Latest news with #Dnipro
Al Jazeera
a day ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Russia kills 5 in Ukraine's Samar, as Putin seems ready for new peace talks
Russian forces have continued to hammer Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region, launching a deadly attack on the industrial city of Samar for the second time in three days. Friday's missile attack killed five people and injured 23 others in southeastern Samar – located outside the region's main city, Dnipro – said regional governor Sergiy Lysak in a post on Telegram. At least four of the wounded were in severe condition and were taken to hospital, he added. The attack followed missile strikes earlier this week on both Dnipro and Samar, which killed at least 23, as Russian forces attempted to gain a foothold in Dnipropetrovsk for the first time in over three years of war. Officials gave no immediate details about the damage inflicted on Samar, where an attack on an unidentified infrastructure facility on Tuesday killed two people. Moscow earlier this week claimed to have captured two more villages near the border of the Dnipropetrovsk region. Separately, authorities in Ukraine's northern region of Kharkiv said Russian attacks killed one person and wounded three others. Hundreds of kilometres to the south, in the Kherson region, authorities urged residents on Friday to prepare for extended periods without power after a Russian attack hit a key energy facility. Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said on Telegram that 'Russians decided to plunge the region into darkness'. The Ukrainian air force said Russia had launched 363 long-range drones and eight missiles overnight into Friday, claiming that air defences stopped all but four of the drones and downed six cruise missiles. Russia's Defence Ministry, meanwhile, said 39 Ukrainian drones were downed in several regions overnight, including 19 over the Rostov region and 13 over the Volgograd region. 'Find a path' in peace talks The continued attacks on Dnipropetrovsk came as President Vladimir Putin said that he intended to scale back military expenditure and also indicated he was ready for a new round of peace negotiations with Ukraine. The Russian president said his country was ready to reduce the military budget in the long term, owing to budgetary pressures and the increased defence spending having fuelled inflation. Speaking to reporters in Minsk, Belarus, on Friday, he alluded to a new round of peace negotiations with Ukraine, potentially in Istanbul, although the time and venue had yet to be agreed. He acknowledged that the peace proposals from Russia and Ukraine 'are two absolutely contradictory memorandums', but added, 'That's why negotiations are being organised and conducted, in order to find a path to bringing them closer together.' Putin added that the two sides' negotiators were in constant contact and that Russia was ready to return the bodies of 3,000 more Ukrainian soldiers. He also said relations between Russia and the United States were beginning to stabilise, attributing the improvement to efforts by US President Donald Trump. 'In general, thanks to President Trump, relations between Russia and the United States are beginning to level out in some ways,' said Putin. Trump on Friday suggested progress may be on the horizon regarding Russia's war in Ukraine. 'We're working on that one,' Trump told reporters at the White House. 'President Putin called up and he said, I'd love to help you with Iran. I said, do me a favour: I'll handle Iran. Help me with Russia. We got to get that one settled. And I think something's going to happen there.'
NHK
3 days ago
- Politics
- NHK
Putin criticizes NATO plan for boosting defense spending
Russian President Vladimir Putin has criticized NATO leaders, claiming they are escalating a global arms race. He made the statement in a speech in Moscow on Monday, ahead of the start of the bloc's two-day summit in The Hague. Commenting on NATO leaders' expected agreement on raising their defense spending, Putin said, "This highlights the drivers of the global military escalation and the arms race." He also said NATO leaders had "fabricated" a narrative about Russia's potential invasion of Europe and "repeat it year after year to mislead their own populations." He went on to say, "Amid escalating geopolitical tensions, we remain committed to taking appropriate measures to bolster the security of Russia and our allies while advancing the development of our Armed Forces as a safeguard for Russia's sovereign and independent development." Meanwhile, Russian forces launched a massive ballistic missile attack on the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Tuesday. Local officials said the attack killed 21 people and wounded more than 300 others. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the strike hit homes, schools and a passenger train carrying about 500 people. He described it as "another Russian strike on life" and called for a "significant strengthening" of sanctions against Russia.
