Latest news with #Pokrovsk
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Zelenskyy: Kursk operation keeps Russian troops from being active in Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated that the Kursk operation is keeping a significant number of Russian troops from being active on Ukrainian territory. Source: Zelenskyy in an evening address Quote: "Today, there was a report from Commander-in-Chief [Oleksandr] Syrskyi. The situation on the front remains difficult. On some fronts, we are seeing increased Russian activity. The most tense fighting is on the Pokrovsk, Lyman and Kupiansk fronts. We are continuing our Kursk operation, which is keeping a significant number of Russian troops from being active on Ukrainian territory. The war must move into Russian territory – back to where it came from." Background: DeepState, a Ukrainian group of military analysts, has reported on the advance of Russian troops in the vicinity of the village of Oleksandriia in Sumy Oblast. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
BBC News
6 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Fibre optic drones: The terrifying new weapon changing the war in Ukraine
An acrid smell hangs over the town of Rodynske. A couple of minutes after we drive into the city we see where it's coming from.A 250kg glide bomb has ripped through the town's main administrative building, and taken down three residential blocks. We're visiting a day after the bomb struck, but parts of the wreckage are still smoking. From the edges of the town we hear the sound of artillery fire, and of gunshots – Ukrainian soldiers shooting down is about 15km (9 miles) north of the embattled city of Pokrovsk. Russia has been trying to capture it from the south since the autumn of last year, but Ukrainian forces have so far managed to stop Russian soldiers from marching Russia has changed tactics, moving instead to encircle the city, cutting off supply routes. In the past two weeks, as hectic diplomatic efforts to bring about a ceasefire in Ukraine have failed, Russia has intensified its push, making its most significant advances since find proof of that in minutes of us arriving in town, we hear a Russian drone above us. Our team runs to the closest cover available – a tree. We press up against it so the drone won't see us. Then there's the sound of a loud explosion – it's a second drone making impact nearby. The drone above us is still hovering. For a few more minutes, we hear the terrifying whirring sound of what's become the deadliest weapon of this we can't hear it any more we take the chance to run to hard cover in an abandoned building 100ft the shelter, we hear the drone again. It's possible it returned after seeing our Rodynske is being swarmed by Russian drones is evidence that the attacks are coming from positions much closer than known Russian positions to the south of Pokrovsk. They were most likely coming from newly captured territory on a key road running from the east of Pokrovsk to half an hour of waiting in the shelter, when we can't hear the drone anymore, we move quickly to our car parked under tree cover, and speed out of Rodynske. By the side of the highway we see smoke billowing and something burning – it's most likely a downed drone. We drive to Bilytske, further away from the frontline. We see a row of houses destroyed by a missile strike overnight. One of them was Svitlana's home."It's getting worse and worse. Earlier, we could hear distant explosions, they were far away. But now our town is getting targeted – we're experiencing it ourselves," says the 61-year-old, as she picks up a few belongings from the wreckage of her home. Luckily Svitlana wasn't at home when the attack occurred."Go into the centre of the town, you'll see so much that is destroyed there. And the bakery and zoo have been destroyed too," she a safehouse just out of reach of drones, we meet soldiers of the artillery unit of the 5th Assault Brigade."You can feel the intensity of Russian assaults increasing. Rockets, mortars, drones, they're using everything they have to cut off supply routes going into the city," says unit has been waiting for three days to deploy to their positions, waiting for cloud cover or high-speed winds to give them protection from drones. In an ever-evolving conflict, soldiers have had to rapidly adapt to new threats posed by changing technology. And the latest threat comes from fibre optic drones. A spool of tens of kilometres of cable is fitted to the bottom of a drone and the physical fibre optic cord is attached to the controller held by the pilot."The video and control signal is transmitted to and from the drone through the cable, not through radio frequencies. This means it can't be jammed