Latest news with #Andriy
NDTV
6 days ago
- General
- NDTV
"Nothing Is Stopping": Peace Talks Feel Far Away For Ukrainian Soldiers
Istanbul: Sipping a coffee under the blazing sun around 20 kilometres from the front line, Ukrainian platoon commander Andriy is ready for peace. But as Russia and Ukraine hold direct talks in search of an end to the three-year war, he sees no let up to the fighting in east Ukraine, ravaged by Russia's full-scale invasion. "Nothing is stopping. Everything is as it was," the 27-year-old told AFP, in the town of Druzhkivka while on a break from the combat. Hours after negotiations in Istanbul ended on Monday, the sound of Russian glide bombs flying over -- and down onto -- the town resumed. The next morning, those civilians who refuse to leave set about their daily business, meandering through streets dotted with destroyed buildings. Andriy was clinging to hope the war will end this year, and said talks should continue, despite little sign of progress. But asked about Moscow's hardline demands for Ukraine's army to completely pull out of the four regions Russia says it has annexed -- Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk and Zaporizhzhia -- he is skeptical. "That's too much, I would say. But if the border remained as it is now, then maybe." 'No real impact' Nearby, another young soldier who goes by Leleka, in his early thirties, was trying to relax. He is just back from near Toretsk, one of the hottest spots on the eastern front where Russian and Ukrainian soldiers have been killing each other for months in a battle for the city, claimed by Russia earlier this year. "To be honest, I haven't watched the news for a long time because it doesn't really affect the reality we face here. So it's a bit like a parallel reality," he told AFP. After two rounds of talks that yielded only prisoner exchanges, the ginger-bearded soldier sees no point in trying to deal with the Russians. "It does not work. Negotiations with them? How? How do negotiations work? We talk about peace, and at the same time, they are shooting at us," he said. Moscow has repeatedly rejected calls by Ukraine, the United States and European countries for a full and immediate ceasefire. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of dragging out the talks and not seriously wanting to halt its invasion. The Kremlin said Tuesday negotiations were "extremely complex" and that it was "wrong" to expect a speedy breakthrough. Leleka said there is "no way" Ukrainian troops would pull back from territory they still control. "The local commanders will not allow it." For 59-year-old deputy commander Did -- a call sign which means "grandfather" in Ukrainian -- an unconditional ceasefire is the only "logical" way to end the fighting. But he understands why Russia is refusing. "They have more weapons, their factories are working, they have more men, and North Korea and China are supplying them. Why would they stop?" Moscow's army will only halt their attacks, if Ukraine can deliver "a beating so bad that their teeth fall out or they swallow them," he said. 'Give us weapons' Instead of a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire, Moscow has proposed a partial pause to the fighting -- two-to-three days and only in certain areas of the frontline. "They really need this. They need to regroup their troops. They need to restore their logistics," Leleka said of the Russian call for a temporary truce. Both Did and Leleka instead issued their own request for the West to step up its military support to Ukraine -- saying that could help give them a leg-up on the battlefield, and at the negotiating table. "Give us more weapons. We know how to use them ... Give us good weapons and we will stop them. We will stop them, we know how to do it," Did said. Standing away from the other two, Andriy, his head bowed, was thinking of home. "I want to be with my wife, to rest," he whispered. He has been fighting for three years and got married amid the war. "Whatever it takes, I want to go home."
