Latest news with #Ukrain
Business Recorder
2 days ago
- Politics
- Business Recorder
Russia advances to east-central Ukrainian region amid row over dead soldiers
MOSCOW/KYIV: Russia said on Sunday its forces had advanced to the edge of the east-central Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk amid a public row between Moscow and Kyiv over peace negotiations and the return of thousands of bodies of soldiers who fell in the war. Amid talk of peace, the war is stepping up with Russian forces grabbing more territory in Ukraine and Kyiv unfurling high-profile drone and sabotage attacks on Russia's nuclear-capable bomber fleet and, according to Moscow, on railways. Russia, which controls a little under one-fifth of Ukrainian territory, has taken more than 190 square km (73 square miles) of the Sumy region of eastern Ukraine in less than a month, according to pro-Ukrainian open source maps. Now, according to the Russian defence ministry, units of the 90th Tank Division of the Central Grouping of Russian forces have reached the western frontier of Ukraine's Donetsk region and are attacking the adjacent Dnipropetrovsk region. 'The enemy does not abandon its intentions to enter the Dnipropetrovsk region,' Ukraine's Southern Defence Forces said on Telegram. 'Our soldiers are courageously and professionally holding their section of the front, disrupting the occupier's plans. This work does not stop for a minute.' Ukraine drones attack on Moscow forces airport closure, Russia says The pro-Ukrainian Deep State map showed Russian forces very close to the Dnipropetrovsk region, which had a population of more than 3 million before the war, and advancing on the city of Kostyantynivka in the Donetsk region from several directions. A Ukrainian military spokesman, Dmytro Zaporozhets, said that Russian forces were trying to 'build a bridgehead for an attack' on Kostyantynivka, an important logistical hub for the Ukrainian army. Russia on Saturday accused Ukraine of delaying the swap of prisoners of war and return the bodies of 12,000 dead soldiers, though Ukraine denied those claims. Russia said on Sunday it was moving bodies towards the border. U.S. President Donald Trump, who says he wants an end to the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two, on Thursday likened it to a fight between young children and indicated that he might have to simply let the conflict play out. Accusations over willingness for peace Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that he did not think Ukraine's leaders wanted peace, after accusing them of ordering a bombing in Bryansk, western Russia that killed seven people and injured 115 a day before talks in Turkey. Ukraine, which has not commented on the attack on a Bryansk bridge, has similarly accused Moscow of not seriously seeking peace, citing as evidence Russian resistance to an immediate ceasefire. US believes Russia response to Ukraine drone attack not over yet, expects multi-pronged strike Russia is demanding international recognition of Crimea, a peninsula annexed from Ukraine by Russia in 2014, and four other regions of Ukraine that Moscow has claimed as its own territory. Ukraine would have to withdraw its forces from all of them. Russia controlled 113,273 square km, or 18.8%, of Ukrainian territory as of June 7, according to the Deep State map. That is an area bigger than the U.S. state of Virginia. The areas under Russian control include Crimea, more than 99% of the Luhansk region, over 70% of the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, all in the east or southeast, and fragments of the Kharkiv and Sumy regions in the northeast Putin told Trump on Wednesday that he would have to respond to Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia's bomber fleet and the bombings of the railways. The United States believes that Putin's threatened retaliation against Ukraine over its attacks has not happened yet in earnest and is likely to be a significant, multi-pronged strike, U.S. officials told Reuters. Russia also hit the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Friday evening and overnight with drones, missiles and guided bombs, killing at least four people and injuring more than 60, including a baby, local officials said on Saturday. Russia also said it had downed 61 Ukrainian drones overnight on Sunday in the Moscow region. Two major airports serving Moscow were closed temporarily.
