Latest news with #PavloPalisa
Newsweek
2 days ago
- Politics
- Newsweek
Ukraine Destroys 13 Russian Tanks, 100 Armored Vehicles as Locomotive Hit
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Ukraine has struck a Russian train carrying military equipment, destroying 13 tanks and more than 100 armored vehicles The Southern Defense Forces of Ukraine posted about the Saturday attack, along with multiple others, on social media. Why It Matters Ukraine's attack marks a significant tactical gain as it continues to pressure Russian logistics and supply chains. The strike on a Russian freight train transporting military equipment—particularly locomotives hauling armored units—deals a substantial blow to Moscow's ability to reinforce its front-line positions quickly. An M113 armored vehicle camouflaged with anti-drone netting during a training exercise by the Ukrainian military at an undisclosed location in Ukraine on June 6, 2025. An M113 armored vehicle camouflaged with anti-drone netting during a training exercise by the Ukrainian military at an undisclosed location in Ukraine on June 6, 2025. FLORENT VERGNES/AFP via Getty Images What To Know Kyiv also had to "repel" multiple Russian assaults, the Southern Defense Forces of Ukraine said, with five taking place near Malynivka and toward Poltavka. Two Russian attacks near Piatykhatky and toward Pavlivka "on the position of our defenders" were described as "useless." In the 24 hours leading up to Saturday, Ukraine recorded more than 800 Russian attacks using different types of kamikaze drones and had itself carried out more than 350 drone strikes, dropping around 450 munitions. In the southern region, Russian forces carried out 12 airstrikes in the past 24 hours with a total of 47 guided bombs hitting settlements in the Zaporizhzhia region. Front-line towns and villages in the Mykolaiv, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions were hit by artillery and drone attacks. In total, 41 attacks were recorded in 22 different places. In the Kherson region, two people were killed and 10 others were injured due to the shelling, according to Kyiv. In the past 24 hours Russian losses have included the following: 114 personnel One railway locomotive 23 tanks Seven artillery systems 103 units of automobile and armored equipment 10 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) used for reconnaissance or tactical support 10 motorcycles One radio-electronic warfare item Nine UAV-related antenna systems Five communications antenna Five generators Four ammunition storage spaces Kyiv has also released a map showing what it says are Russia's plans to seize half of Ukraine by the end of next year. The Ukrainian Presidential Office deputy head, Colonel Pavlo Palisa, made the claims, and they were followed by President Donald Trump warning that he would use further sanctions against Moscow if the war dragged on. What People Are Saying The Ukrainian Presidential Office deputy head, Colonel Pavlo Palisa, said Thursday: Russia's "plan for next year is to occupy the whole part of Ukraine which is situated on the left bank of the Dnieper River," and "occupy the Odesa and Mykolaiv regions to cut Ukraine's access to the Black Sea." President Donald Trump said about U.S. sanctions: "If I think Russia will not be making a deal or stopping the bloodshed…I'll use it if it's necessary." He added: "I'm OK with it. I haven't decided to use it." What Happens Next All eyes will likely be on what Trump does with regard to the U.S.' reaction to continued Russian attacks in Ukraine.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Russia faces record 2.6 million worker shortage amid war recruitment
Russian companies ended 2024 short of 2.6 million employees, a record high, the pro-state publication Izvestia reported on May 12, citing an analysis by Russia's Higher School of Economics. The deepening labor shortage reflects growing strain on Russia's workforce as the Kremlin aggressively recruits men for its war against Ukraine. The shortages are sharpest in manufacturing (391,000), trade (347,000), and transportation (219,000). Employers in these sectors now offer salaries exceeding 100,000 rubles ($1,200) monthly — 1.5 times higher than Russia's national average. The average monthly gross salary in Russia rose 20% to 88,000 rubles (around $1,000) in 2024, marking the fastest annual wage growth on record against official inflation of 9.5%. Workforce participation also hit a historic high, with 61% of Russians over 15 engaged in the labor market. Inflation in the country reached its highest level in 2024, driven by war spending and rising food prices. To curb inflation, Russia's Central Bank raised its interest rate from 7.5% in July 2023 to the current 21%. Researchers linked the rise in vacancies to a collapse in labor migration, a weakening ruble, and multiple economic shocks. Engineers, scientists, teachers, and doctors were the most in-demand skilled workers. The shortage has sharply worsened since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. To bolster its military ranks, the Kremlin has relied on lucrative contracts and aggressive recruitment campaigns rather than formal conscription. President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Jan. 15 that 600,000 Russian troops are deployed in Ukraine. Russia plans to increase its forces there by 150,000 in 2025, according to Ukrainian President's Office Deputy Head Pavlo Palisa. The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported on May 12 that Russia has lost 967,060 troops in Ukraine since the start of its full-scale invasion. Read also: 'Not what Putin was expecting' — What we know (and don't know) about Ukraine, Russia peace talks in Istanbul We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Gulf Today
