Latest news with #Donetsk
Arab News
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Russian strike on Ukraine's Odesa kills two, wounds 14
KYiV: A Russian drone strike on Ukraine's southern port city of Odesa killed two people and wounded 14, including children, local authorities said on Saturday. Moscow has stepped up drone and missile attacks on Ukraine and peace talks initiated by the United States to end the three-year conflict have stalled. 'Rescuers pulled the bodies of two people from the rubble who died as a result of a hostile drone strike on a residential building,' Odesa Governor Oleg Kiper said on Telegram. The night-time strike wounded 14 people, Kiper said, adding that 'three of them children.' Separately, authorities in Ukraine's southern Kherson region said one person was killed and three others were wounded in Russian strikes over the past day. 'Russian troops targeted critical and social infrastructure and residential areas in the region,' the Kherson's governor, Oleksandr Prokudin, said on Telegram early on Saturday. Tens of thousands of people have been killed in Russia's offensive, which has forced millions from their homes and devastated much of eastern Ukraine. Ukraine has launched retaliatory strikes on Russia throughout the war. The Russian defense ministry said on Saturday its air defense had shot down 31 Ukrainian drones overnight. Moscow also said it had captured another village in the Donetsk region, which the Kremlin has claimed as part of Russia since late 2022. Russia has demanded Ukraine cede more land and give up Western military support as a precondition to peace – terms Kyiv says are unacceptable.
CTV News
19 hours ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Russia has amassed 110,000 troops near strategic Ukrainian city, Kyiv says
An abandoned car stands against the background of damaged buildings in central Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Shtekel) Russia has amassed 110,000 troops in the vicinity of Pokrovsk as part of its efforts to take over the strategic eastern Ukrainian city, the Ukrainian military chief said Friday. Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Friday that the area around Pokrovsk was the 'hottest spot' along the 1,200-kilometre (745 miles) front line which runs across the east. Russian forces have been trying to capture Pokrovsk for almost a year, staging one grinding offensive after another. But despite having a clear advantage in terms of the number of troops and weapons available, Moscow has failed to take over the city. Pokrovsk is a strategic target for Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin has made it clear that his goal is to seize all of the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk his forces partially occupy. Kyiv and its allies accuse Russia's President Vladimir Putin of stalling on peace efforts so that his forces can seize more Ukrainian territory. Although not a major city, Pokrovsk sits on a key supply road and railroad that connect it with other military hubs in the area. Together with Kostiantynivka, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, it forms the backbone of Ukrainian defenses in the part of Donetsk region that are still under Kyiv's control. Some 60,000 lived in Pokrovsk before the war, but the majority have left in the three years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Ukraine's last operating coking coal mine was in Pokrovsk and many of its employees were staying in the area to keep it going. Once it was forced to shut down early this year, they too began to leave. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a U.S.-based conflict monitor, said late last year that Ukrainian defensive operations in Pokrovsk have forced Russia to abandon its original plan to take over Pokrovsk in a frontal assault. The ISW said this was because Ukrainian troops began using drones as integral part of their defensive strategy, successfully integrating drone operators with their ground forces. At the same time, Russia was unable to increase the number of troops in the area by much, because it was trying to contain the surprise incursion of Ukrainian troops into its own territory in the southern Kursk region. Syrskyi told reporters last week that at one point, the Kursk operation pulled back nearly 63,000 Russian troops and some 7,000 North Korean troops. 'This allowed us to weaken the enemy's pressure on the main fronts and regroup our troops. And the enemy's capture of Pokrovsk, announced back in September 2024, has not yet taken place, thanks in part to our Kursk operation,' he said. Instead of continuing to attacking the city directly, Russian troops then began encircling the city from south and northeast. The ISW said in its most recent assessment on Friday that Russian forces were continuing assaults with small fireteams of one to two soldiers, sometimes on motorcycles, in all-terrain vehicles and buggies. In a statement issued on Friday, Syrksky said Russia continued to try to break through to the administrative border of the Donetsk region. 'They want to do this not only to achieve some operational results, but primarily for demonstrative purposes. To achieve a psychological effect: to put the infamous 'foot of the Russian soldier' there, plant a flag and trumpet another pseudo-'victory',' he said. Ivana Kottasová and Daria Tarasova-Markina, CNN