Straits Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Russia accuses Ukraine of postponing prisoner swop after massive attack
KYIV – Russia on June 7 accused Ukraine of postponing a large-scale exchange of captured soldiers, hours after Moscow's army launched a barrage of missiles, drones and bombs across the country. Kyiv and Moscow agreed to release all wounded soldiers and those aged under-25 that had been captured, with both sides saying the exchange was set for the weekend. The POW swop – to involve more than 1,000 people on each side – along with an agreement to hand over the bodies of thousands of killed soldiers was the only concrete outcome of a second round of peace talks in Istanbul on June 2. Russia has rejected Ukraine's calls for an unconditional ceasefire, drawing accusations Moscow has no desire to halt its three-year invasion. 'The Ukrainian side has unexpectedly postponed for an indefinite period, both the acceptance of the bodies and the exchange of prisoners of war,' Russia's top negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said on social media. Mr Medinsky said Russia had brought the bodies of 1,212 killed Ukrainian soldiers to the 'exchange area' – the first of 6,000 to be handed over. Moscow had also sent a list to Kyiv with the names of 640 POWs to be swapped in the first stage. The exchange was set to be the largest of the war, topping last month's 1,000-for-1,000 swop that was agreed at a first round of talks in Istanbul. 'We urge Kyiv to strictly adhere to the timetable and all agreements reached, and begin the exchange immediately,' Mr Medinsky said. Kyiv did not immediately respond to the accusation. After the Istanbul talks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the exchange would take place last weekend, while Russia said it was ready for June 7, June 8 or June 9. 'Powerful attack' The accusation came hours after Russia launched a massive aerial attack across Ukraine, heavily targeting the city of Kharkiv. At least eight people were killed in the overnight barrage and front-line shelling in total, officials said. Kharkiv came under 'the most powerful attack since the beginning of the full-scale war,' Mayor Igor Terekhov said. At least three people were killed and 17 wounded there after Russia pummelled homes and apartment blocks. Another six were still unaccounted for as of June 7 afternoon, believed to have been in an industrial site that was hit, the local prosecutor's office said. Three people were killed in the front-line Donetsk region, which has seen the most intense fighting of the war, and a couple were killed in the southern city of Kherson, another city close to the front. Since Russia invaded in February 2022, tens of thousands have been killed, with millions forced to flee their homes as cities and villages across eastern Ukraine have been destroyed. 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. The Ukrainian air force said Russia had fired 206 drones and nine missiles in the overnight barrage. Russia's defence ministry said it had launched a 'group strike' against 'military-industrial' facilities in Ukraine, adding that all the 'targets' had been hit. The Kremlin in recent days has vowed revenge for a brazen Ukrainian drone attack on June 1 on its nuclear-capable bomber fleet, thousands of kilometres behind the front lines. And on June 6 it called the Ukraine war an 'existential question' for Russia. Ceasefire hopes dim The comments are Moscow's latest to dampen hopes for a breakthrough amid the flurry of diplomacy, as well as telephone calls between Putin and US President Donald Trump. Despite Trump urging a swift end to the fighting, he Kremlin chief has issued a host of sweeping demands on Ukraine as preconditions to a truce. They include completely pulling troops out of four regions claimed by Russia, but which its army does not fully control, an end to Western military support and a ban on Ukraine joining Nato. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has dismissed the demands as old ultimatums, questioned the purpose of more such talks and called for a summit to be attended by him, Putin and Trump. AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Hindustan Times
02-06-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Trump 'open' to meeting leaders of Ukraine, Russia to push ceasefire
US President Donald Trump is "open" to meeting his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts in Turkey, the White House said, after the two sides failed on Monday to make headway towards an elusive ceasefire. Delegations from both sides did, however, agree another large-scale prisoner exchange in their meeting in Istanbul, which in mid-May also hosted their first round of face-to-face talks. