Tag: NASIA

Biden ‘guarantees’ US will back NATO, Trump shadow lingers

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HELSINKI, July 13 (Reuters) – President Joe Biden on Thursday gave his assurance that the United States would stay committed to NATO despite “extreme elements” of the Republican Party, in remarks during a visit to Finland to welcome it as the alliance’s latest member.

“I absolutely guarantee it,” Biden told a press conference when pressed by a Finnish reporter about the U.S. commitment to NATO given political instability in the United States. Biden’s predecessor, Republican former President Donald Trump, threatened to take the United States out of the alliance.

“No one can guarantee the future, but this is the best bet anyone could make,” Biden said. Biden, a Democrat, is running for re-election in 2024 and Trump is the front-runner for Republicans.

Concern lingers in Europe about the reliability of U.S. pledges and global alliances, years after Trump’s norm-busting presidency ended. Trump clashed with NATO leaders over funding the alliance and threatened to reduce the number of U.S. troops in Germany.

Biden said there was overwhelming support for NATO from the American people, from Congress and from both Democrats and Republicans, “notwithstanding the fact there’s some extreme elements of one party,” referring to Republicans.

“I’m saying as sure as anything could possibly be said about American foreign policy, we will stay connected to NATO,” Biden continued, showing a flash of irritation.

Biden’s visit comes almost exactly five years after Trump struck a conciliatory tone with Russian President Vladimir Putin at talks in Helsinki.

Biden was in the city to participate in a summit with the leaders of Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland and Norway. He came directly from this week’s NATO summit held in Vilnius, Lithuania, where he said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had only made the alliance stronger.

Biden said NATO had officially elevated its relationship with Ukraine and created a pathway for its membership “as it continues to make progress on the necessary democratic and security reforms required of every NATO member.”

Ukraine could not join the alliance in the middle of a war, he said.

“It’s not about whether they should or shouldn’t join, it’s about when they can join. And they will join NATO,” he said of Ukraine.

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks as he holds a press conference with Finland’s President Sauli Niinisto in Helsinki, Finland, July 13, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Biden said Putin had “already lost the war,” as there was no possibility of Russia winning.

“NEW ERA”

Finland’s decision to join NATO broke with seven decades of military non-alignment and roughly doubled the length of the border NATO shares with Russia.

The country repelled an attempted Soviet invasion during World War Two but lost territory. It maintained accommodating relations with Russia until President Vladimir Putin’s Ukraine invasion in February 2022.

Ahead of his bilateral meeting with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, Biden hailed Finland as an “incredible asset” to the NATO military alliance.

Niinisto said Finland’s NATO membership heralded “a new era in our security”, and applauded Biden for creating unity at the Vilnius summit, which focused on supporting Ukraine.

“You will be one of those who wrote it to history,” he said to Biden about Finland joining the alliance.

Niinisto also said Finland was open to hosting a NATO base on its territory.

“We are discussing the defence cooperation agreement and it has a lot of elements. They are still open. But we are open to negotiations and I know that our counterparties are also very open.”

Biden and the Nordic leaders said in a statement following the talks that they would continue to support Ukraine for as long as necessary.

Biden also welcomed Sweden’s prospective entry to NATO. Sweden had applied to join NATO alongside Finland, but its bid was held up by Turkey, which says Sweden is doing too little against people Ankara sees as terrorists. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan dropped objections to its application this week.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson thanked Biden for his support in the country’s push to join NATO.

Reporting by Steve Holland and Essi Lehto; Writing by Jeff Mason and Steve Holland; Editing by Heather Timmons, Rosalba O’Brien and Alistair Bell

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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July 13, 2023
Moscow says 700,000 children from Ukraine conflict zones now in Russia

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[1/2]A view shows a residential building destroyed in the course of Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine April 14, 2022. Picture taken with a drone. REUTERS/Pavel Klimov/File Photo

July 3 (Reuters) – Russia has brought some 700,000 children from the conflict zones in Ukraine into Russian territory, Grigory Karasin, head of the international committee in the Federation Council, Russia’s upper house of parliament, said late on Sunday.

“In recent years, 700,000 children have found refuge with us, fleeing the bombing and shelling from the conflict areas in Ukraine,” Karasin wrote on his Telegram messaging channel.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion on its western neighbour Ukraine in February 2022. Moscow says its programme of bringing children from Ukraine into Russian territory is to protect orphans and children abandoned in the conflict zone.

However, Ukraine says many children have been illegally deported and the United States says thousands of children have been forcibly removed from their homes.

Most of the movement of people and children occurred in the first few months of the war and before Ukraine started its major counter offensive to regain occupied territories in the east and south in late August.

In July 2022, the United States estimated that Russia “forcibly deported” 260,000 children, while Ukraine’s Ministry of Integration of Occupied Territories, says 19,492 Ukrainian children are currently considered illegally deported.

(This story has been refiled to fix typographical errors in paragraph 3)

Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Michael Perry

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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July 3, 2023
Russia asks IAEA to ensure Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant security

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June 23 (Reuters) – Russia urged the International Atomic Energy Agency on Friday to ensure Ukraine does not shell the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, saying it was otherwise operating safely.

Alexei Likhachev, chief executive of the Russian state nuclear energy firm Rosatom, made the comments at a meeting with IAEA chief Rafael Grossi in the Russian city of Kaliningrad, Rosatom said in a statement, after Grossi visited the plant last week.

“We expect concrete steps from the IAEA aimed at preventing strikes by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, both on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and on adjacent territory and critical infrastructure facilities,” Rosatom quoted its chief as saying in a statement.

The IAEA said this week that the power plant was “grappling with … water-related challenges” after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam emptied the vast reservoir on whose southern bank the plant sits.

It also said the military situation in the area had become increasingly tense as Kyiv began a counteroffensive against the Russian forces that have seized control of swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine.

Moscow and Kyiv have regularly accused each other of shelling Europe’s largest nuclear power station, with its six offline reactors. International efforts to establish a demilitarised zone around it have so far failed.

Ukraine this week accused Russia of planning a “terrorist” attack at the plant involving the release of radiation, while Moscow on Friday detained five people who it said were planning to smuggle radioactive caesium-137 at the request of a Ukrainian buyer in order to stage a nuclear incident.

Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Kevin Liffey

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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June 23, 2023
Ukraine signals main push in counteroffensive is yet to come
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Ukrainian general reports “tangible success” in south

Ukraine is in early stages of counteroffensive

Officials signal that main part of offensive lies ahead

President orders audit into recruitment centres

Each side says the other has suffered heavy losses
KYIV, June 23 (Reuters) – Ukraine signalled on Friday that the main push in its counteroffensive against Russian forces was still to come, with some troops not yet deployed and the operation so far intended to “set up the battlefield.”