CNN
a day ago
- Politics
- CNN
Russia has amassed 110,000 troops near strategic Ukrainian city, Kyiv says
Russia has amassed 110,000 troops in the vicinity of Pokrovsk as part of its efforts to take over the strategic eastern Ukrainian city, the Ukrainian military chief said Friday. Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Friday that the area around Pokrovsk was the 'hottest spot'along the 1,200-kilometre (745 miles) front line which runs across the east. Russian forces have been trying to capture Pokrovsk for almost a year, staging one grinding offensive after another. But despite having a clear advantage in terms of the number of troops and weapons available, Moscow has failed to take over the city. Pokrovsk is a strategic target for Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin has made it clear that his goal is to seize all of the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk his forces partially occupy. Kyiv and its allies accuse Russia's President Vladimir Putin of stalling on peace efforts so that his forces can seize more Ukrainian territory. Although not a major city, Pokrovsk sits on a key supply road and railroad that connect it with other military hubs in the area. Together with Kostiantynivka, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, it forms the backbone of Ukrainian defenses in the part of Donetsk region that are still under Kyiv's control. Some 60,000 lived in Pokrovsk before the war, but the majority have left in the three years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Ukraine's last operating coking coal mine was in Pokrovsk and many of its employees were staying in the area to keep it going. Once it was forced to shut down early this year, they too began to leave. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a US-based conflict monitor, said late last year that Ukrainian defensive operations in Pokrovsk have forced Russia to abandon its original plan to take over Pokrovsk in a frontal assault. The ISW said this was because Ukrainian troops began using drones as integral part of their defensive strategy, successfully integrating drone operators with their ground forces. At the same time, Russia was unable to increase the number of troops in the area by much, because it was trying to contain the surprise incursion of Ukrainian troops into its own territory in the southern Kursk region. Syrskyi told reporters last week that at one point, the Kursk operation pulled back nearly 63,000 Russian troops and some 7,000 North Korean troops. 'This allowed us to weaken the enemy's pressure on the main fronts and regroup our troops. And the enemy's capture of Pokrovsk, announced back in September 2024, has not yet taken place, thanks in part to our Kursk operation,' he said. Instead of continuing to attacking the city directly, Russian troops then began encircling the city from south and northeast. The ISW said in its most recent assessment on Friday that Russian forces were continuing assaults with small fireteams of one to two soldiers, sometimes on motorcycles, in all-terrain vehicles and buggies. In a statement issued on Friday, Syrksky said Russia continued to try to break through to the administrative border of the Donetsk region. 'They want to do this not only to achieve some operational results, but primarily for demonstrative purposes. To achieve a psychological effect: to put the infamous 'foot of the Russian soldier' there, plant a flag and trumpet another pseudo-'victory',' he said.
The Sun
a day ago
- Politics
- The Sun
Russians advance slower than a SNAIL with 50k pinned down as Putin's summer offensive mired in Ukraine's ‘dronegrinder'
THE Russian invasion of Ukraine has been advancing at an incredibly slow pace - with Kyiv's "dronegrinder" warfare miring Putin's summer offensive. The rate at which Moscow is capturing land has been dubbed "slower than a snail" - all while the human cost of Russian casualties is sky high. 8 8 8 After 448 days of fighting inside Chasiv Yar in Donetsk Oblast, the Russians reportedly only managed to take control of 50 per cent of the city. Which means the troops, on average, are only able to take 0.00629 square miles of land per day - which is a painfully low conversion rate. Even snails, which have a speed of 0.03 miles per hour, can cover more land than what the Russians have gained in the region. Meanwhile, Kyiv has ramped up its defences as it seeks to thwart Vladimir Putin's final killer summer offensive, which military analysts say could start as early as July. Ukraine's fierce resistance forced Russian troops to stop in the Sumy region's border area, Kyiv's military Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky revealed. The military boss said that the Ukrainian armed forces managed to tie down a 50,000-strong force and stabilise the frontlines "as of this week". It comes after Putin cemented his territorial ambitions