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Tag: Russia-Ukraine war

  • US lifts weapons ban on a high-profile Ukrainian military unit with a checkered past

    US lifts weapons ban on a high-profile Ukrainian military unit with a checkered past

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    KYIV, Ukraine — The U.S. has removed restrictions on the transfer of American weapons and training to a high-profile Ukrainian military unit with a checkered past, the State Department said on Tuesday.

    The move will help the Azov Brigade, among Ukraine’s most effective and popular fighting units, move beyond its reputation as a far-right movement, a perception its commanders have been trying to dispel as Russian propaganda.

    The State Department applied the Leahy vetting process to the Azov Brigade, which has been absorbed into Ukraine’s National Guard as the 12th Special Forces Brigade. U.S. laws prohibits providing providing equipment and training to foreign military unit or individuals suspected of committing gross human rights violations. The State Department found “no evidence of Gross Violations of Human Rights (GVHR) committed by the 12th Brigade Azov,” according to a statement.

    “This is a new page in our unit’s history,” the Azov Brigade wrote in a statement on Instagram. “Azov is becoming even more powerful, even more professional and even more dangerous for occupiers.”

    “Obtaining western weapons and training from the United States will not only increase the combat ability of Azov, but most importantly, contribute to the preservation of the lives and the health of personnel,” the statement said.

    Up until the State Department’s decision, a provision in the U.S. appropriations law prohibited the Azov from sending fighters to Western military exercises or access weapons bought with American funds. Lifting the ban will likely bolster the brigade’s fighting capacity at a difficult time during the war against Russia’s invasion. Ukraine suffers from persistent ammunition and personnel shortages.

    In the years since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, the brigade has tried to recast its public image away from the controversy surrounding its ultranationalist origins to that of an effective and skillful fighting force.

    Azov soldiers played a key part in the defense of Mariupol, holding out in a siege and low on ammunition for weeks at the southern port city’s steel mill despite devastating attacks from Russian forces. In Ukraine they are hailed as heroes, remembered for defense of the sprawling plant that became a symbol of Ukrainian tenacity in the war against Russia, and people take to the streets for weekly rallies calling for the release of hundreds of Azov POWs who remain in Russian captivity for two years now.

    Moscow has repeatedly portrayed the Azov as a Nazi group and accused it of atrocities, but has publicly given no evidence. In 2022, Russia’s top court officially designated Azov a terrorist group.

    The brigade grew out of a group called the Azov Battalion, formed in 2014 as one of many volunteer brigades created to fight Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. The battalion drew its initial fighters from far-right circles.

    While its current members reject accusations of extremism and any ties with far-right movements, the Kremlin has seized on the regiment’s origins to cast Russia’s invasion as a battle against Nazi influence in Ukraine.

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    Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

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  • Zelenskyy urges top defense officials to attend upcoming summit on ending Russia’s war on Ukraine

    Zelenskyy urges top defense officials to attend upcoming summit on ending Russia’s war on Ukraine

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    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged a group of top defense officials at Asia’s premier security conference on Sunday to attend an upcoming peace summit, saying Ukraine was ready to hear “various proposals and thoughts” on ending the war with Russia.Zelenskyy told the group of more than 500 delegates from about 40 countries that he was “disappointed” some world leaders had not yet confirmed attendance at the conference in Switzerland in about two weeks.He did not specify any country by name, but the possible participation of China, Russia’s most important ally, has been seen as a key issue.Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun spoke earlier in the day at the Shangri-La conference but he did not appear to be in the room when Zelenskyy made his appeal.Zelenskyy said that Ukraine had proposals to make at the summit as a basis for peace, addressing nuclear security, food security, the release of prisoners of war and the return of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia.”Time is running out, and the children are growing up in the Putin-land where they are taught to hate their homeland,” he said.At the same time, Zelenskyy said Ukraine is “ready to hear various proposals and thoughts that lead us … to an end of the war and a sustainable and just peace.”The greater the participation, the more likely it will be that Russia will have to listen, he said.”The global majority can ensure with their involvement that what is agreed upon is truly implemented,” he said.Zelenskyy said he was later to meet one-on-one with Singapore’s prime minister and would urge him to participate in person in the Switzerland talks.”The same goes for the countries in the region,” Zelenskyy said through an interpreter. “We truly count on you supporting this summit, and that you will be present in Switzerland.”Singapore Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen, who shared the stage with Zelenskyy, did not say whether his country’s leaders would attend, but did note Singapore had condemned the invasion and provided Ukraine with military ambulances.”We stand with you, and I think your appearance at this Shangri-La Dialogue is the epitome of what we are all hoping for, a rules-based order that guarantees the security and survival of large nations and small,” he said.Earlier in the day in his own address to the forum, Dong did not specifically mention the Switzerland meetings, but did say “on the Ukraine crisis, China has been promoting peace talks with a responsible attitude.”He added that China had not provided weapons to either side of the conflict.”We have never done anything to fan the flames,” he said. “We stand firmly on the side of peace and dialogue.”U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also attended the conference and sat in the front row as Zelenskyy talked.In an address Friday, Austin told the group that “Putin’s war of aggression has provided us all with a preview of a world that none of us would want.””We’ve all been inspired by the courage of Ukraine’s troops and the resilience of Ukraine’s people,” Austin said. “People around the world have rushed to help Ukraine defend itself, including countries across the Indo-Pacific.”

    SINGAPORE —

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged a group of top defense officials at Asia’s premier security conference on Sunday to attend an upcoming peace summit, saying Ukraine was ready to hear “various proposals and thoughts” on ending the war with Russia.

    Zelenskyy told the group of more than 500 delegates from about 40 countries that he was “disappointed” some world leaders had not yet confirmed attendance at the conference in Switzerland in about two weeks.

    He did not specify any country by name, but the possible participation of China, Russia’s most important ally, has been seen as a key issue.

    Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun spoke earlier in the day at the Shangri-La conference but he did not appear to be in the room when Zelenskyy made his appeal.

    Zelenskyy said that Ukraine had proposals to make at the summit as a basis for peace, addressing nuclear security, food security, the release of prisoners of war and the return of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia.

    “Time is running out, and the children are growing up in the Putin-land where they are taught to hate their homeland,” he said.

    At the same time, Zelenskyy said Ukraine is “ready to hear various proposals and thoughts that lead us … to an end of the war and a sustainable and just peace.”

    The greater the participation, the more likely it will be that Russia will have to listen, he said.