And one of its top generals reported “tangible successes” in advances in the south – one of two main theatres of operations, along with eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine says it has retaken eight villages in the early stages of its most ambitious assault since Russia’s full-scale invasion 16 months ago, but President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said this week that gains had been “slower than desired.”

Addressing the pace of the Ukrainian advances, three senior officials on Friday sent the clearest signal so far that the main part of the counteroffensive has not yet begun.

“Offensive operations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine continue in a number of areas. Formation operations are underway to set up the battlefield,” presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said on Twitter.

“The counteroffensive is not a new season of a Netflix show. There is no need to expect action and buy popcorn.”

Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said the “main events” of the counteroffensive were “ahead of us.”

“And the main blow is still to come. Indeed, some of the reserves – these are staged things – will be activated later,” Maliar told Ukrainian television.

General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, commander of Ukraine’s “Tavria,” or southern front, wrote on Telegram: “There have been tangible successes of the Defence Forces and in advances in the Tavria sector.”

Tarnavskyi said Russian forces had lost hundreds of men and 51 military vehicles in the past 24 hours, including three tanks and 14 armoured personnel carriers.

Although the advances Ukraine has reported this month are its first substantial gains on the battlefield for seven months, Ukrainian forces have yet to push to the main defensive lines that Russia has had months to prepare.

‘EVERYTHING IS STILL AHEAD’ – UKRAINIAN COMMANDER

“I want to say that our main force has not been engaged in fighting yet, and we are now searching, probing for weak places in the enemy defences. Everything is still ahead,” the Guardian quoted Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, as saying in an interview with the British newspaper.

Moscow has sought to portray the Ukrainian counteroffensive as a failure. It says Kyiv’s forces have suffered heavy losses, while Ukraine says Russia has lost many soldiers in heavy fighting since the counterattack began.

Reuters is unable to verify the situation on the battlefield but has reached two of the villages recaptured by Kyiv.

Ukraine has prepared new military units for its long-awaited counteroffensive, including 12 new brigades, but only three of them have been seen in combat so far. It has also received an array of weapons from its Western allies to help it take back swathes of territory occupied by Russia.

Presidential adviser Podolyak said that the time Ukraine had needed to persuade its Western partners to provide the necessary weapons had given the Russian military the opportunity to dig in and strengthen their defence lines.

“Breaking the Russian front today requires a reasonable and balanced approach. The life of a soldier is the most important value for Ukraine today,” he said.

Zelenskiy, meanwhile, ordered the creation of a special commission to carry out an audit of heads of military draft offices in regions across Ukraine.

In his nightly video address, Zelenskiy said he had instructed commander in chief General Valery Zaluzhniy to remove the head of an office in the southern port of Odesa after media reports that the official owned property in Spain.

“It is very unpleasant, openly immoral and incorrect that this person remained in his position despite everything,” he said.

Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka, Writing by Olena Harmash, Editing by Timothy Heritage, Ron Popeski and Jonathan Oatis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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June 23, 2023
Russia accuses mercenary chief of armed mutiny after he vows to punish top brass
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Prigozhin says army bombed his men, vows ‘justice’

Moscow accuses him of calling for armed mutiny

Wagner chief takes feud with top brass to new level

Prigozhin earlier accused army of deceiving Putin
LONDON, June 24 (Reuters) – Russia accused mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin of armed mutiny on Friday after he alleged, without providing evidence, that the military leadership had killed a huge number of his fighters in an air strike and vowed to punish them.

The standoff, many of whose details remained unclear, looked like the biggest domestic crisis President Vladimir Putin has faced since he ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine – something he called a “special military operation” – in February last year.

As the standoff between Prigozhin, founder of the Wagner mercenary force, and the defence ministry appeared to come to a head, the ministry issued a statement saying Prigozhin’s accusations were “not true and are an informational provocation”.

Prigozhin said his actions were not a military coup. But in a frenzied series of audio messages, in which the sound of his voice sometimes varied and could not be independently verified, he appeared to suggest that 25,000 fighters were en route to oust the leaders of the defence establishment in Moscow.

He said: “Those who destroyed our lads, who destroyed the lives of many tens of thousands of Russian soldiers, will be punished. I ask that no one offer resistance …

“There are 25,000 of us and we are going to figure out why chaos is happening in the country,” he said, promising to tackle any checkpoints or air forces that got in Wagner’s way.

At about 2 a.m. on Saturday morning, Moscow time (2300 GMT), Prigozhin issued a new message saying his forces had crossed the border from Ukraine, and were in the southern Russian city of Rostov.

He said they were ready to “go all the way” against the top brass, and to destroy anyone who stood in their way.

At around the same time, the state news agency TASS quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying all Russia’s main security services were reporting to Putin “round the clock” on the fulfilment of his orders with respect to Prigozhin.

Security was being tightened in Moscow, TASS said, focusing on what it called the capital’s most important government sites and infrastructure.

Earlier on Friday, Prigozhin had appeared to cross a new line in his increasingly vitriolic feud with the ministry, saying that the Kremlin’s rationale for invading Ukraine was based on lies concocted by the army’s top brass.

The FSB domestic security service said it had opened a criminal case against him for calling for an armed mutiny, a crime punishable with a jail term of up to 20 years.

“Prigozhin’s statements are in fact calls for the start of an armed civil conflict on Russian territory and his actions are a ‘stab in the back’ of Russian servicemen fighting pro-fascist Ukrainian forces,” the FSB said.

“We urge the … fighters not to make irreparable mistakes, to stop any forcible actions against the Russian people, not to carry out the criminal and traitorous orders of Prigozhin, to take measures to detain him.”

Founder of Wagner private mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin leaves a cemetery before the funeral of Russian military blogger Maxim Fomin widely known by the name of Vladlen Tatarsky, who was recently killed in a bomb attack in a St Petersburg cafe, in Moscow, Russia, April 8, 2023. REUTERS/Yulia Morozova/File Photo

GENERALS URGE PRIGOZHIN TO BACK DOWN

Army Lieutenant-General Vladimir Alekseyev issued a video appeal asking Prigozhin to reconsider his actions.

“Only the president has the right to appoint the top leadership of the armed forces, and you are trying to encroach on his authority,” he said.