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Gulf Today
Lucrative cash bonus for a year fighting Russia
You'll receive a generous salary, a bumper bonus and an interest-free loan to buy a home. The challenge? You'll have to fight on the frontlines of Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II. It's a tough sell to young people with their whole lives ahead of them. Two months after Ukraine launched a national drive to recruit young people to fight in its tired and aged armed forces for a year, fewer than 500 have signed contracts, according to Pavlo Palisa, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's military adviser. Palisa stressed it was early days for the scheme, which was initially confined to six brigades before expansion to 24. The numbers so far provide scant respite for Ukraine's defence forces, which are outnumbered by Russia after three years of war that has killed and injured hundreds of thousands. Pavlo Broshkov, among the few hundred young people to take up the offer so far, said he viewed military service as his duty and wanted to help spare his six-month-old daughter Polina the horrors he had faced growing up during the conflict. 'I don't want my child to even hear the word 'war' in the future,' said the 20-year-old, among seven young recruits interviewed by Reuters who are being sent to fight with frontline units in about two months. 'I simply don't want her to know what it means.' As a new father dreaming of buying an apartment for his family, Broshkov was also attracted by the financial terms of the recruitment scheme, which was launched in February targeting 18 to 24-year-olds who are prepared to fill fighting roles. On top of the mortgage deal, the package includes a monthly salary of up to $2,900, way above the national average wage of about $520, a cash bonus of 1 million hryvnia ($24,000) and a one-year exemption from mobilization after a year of service. Broshkov's 18-year-old wife understands the need to defend the country but can't stop agonizing over the danger. 'Death is chasing my husband now and it can catch up with him at any time,' said Kristina Broshkova, who moved back with her parents. 'Money is a motivation, but dying for money is not really worth it.' The young recruits are preparing to head to the front at a time when Russian forces continue assaults along multiple fronts even as the US administration of President Donald Trump seeks a negotiated ceasefire. Zelenskiy said in January that Ukraine had 980,000 people in arms, while last year the Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the size of the Russian armed forces to be increased by 180,000 to 1.5 million active service personnel. A Ukrainian draft has been in place for most adult men after the full-scale Russian invasion of 2022, and Kyiv reduced the age of those required by law to join up from 27 to 25 last year in a bid to invigorate their forces. The youth recruitment scheme marks a departure from the forced mobilization, which was hampered by public mistrust, and is part of a broader drive to make the military more professional and sustainable, officials say. The average age of Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield is 45, a senior diplomat source with knowledge of the country's defence capabilities told Reuters. Serhii Filimonov, commander of the Da Vinci Wolves battalion serving on the eastern Pokrovsk front, said many motivated young people had joined up even before the recruitment drive. So he didn't expect many 18 to 24-year-olds to sign up to the scheme, adding that money alone wasn't sufficient motivation to fight a war. 'You have to fight for your friends, for your family, for the future, not for a million hryvnias.' Nonetheless, Oleksandr Moroz, military instructor at one of the brigades, said most of the young men he had trained were attracted by the financial benefits, though described the recruitment to date as 'a drop in the ocean' in attempts to lower the average age on the frontline. 'At this stage, they are still children, big children,' he added as the new recruits learned tactical medicine at a training site. TIKTOK V REAL LIFE As well as being enticed by the money, the recruits interviewed by Reuters variously said they joined to defend their homeland, have greater control of their fate than simply being drafted and to potentially forge a military career. While they still have multiple weeks of training left before deploying, their first experience of simulated artillery and drone attacks came as a shock to some. 'It's like TikTok and real life: there is a big difference. In the video, it looks so cool, so easy, but in reality it's not,' said Zakhariy Shatko, a 24-year-old who joined the scheme together with his friend Broshkov. As instructors practiced drone assaults, one of the main battlefield threats, the two friends got a smoking break in. When instructors learn of such infractions, 100 push-ups are assigned for the entire unit to drill in shared responsibility. For 18-year-old Yuriy Bobryshev — the first person to join the programme — the motivation to fight was personal. After escaping the Russian occupation of Volnovakha in the Donetsk region at the age of 15, he is haunted by memories of the violence as well as by the loss of his brother, who was killed there. 'I saw too many bodies,' Bobryshev said. 'As soon as I left, I wanted to go fight.'