    “The global majority can ensure with their involvement that what is agreed upon is truly implemented,” he said.

    Zelenskyy said he was later to meet one-on-one with Singapore’s prime minister and would urge him to participate in person in the Switzerland talks.

    “The same goes for the countries in the region,” Zelenskyy said through an interpreter. “We truly count on you supporting this summit, and that you will be present in Switzerland.”

    Singapore Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen, who shared the stage with Zelenskyy, did not say whether his country’s leaders would attend, but did note Singapore had condemned the invasion and provided Ukraine with military ambulances.

    “We stand with you, and I think your appearance at this Shangri-La Dialogue is the epitome of what we are all hoping for, a rules-based order that guarantees the security and survival of large nations and small,” he said.

    Earlier in the day in his own address to the forum, Dong did not specifically mention the Switzerland meetings, but did say “on the Ukraine crisis, China has been promoting peace talks with a responsible attitude.”

    He added that China had not provided weapons to either side of the conflict.

    “We have never done anything to fan the flames,” he said. “We stand firmly on the side of peace and dialogue.”

    U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also attended the conference and sat in the front row as Zelenskyy talked.

    In an address Friday, Austin told the group that “Putin’s war of aggression has provided us all with a preview of a world that none of us would want.”

    “We’ve all been inspired by the courage of Ukraine’s troops and the resilience of Ukraine’s people,” Austin said. “People around the world have rushed to help Ukraine defend itself, including countries across the Indo-Pacific.”

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  • Zelenskyy urges top defense officials to attend upcoming summit on ending Russia’s war on Ukraine

    Zelenskyy urges top defense officials to attend upcoming summit on ending Russia’s war on Ukraine

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    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged a group of top defense officials at Asia’s premier security conference on Sunday to attend an upcoming peace summit, saying Ukraine was ready to hear “various proposals and thoughts” on ending the war with Russia.Zelenskyy told the group of more than 500 delegates from about 40 countries that he was “disappointed” some world leaders had not yet confirmed attendance at the conference in Switzerland in about two weeks.He did not specify any country by name, but the possible participation of China, Russia’s most important ally, has been seen as a key issue.Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun spoke earlier in the day at the Shangri-La conference but he did not appear to be in the room when Zelenskyy made his appeal.Zelenskyy said that Ukraine had proposals to make at the summit as a basis for peace, addressing nuclear security, food security, the release of prisoners of war and the return of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia.”Time is running out, and the children are growing up in the Putin-land where they are taught to hate their homeland,” he said.At the same time, Zelenskyy said Ukraine is “ready to hear various proposals and thoughts that lead us … to an end of the war and a sustainable and just peace.”The greater the participation, the more likely it will be that Russia will have to listen, he said.”The global majority can ensure with their involvement that what is agreed upon is truly implemented,” he said.Zelenskyy said he was later to meet one-on-one with Singapore’s prime minister and would urge him to participate in person in the Switzerland talks.”The same goes for the countries in the region,” Zelenskyy said through an interpreter. “We truly count on you supporting this summit, and that you will be present in Switzerland.”Singapore Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen, who shared the stage with Zelenskyy, did not say whether his country’s leaders would attend, but did note Singapore had condemned the invasion and provided Ukraine with military ambulances.”We stand with you, and I think your appearance at this Shangri-La Dialogue is the epitome of what we are all hoping for, a rules-based order that guarantees the security and survival of large nations and small,” he said.Earlier in the day in his own address to the forum, Dong did not specifically mention the Switzerland meetings, but did say “on the Ukraine crisis, China has been promoting peace talks with a responsible attitude.”He added that China had not provided weapons to either side of the conflict.”We have never done anything to fan the flames,” he said. “We stand firmly on the side of peace and dialogue.”U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also attended the conference and sat in the front row as Zelenskyy talked.In an address Friday, Austin told the group that “Putin’s war of aggression has provided us all with a preview of a world that none of us would want.””We’ve all been inspired by the courage of Ukraine’s troops and the resilience of Ukraine’s people,” Austin said. “People around the world have rushed to help Ukraine defend itself, including countries across the Indo-Pacific.”

    SINGAPORE —

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged a group of top defense officials at Asia’s premier security conference on Sunday to attend an upcoming peace summit, saying Ukraine was ready to hear “various proposals and thoughts” on ending the war with Russia.

    Zelenskyy told the group of more than 500 delegates from about 40 countries that he was “disappointed” some world leaders had not yet confirmed attendance at the conference in Switzerland in about two weeks.

    He did not specify any country by name, but the possible participation of China, Russia’s most important ally, has been seen as a key issue.

    Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun spoke earlier in the day at the Shangri-La conference but he did not appear to be in the room when Zelenskyy made his appeal.

    Zelenskyy said that Ukraine had proposals to make at the summit as a basis for peace, addressing nuclear security, food security, the release of prisoners of war and the return of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia.

    “Time is running out, and the children are growing up in the Putin-land where they are taught to hate their homeland,” he said.

    At the same time, Zelenskyy said Ukraine is “ready to hear various proposals and thoughts that lead us … to an end of the war and a sustainable and just peace.”

    The greater the participation, the more likely it will be that Russia will have to listen, he said.

    “The global majority can ensure with their involvement that what is agreed upon is truly implemented,” he said.

    Zelenskyy said he was later to meet one-on-one with Singapore’s prime minister and would urge him to participate in person in the Switzerland talks.

    “The same goes for the countries in the region,” Zelenskyy said through an interpreter. “We truly count on you supporting this summit, and that you will be present in Switzerland.”

    Singapore Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen, who shared the stage with Zelenskyy, did not say whether his country’s leaders would attend, but did note Singapore had condemned the invasion and provided Ukraine with military ambulances.

    “We stand with you, and I think your appearance at this Shangri-La Dialogue is the epitome of what we are all hoping for, a rules-based order that guarantees the security and survival of large nations and small,” he said.

    Earlier in the day in his own address to the forum, Dong did not specifically mention the Switzerland meetings, but did say “on the Ukraine crisis, China has been promoting peace talks with a responsible attitude.”

    He added that China had not provided weapons to either side of the conflict.

    “We have never done anything to fan the flames,” he said. “We stand firmly on the side of peace and dialogue.”

    U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also attended the conference and sat in the front row as Zelenskyy talked.

    In an address Friday, Austin told the group that “Putin’s war of aggression has provided us all with a preview of a world that none of us would want.”

