Latest news with #Ukrainian-occupied
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Putin claims Russia preparing 'security buffer zone' along Ukrainian border
Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed on May 22 that he ordered the military to begin creating a "security buffer zone" along the border with Ukraine, Russian state media outlets reported. The comments come a day after Putin made his first known visit to Russia's Kursk Oblast, a border region where Ukrainian forces launched an incursion last summer. While the Kremlin claims to have fully liberated the territory, Ukraine says operations are ongoing in Kursk. "I have already said that a decision has been made to create the necessary security buffer zone along the border," Putin said in a video conference with government officials. "Our armed forces are currently solving this problem." Putin said the zone would be along border of Kursk, Bryansk, and Belgorod oblasts. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry responded to the statement later in the day, saying Putin's remarks are further evidence that Russia is not meaningfully interested in peace. "I remind the world that Putin's statements about the 'buffer zone' come amid active efforts to achieve a full, durable ceasefire, stop the killing, and advance peace," Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X. "These new aggressive claims clearly reject peace efforts and show that Putin has been and remains the only reason the killing continues. He needs to face more pressure to end this war." Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi echoed these sentiments, calling Russia an "obstacle to peace efforts" and suggesting that any future "buffer zone" be confined to Russian territory. "These words prove clearly that it is Putin, it is Russia that is an obstacle to peace efforts now and it is they who need to be pressured in all forms to force Russia and Putin to peace and to a full long-term ceasefire," he said in a comment to multiple Ukrainian news outlets. "And as for the 'buffer zones,' there can be a 'buffer zone' on the territory of Russia, which is why Ukraine has been conducting an operation there since last year." Ukraine launched a cross-border incursion into Kursk Oblast in August 2024, marking the first large-scale invasion of Russian territory by foreign forces since World War II. While a Russian counteroffensive — supported by North Korean military personnel — recaptured most of the Ukrainian-occupied land in spring 2025, Ukrainian troops continue to carry out missions across the border. The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said on May 21 that while conditions in the region remain difficult, Ukrainian forces are holding their positions and inflicting losses on Russian troops. The Kursk operation successfully thwarted Russia's plans to establish a "buffer zone" in Sumy Oblast in northeastern Ukraine, Commander in Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said in November 2024. Putin's latest comments regarding a buffer zone comes as Russia has once again rejected U.S. and European proposals for a complete ceasefire in the war against Ukraine. Putin did not agree to the terms in a May 19 phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump and the Kremlin has doubled down on its maximalist demands. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov confirmed on May 21 that Russia has no interest in pursuing a ceasefire: "(W)e don't want this anymore," he sais. Read also: Editorial: Russia just said it doesn't want peace. This is what you need to do We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Inside Ukraine's desperate race to train more soldiers
New recruit Vitalii Yalovyi knew one thing after completing the Ukrainian military's boot camp: He was not prepared for war. The 37-year-old felt physically unfit, forcing him to miss some courses during the month-long training. His leg was still hurting from long daily walks at a training center in western Ukraine. But instead of getting an MRI scan after the training course as planned, he was taken on a bus, not knowing where he was heading. The "Welcome to Russia" road sign gave him a clue. The bus was driving into the Ukrainian-occupied part of Russia's Kursk Oblast, where Kyiv launched a surprise cross-border incursion in August 2024. Scared of being immediately thrown to the front line, Yalovyi warned his commanders that he didn't have basic soldiering skills, and couldn't shoot properly. The overcrowded boot camps and the instructors' lack of motivation often prevent the fresh recruits from getting enough hands-on practice, leaving them uncertain about whether they are actually prepared to fight a war, according to Yalovyi and other new soldiers' testimonies. Yalovyi immediately found himself at the forefront of the Kursk battle. Three weeks later, he said he was the last person at the position after about a dozen others fled in different directions following Russia's gas attack. He was lost. "I really thought I was done," Yalovyi