Army General Sergei Surovikin, the deputy commander of Russian forces in Ukraine whom Prigozhin has praised in the past, in a separate video said that “the enemy is just waiting for our internal political situation to deteriorate”.

“Before it is too late … you must submit to the will and order of the people’s president of the Russian Federation. Stop the columns and return them to their permanent bases,” he said.

Prigozhin, whose men spearheaded the capture of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut last month, has for months been openly accusing Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Russia’s top general, Valery Gerasimov, of rank incompetence and of denying Wagner ammunition and support.

An unverified video posted on a Telegram channel close to Wagner showed the purported scene of an air strike against Wagner forces. It showed a forest where small fires were burning and trees appeared to have been broken by force. There appeared to be one body, but no more direct evidence of any attack.

It carried the caption: “A missile attack was launched on the camps of PMC (Private Military Company) Wagner. Many victims. According to eyewitnesses, the strike was delivered from the rear, that is, it was delivered by the military of the Russian Ministry of Defence.”

Prigozhin has tried to exploit Wagner’s battlefield success, achieved at enormous human cost, to publicly berate Moscow with seeming impunity, while carefully avoiding criticism of Putin.

But on Friday he for the first time dismissed Putin’s core justifications for invading Ukraine on Feb. 24 last year, something for which many Russians have been fined or jailed.

“The war was needed … so that Shoigu could become a marshal … so that he could get a second ‘Hero’ [of Russia] medal,” Prigozhin said in a video clip. “The war wasn’t needed to demilitarise or denazify Ukraine.”

Marat Gabidullin, a former Wagner commander who moved to France when Russia invaded Ukraine, told Reuters that Wagner’s fighters were likely to stand with Prigozhin.

“We have looked down on the army for a long time … Of course they support him, he is their leader,” he said.

“They won’t hesitate (to fight the army), if anyone gets in their way.”

Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Andrew Osborn and Kevin Liffey; Editing by Daniel Wallis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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June 23, 2023
Russian missile attack kills 11 in Ukrainian president’s hometown
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Apartment block and warehouses hit in missile attack

President Zelenskiy condemns strike on his hometown

Air strike is latest of many since Russia invaded
KRYVYI RIH, Ukraine, June 13 (Reuters) – Eleven civilians were killed in a Russian missile attack that struck an apartment building and warehouses in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih on Tuesday, local officials said.

Emergency services said four were killed in the apartment block and seven at the warehouses, where officials said a private company stored goods such as fizzy drinks. Mayor Oleksandr Vilkul said none of the targets had military links.

A further 25 people were wounded, two of whom suffered severe burns and were in critical condition, the chief doctor of one of Kryvyi Rih’s hospitals told reporters.

Residents sobbed outside the burnt-out apartment block, from which smoke billowed after the early-morning attack on the central Ukrainian city.

Olha Chernousova, who lives in the five-storey apartment block, said she was woken by an explosion which sounded like thunder and thrown out of her bed by a violent blast wave.

“I ran to my front door, but it was very hot there… the smoke was heavy,” she said.

“What could I do? I was sat on the balcony, terrified I would lose consciousness. Nobody came for a long time… I thought I would have to jump into a tree.”

[1/6] Police officers stand next to the bodies of people killed by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kryvyi Rih, Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine June 13, 2023. REUTERS/Andrii Dubchak

Around her, the street and courtyard were strewn with glass and bricks. At least five cars were ruined husks.

Ihor Lavrenenko, who lives in a different part of the building, said he heard two blasts.

“I woke up from the first bang, a weak one, and went straightaway onto the balcony. Then the second one erupted overhead, I watched from my balcony as hot debris fell,” he said.

Zelenskiy, who was born in Kryvyi Rih, condemned the attack.

“Russian killers continue their war against residential buildings, ordinary cities and people,” he wrote on the Telegram messaging app. “Terrorists will never be forgiven, and they will be held accountable for every missile they launch.”

Russia has repeatedly struck cities across Ukraine since its full-scale invasion in February 2022 but denies targeting civilians. Moscow has also accused Ukraine of cross-border shelling as Kyiv carries out counter-offensive operations.

Ukraine’s military command said air defences had destroyed 10 out of 14 cruise missiles, and one of four Iranian-made drones, fired at Ukraine overnight.

Additional reporting by Lidia Kelly, Anna Pruchnicka and Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Timothy Heritage

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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June 13, 2023
Dutch intelligence tipped CIA on alleged Ukraine plan to attack Nord Stream, broadcaster reports

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AMSTERDAM, June 13 (Reuters) – A Dutch intelligence agency tipped off the CIA about an alleged Ukrainian plan in June 2022 to blow up the Nord Stream pipeline, Dutch national broadcaster NOS reported on Tuesday.

The NOS report, which was compiled with help from leading German media outlets, did not identify its sources.

It said that the Dutch military intelligence agency MIVD had warned the CIA of the existence of such a plan, leading to a warning from Washington to Kyiv not to attack the pipeline.

Unexplained explosions ruptured both Nord Stream 1 and the newly built Nord Stream 2 pipelines, carrying gas from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea, in September.

The blasts occurred in the economic zones of Sweden and Denmark. Both countries said the explosions were deliberate, but have yet to determine who was responsible. Those countries and Germany are investigating.

Washington and NATO called the incident “an act of sabotage”. Moscow accused investigators of dragging their feet and trying to conceal who was behind the attack. Ukraine denies responsibility.

The MIVD could not immediately be reached for comment.

Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Conor Humphries

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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June 13, 2023
Putin ponders: Should Russia try to take Kyiv again?
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Putin: No need for new mobilisation, for now

Putin: No need for martial law

Says Ukraine’s counteroffensive has failed so far

Putin: Russia may create ‘sanitary zone’ in Ukraine
MOSCOW, June 13 (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that any further mobilisation would depend on what Russia wanted to achieve in the war in Ukraine, adding that he faced a question only he could answer – should Russia try to take Kyiv again?

More than 15 months since Putin sent troops into Ukraine, Russian and Ukrainian forces are still battling with artillery, tanks and drones along a 1,000-km (600-mile) front line, though well away from the capital Kyiv.

Using the word “war” several times, Putin offered a barrage of warnings to the West, suggesting Russia may have to impose a “sanitary zone” in Ukraine to prevent it attacking Russia and saying Moscow was considering ditching the Black Sea grain deal.

Russia, he said, had no need for nationwide martial law and would keep responding to breaches of its red lines. Many in the United States, Putin said, did not want World War Three, though Washington gave the impression it was unafraid of escalation.