    “We’ve all been inspired by the courage of Ukraine’s troops and the resilience of Ukraine’s people,” Austin said. “People around the world have rushed to help Ukraine defend itself, including countries across the Indo-Pacific.”

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  • Zelenskyy urges defense officials to attend summit on ending Russia’s war on Ukraine

    Zelenskyy urges defense officials to attend summit on ending Russia’s war on Ukraine

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    SINGAPORE — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged a group of top defense officials at Asia’s premier security conference on Sunday to attend an upcoming peace summit, saying Ukraine was ready to hear “various proposals and thoughts” on ending the war with Russia.

    Zelenskyy told the group of more than 500 delegates from about 40 countries that he was “disappointed” some world leaders had not yet confirmed attendance at the conference in Switzerland in about two weeks.

    He did not specify any country by name, but the possible participation of China, Russia’s most important ally, has been seen as a key issue.

    Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun spoke earlier in the day at the Shangri-La conference but he did not appear to be in the room when Zelenskyy made his appeal.

    Zelenskyy said that Ukraine had proposals to make at the summit as a basis for peace, addressing nuclear security, food security, the release of prisoners of war and the return of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia.

    “Time is running out, and the children are growing up in the Putin-land where they are taught to hate their homeland,” he said.

    At the same time, Zelenskyy said Ukraine is “ready to hear various proposals and thoughts that lead us … to an end of the war and a sustainable and just peace.”

    The greater the participation, the more likely it will be that Russia will have to listen, he said.

    “The global majority can ensure with their involvement that what is agreed upon is truly implemented,” he said.

    Zelenskyy said he was later to meet one-on-one with Singapore’s prime minister and would urge him to participate in person in the Switzerland talks.

    “The same goes for the countries in the region,” Zelenskyy said through an interpreter. “We truly count on you supporting this summit, and that you will be present in Switzerland.”

    Singapore Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen, who shared the stage with Zelenskyy, did not say whether his country’s leaders would attend, but did note Singapore had condemned the invasion and provided Ukraine with military ambulances.

    “We stand with you, and I think your appearance at this Shangri-La Dialogue is the epitome of what we are all hoping for, a rules-based order that guarantees the security and survival of large nations and small,” he said.

    Earlier in the day in his own address to the forum, Dong did not specifically mention the Switzerland meetings, but did say “on the Ukraine crisis, China has been promoting peace talks with a responsible attitude.”

    He added that China had not provided weapons to either side of the conflict.

    “We have never done anything to fan the flames,” he said. “We stand firmly on the side of peace and dialogue.”

    U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also attended the conference and sat in the front row as Zelenskyy talked.

    In an address Friday, Austin told the group that “Putin’s war of aggression has provided us all with a preview of a world that none of us would want.”

    “We’ve all been inspired by the courage of Ukraine’s troops and the resilience of Ukraine’s people,” Austin said. “People around the world have rushed to help Ukraine defend itself, including countries across the Indo-Pacific.”

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  • US Treasury official visits Ukraine to discuss sanctions on Russia

    US Treasury official visits Ukraine to discuss sanctions on Russia

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    A U.S. Treasury official is traveling to Kyiv this week to talk about U.S. financial support for Ukraine, efforts to tighten sanctions on Russia and plans to use immobilized Russian sovereign assets for the benefit of Ukraine as it fends off Russian fo…

    WASHINGTON — A senior U.S. Treasury official is in Kyiv this week to talk with government officials about U.S. financial support for Ukraine, efforts to tighten sanctions on Russia and plans to use immobilized Russian sovereign assets for the benefit of Ukraine as it fends off Russian forces.

    Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo’s trip comes as Russia gains territory on the battlefield after an especially lengthy delay in U.S. military aid left Ukraine at the mercy of Russia’s bigger army and as the outlook for Ukraine’s state finances is on shakier ground.

    Adeyemo is set to meet with officials in Ukraine’s finance ministry and president’s office. He’s also planning a stop at the Kyiv School of Economics to speak with faculty and civil society groups working on sanctions policy and ways to make sanctions on Russia more effective.

    President Joe Biden signed legislation in April that allows the administration to seize the roughly $5 billion in Russian state assets located in the U.S. However, a majority of the $260 billion in frozen Russian assets are in Europe, and U.S. officials are hoping for a consensus from their European allies on how to spend that money.

    U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen met in Stresa, Italy, with her counterparts from the Group of Seven nations last week to discuss how to squeeze money out of the frozen Russian assets to support Kyiv’s war effort.

    She said loaning Ukraine $50 billion from the assets “has been mentioned as a possible number that could be achieved,” but that the specific approach was still under discussion.

    Since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the U.S. has sanctioned more than 4,000 people and businesses, including 80% of Russia’s banking sector by assets.

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  • Zelenskyy says Ukraine has taken back control in areas of embattled Kharkiv region

    Zelenskyy says Ukraine has taken back control in areas of embattled Kharkiv region

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    KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian forces have secured “combat control” of areas where Russian troops entered the northeastern Kharkiv region earlier this month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

    “Our soldiers have now managed to take combat control of the border area where the Russian occupiers entered,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address on Friday evening.

    Zelenskyy’s comments appeared to be at odds with those made by Russian officials.

    Viktor Vodolatskiy, a member of Russia‘s lower house of parliament, said Russian forces now controlled more than half of the town of Vovchansk, three miles (five kilometers) inside the border, Russian state news agency Tass reported Friday.

    Vovchansk has been a flashpoint for fighting since Russia launched an offensive in the Kharkiv region on May 10.

    Vodolatskiy was also quoted as saying that, once Vovchansk was secured, Russian forces would target the cities of Sloviansk, Kramatorsk and Pokrovsk in the neighboring Donetsk region.

    No independent confirmation of the claims was immediately possible.

    Russia’s Kharkiv push appears to be a coordinated new offensive that includes testing Ukrainian defenses in the Donetsk region further south — where Russia’s Defense Ministry said Saturday that its forces had taken over the village of Arkhanhelske — while also launching incursions in the northern Sumy and Chernihiv regions. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the Kremlin’s army is attempting to create a “buffer zone” in the Kharkiv region to prevent Ukrainian cross-border attacks.

    The city of Kharkiv, which is the capital of the region of the same name, is about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the Russian border. Moscow’s troops have in recent weeks captured villages in the area as part of a broad push, and analysts say they may be trying to get within artillery range of the city. Ukrainian authorities have evacuated more than 11,000 people from the region since the start of the offensive.