said, describing how he had no idea how to retreat. Eventually, Ukrainian soldiers from nearby positions found Yalovyi and brought him back to Ukraine. Many others who were sent to the front line without proper training weren't as lucky. Three years into Russia's full-scale invasion, the Ukrainian military faces an endemic manpower shortage and is forced to scramble for people to fill in the gaps in the infantry depleted by the war. Commanders on the ground have said, however, that they are increasingly receiving soldiers who fight as though they have never been trained. Lacking basic survival skills, such as using an anti-night-vision blanket to avoid being spotted by the omnipresent drones, new recruits are 'often killed or wounded' in the first weeks, according to over a dozen officers interviewed across the front line. The sink-or-swim situation, in which recruits either make it out alive by learning on their own or face casualties, is costing a horrifying level of losses, the interviewees say. They stressed that it has also led to the loss of positions that had cost lives to defend for months or years, often demoralizing the battle-hardened troops as a result. Glen Grant, retired British Army lieutenant colonel who advised Ukraine's Defense Ministry on and off from from 2014 to 2018 and has been closely observing the military issues since, said no one holds responsibility when recruits face heavy casualties in the beginning, and there is still no established way of independently monitoring the quality of the training provided. Calling Ukraine's training system "ad hoc" and a "you do it as you get there" strategy, Grant said troop preparation lacks a system that ensures recruits get the most out in a limited timeframe. "People die when you do stuff ad hoc," Grant told the Kyiv Independent. The Kyiv Independent visited five training centers and spoke to dozens of soldiers, officers, and instructors on and off the record to uncover the critical issues in Ukraine's race to prepare fresh recruits. Read also: 'Silent killer': Russia boosts grinding Donbas advance with chemical warfare The biggest challenge in training new recruits in a war that constantly changes is that the battlefield survival skills quickly become outdated, according to the training center instructors and officers on the ground. From the rise of first-person view (FPV) drones to the changing Russian assault tactics that increasingly rely on manpower, there needs to be "a constant exchange of information" between the battlefield and training centers, instructors at multiple training centers told the Kyiv Independent. Adjusting the official Ukrainian military training program — now in its fifth edition, updated in February — to reflect the current situation is not easy due to the bureaucracy in the army leadership, according to those familiar with the matter. "(New soldiers) run out quickly, even before they get to the line of contact." Following the training, now taking 1.5 months, the recruits are supposed to spend two weeks on the second line or in the rear before their first deployment on the "zero" line to adjust to the front-line conditions in relative safety, according to Ruslan Gorbenko, a lawmaker from the ruling Servant of the People who regularly travels to the war-torn east and keeps in touch with the military. But it rarely works in practice. Multiple company commanders deployed in the eastern Donetsk Oblast said their personnel losses are so high that on the rare occasions they receive reinforcements, they are forced to send them to the "zero" line immediately to finally relieve the soldiers stranded there for weeks. The new soldiers, unfamiliar with the extremely intense front-line conditions under a constant barrage of FPV drones, aerial bombs, and artillery, face much higher casualty rates than those serving for months and years. "(New soldiers) run out quickly, even before they get to the line of contact," Oleksii, an officer with the 109th Territorial Defense Brigade, said. Some of those interviewed declined to give their full names due to security concerns and the sensitivity of the topic. Those who survived their first combat missions often lose motivation after seeing the high casualty rates among their group, sometimes refusing to go back to the front, according to Oleksii. "(The new guys) can run somewhere, and that is the worst thing that can happen when someone is panicking," Bohdan, acting company commander with the 214th Separate Special Battalion OPFOR, told the Kyiv Independent. "The people are not morally or physically ready, especially the older people," he said, referring to men over 45, an age group that most of the new recruits belong to, according to the officers interviewed. One officer, who has served since Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014 and spoke to the Kyiv Independent on condition of anonymity, stressed that the Ukrainian army needs to move away from the Soviet mentality and value every soldier's life equally. The whole process, from recruiting to preparing