Al Arabiya
6 days ago
- General
- Al Arabiya
‘Nothing is stopping': Peace talks feel far away for Ukraine's soldiers
Sipping a coffee under the blazing sun around 20 kilometers from the front line, Ukrainian platoon commander Andriy is ready for peace. But as Russia and Ukraine hold direct talks in search of an end to the three-year war, he sees no let up to the fighting in east Ukraine, ravaged by Russia's full-scale invasion. 'Nothing is stopping. Everything is as it was,' the 27-year-old told AFP, in the town of Druzhkivka while on a break from the combat. Hours after negotiations in Istanbul ended on Monday, the sound of Russian glide bombs flying over -- and down onto -- the town resumed. The next morning, those civilians who refuse to leave set about their daily business, meandering through streets dotted with destroyed buildings. Andriy was clinging to hope the war will end this year, and said talks should continue, despite little sign of progress. But asked about Moscow's hardline demands for Ukraine's army to completely pull out of the four regions Russia says it has annexed -- Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk and Zaporizhzhia -- he is skeptical. 'That's too much, I would say. But if the border remained as it is now, then maybe.' 'No real impact' Nearby, another young soldier who goes by Leleka, in his early thirties, was trying to relax. He is just back from near Toretsk, one of the hottest spots on the eastern front where Russian and Ukrainian soldiers have been killing each other for months in a battle for the city, claimed by Russia earlier this year. 'To be honest, I haven't watched the news for a long time because it doesn't really affect the reality we face here. So it's a bit like a parallel reality,' he told AFP. After two rounds of talks that yielded only prisoner exchanges, the ginger-bearded soldier sees no point in trying to deal with the Russians. 'It does not work. Negotiations with them? How? How do negotiations work? We talk about peace, and at the same time, they are shooting at us,' he said. Moscow has repeatedly rejected calls by Ukraine, the United States and European countries for a full and immediate ceasefire. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of dragging out the talks and not seriously wanting to halt its invasion. The Kremlin said Tuesday negotiations were 'extremely complex' and that it was 'wrong' to expect a speedy breakthrough. Leleka said there is 'no way' Ukrainian troops would pull back from territory they still control. 'The local commanders will not allow it.' For 59-year-old deputy commander Did -- a call sign which means 'grandfather' in Ukrainian -- an unconditional ceasefire is the only 'logical' way to end the fighting. But he understands why Russia is refusing. 'They have more weapons, their factories are working, they have more men, and North Korea and China are supplying them. Why would they stop?' Moscow's army will only halt their attacks, if Ukraine can deliver 'a beating so bad that their teeth fall out or they swallow them,' he said. 'Give us weapons' Instead of a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire, Moscow has proposed a partial pause to the fighting -- two-to-three days and only in certain areas of the frontline. 'They really need this. They need to regroup their troops. They need to restore their logistics,' Leleka said of the Russian call for a temporary truce. Both Did and Leleka instead issued their own request for the West to step up its military support to Ukraine -- saying that could help give them a leg-up on the battlefield, and at the negotiating table. 'Give us more weapons. We know how to use them ... Give us good weapons and we will stop them. We will stop them, we know how to do it,' Did said. Standing away from the other two, Andriy, his head bowed, was thinking of home. 'I want to be with my wife, to rest,' he whispered. He has been fighting for three years and got married amid the war. 'Whatever it takes, I want to go home.'
Business Recorder
6 days ago
- General
- Business Recorder
‘Nothing is stopping': Peace talks feel far away for Ukraine's soldiers
DRUZHKIVKA: Sipping a coffee under the blazing sun around 20 kilometres from the front line, Ukrainian platoon commander Andriy is ready for peace. But as Russia and Ukraine hold direct talks in search of an end to the three-year war, he sees no let up to the fighting in east Ukraine, ravaged by Russia's full-scale invasion. 'Nothing is stopping. Everything is as it was,' the 27-year-old told AFP, in the town of Druzhkivka while on a break from the combat. Hours after negotiations in Istanbul ended on Monday, the sound of Russian glide bombs flying over – and down onto – the town resumed. The next morning, those civilians who refuse to leave set about their daily business, meandering through streets dotted with destroyed buildings. Andriy was clinging to hope the war will end this year, and said talks should continue, despite little sign of progress. But asked about Moscow's hardline demands for Ukraine's army to completely pull out of the four regions Russia says it has annexed – Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk and Zaporizhzhia – he is sceptical. 'That's too much, I would say. But if the border remained as it is now, then maybe.' 'No real impact' Nearby, another young soldier who goes by Leleka, in his early thirties, was trying to relax. He is just back from near Toretsk, one of the hottest spots on the eastern front where Russian and Ukrainian soldiers have been killing each other for months in a battle for the city, claimed by Russia earlier this year. 'To be honest, I haven't watched the news for a long time because it doesn't really affect the reality we face here. So it's a bit like a parallel reality,' he told AFP. After two rounds of talks that yielded only prisoner exchanges, the ginger-bearded soldier sees no point in trying to deal with the Russians. 'It does not work. Negotiations with them? How? How do negotiations work? We talk about peace, and at the same time, they are shooting at us,' he said. Moscow has repeatedly rejected calls by Ukraine, the United States and European countries for a full and immediate ceasefire. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of dragging out the talks and not seriously wanting to halt its invasion. The Kremlin said Tuesday negotiations were 'extremely complex' and that it was 'wrong' to expect a speedy breakthrough. Leleka said there is 'no way' Ukrainian troops would pull back from territory they still control. 'The local commanders will not allow it.' One killed, several injured in Russian attacks on Ukraine, officials say For 59-year-old deputy commander Did – a call sign which means 'grandfather' in Ukrainian – an unconditional ceasefire is the only 'logical' way to end the fighting. But he understands why Russia is refusing. 'They have more weapons, their factories are working, they have more men, and North Korea and China are supplying them. Why would they stop?' 'Give us weapons' Instead of a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire, Moscow has proposed a partial pause to the fighting – two-to-three days and only in certain areas of the frontline. 'They really need this. They need to regroup their troops. They need to restore their logistics,' Leleka said of the Russian call for a temporary truce. Both Did and Leleka instead issued their own request for the West to step up its military support to Ukraine – saying that could help give them a leg-up on the battlefield, and at the negotiating table. 'Give us more weapons. We know how to use them … Give us good weapons and we will stop them. We will stop them, we know how to do it,' Did said. Standing away from the other two, Andriy, his head bowed, was thinking of home. 'I want to be with my wife, to rest,' he whispered. He has been fighting for three years and got married amid the war. 'Whatever it takes, I want to go home.'