    The Russian push is shaping up to be Ukraine’s biggest test since Moscow’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, with outnumbered and outgunned Ukrainian forces being pressed at several points along the about 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line that snakes from north to south in eastern Ukraine.

    Ukraine’s problems have been mounting in recent months as it tries to hold out against its much bigger foe, and the war appears to be at a critical juncture.

    ___

    Morton reported from London.

    ___

    Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

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  • Russia smashes train tracks in a battered Ukrainian border region where children are being evacuated

    Russia smashes train tracks in a battered Ukrainian border region where children are being evacuated

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    KYIV, Ukraine — A nighttime Russian attack destroyed trains and tracks in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, officials said Friday, and authorities organized the evacuation of children from the area as it is being pummeled by the Kremlin’s forces in a powerful new offensive.

    The overnight strike on rolling stock and railway tracks also damaged buildings, according to Ukraine’s national railway operator Ukrzaliznytsia. No injuries were reported.

    Authorities have evacuated more than 11,000 people from the Kharkiv region since Russia launched an offensive there on May 10, regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said. Officials on Friday announced the mandatory evacuation over the next 60 days of 123 orphans and children living without their parents in the area.

    Russia’s Kharkiv push appears to be a coordinated new offensive that includes testing Ukrainian defenses in the Donetsk region further south, while also launching incursions in the northern Sumy and Chernihiv regions. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the Kremlin’s army is attempting to create a “buffer zone” in the Kharkiv region to prevent Ukrainian cross-border attacks.

    Ukraine’s problems have been mounting in recent months as it tries to hold out against its much bigger foe, and the war appears to be at a critical juncture.

    The new Russian offensive is stretching thin Ukraine’s depleted ranks, exhausted by more than two years of war. Destroying the train network puts further pressure on the already overstretched Ukrainian army.

    Crucial Western aid for Kyiv, especially air defense systems to stop Russia’s targeted destruction of the power grid, isn’t arriving quickly enough. Also, most Western donors won’t let Ukraine use the sophisticated long-range weapons they are providing to strike targets on Russian soil. That allows Moscow to assemble virtually unimpeded its troops for cross-border assaults, as well as deploy missile launchers to bombard Ukraine.

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said those limitations made possible an attack on the city of Kharkiv, the region’s capital, on Thursday that killed seven civilians and wounded 21 others.

    Zelenskyy said on social media that Ukraine has “a shortage of air defense systems that are actually available in the world” and a “lack of long-range capabilities for our warriors and the complete inability to destroy the very source of Russian terror near our borders, including the missile launchers that actually hit Ukraine and the lives of our people.”

    The Ukrainian military claimed Friday it had stopped the Russian advance in the north of the Kharkiv region and were conducting counter-offensive operations.

    A Russian troop build-up in the Sumy and Chernihiv regions, however, is ongoing, with daily air and artillery strikes, according to Ihor Prokhorenko, a general staff spokesman.

    It was not possible to independently verify the claims.

    Thursday’s strike on Kharkiv using S-300 missiles hit a printing company, burning about 50,000 books, Zelenskyy said.

    Serhii Polituchyi, owner of the Faktor-Druk printing plant, said the attack would reduce Ukraine’s book-printing capacity by 30-40%.

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  • With Ukraine losing ground, allies debate how to squeeze cash for Kyiv out of frozen Russian assets

    With Ukraine losing ground, allies debate how to squeeze cash for Kyiv out of frozen Russian assets

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    FRANKFURT, Germany — Ukraine’s allies are wrestling with how to squeeze money out of frozen Russian assets to support Kyiv’s war effort, a debate that is ever more urgent as Russia gains territory on the battlefield and as the outlook for Ukraine’s state finances looks shakier.

    What to do with the Russian central bank reserves frozen in response to the invasion of Ukraine is at the top of the agenda as finance officials from the Group of Seven rich democracies meet Thursday through Saturday in Stresa, Italy, on the shores of scenic Lago Maggiore.

    The issue: Ukraine and many of its supporters have called for the confiscation of $260 billion in Russian assets frozen outside the country after the Feb. 24, 2022, invasion. But European officials have resisted, citing legal and financial stability concerns. And most of the frozen assets are located in Europe.

    A European plan to merely use the interest on the Russian funds would provide only a trickle of money every year — some $2.5 billion-$3 billion at current interest rates. That would barely meet a month’s financing needs for the Ukrainian government.

    U.S. Treasury officials and outside economists are proposing ways to turn that annual trickle into a much larger chunk of upfront cash. That could done be through a bond that would be repaid by the future interest income, giving Ukraine the money immediately. The ministers meet with Ukrainian Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko on Saturday.

    “Securing Ukraine’s position in the medium-to-long term requires unlocking the value of immobilized Russian sovereign assets,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said at a news conference Thursday in Stresa. “We support the EU’s decision to utilize the windfall profits from these assets, but we must also continue our collective work on more ambitious options.”

    She said $50 billion “has been mentioned as a possible number that could be achieved” from the assets, but that the specific approach was still under discussion.

    The debate over the Russian assets is being revived after President Joe Biden in April signed into law the Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity for Ukrainians Act, which allows the administration to seize the roughly $5 billion in Russian state assets located in the U.S. The law was included in the U.S. aid package for Ukraine and other nations, which includes roughly $61 billion for Ukraine’s defense.

    Exactly what the income from Russian assets would be spent on remains open, but one key focus is Kyiv’s state budget. Ukraine spends almost the entirety of its tax revenue on the military and needs another $40 billion a year to continue paying old-age pensions and the salaries of doctors, nurses and teachers — the glue that holds society together under dire wartime circumstances. Support from allies and a $15.4 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund was initially thought to have secured the budget for four years, but the prospects of an extended conflict have darkened the outlook.

    Ukraine depends on its allies for that money because the war keeps the government from accessing international bond market borrowing. The alternative would be printing money at the central bank, which risks igniting hyperinflation.

    Thanks to EU support and the U.S. aid package, passed after months of delay, this year’s budget “looks decent in terms of budget financing” but “next year is going to be much more challenging,” said Benjamin Hilgenstock, senior economist at the Kyiv School of Economics Institute.

    The ministers will seek to build consensus ahead of the June 13-15 summit of G7 national leaders summit in Italy.