New York Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- New York Times
The Weapon That Terrorizes Ukrainians by Night
One evening in late March, Liudmyla Zarutska, a vigorous woman of 80 years, left work and headed to her apartment on the left bank of the Dnipro River in Kyiv, Ukraine. A member of the cleaning staff at the city's Palace of Children and Youth, Zarutska planned to retire on April 1. Winter's chill was easing. She had just completed her final Saturday shift and looked forward to life as a pensioner, timed to begin in the warming weather of spring. Upon reaching the nine-story residential building where she lived for decades, she rode the elevator to the top floor, unlocked the steel door to her three-bedroom apartment and entered a space that smelled delightfully of coffee. Comfortably at home, Zarutska, who went by Liuda, settled in to watch the news, as Ukrainians anxious about the war with Russia often do. Talk at the time orbited around the possibility of a cease-fire brokered by the American president, Donald Trump. Ukrainians were skeptical. While Washington pressed unfavorable terms on Ukraine, Russia ordered more troop assaults along the front and intensified attacks from afar on Ukrainian cities. Air-raid alarms wailed almost every night across much of the country, followed by the engine noise of long-range drones, a sound resembling dirt bikes passing overhead. Sunrises illuminated fresh destruction, wounding or death. After watching the news, Liuda spoke with her son, Mykola, by telephone. He lived near the front in Sumy, hours away by car. But the weather was tolerable, and Mykola hadn't seen her in almost a week. He offered to visit that night. Liuda would not have it. She reminded him that he was starting a new job in Kyiv on Monday and would then spend weeknights at her apartment. They would share much time together, she said, very soon. It was his last conversation with his mother. Her insistence almost certainly saved his life. Liuda had long been lucky. Born in 1944, months after the Red Army drove Hitler's Wehrmacht from Kyiv, she survived threadbare years of reconstruction to live a good life. In the 1960s, when a new housing complex opened in an agricultural field on the left bank, she promptly moved in. It was a prime apartment with a view to Pechersk Lavra, the serenely beautiful monastery on the opposite bank's green slopes. The city built a kindergarten below her kitchen window and other schools nearby, allowing Liuda to raise her son in a pleasant neighborhood outside the capital's center. Mykola became a standout basketball guard, then a junior military officer and finally a manager in the agricultural sector of independent Ukraine. Liuda doted on him throughout — cooking hearty solyanka and borscht, baking black-currant pies and putting her vintage Singer sewing machine through its paces. Decorated with colorful filigree, the machine was a utilitarian heirloom. Liuda's father returned with it from Germany after World War II to present to her mother, who passed it to her. In the waning years of the Soviet Union, when fabric was more readily available than fashionable attire, Liuda labored at it to make clothing for her son. She also embroidered pillows, including one with a geometric cross-stitch pattern for Mykola that she kept in the living room. According to Ukrainian tradition, the pattern protected him from harm. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Al Jazeera
4 days ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,217
Here is how things stand on Wednesday, June 25 : Fighting Russian missile strikes on southeastern Ukraine killed 17 people in the city of Dnipro and injured more than 200, damaging dozens of buildings and infrastructure facilities. Two people were killed in a Russian attack on the city of Samara. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy named Hennadii Shapovalov as the new commander of Ukraine's ground forces. He will also oversee military recruitment efforts overseas as part of a broader mobilisation effort. Russia says it intercepted dozens of drones overnight across its territory, including the Voronezh region on the border of eastern Ukraine. Russian forces say they captured the village of Dyliivka in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region. Zelenskyy said on X that Russia and Ukraine have not moved any closer to a ceasefire. 'The Russians once again openly and absolutely cynically declared they are 'not in the mood' for a ceasefire. Russia wants to wage war. This means the pressure the world is applying isn't hurting them enough yet, or they are trying very hard to keep up appearances.' Diplomacy The White House said United States President Donald Trump will meet Zelenskyy during a NATO summit in The Hague this week. The meeting will be a second attempt after Zelenskyy failed to meet Trump earlier this month in Canada when the US president abruptly left a G7 summit. En route to the NATO summit on Tuesday, Trump declined to say whether he supported NATO's Article 5 clause calling for collective self-defence. 'Depends on your definition. There's numerous definitions of Article 5,' he told reporters on board Air Force One, adding, 'I'm committed to being their friend.' NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said the security bloc's 'military edge is being aggressively challenged by a rapidly rearming Russia, backed by Chinese technology and armed with Iranian and North Korean weapons' before the summit. NATO members are expected to support a push to raise defence spending to 5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) over the next 10 years. The move is seen as a bid to appease Trump and deter Russia. Finance The Netherlands, the host of the NATO summit, announced a new 175-million-euro ($203m) aid package to Ukraine, which includes drone detection radars. The news follows another 500-million-euro ($580m) deal to make 600,000 drones with Ukraine.