by proclaiming "all of Ukraine" belonged to Russia and threatening to seize Sumy. Some 125,000 Russian soldiers are reportedly massing along the Sumy and Kharkiv frontiers, according to Ukraine's military intelligence. Ukrainians have now tasked a special defence group to strengthen fortifications near the frontlines, build anti-drone corridors and 'kill zones' Vladimir Putin rages 'all of Ukraine is ours' as he threatens to seize key city while Kyiv slams tyrant as 'deranged' Though the Russian forces recently seized Andriivka (north of Sumy City) and advanced southeast of Oleksiivka, according to the ISW assessment. Putin's battlefield casualties have soared past the bloody one million milestone after 40 months of meatgrinder war. Ukraine's fierce resistance forced Russia to pay a mighty toll for every inch of land it has taken, and its advances remain painfully slow. The staggering milestone includes troops who have been killed or wounded so severely that they cannot fight on. According to the Ukrainian General Staff, one million Russian military troops have been put out of action since February 24, 2022, with 628,000 of those casualties occurring in the last six months. Burning through a million troops has won Putin just 20 per cent of Ukraine's total territory - mainly in southern and eastern areas - which is a humiliating conversion rate. A defiant Ukraine stunned the world with its new-age drone warfare, which now kills more Russians than conventional battlefield techniques, such as artillery firing and battle tanks. One-way attack drones now account for almost 80 per cent of all the casualties in the war, with experts now dubbing it a "dronegrinder" war. Inside Operation Spiderweb By James Halpin, Foreign News Reporter UKRAINE'S shock sleeper drone blitz on Russia's bomber fleet has delivered a hammer blow to Vladimir Putin's nuclear arsenal. The SAS-style strike against four airfields deep inside Russia is reminiscent of the most daring raids of the WW2 that turned the tide against the Nazis. Volodymyr Zelensky oversaw Operation Spiderweb - much like Winston Churchill did as Britain struck deep behind enemy lines. Putin's doomsday bomber fleet is now crippled with 41, or a third, of his most prized aircraft lying in smouldering wrecks on tarmac. Ukraine said the sneak attack was worth $7bn (£5.2bn) in damage to Russia - caused by only 117 cheaply made drones. Ukraine's spies spent 18 months putting the plan into action and struck on the eve of fresh peace talks in Istanbul. The drones and the containers were smuggled into Russia separately and were pieced together right under Vlad's nose. Clueless lorry drivers then parked the containers next to Russian airbases - where they sat and waited in plain sight. Then, on the morning of June 1, the fleet of flying bombs rose over the far reaches of Russia - and the most daring military operation of the war began. Nondescript shipping containers parked in laybys and verges had attracted little attention - before their lids blew open and the drone swarms poured out. The craft buzzed as they took off into the air and only had to travel a short distance to their valuable targets. Each of the 117 drones had their own dedicated pilot and Russia had little defences to protect their bases and stop them. Drones with cameras sent video back to HQ in Ukraine of the moment craft struck their targets and explosions ripped into the sky. Thick black smoke climbed high, with civilians near the bases sending video of Ukraine's successes around the world. The furthest strike was Belaya Air Base - so far inside Russia that the closest neighbouring country is Mongolia. Olenya Air Base near Finland and Ivanovo and Dyagilevo near Moscow were also struck in the country's west. IS PUTIN BLUFFING? Some senior commanders in Ukraine believe the Russian attack on Sumy could be a feint and that Moscow is actually preparing to attack further south to push further into the Donbas. If so, Russia is likely to attack through three areas near each other in the Donbas - Kramatorsk, Kostiantynivka, and Pokrovsk. Vlad already controls more than 95 per cent of Luhansk, but capturing Donetsk would cement his control over the Donbas region and achieve a war aim, albeit a scaled-down one. The Donbas is an important industrial and mining area - and some 200,000 to 300,000 people still live in four cities controlled by Ukraine. Moscow's military planners will be weighing up whether they want to fight through the cities like they did in Bakhmut or encircle them by going around through farmland. 8 Kramatorsk is the closest city to the front line and is under constant attack by Russia. Brutal fighting is going on in the city - with a recent kamikaze drone strike that managed to get inside an armoured vehicle carrying Ukrainian soldiers. Russia has an opportunity to conduct a pincer movement around Kostiantynivka with its soldiers controlling land to the east and west of the city. Instead of attacking the city directly, the could bypass it and attack Druzhkivka behind it - thereby cutting Kostiantynivka and any Ukrainian soldiers still there off. In nearby Pokrovsk, Russia already has a salient, a bulge, out from the front line after a previous advance. The Pokrovsk front line is also very near Dnipropetrovsk Oblast - a region of Ukraine the Kremlin hasn't yet officially claimed. A successful breakthrough there might mean Putin can actually expand his war goals. 