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CNN
10 hours ago
- Politics
- CNN
Russia has amassed 110,000 troops near strategic Ukrainian city, Kyiv says
Russia has amassed 110,000 troops in the vicinity of Pokrovsk as part of its efforts to take over the strategic eastern Ukrainian city, the Ukrainian military chief said Friday. Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Friday that the area around Pokrovsk was the 'hottest spot'along the 1,200-kilometre (745 miles) front line which runs across the east. Russian forces have been trying to capture Pokrovsk for almost a year, staging one grinding offensive after another. But despite having a clear advantage in terms of the number of troops and weapons available, Moscow has failed to take over the city. Pokrovsk is a strategic target for Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin has made it clear that his goal is to seize all of the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk his forces partially occupy. Kyiv and its allies accuse Russia's President Vladimir Putin of stalling on peace efforts so that his forces can seize more Ukrainian territory. Although not a major city, Pokrovsk sits on a key supply road and railroad that connect it with other military hubs in the area. Together with Kostiantynivka, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, it forms the backbone of Ukrainian defenses in the part of Donetsk region that are still under Kyiv's control. Some 60,000 lived in Pokrovsk before the war, but the majority have left in the three years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Ukraine's last operating coking coal mine was in Pokrovsk and many of its employees were staying in the area to keep it going. Once it was forced to shut down early this year, they too began to leave. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a US-based conflict monitor, said late last year that Ukrainian defensive operations in Pokrovsk have forced Russia to abandon its original plan to take over Pokrovsk in a frontal assault. The ISW said this was because Ukrainian troops began using drones as integral part of their defensive strategy, successfully integrating drone operators with their ground forces. At the same time, Russia was unable to increase the number of troops in the area by much, because it was trying to contain the surprise incursion of Ukrainian troops into its own territory in the southern Kursk region. Syrskyi told reporters last week that at one point, the Kursk operation pulled back nearly 63,000 Russian troops and some 7,000 North Korean troops. 'This allowed us to weaken the enemy's pressure on the main fronts and regroup our troops. And the enemy's capture of Pokrovsk, announced back in September 2024, has not yet taken place, thanks in part to our Kursk operation,' he said. Instead of continuing to attacking the city directly, Russian troops then began encircling the city from south and northeast. The ISW said in its most recent assessment on Friday that Russian forces were continuing assaults with small fireteams of one to two soldiers, sometimes on motorcycles, in all-terrain vehicles and buggies. In a statement issued on Friday, Syrksky said Russia continued to try to break through to the administrative border of the Donetsk region. 'They want to do this not only to achieve some operational results, but primarily for demonstrative purposes. To achieve a psychological effect: to put the infamous 'foot of the Russian soldier' there, plant a flag and trumpet another pseudo-'victory',' he said.
CBS News
30-01-2025
- Science
- CBS News
Griffin Museum of Science and Industry to renovate South Portico facing Jackson Park
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Chicagoans who have been visiting the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry for a long time are sure to have noticed things that have changed over the years. The addition of the Griffin name is itself fairly new, of course. But the old and beloved exhibit The Circus folded up its tent a couple of years ago and the Baby Chick Hatchery recently moved downstairs, while newer exhibits such as The Blue Paradox and Notes to Neurons draw crowds today. In just one specific area of the museum—the main floor toward what most visitors would think of as the back — the Coal Mine whistle still sounds regularly as visitors line up to climb the stairs and then go down the elevator for a tour. To the left, the cobblestones and historical storefronts of Yesterday's Main Street remain as charming as ever, and one can still go to the Nickelodeon and watch a Charlie Chaplin movie. But nearby in the Yellow Stairwell, you will no longer find the Solar Fountain — that rotating kinetic sculpture where floodlights shone down onto mirror discs hanging from so many perpendicular metal bars. Meanwhile, the space that once housed General Motors' exhibit adjoining the stairwell and Yesterday's Main Street — at various points called Motorama and Wheels of Change — is now used for special exhibits, currently 007 Science. And on the opposite side of the Coal Mine, the petroleum exhibit that once featured a ride has been supplanted by Numbers in Nature: A Mirror Maze. But one thing that has not changed is the set of doors near all those exhibits, which lead out to the South Portico of the museum and toward the pond known as the Columbia Basin in Jackson Park. You may have noticed them, but you have almost certainly never entered or exited the museum that way — as it is not open for such purposes, and for all intents and purposes has always functioned as the back of the museum. But that is all changing with a renovation plan for the South Portico made possible through a $10 million grant from the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation — the largest grant awarded by the foundation in its 42-year history. Beginning this spring, the Griffin MSI said, the project will increase accessibility, add modern amenities, and provide new and vibrant public spaces. Once the renovation is done in 2027, visitors will be able to access the south entry to the museum and enjoy a café and a terrace overlooking the Columbia Basin and the Obama Presidential Center just for the south—which is set to open next year. "This project represents a pivotal moment for the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry as we honor its historic past while leading the museum forward," Dr. Chevy Humphrey, president and chief executive officer of the Griffin MSI, said in a news release. "The Driehaus Foundation's generosity allows us to enhance this iconic space while ensuring it is welcoming and accessible for all and continues a legacy of inspiration and engagement for decades of future visitors." The upgrades will also improve and increase accessibility, with an elevator that will provide an accessible entrance to the museum and public spaces, the Griffin MSI said. The South Portico entrance was the main entrance to the building in its first incarnation as the Palace of Fine Arts during the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893. The building became the Museum of Science and Industry 40 years later — and for decades had a parking lot in front of its North Portico facing 57th Drive and the Hyde Park neighborhood, through which all visitors entered. Parking has since moved underground. The museum will remain open throughout construction, and there are no plans to limit public access to roads or the park during the renovation work.