    Yellen will also raise China’s outsized, state-backed production of green energy technology, which the U.S. considers a threat to the global economy. It has been a little more than a month since she traveled to China to speak with her counterparts in Guangzhou and Beijing about the nation’s massive subsidies to its electric vehicles, batteries, solar energy equipment and other products.

    Since then, the U.S. has imposed major new tariffs on electric vehicles, semiconductors, solar equipment and medical supplies imported from China. Included is a 100% tariff on Chinese-made EVs, meant to protect the U.S. economy from cheap Chinese imports.

    Yellen said Chinese overcapacity was an issue not just for the U.S. but also for other G7 and developing countries. That’s because China’s selling of low-priced goods threatens the existence of competing companies around the world, she said. “We are not willing to be completely reliant on China as a provider of these goods,” she said.

    “We need to stand together and send a unified message to China so they understand that it is not just one country that feels this way but that they face a wall of opposition to this strategy that they are pursuing.”

    Yellen said the finance ministers would also discuss humanitarian aid for Gaza, and that she would urge other member governments to join in strengthening sanctions against Iran over support of terrorist groups.

    The G7 meets annually to coordinate economic policy and discuss other issues including security and energy. Its members are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. Representatives of the European Union also take part, but the EU does not serve as one of the rotating chairs.

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  • Russian attacks on Ukraine power grid touch Kyiv with blackouts ahead of peak demand

    Russian attacks on Ukraine power grid touch Kyiv with blackouts ahead of peak demand

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    KYIV, Ukraine — Sustained Russian attacks on Ukraine‘s power grid in recent weeks have forced leaders of the war-ravaged country to institute nationwide rolling blackouts. Without adequate air defenses to counter assaults and allow for repairs, though, the shortages could still worsen as need spikes in late summer and the bitter-cold winter.

    The Russian airstrikes targeting the grid since March have meant blackouts have even returned to the capital, Kyiv, which hadn’t experienced them since the first year of the war. Among the strikes were an April barrage that damaged Kyiv’s largest thermal power plant and a massive attack on May 8 that targeted power generation and transmission facilities in several regions.

    In all, half of Ukraine’s energy system was damaged, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.

    Entire apartment blocks in the capital went dark. The city’s military administration said at least 10% of consumers were disconnected.

    For many, it is a taste of what might be in store if Ukraine doesn’t find other electricity sources before winter.

    Before dawn Wednesday, a Russian drone attack on Sumy plunged the northern Ukraine city into darkness. Some power was restored to the city of around a quarter-million people in the morning as crews rushed to repair the damage, local authorities said.

    With no end in sight to the attacks on the power grid and without a way to adequately defend against them, there are no quick fixes to the electricity shortages, Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko explained. Ukraine is appealing to Western allies for more air defense systems and spare parts to fix its Soviet-era plants.

    “With each attack we lose additional power generation, so it just goes minus, minus, minus,” Halushchenko said Tuesday while standing outside a coal-fired plant in central Ukraine that was destroyed in an April 11 attack. Any efforts to repair the plant would be futile until the military can defend it from another attack.

    “Should we repair (power stations) just for them (Russians) to renew strikes while we are unable to defend ourselves?” the minister asked.

    German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock’s joined him on the plant visit, underscoring Ukraine’s desperation to close the power gap as quickly as possible.

    The first major test of the grid will come in July and August, when consumption due to summer heat can mirror levels in the sub-freezing winter months, the minister said.

    By mid-May, Kyiv’s residents began to feel the consequences of Russia’s attacks. A cold snap drove up consumption, forcing Ukrenergo, the main transmission system operator, to introduce controlled blackouts throughout the country. Ukraine can’t generate enough power to cover evening peaks, and the shortage is greater than the country’s ability to import electricity from Poland, Slovakia and Romania.

    The April 11 attack on the plant destroyed generators, transformers and turbines — every necessary part to generate electricity, said Yevhen Harkavyi, the technical director of Centerenergo, which operates the plant.

    Five missiles hit the facility that day, and workers were still clearing away rubble on Tuesday as snow-like tufts of poplar cotton fell through a hole in the roof.

    The plan for winter is to restore power generation as much as possible, said Harkavyi. How that will happen isn’t clear, he conceded: “The situation is already too difficult.”

    Ukraine is hoping to acquire parts from long-decommissioned German plants. Harkavyi said Ukrainian teams recently went to Germany to evaluate the equipment, which was taken offline because it doesn’t meet European Union environmental standards. It remains to be seen how willing European allies will be to invest in Ukraine’s coal-fueled energy sector given their own greener goals.

    The teams are still evaluating how to get the equipment back to Ukraine, he said.

    “This is the first question,” he said. “The second question is what Ukraine is crying about: We need active protection with air defense systems, and we hope that Mrs. Minister (Baerbock) has seen the scale of destruction and will do everything possible to call for help from the whole world.”

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  • Slovak prime minister still in serious condition as suspect appears in court

    Slovak prime minister still in serious condition as suspect appears in court

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    PEZINOK, Slovakia — The man accused of attempting to assassinate Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was ordered to remain behind bars Saturday. Fico is in serious but stable condition after surviving multiple gunshots, officials said.

    Slovakia’s Specialized Criminal Court ordered the detention of the suspect after prosecutors said they feared he could flee or carry out other crimes if set free, a court spokesperson said. The suspect can appeal the order to the Supreme Court.

    Fico, 59, was shot in the abdomen as he greeted supporters following a government meeting Wednesday in the former coal mining town of Handlova, officials said. The suspect fired five rounds before being tackled to the ground and arrested.

    Prosecutors told police not to publicly identify the man or release other details about the case, but unconfirmed media reports said he was a 71-year-old retiree known as an amateur poet who may have once worked as a mall security guard in the country’s southwest.

    Government authorities gave details that matched that description. They said the suspect didn’t belong to any political groups, though the attack itself was politically motivated.

    The courthouse in Pezinok, a small town outside the capital, Bratislava, was guarded by police wearing helmets and balaclavas and carrying rifles. News media were not allowed in and reporters were kept behind a gate outside.

    The suspect left the courthouse just hours after government ministers announced that Fico’s condition looked promising after two hours of surgery Friday to remove dead tissue from multiple gunshot wounds. But he still is not healthy enough to travel to a hospital in the capital, Bratislava.