The Independent
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Ukraine-Russia war latest: Missile attack kills 17 in Dnipro before Zelensky-Trump meeting at Nato summit
A Russian ballistic missile attack on Ukraine 's southeastern city Dnipro hit multiple civilian sites killing 17 people and injuring more than 200 others, officials said. The injured include at least 18 children, with regional mayor Borys Filatov saying the attack caused an "unprecedented amount of destruction" in the city. A barrage of Russian missiles and drones damaged 19 schools, 10 kindergartens, a vocational school, a music school and a social welfare office, as well as eight medical facilities, the mayor said. It came as Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky reached The Hague for a Nato summit aiming to secure additional military support for Ukraine. Mr Zelensky also said he is planning to meet with US president Donald Trump on the sidelines of the two-day talks. Mr Zelensky has urged Kyiv 's 32 allies at the Nato summit to bolster Ukraine's defence industry, after signing a deal with Keir Starmer on Monday which they said would strengthen both countries. Talking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Mr Trump has said he will 'probably' meet with the war-time president tomorrow at the Nato summit. Russia is using motorbikes to attack Ukrainian brigades along frontline Russian forces are exploiting a new form of attack using motorcycles in assaults on Ukrainian forces along the war's frontline, a think tank has said. 'Russian forces are expanding their use of motorcycles along the frontline in Ukraine – a tactic that the Russian military may leverage in future wars beyond Ukraine, possibly including operations against Nato states,' the Institute for the Study of War said, citing a Ukrainian servicemember who confirmed a rise in this assault method. 'The servicemember stated that Russian motorcycle forces are no longer attacking along roads but mainly attacking through open fields and trying to bypass Ukrainian engineering barriers along the frontline,' the ISW said. The think tank cited a Frontelligence Insight report that 'Russian forces are mainly using motorcycles as a form of transport for attacking infantry to support diversion, reconnaissance, infiltration, and flanking support missions.' It added that these motorcycles have been given to Russian forces by foreign allies like China. 'Frontelligence Insight reported that Russian forces are mainly using foreign-made motorcycles, primarily those manufactured in the People's Republic of China (PRC), and that volunteer organisations in Russia provide most of the motorcycles for frontline Russian units,' the ISW said. Arpan Rai25 June 2025 06:46 Rutte says Russia could attack Nato within three to seven years Russia could attack a Nato member state within three to seven years and is currently more prepared for a war than the alliance, the bloc's secretary general Mark Rutte said. 'When you look at the latest opinion polling done in Nato, you see that many, many people, and it is getting to really high numbers, are supporting the fact that, yes, there is a direct threat from Russia,' Mr Rutte said at the Nato public forum at The Hague yesterday. 'That yes, if we do not invest now, we are really at risk that the Russians might try something against Nato territory in three, five or seven years. And therefore there is large scale support. I see it in my own country,' he said. The Nato official warned that the alliance is 'living in much more dangerous times, and there are enemies, adversaries who might want to attack us'. Arpan Rai25 June 2025 06:32 Russian blasts blow out Ukrainian train's windows in Dnipro One of the blasts from the Russian attack yesterday blew out the windows of a passenger train in regional capital Dnipro, which was carrying about 500 people. Russia used ballistic missiles and drones to target multiple civilian sites in the central Ukrainian city. The total death toll from yesterday's attack rose to 26 and hundreds were injured. The barrage damaged 19 schools, 10 kindergartens, a vocational school, a music school and a social welfare office, as well as eight medical facilities, according to Dnipro mayor Borys Filatov. Schools are closed for the summer break. Mr Filatov declared Wednesday to be an official day of mourning. Arpan Rai25 June 2025 06:23 Trump's nominee for top US general in Europe 'thinks Ukraine can win' President Donald Trump's nominee to become the top US general in Europe said he believed Ukraine could prevail against Russia's more than three-year-old invasion. "I think Ukraine can win," Air Force Lieutenant General Alexus Grynkewich said in