But his most puzzling remark was about Kyiv, which Russian forces tried – and failed – to capture just hours after Putin ordered troops into Ukraine on February 24 last year.

“Should we return there or not? Why am I asking such a rhetorical question?” Putin told 18 Russian war correspondents and bloggers in the Kremlin.

“Only I can answer this myself,” Putin said. His comments on Kyiv – during several hours of answering questions – were shown on Russian state television.

Russian troops were beaten back from Kyiv and eventually withdrew to a swathe of land in Ukraine’s east and south which Putin has declared is now part of Russia. Ukraine says it will never rest until every Russian soldier is ejected from its land.

Putin last September announced what he said was a “partial mobilisation” of 300,000 reservists, triggering an exodus of at least as many Russian men who sought to dodge the draft by leaving for republics of the former Soviet Union.

Asked about another call-up by state TV war correspondent Alexander Sladkov, Putin said: “There is no such need today.”

MOBILISATION?

Russia’s paramount leader, though, was less than definitive on the topic, saying it depended on what Moscow wanted to achieve and pointing out that some public figures thought Russia needed 1 million or even 2 million additional men in uniform.

[1/6] Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with war correspondents at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia June 13, 2023. Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Kremlin via REUTERS

“It depends on what we want,” Putin said.

Though Russia now controls about 18% of Ukraine’s territory, the war has underscored the fault lines of the once mighty Russian armed forces and the vast human cost of fighting urban battles such as in Bakhmut, a small eastern city one twentieth the area of Kyiv.

Putin said the conflict had shown Russia had a lack of high-precision munitions and complex communications equipment.

He said Russia had established control over “almost all” of what he casts as “Novorossiya” (New Russia), a Tsarist-era imperial term for a swathe of southern Ukraine which is now used by Russian nationalists.

At times using Russian slang, Putin said Russia was not going to change course in Ukraine.

Russia’s future plans in Ukraine, he said, would be decided once the Ukrainian counteroffensive, which he said began on June 4, was over.

Ukraine’s offensive has not been successful in any area, Putin said, adding that Ukrainian human losses were 10 times greater than Russia’s.

Ukraine had lost over 160 of its tanks and 25-30% of the vehicles supplied from abroad, he said, while Russia had lost 54 tanks. Ukraine said it has made gains in the counteroffensive.

Reuters could not independently verify statements from either side about the battlefield.

Putin further said Ukraine had deliberately hit the Kakhovka hydro-electric dam on June 6 with U.S.-supplied HIMARS rockets, a step he said had also hindered Kyiv’s counteroffensive efforts. Ukraine says Russia blew up the dam, which Russian forces captured early in the war.

Putin said Russia needed to fight enemy agents and improve its defences against attacks deep inside its own territory, but that there was no need to follow Ukraine’s example and declare martial law.

“There is no reason to introduce some kind of special regime or martial law in the country. There is no need for such a thing today.”

Reporting by Reuters; editing by Andrew Osborn, Gareth Jones and Mark Heinrich

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Guy Faulconbridge

Thomson Reuters

As Moscow bureau chief, Guy runs coverage of Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Before Moscow, Guy ran Brexit coverage as London bureau chief (2012-2022). On the night of Brexit, his team delivered one of Reuters historic wins – reporting news of Brexit first to the world and the financial markets. Guy graduated from the London School of Economics and started his career as an intern at Bloomberg. He has spent over 14 years covering the former Soviet Union. He speaks fluent Russian.
Contact: +447825218698
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June 13, 2023
Russia releases video of captured German tanks, U.S. fighting vehicles in Ukraine

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June 13 (Reuters) – Russia’s Defence Ministry released video footage on Tuesday of what it said were German-made Leopard tanks and U.S.-made Bradley Fighting Vehicles captured by Russian forces in a fierce battle with Ukrainian troops.

Reuters was able to confirm that the vehicles seen in the video were Leopard tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles, but was not able to independently verify the location or date of the footage.

The Defence Ministry said the armoured vehicles and tanks were captured on the Zaporizhzhia front in southern Ukraine, one of the areas where Ukrainian forces have been trying to counter-attack.

Two Leopard tanks were shown in the footage, which was released on the ministry’s official channel on the Telegram messaging application, along with two damaged Bradley Fighting Vehicles.

A still image from a video, released by Russia’s Defence Ministry, shows what it said to be a German-made Leopard tank captured by Russian forces in a battle with Ukrainian forces in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict, in the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine, in this image taken from a handout footage released June 13, 2023. Russian Defence Ministry/Handout via REUTERS

The ministry in a short statement accompanying the footage called the captured military hardware “our trophies” and said the video showed soldiers from its Vostok (East) military grouping inspecting the equipment.

It noted that the engines of some of the vehicles were still running, evidence it said of how quickly their Ukrainian crews had fled.

Reuters cannot verify such battlefield accounts.

Ukraine said on Monday its troops had recaptured a string of villages from Russian forces along an approximately 100-km (60-mile) front in the southeast since starting its long-anticipated counteroffensive last week.

Unconfirmed reports from Russian military bloggers suggest Russian forces may have recaptured some territory which they ceded in recent days.

Reporting by Andrew Osborn and Felix Light
Editing by Gareth Jones

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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June 13, 2023
Can I have a kangaroo? Navalny taunts Russian jail with bizarre requests

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MOSCOW, June 2 (Reuters) – Alexei Navalny, Russia’s most famous opposition leader, on Friday shared letters showing how he has poked fun at prison authorities for several months with a host of bizarre requests for a kimono, a balalaika, a beetle and even to keep a kangaroo.

The requests were turned down by the maximum security IK-6 penal colony at Melekhovo, about 250 km (115 miles) east of Moscow, according to the Russian documents he posted online.

“When you are in a punishment cell and don’t have much entertainment, you can always amuse yourself by corresponding with the prison administration,” Navalny said.

Navalny is serving combined sentences of 11-1/2 years for fraud and contempt of court on charges that he says were trumped up to silence him.

The letters showed that Navalny asked for an eclectic range of items, including, variously, a bottle of moonshine, a balalaika, a staff, two pouches of cheap tobacco, a kimono and a black belt.

The correspondence also reveals the conditions of the Russian prison system: Navalny asked for a megaphone to be given to a mentally ill convict in a cell opposite so that “he could shout even louder”, and for prison authorities to award the 10th dan in Karate to a prisoner who apparently killed a man with his bare hands.

Both requests were refused. The prison declined comment.