    “Several miracles have occurred … in the past few days, coming from the hands of the doctors, nurses and entire medical staff,” Defense Minister Rober Kalinak said outside University F. D. Roosevelt Hospital in Banská Bystrica, where Fico was taken by helicopter after the shooting. “I can’t find words of gratitude for the fact that we are steadily approaching that positive prognosis.”

    Police on Friday took the suspect to his home in the town of Levice and seized a computer and some documents, Markiza, a Slovak television station, reported. Police didn’t comment.

    With police remaining largely silent about the case, it was not clear how the suspect came to possess a firearm.

    Slovakia has strict rules on firearms and gun owners must have a good reason to possess one and are required to pass a test.

    As a consequence, Slovakia has one of the lowest gun ownership rates in Europe. It was ranked 23rd out of 27 European Union countries with a gun ownership rate of 6.5 per 100 people, according to the Association of Accredited Public Policy Advocates to the EU.

    World leaders have condemned the attack and offered support for Fico and Slovakia.

    Fico has long been a divisive figure in Slovakia and beyond. His return to power last year on a pro-Russia, anti-American platform led to worries among fellow European Union and NATO members that he would abandon his country’s pro-Western course, particularly on Ukraine.

    At the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Slovakia was one of Ukraine’s staunchest supporters, but Fico halted arms deliveries to Ukraine when he returned to power, his fourth time serving as prime minister.

    Fico’s government has also made efforts to overhaul public broadcasting — a move critics said would give the government full control of public television and radio. That, coupled with his plans to amend the penal code to eliminate a special anti-graft prosecutor, have led opponents to worry that Fico will lead Slovakia down a more autocratic path.

    Thousands of demonstrators have repeatedly rallied in the capital and around the country of 5.4 million to protest his policies.

    Fico said last month on Facebook that he believed rising tensions in the country could lead to the killing of politicians, and he blamed the media for fueling tensions.

    Before Fico returned to power last year, many of his political and business associates were the focus of police investigations, and dozens have been charged.

    His plan to overhaul the penal system would eliminate the office of the special prosecutor that deals with organized crime, corruption and extremism.

    Despite nobody being named as temporary leader, there was nothing imminent that needed the premier’s attention and the government was operating as planned and moving forward with Fico’s agenda, Kalinak said.

    Communication with Fico was limited given his condition, Kalinak said.

    The next government session is planned for Wednesday and Kalinak will be in charge, the Slovak government office said.

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    Associated Press reporters Karel Janicek in Vsetin, Czech Republic, and Brian Melley in London contributed to this report.

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  • Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 813

    Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 813

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    As the war enters its 813th day, these are the main developments.

    Here is the situation on Friday, May 17, 2024.

    Fighting

    • Visiting Kharkiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the situation in the northeast was “extremely difficult” but “under control” after the military partially halted a Russian advance, most notably thwarting an invasion of Vovchansk, 5km (3 miles) from the border with Russia.
    • Sergiy Bolvinov, the head of police investigations in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, accused Russia of taking “30 to 40” civilians captive in Vovchansk to use as “human shields” near their command centre.
    • General Christopher Cavoli, NATO’s supreme allied commander in Europe, said he did not believe Russia’s military had the troop numbers to make a strategic breakthrough in the Kharkiv region and he was confident Ukrainian forces would hold their lines there.
    • Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia was directing its most intense assaults on the front line near the cities of Pokrovsk and Kramatorsk in the eastern Donetsk region, where Russia’s offensive has been unrelenting for months.
    • An air raid alert in the northeastern Kharkiv region remained in place for more than 16 and a half hours amid Russian drone and missile attacks. Officials said five drones hit parts of the city of Kharkiv, starting a fire. There were no reports of casualties. The alert was lifted in the early hours of Friday.
    • Vyacheslav Gladkov, the regional governor of Russia’s Belgorod region, said a woman and her four-year-old son were killed when their car was hit by a Ukrainian drone. Two other people in the vehicle were injured.

    Politics and diplomacy

    • Russian President Vladimir Putin met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. The two held talks, walked in a park and drank tea. Xi said the two countries’ deepening relationship was a “stabilising force” in the world and that he hoped the war in Ukraine could be resolved peacefully. China has not condemned Moscow’s full-scale invasion. Putin said he was grateful for China’s efforts to resolve the crisis.
    • Russia expelled Adrian Coghill, the United Kingdom’s defence attache, from Moscow a week after Britain ordered Russia’s defence attache to leave London for being an “undeclared military intelligence officer”. UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said Moscow’s move was because Coghill “personified the UK’s unwavering support for Ukraine“.
    • Sri Lanka said it would send a high-level delegation to Russia to investigate the fate of hundreds of nationals reportedly fighting in the war in Ukraine. The Defence Ministry said social media campaigns via WhatsApp have targeted ex-military personnel with promises of lucrative salaries and citizenship in Russia, warning its nationals not to be duped.

    Weapons

    • The United States announced sanctions on two Russian nationals and three Russian companies for facilitating arms transfers between Russia and North Korea, including ballistic missiles for use in Ukraine. US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Russia had already used at least 40 North Korean-produced ballistic missiles against Ukraine.
    • Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un, denied Pyongyang was selling weapons to Russia, saying it was a “most absurd theory”, according to state media. UN monitors have found debris from North Korean missiles in Ukraine.
    • Denmark said it would send Ukraine a new military aid package, mostly of air defence and artillery, worth about 5.6 billion Danish crowns ($815.47m).

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  • Thousands of civilians flee northeast Ukraine as Russia presses a renewed border assault

    Thousands of civilians flee northeast Ukraine as Russia presses a renewed border assault

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    VILCHA, Ukraine — Thousands more civilians have fled Russia’s renewed ground offensive in Ukraine’s northeast that has targeted towns and villages with a barrage of artillery and mortar fire, officials said Sunday.

    The intense battles have forced at least one Ukrainian unit to withdraw in the Kharkiv region, capitulating more land to Russian forces across less defended settlements in the so-called contested “gray zone” along the Russian border.

    By Sunday afternoon, the town of Vovchansk, with a prewar population of 17,000, emerged as a focal point in the battle. Volodymyr Tymoshko, the head of the Kharkiv regional police, said Russian forces were in the outskirts of the town and approaching from three directions. A Russian tank was spotted along a major road leading to the town, Tymoshko said, illustrating Moscow’s confidence to deploy heavy weaponry.

    An Associated Press team, positioned in a nearby village, saw plumes of smoke rising from the town as Russian forces hurled shells. Evacuation teams worked non-stop throughout the day to take residents, most of whom were elderly, out of harm’s way.