NDTV
25-04-2025
- Politics
- NDTV
Inside Ukraine's Youth Recruitment Drive - Cash Bonuses, Mortgage Deals
Kyiv: You'll receive a generous salary, a bumper bonus and an interest-free loan to buy a home. The challenge? You'll have to fight on the frontlines of Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II. It's a tough sell to young people with their whole lives ahead of them. Two months after Ukraine launched a national drive to recruit young people to fight in its tired and aged armed forces for a year, fewer than 500 have signed contracts, according to Pavlo Palisa, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's military adviser. Palisa stressed it was early days for the scheme, which was initially confined to six brigades before expansion to 24. The numbers so far provide scant respite for Ukraine's defence forces, which are outnumbered by Russia after three years of war that has killed and injured hundreds of thousands. Pavlo Broshkov, among the few hundred young people to take up the offer so far, said he viewed military service as his duty and wanted to help spare his six-month-old daughter Polina the horrors he had faced growing up during the conflict. "I don't want my child to even hear the word 'war' in the future," said the 20-year-old, among seven young recruits interviewed by Reuters who are being sent to fight with frontline units in about two months. "I simply don't want her to know what it means." As a new father dreaming of buying an apartment for his family, Broshkov was also attracted by the financial terms of the recruitment scheme, which was launched in February targeting 18 to 24-year-olds who are prepared to fill fighting roles. On top of the mortgage deal, the package includes a monthly salary of up to $2,900, way above the national average wage of about $520, a cash bonus of 1 million hryvnia ($24,000) and a one-year exemption from mobilization after a year of service. Broshkov's 18-year-old wife understands the need to defend the country but can't stop agonizing over the danger. "Death is chasing my husband now and it can catch up with him at any time," said Kristina Broshkova, who moved back with her parents. "Money is a motivation, but dying for money is not really worth it." 'They are still big children' The young recruits are preparing to head to the front at a time when Russian forces continue assaults along multiple fronts even as the U.S. administration of President Donald Trump seeks a negotiated ceasefire. Zelenskiy said in January that Ukraine had 980,000 people in arms, while last year the Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the size of the Russian armed forces to be increased by 180,000 to 1.5 million active service personnel. A Ukrainian draft has been in place for most adult men after the full-scale Russian invasion of 2022, and Kyiv reduced the age of those required by law to join up from 27 to 25 last year in a bid to invigorate their forces. The youth recruitment scheme marks a departure from the forced mobilization, which was hampered by public mistrust, and is part of a broader drive to make the military more professional and sustainable, officials say. The average age of Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield is 45, a senior diplomat source with knowledge of the country's defence capabilities told Reuters. Serhii Filimonov, commander of the Da Vinci Wolves battalion serving on the eastern Pokrovsk front, said many motivated young people had joined up even before the recruitment drive. So he didn't expect many 18 to 24-year-olds to sign up to the scheme, adding that money alone wasn't sufficient motivation to fight a war. "You have to fight for your friends, for your family, for the future, not for a million hryvnias." Nonetheless, Oleksandr Moroz, military instructor at one of the brigades, said most of the young men he had trained were attracted by the financial benefits, though described the recruitment to date as "a drop in the ocean" in attempts to lower the average age on the frontline. "At this stage, they are still children, big children," he added as the new recruits learned tactical medicine at a training site. TikTok VS Real life As well as being enticed by the money, the recruits interviewed by Reuters variously said they joined to defend their homeland, have greater control of their fate than simply being drafted and to potentially forge a military career. While they still have multiple weeks of training left before deploying, their first experience of simulated artillery and drone attacks came as a shock to some. "It's like TikTok and real life: there is a big difference. In the video, it looks so cool, so easy, but in reality it's not," said Zakhariy Shatko, a 24-year-old who joined the scheme together with his friend Broshkov. As instructors practiced drone assaults, one of the main battlefield threats, the two friends got a smoking break in. When instructors learn of such infractions, 100 push-ups are assigned for the entire unit to drill in shared responsibility. For 18-year-old Yuriy Bobryshev - the first person to join the programme - the motivation to fight was personal. After escaping the Russian occupation of Volnovakha in the Donetsk region at the age of 15, he is haunted by memories of the violence as well as by the loss of his brother, who was killed there. "I saw too many bodies," Bobryshev said. "As soon as I left, I wanted to go fight."
