Latest news with #AndriySybiga
LeMonde
a day ago
- Politics
- LeMonde
Russia launches major strikes in retaliation against Ukraine, Kharkiv hit by 'most powerful attack' since start of war
Russia unleashed a barrage of missiles, drones and bombs across Ukraine early Saturday, June 7, killing at least five people as it retaliated for a brazen attack by Kyiv on air bases days earlier. The Kremlin has accelerated its attacks on Ukraine in recent weeks, as direct negotiations have failed to broker an end to the three-year war or even a temporary truce. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga called for Kyiv's western allies to punish Russia for refusing to halt its invasion. "To put an end to Russia's killing and destruction, more pressure on Moscow is required, as are more steps to strengthen Ukraine," he said on social media. Tens of thousands have been killed since Moscow invaded in February 2022, triggering Europe's largest conflict since World War II, destroying cities and villages across eastern Ukraine and forcing millions to flee their homes. The attacks come ahead of an expected prisoner swap, set to take place this weekend – the only concrete agreement to come out of peace talks between the two sides. The Ukrainian air force said Russia had fired 206 drones and nine missiles in the overnight barrage. Ukraine's second largest city of Kharkiv came under "the most powerful attack since the beginning of the full-scale war," Mayor Igor Terekhov said. The northeastern city was home to 1.4 million people before the war and lies around 30 kilometres from the border with Russia. Unprecedented attack The Russian strikes pummelled homes and apartment blocks there, killing at least three people and wounding 17 more, the mayor said. Kharkiv region Governor Oleg Synegubov said the wounded included two children. In the southern city of Kherson, Russian shelling killed a couple and damaged two high-rise buildings, regional Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said. Attacks were also recorded on the Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa and Ternopil regions. Rescuers in the western city of Lutsk, near the Polish border, meanwhile discovered a second fatality from strikes a day earlier, describing the victim as a woman in her 20s. The aerial bombardments come days after Ukraine launched a brazen attack well beyond the frontlines, damaging nuclear-capable military planes at Russian air bases and prompting vows of revenge from Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russia's defense ministry meanwhile said Saturday that its forces had downed 36 Ukrainian drones fired at its territory. Ukraine has been pushing for an unconditional and immediate 30-day truce, issuing its latest proposal during peace talks in Istanbul on Monday. But Russia, which now controls around one-fifth of Ukraine's territory, has repeatedly rejected calls to end its three-year war. The Kremlin said Friday the Ukraine war was "existential" for Russia.
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
After deadly strikes, Ukraine urges pressure on Russia 'as soon as possible'
Kyiv on Friday (June 6, 2025) called on allies abroad to ramp up pressure on Moscow to force it to halt its invasion, in the wake of a deadly Russian drone and missile barrage on Ukraine. "Russia's overnight attack on civilians once again demonstrates that the international pressure on Moscow must be increased as soon as possible," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said in a statement. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday (June 6, 2025) that Russia had launched more than 400 drones and more than 40 missiles at Ukraine overnight, urging allies to build pressure on the Kremlin to end its war. 'If someone does not put pressure and gives the war more time to take lives, they are complicit and responsible. We need to act decisively,' Mr. Zelenskyy wrote in a post on social media.
Malay Mail
5 days ago
- Business
- Malay Mail
No quick peace: Russia rules out breakthrough in ‘complex' Ukraine talks
MOSCOW, June 4 — Russia on Tuesday said it was wrong to expect a quick breakthrough in Ukraine talks, a day after Moscow rejected Kyiv's call for an unconditional ceasefire at negotiations in Istanbul. The sides agreed on a large-scale swap of captured soldiers and exchanged their roadmaps to peace, or so-called 'memorandums', at the discussions, which lasted less than two hours. More than three years into Russia's offensive — which has killed tens of thousands on both sides and forced millions from their homes in eastern Ukraine — the two sides appear as irreconcilable as ever. 'The settlement issue is extremely complex and involves a large number of nuances,' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday. 'It would be wrong to expect immediate solutions and breakthroughs,' he added. Moscow demanded Ukraine pull its troops out of four eastern and southern regions that Moscow claims to have annexed as a precondition to pausing its offensive, according to the document handed to the Ukrainians that was published by Russian state media. Kyiv had pressed for a full and unconditional ceasefire. Russia instead offered a partial truce of two to three days in some areas of the frontline, its top negotiator said after the talks. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga on Tuesday denounced Russia for presenting 'old ultimatums that do not move the situation any closer to true peace' and for having 'so far rejected any meaningful formats for a ceasefire'. Peskov earlier also dismissed the idea of a summit between the presidents of Russia, Ukraine and the United States. 'In the near future, it is unlikely,' Peskov told reporters when asked about the chances of the leaders meeting, adding that such a summit could only happen after Russian and Ukrainian negotiators reach an 'agreement'. The White House had said on Monday that US President Donald Trump was 'open' to the idea, which is also backed by Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Targeting civilians Zelensky on Tuesday accused Russia of 'deliberately' targeting civilians in a rocket attack on the city of Sumy, some 30 kilometres from the Russian border, that killed four people. Russian troops have accelerated their advance, seeking to establish what Putin called a 'buffer zone' inside Ukraine's north-eastern Sumy region. Zelensky posted a video from the emergency services showing destroyed cars and the body of one victim lying on the road. The attack 'says everything one needs to know about Russia's so-called 'desire' to end this war', he added, calling for 'decisive actions' from the United States and Europe to push Russia into a ceasefire. 