    At least 4,000 civilians have fled the Kharkiv region since Friday, when Moscow’s forces launched the operation, Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said in a social media statement. Heavy fighting raged Sunday along the northeast front line, where Russian forces attacked 27 settlements in the past 24 hours, he said.

    Analysts say the Russian push is designed to exploit ammunition shortages before promised Western supplies can reach the front line. Ukrainian soldiers said the Kremlin is using the usual Russian tactic by launching a disproportionate amount of fire and infantry assaults to exhaust their troops and firepower. By intensifying battles in what was previously a static patch of the front line, Russian forces threaten to pin Ukrainian forces in the northeast, while carrying out intense battles farther south where Moscow is also gaining ground.

    It comes after Russia stepped up attacks in March targeting energy infrastructure and settlements, which analysts predicted were a concerted effort to shape conditions for an offensive.

    Meanwhile, a 10-story apartment block collapsed in the Russian city of Belgorod, near the border, injuring at least 19 people. Russian authorities said the building collapsed following Ukrainian shelling. Ukraine has not commented on the incident.

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that halting Russia’s offensive in the northeast was a priority, and that Kyiv’s troops were continuing counteroffensive operations in seven villages around the Kharkiv region.

    “Disrupting the Russian offensive intentions is our number one task now. Whether we succeed in that task depends on every soldier, every sergeant, every officer,” Zelenskyy said.

    The Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday that Moscow’s forces had captured five villages on the border of Ukraine’s Kharkiv region and Russia. These areas were likely poorly fortified due to the dynamic fighting and constant heavy shelling, easing a Russian advance.

    Ukraine’s leadership has not confirmed Moscow’s gains.

    A Ukrainian unit said that they had been forced to retreat in some areas and that Russian forces had captured at least one more village late Saturday. Tymoshko said Russian tactics in Vovchansk mirrored those used in the battles for Bakhmut and Avdiivka in the Donetsk region in which heavy aerial attacks were accompanied by droves of infantry assaults.

    In a video Saturday evening, the Hostri Kartuzy unit, part of the special forces’ detachment of Ukraine’s national guard, said that they were fighting for control of the village of Hlyboke.

    “Today, during heavy fighting, our defenders were forced to withdraw from a few more of their positions, and today, another settlement has come completely under Russian control. As of 20:00, fighting for the village of Hlyboke is ongoing,” the fighters said in the clip.

    The U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War said Saturday that it believed claims that Moscow had captured Strilecha, Pylna, Pletenivka and Borsivika were accurate, and that geolocated footage also appeared to show that Russian forces have seized Morokhovets and Oliinykove. It described the recent Russian gains as “tactically significant.”

    In the war’s early days, Russia made a botched attempt to quickly storm Kharkiv but retreated from its outskirts after about a month. In the fall of 2022, seven months later, Ukraine’s army pushed them out of Kharkiv. The bold counterattack helped persuade Western countries that Ukraine could defeat Russia on the battlefield and merited military support.

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  • A renewed Russian offensive on Ukraine’s Kharkiv forces about 1700 to evacuate

    A renewed Russian offensive on Ukraine’s Kharkiv forces about 1700 to evacuate

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    KYIV, Ukraine — Russian forces have captured five villages as part of a renewed ground assault in Ukraine’s northeast, the country’s Defense Ministry said Saturday.

    Ukrainian journalists reported Friday that Russian troops took the villages of Borysivka, Ohirtseve, Pylna and Strilecha, all of which lie in a militarily contested “grey zone” on the border of Ukraine’s Kharkiv region and Russia.

    Russian officials said they had also captured another village, Pletenivka, in a renewed attack on the region that Ukrainian authorities said forced more than 1,700 civilians to flee.

    Artillery, mortar, and aerial bombardments hit more than 30 different towns and villages, killing at least three people and injuring five others, said Kharkiv Gov. Oleh Syniehubov.

    Ukraine rushed reinforcements to the Kharkiv region on Friday to hold off a Russian attempt to breach local defenses, authorities said.

    Ukrainian forces also launched a barrage of drones and missiles on Saturday night, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said, with air defense systems downing 21 rockets and 16 drones over Russia’s Belgorod, Kursk and Volgograd regions. One person died in a drone strike in the Belgorod region, and another in the Kursk region, local officials said.

    Another strike set ablaze an oil depot in Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Luhansk region, killing four people and injuring eight more, Leonid Pasechnik, the region’s Moscow-installed leader said on the messaging app Telegram on Saturday.

    Russian forces stepped up their bombardment of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, in late March. Friday’s attack signaled a tactical switch in the war by Moscow that Ukrainian officials had been expecting for weeks.

    Russian military bloggers said the assault could mark the start of a Russian attempt to carve out a “buffer zone” that President Vladimir Putin vowed to create earlier this year to halt frequent Ukrainian attacks on Belgorod and other Russian border regions.

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed Friday evening that Russian forces were expanding their operations. He also called on the country’s Western allies to ensure that promised deliveries of military aid would swiftly reach the front lines.

    “It is critical that partners support our warriors and Ukrainian resilience with timely deliveries. Truly timely ones,” he said in a video statement on X. “A package that truly helps is the actual delivery of weapons to Ukraine, rather than just the announcement of a package.”

    The Kremlin’s forces have repeatedly sought to exploit Ukraine’s shortages of ammunition and personnel as the flow of Western military aid to Kyiv has tapered off in recent months, with promised new support still yet to arrive.

    Ukraine previously said it was aware that Russia was assembling thousands of troops along the northeastern border, close to the Kharkiv and Sumy regions. Intelligence officials also said they had expected an attack there though Russia’s most recent ground offensive had been focused on parts of eastern Ukraine farther south.

    While Russia’s gains in the region have so far been limited, analysts at the U.S. think tank Institute of the Study of War described them Friday as “tactically significant.”

    They said Russia had only “committed relatively limited manpower to their initial assaults” but that the offensive in Kharkiv “is meant to … (draw) Ukrainian manpower and materiel from other critical sectors of the front in eastern Ukraine.”

    The Russian military could also try to cut key supply routes and try to blockade Kharkiv, home to roughly 1.1 million people and only about 30 kilometers (about 20 miles) south of the border.