soldiers for war, should reflect this principle, he added. "First of all, (people) are a resource that we will not be able to restore, and (a serviceman) is extremely valuable in principle, both for his family and the army," the officer, who serves in one of the most prominent units in Ukraine's Armed Forces, told the Kyiv Independent. One particularly concerning issue, he said, is that miscommunication can happen on the ground due to front-line units' inability to operate as "one organism," which increases the risks of friendly fire. It is sometimes difficult to track whether the surrounding positions are friendly, especially if certain groups flee without warning. Inadequately trained soldiers, who are more likely to panic, are at a higher risk of either inflicting or becoming casualties in such circumstances. A source who worked in the Defense Ministry until 2024 also confirmed, on condition of anonymity, that poorly trained troops had proved to be more susceptible to opening friendly fire. The Ukrainian military leadership disagrees that the quality of training leads to such incidents on the battlefield, denying the issues with troop preparation. Colonel Yevhen Mezhevikin, the deputy head of the General Staff's Training Directorate, argued in turn that it is the commanders' responsibility to ensure that the new soldiers are given the time to adjust to the war and are ready for it. If the commanders see that the new soldiers are ill-trained, they should report it to the higher command to identify the training center for feedback, he added. Many factors affect the recruits' survival rate beyond the quality of the training, including the intensity of the deployment location and the commanders' ability to lead their troops, according to Mezhevikin. "We did our best to improve the training of servicemen, and (after the training), we give responsibility to the commanders to train them in their military units," Mezhevikin told the Kyiv Independent, stressing that training should be a continuous process throughout the deployment. In their turn, soldiers and officers emphasized that there should be more inflow of information from the battlefield to the training centers, which can be disconnected from the reality on the ground. New recruits often don't have crucial knowledge like how to carry oneself during a drone attack or survive open-trench warfare. Colonel Mezhevikin said that there is a way for brigades in different deployment areas to pass on real-time knowledge to training centers, and the military's Unmanned Forces Command is regularly sending in updates on Russian drone usage to reflect the reality at the front. Mezhevikin, who formerly commanded the elite Adam Tactical Group drone unit, admitted that it is largely impossible for recruits with no prior military experience to suddenly turn into soldiers who can take on any task in a month, which is how long the training lasted until recently. He stressed that the necessary changes to improve the procedure have been implemented. The General Staff extended the training period from one to 1.5 months in late 2024, which is still half of the pre-war duration. Mezhevikin said all training centers have implemented it as of February. Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said in December that there were plans to extend it to two months, but it has yet to happen. Extending the program by half a month caused certain gaps in troop replenishment, but it gives recruits more practical training, which now accounts for 90 percent of the program, according to Mezhevikin. Instructors at five training centers visited by the Kyiv Independent said that they have a feedback loop with the former recruits and combat brigades to constantly assess the situation on the front and make the needed adjustments. Read also: Intense fighting, lack of resources leave wounded soldiers on their own Extending the training period alone without increasing its effectiveness — such as improving the quality of the training staff and the process itself — won't necessarily improve the situation, experts following Ukraine's troop training process say. The lack of motivation and the overload of the existing training grounds are the prime reasons for the knowledge gaps of some of the recently mobilized soldiers, according to the interviewed officers. President Volodymyr Zelensky admitted in July 2024 that there is a lack of training facilities for new soldiers but vowed that "they are already being expanded." Around 30,000 recruits were at training centers across Ukraine, as of the end of February, according to Mezhevikin. Faced with an overwhelming number of recruits that training centers didn't expect until the outbreak of the country-wide war in 2022, the training grounds and the available instructors are still overstretched. Even if the number of training hours on paper sounds adequate, the recruits often spend time waiting for their turns in long lines, dry firing or simply watching. Recruits sometimes don't have the opportunity to ask questions or have their techniques