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan proposed that Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Trump come together for a third round later this month in either Istanbul or Ankara. Putin has thus far refused such a meeting. But Zelensky has said he is willing, underlining that key issues can only be resolved at leaders-level. Trump, who wants a swift end to the three-year war, "is open to it if it comes to that, but he wants both of these leaders and both sides to come to the table together", White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in Washington. Zelensky said that "we really expect Trump to take strong steps", and urged the US leader to toughen sanctions on Russia to "push" it to agree to a full ceasefire. In Monday's meeting, Ukraine said that Moscow had rejected its call for an unconditional ceasefire. It offered instead a partial truce of two to three days in some areas of the frontline. Russia will only agree a full ceasefire if Ukrainian troops pull back entirely from four regions, Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson according to its negotiating terms reported on by Russian state media. Russia currently only partly controls those regions. Moscow has also demanded a ban on Kyiv joining NATO, limiting Ukraine's military and ending Western military support. Top negotiators from both sides confirmed their latest talks yielded a deal to swap all severely wounded soldiers as well as all captured fighters under the age of 25. Russia's lead negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said it would involve "at least 1,000" on each side topping the 1,000-for-1,000 POW exchange agreed at talks last month. The two sides also agreed to hand over the bodies of 6,000 killed soldiers, Ukraine said after the talks. "The Russian side continued to reject the motion of an unconditional ceasefire," Ukraine's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergiy Kyslytsya told reporters after the talks. Russia said it had offered a limited pause in fighting. "We have proposed a specific ceasefire for two to three days in certain areas of the front line," top negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said, adding that this was needed to collect the bodies of dead soldiers from the battlefield. Kyiv said it would study a document the Russian side handed its negotiators outlining its demands for both peace and a full ceasefire. Zelensky said after the Istanbul talks concluded that any deal must not "reward" Putin. "The key to lasting peace is clear, the aggressor must not receive any reward for war," Zelensky said at a press conference in Vilnius alongside several NATO leaders. The Ukrainian president has said a long-term peace deal can only happen once fighting has paused, and has called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire to cover combat on air, sea and land. Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, who led his country's delegation, called for a next meeting to take place before the end of June. He also said a Putin-Zelensky summit should be discussed. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said after the talks inside a luxury hotel on the banks of the Bosphorus that they were held "in a constructive atmosphere". "The parties built on the points they had agreed upon during the first meeting," Fidan said on X. "During the meeting, the parties decided to continue preparations for a possible meeting at the leader level," he said. Tens of thousands have been killed since Russia invaded, with swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine destroyed and millions forced to flee their homes in Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. In the front-line town of Dobropillya in eastern Ukraine, 53-year-old Volodymyr told AFP he had no hope left for an end to the conflict. "We thought that everything would stop. And now there is nothing to wait for. We have no home, nothing. We were almost killed by drones," he said. After months of setbacks for Kyiv's military, Ukraine said it had carried out an audacious attack on Sunday, smuggling drones into Russia and then firing them at airbases, damaging around 40 strategic Russian bombers worth $7 billion in a major special operation. bur/rmb/bc
NBC News
23-05-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
Prisoner swap begins between Russia and Ukraine but peace talks remain deadlocked
Russia and Ukraine began a major prisoner swap Friday that was agreed at their first direct talks in more than three years, a Ukrainian military source said. President Donald Trump said the prisoner exchange had already been completed but Kyiv and Moscow did not confirm this and the military source said the swap was still under way. Russia and Ukraine each agreed at two hours of talks in Istanbul last week to swap 1,000 prisoners, but failed to agree to a ceasefire proposed by Trump. Previous prisoner swaps have been mediated by the United Arab Emirates. The prisoner swap was the only concrete step towards peace the two sides agreed at their talks in Istanbul. "Congratulations to both sides on this negotiation. This could lead to something big???," Trump said in a post on Truth Social. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers on both sides are believed to have been wounded or killed in Europe's deadliest war since World War II, although neither side publishes accurate casualty figures. Tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians have also died as Russian forces have besieged and bombarded Ukrainian cities. Ukraine says it is ready for a 30-day ceasefire immediately, but Russia, which launched the war by invading its neighbor in 2022 and now occupies about a fifth of Ukraine, says it will not pause its assaults until conditions are met first. A member of the Ukrainian delegation called those conditions "non-starters". Trump, who has shifted U.S. policy from supporting Ukrain e towards accepting some of Russia's account of the war, had said he could tighten sanctions on Russia if Moscow blocked a peace deal. But after speaking to Putin on Monday he decided to take no action for now. Moscow says it is ready for peace talks while the fighting goes on, and wants to discuss what it calls the war's "root causes," including its demands Ukraine cede more territory, and be disarmed and barred from military alliances with the West.