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
'Nothing is stopping': Peace talks feel far away for Ukraine's soldiers
Sipping a coffee under the blazing sun around 20 kilometres from the front line, Ukrainian platoon commander Andriy is ready for peace. But as Russia and Ukraine hold direct talks in search of an end to the three-year war, he sees no let up to the fighting in east Ukraine, ravaged by Russia's full-scale invasion. "Nothing is stopping. Everything is as it was," the 27-year-old told AFP, in the town of Druzhkivka while on a break from the combat. Hours after negotiations in Istanbul ended on Monday, the sound of Russian glide bombs flying over -- and down onto -- the town resumed. The next morning, those civilians who refuse to leave set about their daily business, meandering through streets dotted with destroyed buildings. Andriy was clinging to hope the war will end this year, and said talks should continue, despite little sign of progress. But asked about Moscow's hardline demands for Ukraine's army to completely pull out of the four regions Russia says it has annexed -- Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk and Zaporizhzhia -- he is sceptical. "That's too much, I would say. But if the border remained as it is now, then maybe." - 'No real impact' - Nearby, another young soldier who goes by Leleka, in his early thirties, was trying to relax. He is just back from near Toretsk, one of the hottest spots on the eastern front where Russian and Ukrainian soldiers have been killing each other for months in a battle for the city, claimed by Russia earlier this year. "To be honest, I haven't watched the news for a long time because it doesn't really affect the reality we face here. So it's a bit like a parallel reality," he told AFP. After two rounds of talks that yielded only prisoner exchanges, the ginger-bearded soldier sees no point in trying to deal with the Russians. "It does not work. Negotiations with them? How? How do negotiations work? We talk about peace, and at the same time, they are shooting at us," he said. Moscow has repeatedly rejected calls by Ukraine, the United States and European countries for a full and immediate ceasefire. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of dragging out the talks and not seriously wanting to halt its invasion. The Kremlin said Tuesday negotiations were "extremely complex" and that it was "wrong" to expect a speedy breakthrough. Leleka said there is "no way" Ukrainian troops would pull back from territory they still control. "The local commanders will not allow it." For 59-year-old deputy commander Did -- a call sign which means "grandfather" in Ukrainian -- an unconditional ceasefire is the only "logical" way to end the fighting. But he understands why Russia is refusing. "They have more weapons, their factories are working, they have more men, and North Korea and China are supplying them. Why would they stop?" Moscow's army will only halt their attacks, if Ukraine can deliver "a beating so bad that their teeth fall out or they swallow them," he said. - 'Give us weapons' - Instead of a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire, Moscow has proposed a partial pause to the fighting -- two-to-three days and only in certain areas of the frontline. "They really need this. They need to regroup their troops. They need to restore their logistics," Leleka said of the Russian call for a temporary truce. Both Did and Leleka instead issued their own request for the West to step up its military support to Ukraine -- saying that could help give them a leg-up on the battlefield, and at the negotiating table. "Give us more weapons. We know how to use them ... Give us good weapons and we will stop them. We will stop them, we know how to do it," Did said. Standing away from the other two, Andriy, his head bowed, was thinking of home. "I want to be with my wife, to rest," he whispered. He has been fighting for three years and got married amid the war. "Whatever it takes, I want to go home." fv/asy-jc/giv
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
A Ukrainian soldier — a blind amputee — came to Modesto with a story you should know
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine first began, at the beginning of 2022, the war has resulted in thousands of new cases of blindness among both civilians and soldiers. During the first seven months of 2023, the National Institute of Health reported that there were 19,000 new diagnosed cases of vision loss and vision deterioration in Ukraine. These horrific injuries are due to the tremendous risk of exposure to drone bombing, artillery fire, aerial glide bombs and land mine explosions. I am a retired ophthalmologist and retina surgeon living in Modesto. In 2007, my family and I traveled to Ukraine to donate surgical equipment to a hospital. Since then, I have hosted visiting physicians from Modesto's sister city, Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine. A visual rehab center has been