The prison’s replies, written in the stilted administrative Russian of officialdom, complete with serial numbers, acronyms and references to various laws and rules, give a satiric insight into the sometimes absurd world of Russian bureaucracy, a theme writer Nikolai Gogol satirised in the 19th Century.

“The question of awarding eastern martial arts qualifications is not handled by the administration,” the prison wrote back on April 28.

In response to Navalny’s request for a permit to keep a kangaroo, the prison wrote: “The animal identified in your request relates to the double crested-marsupial… Your request is left without satisfaction.”

He asked for a massage chair to be given to an unidentified squad leader, suggesting it might reduce stress. The prison wrote coldly that massage chairs were not provided.

Navalny inquired about the names of the guard dogs.

The prison said it could not give him such information. Navalny said he was told by guards that knowledge of the names of the dogs could allow him to befriend the creatures and then try to escape.

His inquiry about whether he needed a permit to keep a beetle was met with a refusal.

“The insect identified by you in your request belongs to the animal kingdom,” the prison said in a May 3 letter.

Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Philippa Fletcher

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Guy Faulconbridge

Thomson Reuters

As Moscow bureau chief, Guy runs coverage of Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Before Moscow, Guy ran Brexit coverage as London bureau chief (2012-2022). On the night of Brexit, his team delivered one of Reuters historic wins – reporting news of Brexit first to the world and the financial markets. Guy graduated from the London School of Economics and started his career as an intern at Bloomberg. He has spent over 14 years covering the former Soviet Union. He speaks fluent Russian.
Contact: +447825218698

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June 3, 2023
Zelenskiy says Ukraine ready to launch counteroffensive

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[1/2] A Ukrainian military helicopter takes off to carry out a mission, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, during military drills in the north of Ukraine, June 1, 2023. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

KYIV, June 3 (Reuters) – Ukraine is ready to launch its long-awaited counteroffensive to recapture Russian-occupied territory, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in an interview published on Saturday.

“We strongly believe that we will succeed,” Zelenskiy told the Wall Street Journal.

“I don’t know how long it will take. To be honest, it can go a variety of ways, completely different. But we are going to do it, and we are ready.”

Kyiv hopes a counteroffensive to reclaim territory will change the dynamics of the war that has raged since Russia invaded its smaller neighbour 15 months ago.

Zelenskiy said last month Ukraine needed to wait for more Western armoured vehicles arrived before launching the counteroffensive. He has been on a diplomatic push to maintain Western support, seeking more military aid and weapons, which is key for Ukraine to succeed in its plans.

Russia holds swaths of Ukrainian territory in the east, south and southeast.

A long spell of dry weather in some parts of Ukraine has driven anticipation that the counteroffensive might be imminent. Over the past several weeks Ukraine has increased it strikes on Russian ammunition depots and logistical routes.

On Saturday Ukraine’s military said in a daily report that Mariinka in the Donetsk region in the east was the focus of fighting. Ukrainian forces repelled all 14 Russian troops’ attacks there, the report said.

Reporting by Olena Harmash; Editing by William Mallard

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June 3, 2023
Prigozhin says Kremlin factions are destroying the Russian state
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[1/2] Founder of Wagner private mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin speaks with servicemen during withdrawal of his forces from Bakhmut, 2023. Press service of “Concord”/Handout via REUTERS
Prigozhin: conflict with Chechens settled

Prigozhin: Kremlin factions endanger the state

Says defence ministry is in chaos

Wagner may go to Belgorod region – Prigozhin
MOSCOW, June 3 (Reuters) – Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Saturday that Kremlin factions were destroying the state by trying to sow discord between him and Chechen fighters.

That row had now been settled but infighting in the Kremlin had opened a Pandora’s Box of rifts, he said.

Prigozhin, a 62-year-old former restauranteur who founded the Wagner mercenary group and is a member of President Vladimir Putin’s wider circle, has gained widespread notoriety during the 15-month war in Ukraine.

His troops have spearheaded battles in the city of Bakhmut and elsewhere, but he has also rowed with the Russian military over tactics, logistical support and other issues.

Prigozhin said a dispute between him and Chechen forces who are also fighting alongside the Russian army in Ukraine had been resolved. But he laid the blame for the discord on unidentified Kremlin factions – which he calls “Kremlin towers”.

Their scheming had got so out of hand that Putin had been forced to scold them at a Security Council meeting, he said.

“Pandora’s Box is already open – we are not the ones who opened it,” Prigozhin said in a message posted by his press service. “Some Kremlin tower decided to play dangerous games.”

“Dangerous games have become commonplace in the Kremlin towers…they are simply destroying the Russian state.”

He did not identify the Kremlin faction but said that it continued its attempts to sow discord, it would have “hell to pay”. The Kremlin did not comment on his remarks.

Putin held a Security Council meeting of Friday about what he said were “interethnic” relations inside the country.

Prigozhin said Chechen remarks made about him sounded like something out of the early 1990s when conflicts gripped Russian cities after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

“Clearly the statements made were rather provocative, aimed at hurting me and freaking me out,” Prigozhin said.

Prigozhin also said any battle between Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov‘s Akhmat special forces and Wagner would result in serious bloodshed but there was no doubt who would win.

He also again vented his anger about the current state of the war and the culpability of Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov.

“The ministry of defence is not in a state to do anything at all as it de-facto doesn’t exist – it is in chaos,” Prigozhin said.

The defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment. Niether Shoigu nor Gerasimov have commented in public about Prigozhin’s comments.

Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Angus MacSwan

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Guy Faulconbridge

Thomson Reuters

As Moscow bureau chief, Guy runs coverage of Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Before Moscow, Guy ran Brexit coverage as London bureau chief (2012-2022). On the night of Brexit, his team delivered one of Reuters historic wins – reporting news of Brexit first to the world and the financial markets. Guy graduated from the London School of Economics and started his career as an intern at Bloomberg. He has spent over 14 years covering the former Soviet Union. He speaks fluent Russian.
Contact: +447825218698
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June 3, 2023
Gazprom to send 40.3 million cubic metres of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Saturday

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MOSCOW, June 3 (Reuters) – Russia’s Gazprom (GAZP.MM) will send 40.3 million cubic metres (mcm) of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Saturday, the company said, down from 40.6 mcm on Friday.

Reporting by Reuters
Editing by Mark Potter

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June 3, 2023
Massive US aircraft carrier sails into Oslo for NATO exercises

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OSLO, May 24 (Reuters) – The world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, sailed into Oslo on Wednesday, a first for such a U.S. ship, in a show of NATO force at a time of heightened tension between NATO and Russia over the war in Ukraine.