8 THE SOVIET RHETORIC It comes after Putin reaffirmed his long-held claim that Russians and Ukrainians are "one people". He declared: "In that sense, all of Ukraine is ours. "There is a saying: wherever a Russian soldier sets foot, that is ours," he added. The narrative is central to Putin's rhetoric, which he has used to justify his invasion of Ukraine. He reiterated his demand that Kyiv accept the realities of Moscow's territorial gains and abandon plans to join Nato. Putin said: "We aren't seeking Ukraine's surrender, we want them to recognise the realities on the ground," adding that Moscow has repeatedly warned Kyiv to make a deal. 8 8 Asked about Moscow's goals in Ukraine, Putin threatened to take Sumy - a key Ukrainian city - as part of the creation of a "buffer zone". He repeated that Moscow was "advancing on all fronts" and that his troops had penetrated up to seven miles into the Sumy region. Putin said: "We have to create a security zone along the border. "We have no objective to take Sumy, but in principle I do not rule it out... They pose a constant threat to us, constantly shelling the border areas." Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga described Putin's comments as "deranged" and called for Kyiv's allies to slap "devastating sanctions" on Russia. 8
Al Jazeera
a day ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,219
Here is how things stand on Friday, June 27: Fighting Russian air strikes killed one person and wounded two others in Ukraine's southern region of Kherson, regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said on Telegram. Russian troops have taken control of the village of Shevchenko in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region, which is close to a lithium deposit, after fierce resistance from Ukrainian forces, a Russian-backed official in the occupied region said. Russian troops also took control of the settlement of Novoserhiivka also in Donetsk, according to the Russian Ministry of Defence. Ukraine's forces stopped Russian advances in the border area of Ukraine's northern region of Sumy this week, the country's top general, Oleksandr Syrskii, said in a statement. Syrskii has also ordered defensive lines to be built more quickly in the Sumy region, as Russian forces gain ground towards the industrial Dnipropetrovsk region. Military North Korea will send more troops to Russia to assist in its war against Ukraine, possibly as early as July, a South Korean lawmaker said, citing information from Seoul's spy agency. Politics and diplomacy Ukraine and Russia exchanged a new group of captured soldiers, the latest in a series of prisoner swaps agreed at peace talks in Istanbul earlier this month. Neither side said how many prisoners were released, but they had pledged to swap at least 1,000 soldiers each during their direct meeting in Istanbul on June 2. Russia said there was no progress yet towards setting a date for the next round of peace talks with Ukraine, Interfax news agency reported. Another state news agency, TASS, quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying Russia was in favour of continued United States efforts to mediate talks. The European Union's 27 leaders have agreed to extend sanctions on Russia for another six months, resolving fears that Kremlin-friendly Hungary would let the measures lapse, officials said. The sanctions include the continued freezing of more than $234bn in Russian central bank assets until at least early 2026. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged the European Council to send 'a clear political message' that Brussels backs Kyiv in its effort to join the EU. Earlier, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that a state-organised consultation gave him a 'strong mandate' to oppose neighbouring Ukraine's EU accession at the EU summit in Brussels. The international chemical weapons watchdog, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), said that it had found a banned tear gas in seven samples submitted by Ukraine, which has accused Russia of using the riot control agent on the front line. It was the third time the OPCW confirmed the use of CS gas in areas where fighting is taking place in Ukraine. Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said a new arms race could lead to the fall of Russian President Vladimir Putin's 'regime', just like it toppled the Soviet Union. Press freedom A Russian court said it had found a photographer, Grigory Skvortsov, guilty of treason and jailed him for 16 years after he allegedly admitted passing detailed information about once-secret Soviet-era bunkers to a US journalist. Moscow will summon the German ambassador soon to inform him of retaliatory measures in response to what it sees as the harassment of Russian journalists based in Germany, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