by electronic interceptors," says a soldier with the call sign Moderator, a drone engineer with the 68th Jaeger drones began to be used in this war in a big way, both militaries fitted their vehicles with electronic warfare systems, which could neutralise drones. That protection has evaporated with the arrival of fibre optic drones, and in the deployment of these devices, Russia currently has the edge. Ukraine is trying to ramp up production."Russia started using fibre optic drones much before us, while we were still testing them. These drones can be used in places where we have to go lower than usual drones. We can even enter houses and look for targets inside," says Venia, a drone pilot with the 68th Jaeger Brigade."We've started joking that maybe we should carry scissors to cut the cord," says Serhii, the artillery optic drones do have drawbacks – they are slower and the cable could get entangled in trees. But at the moment, their widespread use by Russia means that transporting soldiers to and from their positions can often be deadlier than the battlefield itself. "When you enter a position, you don't know whether you've been spotted or not. And if you have been spotted, then you may already be living the last hours of your life," says Oles, Chief Sergeant of the reconnaissance unit of the 5th Assault threat means that soldiers are spending longer and longer in their positions. Oles and his men are in the infantry, serving in the trenches right at the very front of Ukraine's defence. It's rare for journalists these days to speak to infantrymen, as it's become too risky to go to these trenches. We meet Oles and Maksym in a rural home converted into a makeshift base, where the soldiers come to rest when they're not on deployment."The longest I spent at the position was 31 days, but I do know guys who have spent 90 and even 120 days there. Back before the drones arrived, the rotations could have been between 3 or 7 days at the position," says Maksym."War is blood, death, wet mud and a chill that spreads from head to toe. And this is how you spend every day. I remember one instance when we didn't sleep for three days, alert every minute. The Russians kept coming at us wave after wave. Even a minor lapse would have meant we were dead."Oles says Russia's infantry has changed its tactics. "Earlier they attacked in groups. Now they only send one or two people at times. They also use motorcycles and in a few instances, quad bikes. Sometimes they slip through."What this means is that the front lines in some parts are no longer conventional lines with the Ukrainians on one side and the Russians on the other, but more like pieces on a chessboard during play, where positions can be also makes it harder to see advances made by either side. Despite Russia's recent gains, it will not be quick or easy for it to take the whole of the Donetsk region, where Pokrovsk has pushed back hard, but it needs a steady supply of weapons and ammunition to sustain the as the war enters a fourth summer, Ukraine's manpower issues against a much bigger Russian army are also evident. Most of the soldiers we meet joined the military after the war began. They've had a few months of training, but have had to learn a lot on the job in the middle of a raging worked for a drinks company before he joined the military. I asked how his family copes with his job."It's hard, it's really hard. My family really supports me. But I have a two-year-old son, and I don't get to see him much. I do video call him though, so everything is as fine as it could be under the circumstances," he trails off, eyes welling up with is a soldier fighting for his country, but he's also just a father missing his two-year-old reporting by Imogen Anderson, Sanjay Ganguly, Volodymyr Lozhko and Anastasiia Levchenko
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ukraine's Defence Intelligence records 150 executions of soldiers in Russian captivity
Defence Intelligence of Ukraine has reported that the number of executions of Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield is increasing – over 150 such cases have been recorded. Source: Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) Details: The intelligence officers have also recorded direct orders to kill prisoners of war. DIU cited the words of Morris Tidball-Binz, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, who is convinced that such executions "would not happen with such numbers and frequency without orders – or at the very least consent" of the Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin. Quote from DIU: "These crimes are not isolated incidents but part of a deliberate policy by the leadership of the aggressor state – Russia." Background: On the morning of 22 May 2025, during an assault on the positions of Ukraine's defence forces near the village of Udachne in the Pokrovsk district, the Russians took two Ukrainian servicemen prisoner and later executed them. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Almost 150 combat clashes occur over past day, over 50 of them on Pokrovsk front – Ukraine's General Staff