Japan Times
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Japan Times
Cash bonus for a year fighting Russia? Inside Ukraine's youth recruitment drive
You'll receive a generous salary, a bumper bonus and an interest-free loan to buy a home. The challenge? You'll have to fight on the frontlines of Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II. It's a tough sell to young people with their whole lives ahead of them. Two months after Ukraine launched a national drive to recruit young people to fight in its tired and aged armed forces for a year, fewer than 500 have signed contracts, according to Pavlo Palisa, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's military adviser. Palisa stressed it was early days for the program, which was initially confined to six brigades before expanding to 24. The numbers so far provide scant respite for Ukraine's defense forces, which are outnumbered by Russia after three years of a war that has killed and injured hundreds of thousands. Pavlo Broshkov, among the few hundred young people to take up the offer so far, said he viewed military service as his duty and wanted to help spare his 6-month-old daughter Polina from the horrors he had faced growing up during the conflict. "I don't want my child to even hear the word 'war' in the future," said the 20-year-old, one of seven young recruits interviewed for this story who are being sent to fight with front-line units in about two months. "I simply don't want her to know what it means." Young Ukrainian recruits participate in a tactical medical exercise in Kyiv. | REUTERS As a new father dreaming of buying an apartment for his family, Broshkov was also attracted by the financial terms of the recruitment program, which was launched in February targeting 18- to 24-year-olds who are prepared to fill fighting roles. On top of the mortgage deal, the package includes a monthly salary of up to $2,900, way above the national average wage of about $520, a cash bonus of 1 million hryvnia ($24,000) and a one-year exemption from mobilization after a year of service. Broshkov's 18-year-old wife understands the need to defend the country but can't stop agonizing over the danger. "Death is chasing my husband now and it can catch up with him at any time," said Kristina Broshkova, who moved back with her parents. "Money is a motivation, but dying for money is not really worth it." The young recruits are preparing to head to the front at a time when Russian forces continue assaults along multiple fronts even as the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump seeks a negotiated ceasefire. Zelenskyy said in January that Ukraine had 980,000 people in arms, while last year the Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the size of the Russian armed forces to be increased by 180,000 to 1.5 million active service personnel. A Ukrainian draft has been in place for most adult men after the full-scale Russian invasion of 2022, and Kyiv reduced the age of those required by law to join up from 27 to 25 last year in a bid to invigorate their forces. Young Ukrainian recruits attend an oath ceremony in Kyiv. Ukraine's Defense Ministry launched a recruitment drive for young people to serve in the military for a year for the equivalent of about $24,000 and hefty bonuses. | REUTERS The youth recruitment plan marks a departure from forced mobilization, which was hampered by public mistrust, and is part of a broader drive to make the military more professional and sustainable, officials say. The average age of Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield is 45, a senior diplomat source with knowledge of the country's defense capabilities said. Serhii Filimonov, commander of the Da Vinci Wolves battalion serving on the eastern Pokrovsk front, said many motivated young people had joined up even before the recruitment drive. So he didn't expect many 18 to 24-year-olds to sign up to the program, adding that money alone wasn't sufficient motivation to fight a war. "You have to fight for your friends, for your family, for the future, not for a million hryvnias." Nonetheless, Oleksandr Moroz, military instructor at one of the brigades, said most of the young men he had trained were attracted by the financial benefits, though described the recruitment to date as "a drop in the ocean" in attempts to lower the average age on the front line. "At this stage, they are still children, big children," he added as the new recruits learned tactical medicine at a training site. As well as being enticed by the money, the recruits variously said they joined to defend their homeland, have greater control of their fate than simply being drafted and to potentially forge a military career. While they still have multiple weeks of training left before deploying, their first experience of simulated artillery and drone attacks came as a shock to some. "It's like TikTok and real life: there is a big difference. In the video, it looks so cool, so easy, but in reality it's not," said Zakhariy Shatko, a 24-year-old who joined the program together with his friend Broshkov. As instructors practiced drone assaults, one of the main battlefield threats, the two friends got a smoke break in. When instructors learn of such infractions, 100 push-ups are assigned for the entire unit to drill in the idea of shared responsibility. For 18-year-old Yuriy Bobryshev — the first person to join the program — the motivation to fight was personal. After escaping the Russian occupation of Volnovakha in the Donetsk region at the age of 15, he is haunted by memories of the violence as well as by the loss of his brother, who was killed there. "I saw too many bodies," Bobryshev said. "As soon as I left, I wanted to go fight."
