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Straits Times
7 days ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Russia steps up attacks on Ukrainian draft offices
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox FILE PHOTO: Rescuers work at the site of the Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine July 7, 2025. REUTERS/Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy/File Photo KHARKIV, Ukraine - Russia struck two military recruitment centres in separate drone attacks on Monday, Ukraine's military said, doubling down on a new campaign of strikes Kyiv says is aimed at disrupting military recruitment. Monday's attacks damaged draft offices in the regional capitals of Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia and came a day after a Russian drone struck a recruitment centre in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk. Last week, Russian attacks targeted draft offices in Poltava, another regional capital, as well as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's hometown of Kryvyi Rih. Both strikes on Monday took place in densely populated areas, wounding dozens of civilians and damaging homes and apartment buildings. In Kharkiv, rescue workers sifted through debris as stunned residents recovered. "This is the tactic our enemy has chosen," Mayor Ihor Terekhov told reporters in front of a badly charred building. In its daily briefing on Monday, Russia's defence ministry confirmed it had struck an unspecified number of draft offices. The string of attacks has prompted recruitment centres to disperse some personnel and temporarily suspend work at the locations damaged, ground forces spokesperson Vitaliy Sarantsev told Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne. However, he added that recruitment was still on track. Ukraine's resource-strapped military has struggled to fend off a bigger and better-equipped Russian army on the battlefield, where Moscow has made gradual advances across parts of the east in a grinding summer campaign. Enthusiasm for joining up in Ukraine has also been dampened by reports of corruption as well as poor training and command. Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council warned on Monday that Russia was also waging an "information campaign" by spreading a bot on messaging platform Telegram that purports to collect information about the location of draft offices. " a coordinated attempt by Russia to destabilize the mobilization process and sow panic among the population," the Center for Countering Disinformation said in a statement. The recent strikes also follow a string of bombings at recruitment centres and arson attacks on military vehicles earlier this year, which Ukraine's domestic security service has said is Russian sabotage. REUTERS
Japan Today
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Japan Today
Russia hits Ukraine's Kharkiv with deadly nighttime barrage of drones
Women react next to their apartment building damaged by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine June 11, 2025. REUTERS/Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy A concentrated, nine-minute-long Russian drone attack on Ukraine's second largest city of Kharkiv in the middle of the night killed six people and injured 64, including nine children, Ukrainian officials said on Wednesday. The overnight attack followed Russia's two biggest air assaults of the war on Ukraine this week, part of intensified bombardments that Moscow says are retaliatory measures for Kyiv's recent attacks in Russia. Elsewhere, two southern Ukrainian regions, Mykolaiv and Kherson, were left without electricity on Wednesday after Russian forces attacked an energy facility, the governors said. Kharkiv, in Ukraine's northeast, withstood Russia's full-scale advance in the early days of the war but has since been a regular target of drone, missile and guided aerial bomb assaults. Prosecutors in Kharkiv region said on the Telegram messaging app that the death toll had risen to six as rescue teams pulled bodies from under the rubble. They said three people were still believed to be trapped. The intense strikes by 17 drones on Kharkiv sparked fires in 15 units of a five-story apartment building and caused other damage in the city close to the Russian border, the city's mayor Ihor Terekhov said. "There are direct hits on multi-story buildings, private homes, playgrounds, enterprises and public transport," Terekhov said on the Telegram messaging app. "Every new day now brings new despicable blows from Russia, and almost every blow is telling. Russia deserves increased pressure; with literally every blow it strikes against ordinary life, it proves that the pressure is not enough," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Telegram. A Reuters witness saw emergency rescuers helping to carry people out of damaged buildings and administering care, while firefighters battled blazes in the dark. Nine of the injured, including a 2-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy, have been hospitalised, Oleh Sinehubov, the governor of the broader Kharkiv region, said on Telegram. In total, the Ukrainian military said Russia had launched 85 drones overnight, 40 of which were shot down. In the southern Kherson region, workers were trying to restore electricity supplies after Russian forces attacked what its governor, Oleksandr Prokudin, said was "an important energy facility". "It is currently impossible to predict the duration of the work. Residents of the region, I ask you to show understanding and prepare for a prolonged power outage," he said on the Telegram messenger. The governor of the neighbouring Mykolaiv region, Vitaliy Kim, said his region was also experiencing emergency shutdowns but that power would soon be restored. Kherson region directly borders a war zone and is under daily drone, missile and artillery attack. The Mykolaiv region faces mainly missile and drone attacks. There was no immediate comment from Russia on the latest overnight attacks. Both sides deny targeting civilians in the war that Russia launched on its smaller neighbor in February 2022. But thousands of civilians have died in the conflict, the vast majority of them Ukrainian. © Thomson Reuters 2025.