The Advertiser
18-05-2025
- Politics
- The Advertiser
Russia launches war's largest drone attack: Ukraine
The largest known Russian drone attack since full-scale war began in 2022 killed a woman in the Kyiv region and injured at least three people, Ukrainian authorities say, as Moscow steps up strikes following peace talks. Russia had launched 273 drones by 8am on Sunday local time (0500 GMT), targeting chiefly the central Kyiv region and the Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions in the country's east, Ukraine's air force said. Based on data provided by the air force, this was Russia's largest drone attack on Ukraine during the war. On the eve of the third anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 23, Moscow launched a then-record 267 drones. The first direct talks in three years between Russia and Ukraine on Friday failed to broker the temporary ceasefire Kyiv and its allies have been urging. The 100 minutes of talks in Istanbul yielded an agreement to trade 1000 prisoners of war on each side. US President Donald Trump said he would speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday. The sustained overnight Russian drone attack on Sunday killed a 28-year-old woman in the capital region and injured at least three people, including a four-year-old, Ukrainian authorities said. "Unfortunately, as a result of the enemy attack in the Obukhiv district, a woman died from her injuries," Mykola Kalashnik, governor of the Kyiv region, posted on Telegram. Kyiv, the region around it and the eastern part of Ukraine were under raid warnings for nine hours overnight before they were called off about 9am local time (0600 GMT). Air defence units were engaged several times trying to repel attacks, the military said on Telegram. "It's been a tough night. The Russians have always used war and attacks to intimidate everyone in negotiations," Andriy Kovalenko, head of Ukraine's Centre for Countering Disinformation, said on Telegram of Sunday's attack. Air defence units destroyed 88 of the drones overnight. The attack also included 128 simulator drones that were lost along the way without hitting anything, Ukraine's air force said in a statement on Telegram. On Saturday, a Russian drone attack killed nine civilians after hitting a shuttle bus in the Sumy region in northeast Ukraine, Kyiv said. Zelenskiy called the attack "deliberate" and urged stronger sanctions on Moscow, which said it had attacked a military facility. All of those injured in the Obukhiv district just south of Kyiv city were taken to hospital, Kalashnik said. He said several residential buildings in the area were damaged. In the city of Kyiv, fragments of a destroyed drone damaged the roof of a non-residential building, the city's military administration said on Telegram. Reuters witnesses in and around Kyiv heard blasts that sounded like air defence units in operation. There was no immediate comment from Russia. Both sides deny targeting civilians in the war, but thousands have been killed in the conflict, the vast majority of them Ukrainian. The largest known Russian drone attack since full-scale war began in 2022 killed a woman in the Kyiv region and injured at least three people, Ukrainian authorities say, as Moscow steps up strikes following peace talks. Russia had launched 273 drones by 8am on Sunday local time (0500 GMT), targeting chiefly the central Kyiv region and the Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions in the country's east, Ukraine's air force said. Based on data provided by the air force, this was Russia's largest drone attack on Ukraine during the war. On the eve of the third anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 23, Moscow launched a then-record 267 drones. The first direct talks in three years between Russia and Ukraine on Friday failed to broker the temporary ceasefire Kyiv and its allies have been urging. The 100 minutes of talks in Istanbul yielded an agreement to trade 1000 prisoners of war on each side. US President Donald Trump said he would speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday. The sustained overnight Russian drone attack on Sunday killed a 28-year-old woman in the capital region and injured at least three people, including a four-year-old, Ukrainian authorities said. "Unfortunately, as a result of the enemy attack in the Obukhiv district, a woman died from her injuries," Mykola Kalashnik, governor of the Kyiv region, posted on Telegram. Kyiv, the region around it and the eastern part of Ukraine were under raid warnings for nine hours overnight before they were called off about 9am local time (0600 GMT). Air defence units were engaged several times trying to repel attacks, the military said on Telegram. "It's been a tough night. The Russians have always used war and attacks to intimidate everyone in negotiations," Andriy Kovalenko, head of Ukraine's Centre for Countering Disinformation, said on Telegram of Sunday's attack. Air defence units destroyed 88 of the drones overnight. The attack also included 128 simulator drones that were lost along the way without hitting anything, Ukraine's air force said in a statement on Telegram. On Saturday, a Russian drone attack killed nine civilians after hitting a shuttle bus in the Sumy region in northeast Ukraine, Kyiv said. Zelenskiy called the attack "deliberate" and urged stronger sanctions on Moscow, which said it had attacked a military facility. All of those injured in the Obukhiv district just south of Kyiv city were taken to hospital, Kalashnik said. He said several residential buildings in the area were damaged. In the city of Kyiv, fragments of a destroyed drone damaged the roof of a non-residential building, the city's military administration said on Telegram. Reuters witnesses in and around Kyiv heard blasts that sounded like air defence units in operation. There was no immediate comment from Russia. Both sides deny targeting civilians in the war, but thousands have been killed