corrected, which could be detrimental on the battlefield. A group of recruits at one of the training centers in western Ukraine told the Kyiv Independent that they wished they had spent more time on clearing trenches because they only had one day allocated to that. Due to the large group size, only a few of them actually tried it out — and the rest watched. Basic training should include more practical elements, including how to build positions and conceal oneself from potential attacks, according to an ex-British Army soldier currently fighting with Ukraine's military, who asked to remain anonymous due to his unit's protocol. Observing how new Ukrainian soldiers operate on the ground, he believes more trench warfare practice should be incorporated to get "a sense of how it works in a battle." The officers the Kyiv Independent interviewed accused the training centers' leadership and the military command of failing to improve the preparatory system while knowing about the problems. They blamed it on the 'Soviet mentality' of the military command and the system's vast bureaucracy. Key issues in the Ukrainian military's basic training include unmotivated and "severely burnt out" instructors who often lack battlefield experience, independent inspections to assess the quality of preparations and training facility conditions, according to researchers at Come Back Alive Foundation, who studied the boot camp program in 2024. The foundation's senior researcher, Serhii Bahlai, called it a "complex problem." While the problems are clearly identified, the military command and training centers' leadership on the ground are reluctant to change their approach, he said. The issues are "fixable but require effort," according to Bahlai, who mentioned situations where an instructor oversees around 100 recruits at a time. Mezhevikin, in turn, denied that instructors were overwhelmed with recruits, saying that the ratio is usually eight to 10 recruits per instructor and that extending the program duration helped reduce their stress with paperwork. Colonel Valentyn Khomenko, who is the deputy head of the Rivne training center, dismissed complaints about the practical aspect of the training program and that the facilities are overcrowded. He attributed the biggest challenges to the recruits' attitude. Khomenko estimated that at least 50% of the recruits arrive unmotivated to train and join the war efforts, often because they were forcefully mobilized, and it takes them time to understand why they need to fight as they slowly begin to absorb the basic soldiering skills. Some recruits see the war as "a one-way ticket," and it is understandable that they are unmotivated to adjust to the "spartan conditions" at training centers, the officer from one of Ukraine's well-known battalions told the Kyiv Independent. Read also: As Ukraine's fate hangs in the balance, 'Soviet' command culture damages war effort Instructors at multiple training centers said that the hardest part is usually breaking the 'civilian mentality,' and helping the recruits switch to a military mindset — which includes accepting the new limitations on personal freedom, and the need to constantly assess the consequences of one's actions. This change is especially hard for those mobilized against their will. Some recruits said they spent their first days being angry that they were drafted, wondering what they could have done to avoid it. Instructors admitted that it is difficult to train recruits who are unwilling to learn. Fearing the loss of more lives that could be avoided with proper preparation, servicemen and those working closely with the training process have advocated for a change. The interviewees often say that they faced an obstacle with the General Staff, which, they say, has been largely closed off to outside suggestions. Some blamed the "negligence" of both the General Staff and the Defense Ministry for not addressing the issue sooner. "The system is built in a way that no one takes responsibility for poor training," according to Roman Donik, the head of the private 151st Training Center certified by the military. Mezhevikin said that the military implemented the necessary reforms, and the General Staff is awaiting more feedback from on-the-ground troops to continue improving the training program. He added that there is a hotline and complaint form available with either the General Staff or Defense Ministry in case the training centers are not fulfilling the recruits' needs. The phone usage rules vary across training centers, with some centers banning phones or limiting usage to a few hours a day. Recruits also don't always have stable internet access due to the poor cellular network at the remote training facilities. Logistics are often another issue at training centers, which force the recruits to walk kilometers a day between the training grounds and the living quarters, according to Come Back Alive researchers. Often located far from each other for safety reasons amid Russia's constant air strike threats, recruits live in tents far