Straits Times
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Intense Russian drone attack on Kharkiv kills 2, injures 57, Ukraine says
Rescuers carry a bag with the body of a resident killed inside an apartment building during a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine June 11, 2025. REUTERS/Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy A view shows cars and apartment building damaged by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine June 11, 2025. REUTERS/Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy Emergency workers and volunteers carry a person evacuated from an apartment building damaged by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine June 11, 2025. REUTERS/Vitalii Hnidyi Police officers and volunteers carry a person evacuated from an apartment building damaged by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine June 11, 2025. REUTERS/Vitalii Hnidyi Women react next to their apartment building damaged by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine June 11, 2025. REUTERS/Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy KHARKIV - A concentrated, nine-minute-long Russian drone attack on Ukraine's second largest city of Kharkiv in the middle of the night killed at least two people and injured 57, including seven children, regional officials said on Wednesday. The intense strikes with 17 drones sparked fires in 15 units of a five-storey apartment building and caused other damage in the city close to the Russian border, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said. "There are direct hits on multi-storey buildings, private homes, playgrounds, enterprises and public transport," Terekhov said on the Telegram messaging app. "Apartments are burning, roofs are destroyed, cars are burnt, windows are broken." A Reuters witness saw emergency rescuers helping to carry people out of damaged buildings and administering care, while firefighters battled blazes in the dark. Nine of the injured, including a 2-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy, have been hospitalised, Oleh Sinehubov, the governor of the broader Kharkiv region, said on Telegram. He added that the strikes hit also a city trolley bus depot and several residential buildings. The Ukrainian military said Russia had launched 85 drones overnight, 40 of which were shot down. It said nine drones were lost - a reference to the Ukrainian military using electronic warfare to redirect them - or they were drone simulators that did not carry warheads. "The main areas of the air strike are Kharkiv, Donetsk and Odesa regions," the military said on Telegram. There was no immediate comment from Russia. Kharkiv, in Ukraine's northeast, withstood Russia's full-scale advance in the early days of the war and has since been a frequent target of drone, missile, and guided aerial bomb assaults. The overnight attack followed Russia's two biggest assaults of the war on Ukraine this week, a part of intensified bombardments that Moscow said were retaliatory measures for Kyiv's recent attacks in Russia. Both sides deny targeting civilians in the war that Russia launched on its smaller neighbour in February 2022. But thousands of civilians have died in the conflict, the vast majority of them Ukrainian. "We are holding on. We are helping each other. And we will definitely survive," Terekhov said. "Kharkiv is Ukraine. And it cannot be broken." REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
06-06-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
Europe can sustain Ukraine's war effort without U.S., German general says
Ukrainian servicemen of the 30th Prince Kostiantyn Ostrozkyi Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces prepare to fire a BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launch system towards Russian troops, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine June 3, 2025. REUTERS/Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy/ File Photo BERLIN - Europe is capable of sustaining Ukraine's resistance against Russia, even if the United States were to decide to completely halt its military support to Kyiv, the senior military official in charge of coordinating Germany's arms supplies told Reuters. Major General Christian Freuding said NATO's European members plus Canada had already exceeded the estimated $20 billion worth of U.S. military aid provided last year to Kyiv. They accounted for around 60% of the total costs borne by the Western allies, he said. "The war against Ukraine is raging on our continent, it is also being waged against the European security order. If the political will is there, then the means will also be there to largely compensate for the American support," Freuding said in an interview. Ukraine continues to receive weapons deliveries approved by former U.S. President Joe Biden. It is unclear, however, whether his successor Donald Trump will sign off on any new supplies - or allow third countries to purchase U.S. weapons for Kyiv. Asked how long the Biden-approved deliveries will sustain Kyiv, Freuding said this depended on logistical processes as well as the speed at which Ukraine burns through arms and ammunition, but that the summer seemed a realistic estimate. "How the American government handles further requests for military support for Ukraine is unclear at the moment. We can't say anything about that," he added. "In general, the U.S. has a great interest in boosting its own defence industry. I make the cautious assumption that at least purchasing U.S. defence goods, and delivering them to Ukraine, will be possible." RUSSIAN REARMAMENT Addressing the potential threat that Russia might pose beyond Ukraine, Freuding said Moscow had a clear plan to reconstitute and grow its military, and was expected to succeed in efforts to double its land forces to 1.5 million by 2026. "They are recruiting significantly more personnel than they need as replacements for the war in Ukraine. They are producing surplus stocks of ammunition, in particular, which they are 'putting on store'". Freuding said Russia was also ramping up its military infrastructure, especially in its western military district bordering new NATO member Finland. Any ceasefire in Ukraine could allow Russia to accelerate its rearmament efforts ahead of a possible large-scale attack on NATO territory, he said. The alliance currently believes this could occur from 2029. "Of course, a ceasefire could change the threat situation," Freuding said. Russia denies planning to attack NATO and says it is waging a "special military operation" in Ukraine to protect its own security against what it casts as an aggressive, hostile West. Germany has provided a total of 38 billion euros ($43 billion) in military aid to Ukraine, including funds earmarked for the coming years, making it the second largest donor after the United States, the defence ministry in Berlin says. Freuding said he was not aware of the Trump administration having endorsed any U.S. arms deliveries to Kyiv paid for by third countries. Still, making up for certain crucial parts of U.S. military support to Ukraine would pose significant challenges to Europe. Listing capabilities that would be hard for Europeans to replace, Freuding cited U.S. intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) data, air defence systems like Patriot and spare parts for U.S. weapons. "If we are capable of replacing specific (ISR) capabilities to a sufficient extent - we need to look into this when we definitely know the Americans won't provide this data anymore." Ukraine uses U.S. intelligence data to help its air defence, and analysts say also for targeting. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