testimony at his Senate confirmation hearing. "I think any time your own homeland is threatened, you fight with a tenacity that's difficult for us to conceive of. "Grynkewich has been nominated by the Trump administration to serve as the next Supreme Allied Commander Europe within Nato, as well as commander of US European Command. He currently serves as Director of Operations (J-3) for the Joint Staff at the Pentagon in Washington, DC. Arpan Rai25 June 2025 05:56 Ukrainian lawmaker who nominated Trump for Nobel Peace Prize withdraws support A Ukrainian lawmaker who pushed for President Donald Trump to receive the Nobel Peace Prize has withdrawn his nomination after Russia - Ukraine ceasefire talks stalled. It's been more than three years since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Trump had promised to end the war within 24 hours of taking office, but it's been five months, and the two eastern European countries have not agreed to a peace deal. Oleksandr Merezhko, the head of Ukraine's parliamentary foreign committee, nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize last November, but told Newsweek Tuesday that he withdrew his nomination. Merezhko had "lost any sort of faith and belief" in Trump and his ability to get a ceasefire deal between Russia and Ukraine. Ukrainian lawmaker withdraws nomination for Trump to receive Nobel Peace Prize Oleksandr Merezhko, the head of Ukraine's parliamentary foreign committee, said he had "lost any sort of faith and belief" in Trump and his ability to get a ceasefire deal between Russia and Ukraine Arpan Rai25 June 2025 05:14 Nato chief praises Trump for making Europe 'pay in a BIG way' Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte praised US president Donald Trump for making Europe "pay in a BIG way". Mr Trump while flying aboard Air Force One en route to The Hague, published a screenshot of a private message from Mr Rutte saying: "Donald, you have driven us to a really, really important moment for America and Europe and the world. You will achieve something NO American president in decades could get done." "Europe is going to pay in a BIG way, as they should, and it will be your win," Mr Rutte wrote. Officials at Nato confirmed that he sent the message. The allies are likely to endorse a goal of spending 5 per cent of their gross domestic product on their security, to be able to fulfil the alliance's plans for defending against outside attack. Arpan Rai25 June 2025 05:11 Zelensky warns Russia could attack Nato country within next five years Volodymyr Zelensky has warned Russia could attack a Nato country within the next five years. The Ukrainian leader said Vladimir Putin could carry out an attack on another Nato country to test the alliance. Mr Zelensky issued his warning during an interview with Sky News on Monday (23 June). The Ukrainian president also said plans for Nato members to increase defence spending to five per cent of GDP by 2035 are 'very slow', stating Putin could have 'significantly greater capabilities' by 2030. Watch the video here: Zelensky warns Russia could attack Nato country within next five years Volodymyr Zelensky has warned Russia could attack a Nato country within the next five years. The Ukrainian leader said Vladimir Putin could carry out an attack on another Nato country to test the alliance. Mr Zelensky issued his warning during an interview with Sky News on Monday (23 June). The Ukrainian president also said plans for Nato members to increase defence spending to five per cent of GDP by 2035 are 'very slow', stating Putin could have 'significantly greater capabilities' by 2030. Arpan Rai25 June 2025 04:49 Russian missile attack kills 17 in Dnipro and injures more than 200 A Russian missile attack in southeastern Ukraine yesterday killed at least 17 people, injured hundreds and caused sweeping damage, officials said, ahead of president Volodymyr Zelensky's participation at Nato summit with Kyiv's allies. A Russian ballistic missile attack on Dnipro hit multiple civilian sites in the central Ukrainian city around midday, killing 17 people and injuring more than 200 others, officials said. 'The number of casualties is constantly being updated,' Dnipro's regional administration head Serhii Lysak wrote on Telegram. Among the wounded were at least 18 children, he added. Two people were also killed in the town of Samar, around 10 km (six miles) from Dnipro, Mr Lysak said, adding that an infrastructure facility was damaged. The rare daytime strike also damaged dozens of apartment buildings and educational facilities among other sites, according to Mayor Borys Filatov, who said the attack caused an "unprecedented amount of destruction" in the city.