from the training grounds and spend a long time simply walking between the sessions — which they say consumes time and energy that could be spent elsewhere. Russia has targeted multiple training centers across Ukraine with missiles, with the first such attack in March 2022 killing over 60 people at the Yavoriv military training ground in Lviv Oblast. Aftermaths of Russian missile and drone attacks were visible at some of the training centers visited by the Kyiv Independent, where those in charge said the facilities had been hit and there had been casualties. With the Ukrainian troops mostly having moved out of the barracks, sanitary concerns were occasionally raised by the recruits at often overcrowded tents. The recruits usually have to maintain their living areas on their own, which may lead to sanitary issues and be a distraction from the core part of training, according to Bahlai from Come Back Alive. During winter, fresh recruits often get sick immediately and miss the vital first days of training. The training centers that the Kyiv Independent was allowed to visit, however, appeared clean. The recruits there typically sleep on bunk beds in large tents, usually housing a few dozen recruits each, sometimes at relatively cold temperatures in winter. Mezhevikin said that the conditions are "livable," but there would ideally be containers rather than tents so the recruits could rest in a more comfortable and warmer environment. With the training of freshly mobilized recruits being constantly brought up as one of Ukraine's weak spots in the military, some minor improvements have been made to help fix the situation on the ground. One of the large training centers, for example, incorporated VR headsets to illustrate a brutal reality on the front, where other guys lose their limbs and cry for help in agony. Yet, volunteers still try to do the heavy lifting. Magnus Ek, an instructor from Sweden, is among those giving additional training to Ukrainian soldiers on the ground, after they arrive from the boot camp. After training roughly 2,000 soldiers since 2022, Ek said it is "a big tragedy" that soldiers often lack basic training, including shooting practice. "Everything" is missing, including tactical medicine training, which means recruits use the tourniquets incorrectly which can cost a limb on the front line, according to Ek, who spent 12 years in the Swedish Army. He stressed that the Ukrainian military leadership should "listen more to the front line" because the average soldier's skill sets appear to be "terribly low," and proper training could reduce casualties. Ek believes that it is very easy to change the training situation, especially with particular examples, such as the Azov Brigade and Third Assault Brigade, now relabeled as Third Army Corps, which have successful training programs. Understanding the issues in the basic military training, some of Ukraine's most elite units have built their own in-house training systems to prepare their recruits. "We have all the elements to change this very quickly," Ek, former lieutenant in the Swedish Army, told the Kyiv Independent. "We have the experience, the knowledge." Yet, soldiers and trainers speaking with the Kyiv Independent say they see no will for change in the military leadership. Kyrylo Berkal, deputy commander of the Third Army Corps, who oversees training, stressed that the major problem is that the 'Soviet roots' that still persist in most centers, even if their programs appear to be more modern. The officer said that the issues are also in the lack of intensity at training centers, especially compared to the real war conditions, and low motivation among instructors, likely due to low pay and the overwhelming amount of work. 'The main problem is the Soviet approach,' Berkal told the Kyiv Independent, referring to the obsolete tactics introduced during the program and the instructors' mentality. 'In training centers, the attitude towards the system is very outdated.' A private training center in Kharkiv Oblast, run by Donik, said he faces more obstructions than support from the official training centers. He named bureaucracy as the biggest obstacle in continuing operations and expanding them. "The combat ability of a brigade is directly affected by the preparation of recruits," Donik told the Kyiv Independent. "We are losing a lot of time and people." Read also: Every finding is a key: The mission to recover Ukraine's fallen soldiers (Photos) This is Asami from the Kyiv Independent. Thank you for reading the story. I've worked on the story for more than half a year, and it was certainly difficult. I often heard about the issues in the military training system, but delving into it and trying to lay out the issue as transparently as possible was quite challenging. My colleagues and I are working around the clock to bring you the latest updates, whether they're good or bad. Please consider joining the Kyiv Independent community. Your support helps sustain our work. Thank you. We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump: US delegation headed to Moscow after Ukraine ceasefire talks