in the conflict, the vast majority of them Ukrainian. The largest known Russian drone attack since full-scale war began in 2022 killed a woman in the Kyiv region and injured at least three people, Ukrainian authorities say, as Moscow steps up strikes following peace talks. Russia had launched 273 drones by 8am on Sunday local time (0500 GMT), targeting chiefly the central Kyiv region and the Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions in the country's east, Ukraine's air force said. Based on data provided by the air force, this was Russia's largest drone attack on Ukraine during the war. On the eve of the third anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 23, Moscow launched a then-record 267 drones. The first direct talks in three years between Russia and Ukraine on Friday failed to broker the temporary ceasefire Kyiv and its allies have been urging. The 100 minutes of talks in Istanbul yielded an agreement to trade 1000 prisoners of war on each side. US President Donald Trump said he would speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday. The sustained overnight Russian drone attack on Sunday killed a 28-year-old woman in the capital region and injured at least three people, including a four-year-old, Ukrainian authorities said. "Unfortunately, as a result of the enemy attack in the Obukhiv district, a woman died from her injuries," Mykola Kalashnik, governor of the Kyiv region, posted on Telegram. Kyiv, the region around it and the eastern part of Ukraine were under raid warnings for nine hours overnight before they were called off about 9am local time (0600 GMT). Air defence units were engaged several times trying to repel attacks, the military said on Telegram. "It's been a tough night. The Russians have always used war and attacks to intimidate everyone in negotiations," Andriy Kovalenko, head of Ukraine's Centre for Countering Disinformation, said on Telegram of Sunday's attack. Air defence units destroyed 88 of the drones overnight. The attack also included 128 simulator drones that were lost along the way without hitting anything, Ukraine's air force said in a statement on Telegram. On Saturday, a Russian drone attack killed nine civilians after hitting a shuttle bus in the Sumy region in northeast Ukraine, Kyiv said. Zelenskiy called the attack "deliberate" and urged stronger sanctions on Moscow, which said it had attacked a military facility. All of those injured in the Obukhiv district just south of Kyiv city were taken to hospital, Kalashnik said. He said several residential buildings in the area were damaged. In the city of Kyiv, fragments of a destroyed drone damaged the roof of a non-residential building, the city's military administration said on Telegram. Reuters witnesses in and around Kyiv heard blasts that sounded like air defence units in operation. There was no immediate comment from Russia. Both sides deny targeting civilians in the war, but thousands have been killed in the conflict, the vast majority of them Ukrainian. The largest known Russian drone attack since full-scale war began in 2022 killed a woman in the Kyiv region and injured at least three people, Ukrainian authorities say, as Moscow steps up strikes following peace talks. Russia had launched 273 drones by 8am on Sunday local time (0500 GMT), targeting chiefly the central Kyiv region and the Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions in the country's east, Ukraine's air force said. Based on data provided by the air force, this was Russia's largest drone attack on Ukraine during the war. On the eve of the third anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 23, Moscow launched a then-record 267 drones. The first direct talks in three years between Russia and Ukraine on Friday failed to broker the temporary ceasefire Kyiv and its allies have been urging. The 100 minutes of talks in Istanbul yielded an agreement to trade 1000 prisoners of war on each side. US President Donald Trump said he would speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday. The sustained overnight Russian drone attack on Sunday killed a 28-year-old woman in the capital region and injured at least three people, including a four-year-old, Ukrainian authorities said. "Unfortunately, as a result of the enemy attack in the Obukhiv district, a woman died from her injuries," Mykola Kalashnik, governor of the Kyiv region, posted on Telegram. Kyiv, the region around it and the eastern part of Ukraine were under raid warnings for nine hours overnight before they were called off about 9am local time (0600 GMT). Air defence units were engaged several times trying to repel attacks, the military said on Telegram. "It's been a tough night. The Russians have always used war and attacks to intimidate everyone in negotiations," Andriy Kovalenko, head of Ukraine's Centre for Countering Disinformation, said on Telegram of Sunday's attack. Air defence units destroyed 88 of the drones overnight. The attack also included 128 simulator drones that were lost along the way without hitting anything, Ukraine's air force said in a statement on Telegram. On Saturday, a Russian drone attack killed nine civilians after hitting a shuttle bus in the Sumy region in northeast Ukraine, Kyiv said. Zelenskiy called the attack "deliberate" and urged stronger sanctions on Moscow, which said it had attacked a military facility. All of those injured in the Obukhiv district just south of Kyiv city were taken to hospital, Kalashnik said. He said several residential buildings in the area were damaged. In the city of Kyiv, fragments of a destroyed drone damaged the roof of a non-residential building, the city's military administration said on Telegram. Reuters witnesses in and around Kyiv heard blasts that sounded like air defence units in operation. There was no immediate comment from Russia. Both sides deny targeting civilians in the war, but thousands have been killed in the conflict, the vast majority of them Ukrainian.
