Ukraine denies postponing prisoner swaps as Russia attacks Kharkiv
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BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Ukrainecast Q&A: Trump vs Medvedev, a US defection and revisiting the minerals deal
On Thursday, Ukraine's parliament waved through a bill reversing controversial changes to domestic anti-corruption bodies. The near-unanimous vote wiped out any remaining uncertainty over the future of the institutions, after Zelensky had largely caved to pressure following widespread demonstrations last week. Meanwhile - despite a shorter-term deadline set by President Trump for a ceasefire - Russia has continued its aerial campaign on Ukrainian targets, with strikes on more than two dozen targets in Kyiv on Thursday killing at least eight, and injuring more than 130 others. This week, Lucy and Vitaly are joined by the BBC's Ukraine correspondent, James Waterhouse, to discuss army infiltration, the American family who defected to Russia, and what happened to that highly publicised minerals deal. Plus, our very own Olga Robinson tells us about BBC Verify's latest deep-dive into Russian disinformation. Today's episode is presented by Lucy Hockings and Vitaly Shevchenko. The producers were Laurie Kalus, Julia Webster and Polly Hope. The technical producer was Hannah Montgomery. The series producer is Tim Walklate. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham. Email Ukrainecast@ with your questions and comments. You can also send us a message, voice note, or video via WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram to +44 330 1239480 You can join the Ukrainecast discussion on Newscast's Discord server here:
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
US Senate committee backs $1 billion for Ukraine in Pentagon spending bill
WASHINGTON, July 31 (Reuters) - A powerful U.S. Senate committee approved a military spending bill on Thursday that includes about $1 billion to support Ukraine, despite President Donald Trump's administration having asked Congress to eliminate such funding in its budget request. The Senate Appropriations Committee approved $852 billion for the Department of Defense in the fiscal year ending on Sept. 30, 2026, which is $21.7 billion, or 2.6%, more than the Republican president requested earlier this year. The committee voted 26-3 to send the spending measure for a vote in the full Senate, with strong support from both Democrats and Trump's fellow Republicans. "Not only the prior administration, but this administration as well, have underestimated the level of challenge that we have," said Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who chairs the panel's defense subcommittee. The bill includes $800 million for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), and $225 million for the Baltic Security Initiative, much of which ends up supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia's invasion. "I would say support for Ukraine is a billion dollars," Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, the defense spending subcommittee's top Democrat, told reporters ahead of the Appropriations Committee meeting. Trump's budget request, and the defense appropriations bill passed by the House of Representatives earlier this year, did not include any funding for the USAI, which funds security intelligence, training, equipment and supplies for Ukraine. However, many Republicans in Congress, particularly in the Senate, backed support for Ukraine even before Russia launched its full-scale invasion in early 2022. And Trump himself recently has grown more frustrated with Moscow's refusal to agree to a ceasefire. He has recently announced deadlines for Russia to show progress toward ending the war or face new sanctions - despite in the past speaking about having a good relationship with Putin. Both McConnell and Coons stressed that the U.S. is learning from Ukraine while supporting its military. "Shutting off engagement with Ukraine would undermine our military's efforts to prepare for the modern battlefield," McConnell said during the committee meeting. The war in Ukraine has evolved into the most-drone intensive conflict ever, and the use of drone technology has helped Ukraine to deal with Russia's advantages in troop numbers, artillery and tanks. To become law, the appropriations bill must pass the full Senate and then be reconciled with the House of Representatives bill, which adhered to the Trump administration's $831.5 billion Pentagon spending request and did not include Ukraine aid. After that, it would be sent to the White House for Trump to sign into law or veto.
BreakingNews.ie
2 hours ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Russian missile and drone attacks kill 13 and injure 132 in Kyiv
Russian missile and drone attacks overnight on Ukraine's capital city Kyiv killed at least 13 people, including a six-year-old boy, and wounded 132 others, authorities have said. A five-month-old girl was among 14 children wounded, Ukraine's Emergency Service said. Advertisement It was the highest number of children injured in a single attack on Kyiv since the start of Russia's invasion three years ago, according to public records consulted by The Associated Press. A large part of a nine-storey residential building collapsed in the attack, City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said. Residents at the scene of one Russian strike (Efrem Lukatsky/AP) Rescue teams searched for people trapped under the rubble. Yana Zhabborova, 35, a resident of the damaged building, woke up to the sound of thundering explosions, which blew off the doors and windows of her home. Advertisement 'It is just stress and shock that there is nothing left,' said Ms Zhabborova, a mother of a five-month-old baby and a five-year-old child. Russia fired 309 Shahed and decoy drones and eight Iskander-K cruise missiles overnight, the Ukrainian air force said. Air defences intercepted and jammed 288 strike drones and three missiles, and five missiles and 21 drones struck targets. Russian troops also struck a residential five-storey building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, according to the head of Donetsk regional military administration Vadym Filashkin. He said one person was killed and at least 11 more injured. Advertisement Rescuers work in the rubble of a destroyed apartment building (Efrem Lukatsky/AP) Russia's Ministry of Defence said it had shot down 32 Ukrainian drones overnight. A drone attack sparked a blaze at an industrial site in Russia's Penza region, local governor Oleg Melnichenko said, adding that there were no casualties. In the Volgograd region, some trains were halted after drone wreckage fell on railway infrastructure, state operator Russian Railways said. Russia's Defence Ministry also said that its forces had taken full control of the strategically important city of Chasiv Yar in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region. Advertisement Russian and Ukrainian troops have battled for control of Chasiv Yar for nearly 18 months. It includes a hilltop from which troops can attack other key points in the region that form the backbone of Ukraine's eastern defences. Victor Trehubov, a Ukrainian military spokesperson, told The Associated Press that Russia's claim was untrue. 'Just a fabrication, there wasn't even a change in the situation,' he said. A report on Thursday from Ukraine's Army General Staff said there had been seven clashes in Chasiv Yar in the past 24 hours. An attached map showed most of the town under Russian control. Advertisement Firefighters work to extinguish a fire in Kyiv (Efrem Lukatsky/AP) DeepState, an open-source Ukrainian map widely used by the military and analysts, showed early on Thursday that neighbourhoods to the south and west of Chasiv Yar remained uncontrolled by either side. The overnight drone attacks targeted the Kyiv, Dnipro, Poltava, Sumy and Mykolaiv regions, with Ukraine's capital being the primary target, President Volodymyr Zelensky said. At least 27 locations across Kyiv were hit, Mr Tkachenko said, with the heaviest damage in the Solomianskyi and Sviatoshynskyi districts. More than 100 buildings were damaged in the capital, including homes, schools, nurseries, medical facilities and universities, he added. 'Today, the world once again saw Russia's answer to our desire for peace with America and Europe,' Mr Zelensky said. 'New demonstrative killings. That is why peace without strength is impossible.' He called on Ukraine's allies to follow through on defence commitments and pressure Moscow towards real negotiations. US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he was giving Russian President Vladimir Putin a shorter deadline — August 8 — for peace efforts to make progress, or Washington will impose punitive sanctions and tariffs. Western leaders have accused Mr Putin of dragging his feet in US-led peace efforts in an attempt to capture more Ukrainian land.