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that a US delegation is on its way to Moscow, following the successful talks with Ukraine about a possible ceasefire. "We have people going to Russia right now," Trump said at a reception for Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin at the White House. During talks between the United States and Ukraine in the Saudi port city of Jeddah on Tuesday, a Ukrainian delegation expressed willingness to agree to an immediate 30-day comprehensive ceasefire if Russia does the same. Russia has not yet agreed to the proposal and said it would not comment publicly on the plan until it knows all the details. "First, we need to receive this information," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz have promised to provide Moscow with all the information about the negotiations between the US and Ukraine. Trump said the talks with Kiev had been a "great success" and that "it is up to Russia now." The US president previously said that he wants to have a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin shortly, perhaps even this week. Peskov said such a conversation is not out of the question and could be organized at short notice. However, there is still no clarity on the location and time for a planned personal meeting between the two heads of state. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday that the acceptance of a ceasefire proposal should show that Ukraine is willing to work towards peace. "I think that today we had to demonstrate to the whole world our readiness," he said at a press conference in Kiev. Poland confirms restart of US aid deliveries to Kiev Following the talks with Ukraine, the US administration lifted the temporary halt on arms deliveries to Kiev as a gesture of goodwill. Poland confirmed on Wednesday that deliveries via its Jasionka hub had resumed. "I confirm that arms deliveries via Jasionka have returned to their previous level," Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski told journalists in Warsaw, standing next to his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha, who had travelled to Poland directly from Jeddah. Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport in south-eastern Poland and the railway line leading from there to nearby Ukraine are regarded as a key transport route for European and US military goods for Ukraine. Reports: Russian troops in centre of Ukrainian-occupied Kursk town Russian troops meanwhile continued to advance, with state media and war bloggers saying on Wednesday that they had made their way to the centre of the small Ukrainian-occupied town of Sudzha in the Kursk region of western Russia. Pictures circulated on social media of Russian soldiers in the centre of Sudzha. The news agency Ria Novosti reported that forces had raised the Russian flag over the city hall building, citing a commander. The Russian Defence Ministry said in a statement that Russian troops have also pushed Ukrainian units out of five other locations. Sudzha was the most significant population centre in the Kursk region to come under the control of Ukrainian forces during their surprise advance into Russian territory last August. For months, Russia has been waging fierce battles – including with the support of North Korean soldiers – to reclaim the occupied territory. Ukraine recently withdrew from several villages. According to Ukrainian military observers, Kiev now only controls less than a sixth of the more than 1,200 square kilometres it occupied in August. In his press conference on Wednesday, Zelensky was vague about the situation in Kursk, saying: "Our troops are fulfilling their mission in the Kursk area. The Russians are trying to exert maximum pressure." He added that the Ukrainian military leadership is taking measures to protect its troops. Syrians killed in Russian strike on Odessa port Five people were killed in Russian attacks on the Ukrainian cities of Odessa and Kryvyi Rih, local authorities said on Wednesday. Four Syrians were killed when the ship they were on was attacked in the port of Odessa, Governor Oleh Kiper wrote on Telegram. Two other people were injured. The ship that was struck was a civilian vessel that had just been loaded with wheat for export to Algeria, he said. In the south-eastern city of Kryvyi Rih, a woman was killed in a rocket attack, the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, Serhiy Lysak, wrote on Telegram. Nine people were injured in the attack and damage was inflicted to the city's infrastructure, he said. Ukrainian authorities said another man was injured in the eastern city of Dnipro and there was damage in the Kiev region as a result of drone attacks. The Ukrainian Air Force said Russia attacked the cities of Kryvyi Rih and Odessa with three Iskander-M missiles and launched 133 drones at the country. In terms of the drones, 98 were shot down, it said, while the location of 20 others was lost, a common indication of electronic countermeasures.