'Every day, Russia gives new reasons for tougher sanctions and stronger support for our defence,' he said. A seven-year-old girl was among 20 wounded, with doctors 'fighting for her life', Sumy's Acting Mayor Artem Kobzar said. Three people were also killed in a rocket attack in the northeastern Kharkiv region. Moscow's army said it had captured the village of Andriivka in the Sumy region, located around five kilometres from the Russian border. Zelensky said last week that Russia was massing some 50,000 soldiers for an offensive on the region. Meanwhile, Ukraine's SBU security service claimed it had hit a pillar of the Crimean bridge linking the annexed peninsula to Russia with an underwater explosive device. The extent of the damage was unclear following a temporary closure to the bridge after the attack. A delegation of top Ukrainian officials also landed in Washington for talks with US officials on defence and economic issues, including the possibility of new sanctions, Zelensky's office said. Trump, who said he could end the conflict swiftly when he returned to the White House in January, has repeatedly expressed anger at both Putin and Zelensky as the fighting drags through its fourth year with no end in sight. But he has held off from imposing new economic penalties on Moscow. — AFP
LBCI
5 days ago
- General
- LBCI
Ukraine denounces Russian demands for peace as 'old ultimatums'
Ukraine on Tuesday denounced Russia for presenting "old ultimatums" at peace talks in Istanbul a day earlier that it said do nothing to bring an end to the three-year war any closer. "The Russian side passed a set of old ultimatums that do not move the situation any closer to true peace," Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said on social media. AFP
Daily Express
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Express
Russia strikes Kyiv after major prisoner swap
Published on: Sunday, May 25, 2025 Published on: Sun, May 25, 2025 Text Size: A woman hugs a freed Ukrainian POW upon his arrival after a prisoner exchange in the Chernygiv region, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. KYIV: A massive Russian drone and missile attack on Kyiv Saturday wounded at least 15 people, just as Russia and Ukraine were in the middle of a major prisoner swap. Ukraine's air force said Russia had launched 14 ballistic missiles and 250 attack drones in total overnight, adding that Kyiv was 'the main target of the enemy attack'. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said on X the barrage was 'clear evidence that increased sanctions pressure on Moscow is necessary to accelerate the peace process'. Kyiv city officials reported fires and fallen debris in several parts of the Ukrainian capital, after AFP journalists heard explosions overnight. The police said 15 people were injured in Kyiv and two more in the surrounding region. Ukrainian presidential aide Andriy Yermak said Russia was 'doing everything it can to prevent a ceasefire and continue the war'. Advertisement The Russian military meanwhile said Ukraine had targeted it with 788 drones and missiles since Tuesday. The attack on Kyiv came hours after Russia and Ukraine completed the first stage of a prisoner exchange agreed at talks last week in Istanbul which, if completed, would be the biggest swap since the start of the conflict. Both sides received 390 people in the first stage and are expected to exchange 1,000 each in total. Russia has signalled it will send Ukraine its terms for a peace settlement after the swap, which is set to continue over the weekend – without saying what those terms would be. The two enemies have held regular prisoner swaps since Russia launched its 2022 offensive – but none have been on this scale. An AFP reporter saw some of the formerly captive Ukrainian soldiers arrive at a hospital in the northern Chernigiv region, emaciated but smiling and waving to crowds waiting outside. After they stepped off the bus, tearful relatives rushed to embrace the soldiers while others held pictures of their loved ones, hoping to find out if they had been seen in captivity. Many of the soldiers were draped in bright yellow and blue Ukrainian flags. 'The first stage of the '1,000-for-1,000' exchange agreement has been carried out,' Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X. Russia said it had received 270 Russian troops and 120 civilians, including some from parts of its Kursk region captured and held by Kyiv for months. The two sides have not yet revealed the identities of those exchanged. US President Donald Trump earlier congratulated the two countries for the swap. 'This could lead to something big???' he wrote on his Truth Social platform. Trump's efforts to broker a ceasefire in Europe's biggest conflict since World War II have so far been unsuccessful, despite his pledge to rapidly end the fighting. One of the soldiers formerly held captive, 58-year-old Viktor Syvak, told AFP it was hard to put words to his emotional homecoming. Captured in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, he had been held for 37 months and 12 days. 'I didn't expect such a welcome. It's impossible to describe. I can't put it into words. It's very joyful,' he said. Several Ukrainians told AFP they were anxiously waiting to see if their relatives had been included in the swap. 'We have been looking for our son for two years,' said Liudmyla Parkhomenko, the mother of a Ukrainian soldier who went missing during combat in the city of Bakhmut. 'Today I would like the Lord to send us good news... We feel in our hearts that he's alive,' she added. After more than three years of fighting, thousands of POWs are held in both countries. Russia is believed to have the larger share, with the number of Ukrainian captives held by Moscow estimated to be between 8,000 and 10,000. Diplomatic efforts to end the conflict have stepped up a gear in recent weeks, but the Kremlin has shown no sign it has walked back its maximalist demands for ending the fighting. Russian President Vladimir Putin has defied European pressure for a full and unconditional truce in Ukraine, pressing on with its 39-month offensive, which has left tens of thousands dead. * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