The ship and its crew will be conducting training exercises with the Norwegian armed forces along the country’s coast in the coming days, the Norwegian military said.

“This visit is an important signal of the close bilateral relationship between the U.S. and Norway and a signal of the credibility of collective defence and deterrence,” said Jonny Karlsen, a spokesperson for the Norwegian Joint Headquarters, the operational command centre of the military.

At one spot on the Oslo fjord, dozens of people of all ages gathered on the shore to observe the vessel as it cruised by, taking pictures and videos.

Norwegian media reported the aircraft carrier would sail north of the Arctic Circle. Karlsen declined to comment on the reports.

The Russian embassy in Oslo condemned the aircraft carrier’s Oslo visit.

“There are no questions in the (Arctic) north that require a military solution, nor topics where outside intervention is needed,” the embassy said in a Facebook post.

“Considering that it is admitted in Oslo that Russia poses no direct military threat to Norway, such demonstrations of power appear illogical and harmful.”

NATO member Norway shares a border with Russia in the Arctic and last year became Europe’s largest gas supplier after a drop in Russian gas flows.

The Norwegian military and NATO allies have been patrolling around offshore oil and gas platforms since the autumn, following explosions on the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea.

Reporting by Gwladys Fouche
Editing by Bernadette Baum

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Gwladys Fouche

Thomson Reuters

Oversees news coverage from Norway for Reuters and loves flying to Svalbard in the Arctic, oil platforms in the North Sea, and guessing who is going to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Born in France and with Reuters since 2010, she has worked for The Guardian, Agence France-Presse and Al Jazeera English, among others, and speaks four languages.

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May 24, 2023
Ukraine war: Belgorod incursion may stretch Russia’s defences
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Two armed groups claim responsibility for attacks

Kyiv parodies past Kremlin denials of military involvement

Girding for counteroffensive against Russian invasion
LONDON/KYIV, May 24 (Reuters) – A two-day incursion from Ukraine into Russia’s western borderlands could force the Kremlin to divert troops from front lines as Kyiv prepares a major counteroffensive, and deal Moscow a psychological blow, according to military analysts.

Though Kyiv has denied any role, the biggest cross-border raid from Ukraine since Russia invaded 15 months ago was almost certainly coordinated with Ukraine’s armed forces as it prepares to attempt to recapture territory, the experts added.

“The Ukrainians are trying to pull the Russians in different directions to open up gaps. The Russians are forced to send reinforcements,” said Neil Melvin, an analyst at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).

Ukraine says it plans to conduct a major counteroffensive to seize back occupied territory, but Russia has built sprawling fortifications in its neighbour’s east and south in readiness.

The incursion took place far from the epicentre of fighting in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region and around 100 miles (160 km) from the front lines in the northern Kharkiv region.

Reuters Image

“They’ll have to respond to this and put troops there and then have lots of troops all along the border area, even though that may not be the way the Ukrainians are coming,” Melvin said.

Russia’s military said on Tuesday it had routed militants who attacked its western Belgorod region with armoured vehicles the previous day, killing more than 70 “Ukrainian nationalists” and pushing the remainder back into Ukraine.

Kyiv has said the attack was carried out by Russian citizens, casting it as homegrown, internal Russian strife. Two groups operating in Ukraine – the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC) and Freedom of Russia Legion – have claimed responsibility.

The groups were set up during Russia’s full-scale invasion and attracted Russian volunteer fighters wanting to fight against their own country alongside Ukraine and topple President Vladimir Putin.

Mark Galeotti, head of the London-based Mayak Intelligence consultancy and author of several books on the Russian military, said the two groups comprised anti-Kremlin Russians ranging from liberals and anarchists to neo-Nazis.

“They’re hoping that in some small way they can contribute to the downfall of the Putin regime. But at the same time, we have to realise that these are not independent forces … They are controlled by Ukrainian military intelligence,” he said.

Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak repeated Kyiv’s position that it had nothing to do with the operation.

The United States says it does not “enable or encourage” Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory, but that it is up to Kyiv to decide how it conducts military operations.

A view shows damaged buildings, after anti-terrorism measures introduced for the reason of a cross-border incursion from Ukraine were lifted, in what was said to be a settlement in the Belgorod region, in this handout image released May 23, 2023. Governor of Russia’s Belgorod Region Vyacheslav Gladkov via Telegram/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

Several similar incursions into Russia have occurred in recent months, and although this week’s was the largest known so far, it is still tiny when compared to frontline battles.

ECHOES OF 2014?

Alexei Baranovsky, a spokesperson for the political wing of the Freedom of Russia Legion, told Reuters in Kyiv that he could not disclose the number of troops involved in the operation, but that the legion had four battalions in total.

Baranovsky denied there had been heavy losses, and he dismissed Russian reports of large casualties as disinformation.

He said the unit was part of Ukraine’s International Legion and therefore part of its armed forces, but denied the incursion was coordinated with Ukrainian authorities.

“These are the first steps in the main objective of overthrowing Putin’s regime through armed force. There are no other alternatives,” he said.

Galeotti said the incursion looked like a Ukrainian battlefield “shaping” operation ahead of Kyiv’s planned counteroffensive.

“… This is really a chance to do two things. One is to rattle the Russians, make them worried about the possibility of risings amongst their own people. But secondly, force the Russians to disperse their troops,” he said.

Melvin noted that the operation also served to boost morale in Ukraine.

Kyiv officials have mimicked the Kremlin’s rhetoric surrounding Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 when it initially denied the troops involved were Russian.

Podolyak blamed the Belgorod incursion on “underground guerrilla groups” comprising Russian citizens and said: “As you know, tanks are sold at any Russian military store.”

The remark appeared to echo Putin’s response in 2014 when asked about the presence of men wearing Russian military uniforms without insignia in Crimea: “You can go to a store and buy any kind of uniform.”

On social media, Ukrainians made reference to what they called the “Belgorod People’s Republic” – a nod to events in eastern Ukraine in 2014, when Russia-backed militias declared “people’s republics” in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

Ukrainians also circulated a video of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy delivering his famous “I am here” video address from Kyiv at the beginning of the invasion in February 2022. But instead of the presidential office in Kyiv, the background showed the welcome sign to the city of Belgorod.