established in Vinnytsia, a central Ukrainian city, with a goal of assisting blind individuals in advanced stages of recovery, emphasizing the mastery of life skills. Last month, I spoke with Andriy, a 29-year-old Ukrainian army officer who was injured in combat in June of 2023 (I have omitted his surname because he is returning to Ukraine soon where he could become a Russian target due to his activities in support of the Ukrainian army). He was visiting Modesto during one week alongside other injured Ukrainian veterans and their accompanying rehab specialists through the 'Open World Program.' During their stay, they met with local elected officials and hospital rehab specialists, visited a large guide-dog training facility and attended lectures on eye trauma and visual rehabilitation products. In February of 2022, Andriy was working as a financial consultant in Kyiv when Russia invaded Ukraine. Andriy sent his wife abroad, and then tried to enlist in the military, but was rejected because of a congenital heart condition. He was not discouraged, however, and went to another recruitment office in a nearby town and was accepted into the army. Because of his college engineering background, he was made an officer in charge of a combined drone and reconnaissance unit. Armed Ukrainian drones have played an important role in the battlefield. The New York Times recently reported that armed Russian drones have been dropping extremely accurate grenades. One recently tore the arm off an officer who was sitting beneath the thin hatch of an armored vehicle. The Russians have also become intent on killing any reconnaissance personnel they can find. Andriy recalled that he and his men took an observation position near the end of an unoccupied trench from which they could see Russian soldiers in an adjacent trench about a half a mile away. After a few moments, he realized how vulnerable they were, and he yelled to his men to abandon the trench and run into the forest as fast as possible. After a 200-yard sprint, they heard three titanic rapid-fire artillery explosions at the very spot from which they had viewed the Russians. They threw themselves on the ground for a few minutes, and then retreated further while laughing hysterically at their good fortune. During the failed Ukrainian offensive against Zaporizhzhia in June 2023, Andriy was suddenly injured. Speaking with me, he recalled his first sensations when he was injured by some sort of explosion. 'I saw smoke, fell back and was dragged from the scene by a teammate,' he said. 'When I opened (my) eyes, it was really dark. I actually thought, 'Oh wow, ... it was some kind of nightmare.'' He tried to move, but he could not. He felt weird sensations from his body. His next thought was: What happened to the guys in my team? It was only later that Andriy learned that both of his eyes, most of his face and both arms had been shredded with shrapnel. He would never have survived if his trunk had not been protected with a kevlar vest. For the first several weeks after his injury, he underwent surgery every two to three days. His right arm was amputated below his elbow, and his left arm was amputated below his shoulder. Both of his eyes were replaced with unseeing prosthetics. His mouth was completely stitched, so he could not talk. He also could not eat, and drank through a straw. Eventually, Andriy's doctors realized he was attempting to communicate by waving his arm stump. Andriy's wife came to be with him, and she helped him write letters. 'I was like a newborn kid,' Andriy says of this time. 'I needed to learn how to walk, how to eat, how to cook, how to make tea for my wife and how to open doors or operate my phone without hands.' When asked about the enormous personal sacrifice he has made for the war effort, Andriy said that he does not think of his injury as a personal sacrifice. 'I never considered that my military work might result in the loss of my life,' he said. Andriy and his wife have been receiving rehab care at an American hospital for several months. Soon, they will return to Ukraine. He is a leading advocate for the rehabilitation of injured Ukrainian soldiers and civilians and is working to establish connections with organizations that help injured American veterans. He hopes to share their knowledge and experiences with Ukrainian rehab organizations. Andriy has also founded a non-governmental organization in Ukraine to help wounded veterans who have double and triple amputations and spinal cord injuries. Ukrainian military technology advancements are highly dependent on dozens of Ukrainian startup businesses, and Andriy is consulting with investors who want to invest in some of these military startups. 'I want to do everything in my power to help my brothers in the Ukrainian army achieve victory,' Andriy said. Dr. Gregory Tesluk is a retired ophthalmologist and retina surgeon from Modesto with Ukrainian roots. His grandparents were born near Lviv in Western Ukraine. He can be reached at gtesluk@