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ceasefire deal shows Ukraine's willingness for peace, Zelensky says
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday that his acceptance of a ceasefire proposal should show that Ukraine is willing to work towards peace. "I think that today we had to demonstrate to the whole world our readiness," Zelensky said at a press conference in Kiev. At a meeting in Saudi Arabia's Jeddah on Tuesday, Ukrainian negotiators agreed to a US proposal for a temporary ceasefire if Russia is on board. At the press conference, Zelensky said he "did not care" whether or not the United States had discussed this form of ceasefire with Russia in advance. Zelensky was vague about the situation in the Russian border region of Kursk, where Ukraine is reportedly losing territorial gains it made during a surprise counteroffensive in August. "Our troops are fulfilling their mission in the Kursk area. The Russians are trying to exert maximum pressure," he said, adding that the Ukrainian military leadership is taking measures to protect its troops. Earlier on Wednesday, pictures had circulated on social media of Russian soldiers in the centre of the small Ukrainian-occupied town of Sudzha in the Kursk region. The Russian Defence Ministry said in a statement that Russian troops have also pushed Ukrainian units out of five other locations. According to Ukrainian military observers, Kiev now only controls less than a sixth of the more than 1,200 square kilometres it occupied in August.
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Moscow holds off on response to ceasefire plan as US resumes Kiev aid
The Kremlin said on Wednesday it will not comment on the temporary ceasefire proposed by the United States for the war in Ukraine until it knows all the details. "First, we need to receive this information," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz have promised to provide Moscow with all the information about the negotiations between the US and Ukraine in the Saudi port city of Jeddah. The Ukrainian delegation expressed its readiness at the talks in Jeddah on Tuesday to agree to an immediate 30-day comprehensive ceasefire. As a gesture of goodwill, the US administration responded by lifting the temporary halt on arms deliveries to Kiev. Contacts between Moscow and Washington are planned for the coming days, and US President Donald Trump declared that he also wants to have a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin shortly, perhaps even this week. Peskov said such a conversation is not out of the question and could be organized at short notice. However, there is still no clarity on the location and time for a planned personal meeting between the two heads of state. Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski confirmed on Wednesday that US aid deliveries to Ukraine via his country have already resumed. "I confirm that arms deliveries via Jasionka have returned to their previous level," Sikorski told journalists in Warsaw, standing next to his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha, who had travelled to Poland directly from Jeddah. Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport in south-eastern Poland and the railway line leading from there to nearby Ukraine are regarded as a key transport route for European and US military goods for Ukraine. Ukraine has been defending itself against the Russian invasion for more than three years with Western help. Reports: Russian troops in centre of Ukrainian-occupied Kursk town Russian troops meanwhile continued to advance, with state media and war bloggers saying on Wednesday that they had made their way to the centre of the small Ukrainian-occupied town of Sudzha in the Kursk region of western Russia. Forces raised the Russian flag over the city hall building, the news agency Ria Novosti reported, citing a commander. Sudzha was the most significant population centre in the Kursk region to come under the control of Ukrainian forces during their surprise advance into Russian territory last August. Ukraine was able to capture more than 1,000 square kilometres in the border region. For months, Russia has been waging fierce battles – including with the support of North Korean soldiers – to reclaim the territory. Ukraine recently withdrew from several villages. There has been no comment from the Ukrainian side so far on the status of Russian troops in Sudzha. Syrians killed in Russian strike on Odessa port Five people were killed in Russian attacks on the Ukrainian cities of Odessa and Kryvyi Rih, local authorities said on Wednesday. Four Syrians were killed when the ship they were on was attacked in the port of Odessa, Governor Oleh Kiper wrote on Telegram. Two other people were injured. The ship that was struck was a civilian vessel that had just been loaded with wheat for export to Algeria, he said. In the south-eastern city of Kryvyi Rih, a woman was killed in a rocket attack, the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, Serhiy Lysak, wrote on Telegram. Nine people were injured in the attack and damage was inflicted to the city's infrastructure, he said. Ukrainian authorities said another man was injured in the eastern city of Dnipro and there was damage in the Kiev region as a result of drone attacks. The Ukrainian Air Force said Russia attacked the cities of Kryvyi Rih and Odessa with three Iskander-M missiles and launched 133 drones at the country. In terms of the drones, 98 were shot down, it said, while the location of 20 others was lost, a common indication of electronic countermeasures.