Additional reporting by Max Hunder in Kyiv and Agnieszka Pikulicka-Wilczewska in Warsaw; editing by Mike Collett-White and Mark Heinrich

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May 24, 2023
Russia says Ukraine used Storm Shadow missiles from Britain to attack Luhansk

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[1/3] A view shows an industrial building destroyed, according to Russian-installed officials, by a Ukrainian missile strike in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict, in Luhansk, Russian-controlled… Read more

MOSCOW, May 13 (Reuters) – Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Saturday that Ukrainian aircraft had struck two industrial sites in the Russian-held city of Luhansk in eastern Ukraine with Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles supplied by Britain.

Reuters could not verify the battlefield reports.

Britain on Thursday became the first country to say it had started supplying Kyiv with long-range cruise missiles, which will allow it to hit Russian troops and supply dumps far behind the front lines as it prepares a major counteroffensive.

British Defence Minister Ben Wallace said the missiles could be used within Ukrainian territory, implying that he had received assurances from Kyiv that they would not be used to attack targets inside Russia’s internationally accepted borders.

The Russian ministry said the missiles had hit a plant producing polymers and a meat-processing factory in Luhansk on Friday.

“Storm Shadow air-to-air missiles supplied to the Kyiv regime by Britain were used for the strike, contrary to London’s statements that these weapons would not be used against civilian targets,” the ministry said.

It also said Russia had downed two Ukrainian warplanes – an Su-24 and a MiG-29 – that had launched the missiles.

In its latest bulletin, the ministry also said Russian forces had gained control over another block in the eastern city of Bakhmut, which Moscow has been trying to capture for more than 10 months in an attritional artillery battle.

“The units of the Airborne Forces provided support to the assault units and pinned down the enemy on the flanks,” it said.

The ministry often uses the term “assault units” to denote the Wagner private militia, which has been spearheading the assault on Bakhmut at great cost in casualties.

Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Kevin Liffey

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May 14, 2023
Russia says two commanders killed as Kyiv wages Bakhmut offensive

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May 14 (Reuters) – Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Sunday that two of its military commanders were killed in eastern Ukraine, as Kyiv’s forces renewed efforts to break through Russian defences in the embattled city of Bakhmut.

In a daily briefing, the ministry said that Commander Vyacheslav Makarov of the 4th Motorized Rifle Brigade and Deputy Commander Yevgeny Brovko from a separate unit were killed trying to repel Ukrainian attacks.

It said that Makarov had been leading troops from the front line, and that Brovko “died heroically, suffering multiple shrapnel wounds”. The defence ministry rarely announces the deaths of military command in its daily briefings.

It also said Ukrainian forces waged attacks in the north and south of Bakhmut over the past 24 hours, but that they had not broken through Russian defences. “All attacks by units of Ukraine’s armed forces have been repelled,” it said.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary force which has spearheaded much of the Russian advance on Bakhmut, said his forces had advanced up to 130 metres (400 feet) over the past 24 hours.

Prigozhin, in an audio statement on Telegram, said his forces controlled 28 multi-story buildings in western districts of Bakhmut where Ukrainian troops were still operating.

Ukrainian forces, he said, were holding 20 buildings and a total area of 1.69 square km (0.65 square miles).

Reuters was not able to independently verify Russia’s account.

Ukrainian deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar confirmed on Sunday that Ukrainian forces “continue to move forward in the Bakhmut sector in the suburbs.”

“Our units captured more than ten enemy positions in the north and south of Bakhmut and cleared a large area of forest near Ivanivske. Enemy soldiers from different units were captured,” she said on the Telegram messaging app.

Neither Ukraine nor Russian forces have been able to take full control of the city, despite months of grinding warfare that has inflicted heavy losses on both sides.

Moscow acknowledged on Friday that its forces had fallen back north of Bakhmut amid a surge of Ukrainian attacks, but Kyiv has played down suggestions a huge, long-planned counteroffensive has officially begun.

Reporting by Reuters
Editing by David Goodman

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May 14, 2023
Russia’s war on Ukraine latest: Zelenskiy visits war crimes court in The Hague

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May 3 (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited the International Criminal Courtin The Hague, which in March issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for alleged deportation of children from Ukraine.

FIGHTING

* Zelenskiy said Ukraine would launch a counteroffensive soon against occupying Russian forces.

* Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of Russia’s Wagner Group mercenary force, said the counteroffensive had already begun and his forces were observing heightened activity along the front.

* Russian shelling killed 23 people in and near the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson on Wednesday, hitting a hypermarket, a railway station and residential buildings, the regional governor said.

* A drone attackset ablaze product storage facilities at one of the largest oil refineries in southern Russia, but emergency services extinguished the fire just over two hours later, and the plant was working normally, TASS news agency reported.

* Ukrainian air defences said they downed 18 out of 24 kamikaze drones that Russia launched in a pre-dawn attack on Thursday. Kyiv city administration said that all missiles and drones targeting the Ukrainian capital for the third time in four days, were destroyed.

DIPLOMACY/POLITICS

* Zelenskiy will have a meeting at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague on Thursday, the court said without giving further detail.

* German police said Zelenskiy would travel to Berlin on May 13, though a security source later said public disclosure of the visit was premature and it was now unclear if it would go ahead.

* U.S. military aid for Ukraine includes for the first time the Hydra-70 short-range air-launched rocket, taken from U.S. excess stocks.

ECONOMY

* Russia said it will keep talking to the United Nations about the future of a deal that allows the safe Black Sea export of Ukraine grain, but would not do anything to harm its own interests.

* Zelenskiy said Russia did not appear to be interested in extending the agreement beyond May 18.

* Chicago wheat rebounded from a 25-month low to close higher, edging up on doubts about the future of the Black Sea grains corridor, market analysts said.

* A Russian-U.S. joint venture has said it has abandoned plans to build large-capacity gas turbines in Russia under licence from General Electric Co (GE.N)

RECENT IN-DEPTH STORIES

* INSIGHT-Russia digs in as Ukraine prepares to attack

* ANALYSIS-Russia crosses new lines in crackdown on Putin’s enemies

* EXCLUSIVE-The Russian military commandant who oversaw reign of fear in Ukraine town

* EXCLUSIVE-Kazakhstan has ramped up oil exports bypassing Russia -sources

* Liberated villages offer glimpse of precarious Ukrainian health system.

Compiled by Reuters editors

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May 4, 2023
Fear recedes for Ukraine’s volunteers, for whom war is ‘just a job’

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ON THE FRONTLINE IN DONETSK REGION, Ukraine, May 4 (Reuters) – After months of living in trenches and bunkers near Ukraine’s southeastern frontlines, Artem and his fellow soldiers have lost the fear they once felt.

