good to anybody.' So who has the upper hand? Right now, it's still up for grabs. But if Trump sticks to his economic guns, and if Putin starts to feel the heat on the home front, the balance might just tip. Russia strikes as deadline hits Putin's forces chose the eve of the deadline to unleash fresh horror. In Bucha, seven private homes and a nursery school were hit. Other strikes landed in Irpin, Hostomel, Shostka and Kharkiv – many targeting civilian areas. "All people are alive," Bucha's mayor confirmed, attributing the lack of casualties to residents hiding in makeshift bomb shelters. In Saltivskyi, Kharkiv, a drone strike injured two elderly civilians. In Nikopol, three houses were hit. And in Dnipropetrovsk, ballistic missile alerts blared over breakfast. Meanwhile, Ukraine claimed it struck a fuel depot near Russia's Millerovo air base, potentially damaging infrastructure used by military aircraft.
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
Zelenskiy says he discussed peace and Russia with South Africa's Ramaphosa
KYIV, Aug 8 (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he discussed ways to achieve peace in Ukraine in a call with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday. "Cyril also shared details of his conversation with the Russian side. Ukraine's position is absolutely clear: the path to peace must begin with a ceasefire. We are ready for this," Zelenskiy wrote on X.