A total of 144 combat clashes have been recorded on the front lines over the past 24 hours, 54 of which occurred on the Pokrovsk front. Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook, information as of 08:00 on 22 May Quote: "A total of 144 combat clashes have been recorded over the past day. Updated reports indicate that the enemy launched 90 airstrikes on the positions of Ukrainian units and populated areas, dropped 144 guided bombs and deployed 2,492 kamikaze drones. The enemy also carried out 5,291 artillery strikes, including 114 from multiple-launch rocket systems." Details: On the Kharkiv front, Russian troops attempted to advance six times near the settlements of Vovchansk and Kamianka and in the direction of Mala Shapkivka. On the Kupiansk front, four Russian attacks took place. The Ukrainian defence forces repelled the Russians' assault operations near the settlements of Kindrashivka, Zahryzove and Nova Kruhliakivka. On the Lyman front, there were 17 combat clashes. The Russians tried to advance near the settlements of Ridkodub, Hrekivka and Zelena Dolyna, towards Novoserhiivka, Olhivka and Novyi Myr and in Serebrianka Forest. On the Siversk front, Ukrainian defenders repelled two Russian attacks near the village of Bilohorivka. On the Kramatorsk front, the Russians carried out three attacks near the town of Chasiv Yar and in the direction of Predtechyne. On the Toretsk front, Russian forces carried out 16 assaults near the settlements of Dyliivka, Druzhba and Toretsk. On the Pokrovsk front, Ukrainian defenders repelled 54 Russian assault operations near the settlements of Yablunivka, Zoria, Shevchenko Pershe, Nova Poltavka, Myroliubivka, Yelyzavetivka, Lysivka, Dachenske, Kotlyne, Novoserhiivka, Udachne, Troitske, Promin, Kotliarivka and Andriivka and towards Popiv Yar and Novomykolaivka. On the Novopavlivka front, 19 assaults took place near the settlements of Bahatyr, Odradne, Shevchenko, Vesele, Rivnopil, Novopil, Zelene Pole and Vilne Pole. On the Huliaipole front, the Russians attempted to advance three times near the village of Vysoke. On the Orikhiv front, Ukrainian defenders repelled four Russian attacks near the settlements of Shcherbaky and Stepove and towards Pavlivka. On the Prydniprovske front, Russian troops made one unsuccessful attempt to advance. On the Volyn and Polissia fronts, there is no evidence of any offensive Russian groups being formed in the area. In the operational zone in Russia's Kursk Oblast, five assaults were recorded. Russian forces also carried out 17 airstrikes using 34 guided aerial bombs and 191 artillery attacks, including 9 with multiple-launch rocket systems. Over the past 24 hours, Ukraine's Rocket Forces and Artillery have struck 12 areas where Russian military personnel, weapons and equipment were concentrated, three command posts, an air defence asset, five artillery assets and two other crucial facilities belonging to the Russians. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Russia downs 105 Ukrainian drones, including 35 over Moscow region, defence ministry says
MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia said on Thursday that it shot down 105 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions, including dozens heading towards Moscow, as the war in Ukraine heats up while major powers discuss ways to end Europe's deadliest conflict since World War Two. While Russia, Ukraine, the United States and European powers consider the sequencing of a possible end to the more than three-year conflict in Ukraine, the drone war continues and fighting is intensifying in some key areas of the front. Russia's defence ministry said 105 drones had been shot down over Russian regions between midnight and the early morning of Thursday, including 35 over the Moscow region. The previous day, Russia said it shot down well over 300 Ukrainian drones. Sergei Sobyanin, Moscow's mayor, said multiple drones had been shot down heading towards the capital, which along with the surrounding region has a population of 21 million people. Russia's defence ministry said its forces were advancing at key points along the front, and pro-Russian war bloggers said Russia had pierced Ukrainian lines between Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address, the heaviest frontline battles were around Pokrovsk and made no reference to any Russian advances.