The war ebbs and flows for the 30-year-old volunteer from a small town near Chernihiv, in the north of the country, that came under siege early on in Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than a year ago and was briefly occupied.

Despite the regular thud of artillery and the whirring of a helicopter overhead, things have been relatively quiet of late for the unit located close to Russian positions.

The soldiers spend much of their time peering through binoculars, waiting, listening, scrolling through smartphones, clearing away mud and checking their weapons – including machine guns provided by the United States and Germany.

The last Russian attack was about a month ago, when some 30 Russian troops were mown down by two machine guns, said the group’s commander, Dmytro. Reuters could not independently confirm battlefield reports.

“There is always danger here, but over time you get used to it, and all your senses seem to sharpen,” Artem told Reuters during a recent reporting trip to the position.

“You no longer feel the fear that you had at the beginning,” added Artem, who has been based in the eastern Donbas region for some six months. He and his comrades, mostly volunteers, rotate regularly through the trenches, four days on, four days off.

They share their position with a cat and her seven kittens, who help to keep the mouse population down.

‘JUST A JOB’

[1/5] A Ukrainian service member Oleksandr, 44, is seen in a trench at a frontline, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine April 28, 2023. REUTERS/Sofiia Gatilova

The narrow trenches are cut deep into black earth, reinforced in places by sandbags.

Dugouts are cramped but provide shelter from artillery shelling, mortars and weapons dropped from drones – munitions that pose a threat to both sides along around 1,200 km (750 miles) of frontlines in eastern and southern Ukraine.

“We have a place to eat, to sleep, we have a roof over our head. I don’t think we need much more here, once you have the necessities covered,” said Artem, who gave only his first name for security reasons.

“You can sleep, you can eat, and you find yourself in an illusion of safety. Nothing else matters.”

He joined up to fight the Russians soon after the invasion began, motivated by patriotism and a desire to protect his parents, friends and girlfriend.

“Over time, when you understand that they are all safe, it just becomes a job.”

He has not been home for some time, preferring to wait for the conflict to end so that he will not be sent back to the trenches when his leave ends.

Ukrainian authorities are planning to launch a major counteroffensive in the coming weeks which they hope will shift the momentum in the war and push the Russians back towards the borders of 1991.

Until then, Artem and his comrades wait and prepare for the next skirmish.

Editing by Nick Macfie

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May 4, 2023
Drones attack Ukrainian capital, Moscow says US behind Kremlin drone
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White House, Kyiv deny Russian accusations

Zelenskiy visits The Hague, says Putin must face justice

Diplomats work on extending Black Sea grains deal
KYIV, May 4 (Reuters) – Russian drones attacked the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Thursday evening, the fourth assault in as many days subjecting residents to spasms of gunfire and explosions, and at least one drone was shot down.

City authorities had declared an alert for Kyiv and the surrounding area. Residents who had gone to air raid shelters said the drones arrived more quickly than usual after the alerts were declared. Reuters witnesses heard gunfire and repeated heavier explosions near the city centre.

The attacks started just after 8 p.m. (1700 GMT) and lasted around 20 minutes. Ukraine’s air force said in a statement that it had destroyed one of its own drones after the drone lost control over Kyiv region, probably because of a technical failure. It wasn’t clear how many drones in total were destroyed.

Russia said on Thursday that the United States was behind a purported drone attack on the Kremlin aiming to kill President Vladimir Putin. Washington and Kyiv denied involvement.

Putin will head a scheduled meeting of Russia’s Security Council on Friday and the Kremlin incident could be on the agenda, TASS news agency reported.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, speaking in The Hague after visiting the International Court of Justice, said Putin must be brought to justice over the war and that Kyiv would work to create a new tribunal for this purpose.

In other diplomacy, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said on a visit to Brazil that she encouraged the government to include Ukraine in any attempt to negotiate an end to the war. She was referring to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s comments calling on the West to stop arming Ukraine to allow peace talks to start.

There are currently no peace talks to end the war, which has devastated Ukrainian towns and cities, killed thousands of people and driven millions from their homes.

FRONTLINE ACTION

Nearly 50 Russian attacks were repelled along the main sectors of the front line in eastern and southern Ukraine, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said on Thursday evening. The heaviest fighting is still in Bakhmut and in Maryinka, further south in Donetsk region, it said.

Russian forces also launched 66 air raids and engaged in 33 shelling episodes on Ukrainian positions and on towns and villages, causing casualties and damaging infrastructure, the report said.

Smoke rises over the city after remains of a shot down Russian drone landed on buildings, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine May 4, 2023. REUTERS/Stringer

Reuters was not able to verify the battlefield accounts.

MOSCOW CITES ‘US ORDERS’

Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov, without providing evidence, said Ukraine had acted on U.S. orders to attack the Kremlin citadel in the early hours of Wednesday.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby dismissed Russian “lies” and said there still was no conclusive evidence as to the authenticity of a video showing the drone at the Kremlin.

“Attempts to disown this (attack on the Kremlin), both in Kyiv and in Washington, are, of course, absolutely ridiculous. We know very well that decisions about such actions, about such terrorist attacks, are made not in Kyiv but in Washington,” Peskov told reporters.

Peskov said an urgent investigation was under way and that any response would be carefully considered and balanced.

Russia has increasingly accused the United States of being a direct participant in the war, intent on inflicting a “strategic defeat” on Moscow. Washington denies this, saying it is arming Kyiv to defend itself and retake illegally seized land.

KYIV, ODESA TARGETED

Earlier on Thursday, Russia fired two dozen combat drones at Ukraine, hitting Kyiv and also striking a university campus in the Black Sea city of Odesa. There were no reports of casualties. Russia denies targeting civilians in Ukraine.

Diplomats, meanwhile, are still working to keep a package deal for Ukrainian and Russian agricultural exports alive beyond May 18. Technical personnel from Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, and the United Nations will meet on Friday to discuss the deal, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said.

Russia has a list of demands it wants met for continuation of the Black Sea grains pact, which the U.N. said helps tackle a global food crisis aggravated by Russian forces invading neighbouring Ukraine in February 2022.

Zelenskiy has vowed to drive all invading Russian forces back to the borders set in 1991 following the collapse of the Soviet Union. He said on Thursday the whole of Ukrainian society was preparing for a counteroffensive, which he said would be successful against what he called a “demotivated” Russia.

Reporting by Kyiv, Moscow and Amsterdam buros
Writing by Gareth Jones
Editing by Nick Macfie

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May 4, 2023