    In the war’s early days, Russia made a botched attempt to quickly storm Kharkiv but retreated from its outskirts after about a month. In the fall of 2022, seven months later, Ukraine’s army pushed them out of Kharkiv. The bold counterattack helped persuade Western countries that Ukraine could defeat Russia on the battlefield and merited military support.

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  • Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 807

    Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 807

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    As the war enters its 807th day, these are the main developments.

    Here is the situation on Saturday, May 11, 2024.

    Fighting

    • Ukrainian strikes have killed three people and caused a large fire at an oil storage depot in Luhansk, the region’s Russia-installed governor, Leonid Pasechnik, has said in a Telegram message. Eight people were hospitalised.

    • Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he will quash a new major Russian ground assault in the northeastern Kharkiv region, as he acknowledged the latest “heavy battles along the entire front line”, and appealed to Western allies to deliver more military aid.

    • Ukrainian reinforcements have headed to Kharkiv, launched artillery and drone counterstrikes in response to the latest Russian offensive, while the authorities told civilians to flee the heavy fighting.
    • General Oleksandr Pavliuk, commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, has played down the significance of possibly losing the eastern town of Chasiv Yar, which is described as a gateway to other cities that Russia is targeting, like Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.
    • Hundreds of people in Ukraine’s city of Vinnytsia have bid their final farewell to Nazary Gryntsevych, a member of the Azov Brigade who had become a national hero and symbol of bravery after fighting Russian forces despite the fall of Mariupol.

    Diplomacy and politics

    • White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby has said the United States expects Russia to intensify its new offensive and commit additional troops, with the aim of establishing a buffer zone along the Ukrainian border.
    • “It is possible that Russia will make further advances in the coming weeks, but we do not anticipate any major breakthroughs,” Kirby said. “And over time, the influx of US assistance will enable Ukraine to withstand these attacks over the course of 2024.”
    • The US has announced a new $400m military aid package – including armoured vehicles, surface-to-air missiles and rockets – for Ukraine amid the Russian assault in the northeast of the country. It is the third package for Ukraine in less than three weeks, following two in late April valued at a total of $7bn.
    • Poland’s central bank governor,  Adam Glapinski, has warned that his country faces further economic risks if the war in Ukraine comes closer to its borders.
    • Canadian Defence Minister Bill Blair has announced a $76m Canadian dollar ($56m) financial package that would allow Germany to ramp up its air defence aid for Ukraine.

    • Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has declared that the aim of nuclear exercises planned by Russia is to work out the response to any attacks on Russian soil. Medvedev, who is now deputy chairman of Russia’s security council, warns the West that Russia could attack not only Ukraine in response to such attacks.

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  • Ukraine says Russia is trying to break through its defenses in the northeastern Kharkiv region

    Ukraine says Russia is trying to break through its defenses in the northeastern Kharkiv region

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    KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine rushed reinforcements to its northeastern Kharkiv region on Friday to hold off a Russian attempt to breach local defenses, authorities said, signaling a tactical switch in the war by Moscow that Ukrainian officials had been expecting for weeks.

    Kharkiv’s regional governor, Oleh Syniehubov, said intense overnight shelling targeted Vovchansk, a city with a prewar population of about 20,000 that is less than 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the Russian border. The barrage, which used powerful guided aerial bombs, artillery, rockets, tanks and mortars, killed at least one civilian and wounded five others, prompting authorities to begin evacuating about 3,000 people.

    Then, around dawn, Russian infantry tried to penetrate Ukrainian defenses near Vovchansk, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said, adding that it had deployed reserve units to fend off the attack.

    Russian military bloggers said the assault could mark the start of a Russian attempt to carve out a “buffer zone” that President Vladimir Putin vowed to create earlier this year to halt frequent Ukrainian attacks on Belgorod and other Russian border regions.

    By mid-afternoon, Ukrainian troops were still holding firm against the assault, Syniehubov said.

    “Active combat is ongoing in the settlements located 1-2 kilometers (miles) away from border with Russia,” he told Ukrainian television.

    Ukraine previously said it was aware that Russia was assembling thousands of troops along the northeastern border, close to the Kharkiv and Sumy regions. Although Russia’s most recent ground offensive had been focused on parts of eastern Ukraine farther south, Ukrainian intelligence officials said they had expected an attack in the northeast, too. The Kremlin’s forces stepped up their bombardment of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, in late March.

    President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s military had anticipated this latest attack and had calibrated its response.

    “Now there is a fierce battle in this direction,” Zelenskyy was quoted as saying by Ukraine’s public broadcaster Suspilne.

    Though Russia likely couldn’t capture Kharkiv without a massive buildup of troops and armor, it could compel Ukraine to send more troops to the region, leaving other areas of the country more vulnerable. Forcing Ukrainian authorities to evacuate civilians will also likely cause disruptions and divert resources.

    The Russian military could also try to cut key supply routes in the area and try to blockade Kharkiv, which is home to roughly 1.1 million people and is only about 30 kilometers (about 20 miles) south of the border.

    The Kremlin’s forces are seeking to exploit Ukraine’s shortages of ammunition and manpower after the flow of Western military aid to Kyiv tapered off in recent months and before promised new support arrives. In a post on X Friday, Zelenskyy said: “Not all of our partners are currently fulfilling the agreements in a timely manner,” though he didn’t specify which.

    The Ukrainian army is on the defensive along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line and is scrambling to build fortified defensive lines ahead of what officials believe will be a bigger Russian offensive. Ukraine’s forces are outnumbered in infantry, armor and ammunition.

    In the opening days of the war, Russia made a botched attempt to quickly storm Kharkiv but retreated from its outskirts a month later. Seven months after that, Ukraine’s army pushed the Kremlin’s forces out of Kharkiv in the fall of 2022. The bold counterattack helped persuade Western countries that Ukraine could defeat Russia on the battlefield and merited military support.

    In Vovchansk, local officials said the Russian assault had damaged numerous buildings.

    “The entire town is under massive shelling now. It is not safe to stay here,” Vovchansk administration head Tamaz Hambarishvili told Ukraine’s Hromadske Radio.

    The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said fighting against Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups had continued into the afternoon.

    Meanwhile, Russian officials said a Ukrainian long-range drone struck an oil refinery inside Russia on Friday. The drone hit a refinery near the city of Kaluga, southwest of Moscow, setting four oil storage tanks ablaze, according to Vladislav Shapsha, the regional governor. He said there were no casualties.

    The Russian Defense Ministry said air defenses downed seven Ukrainian drones early Friday in the Moscow, Bryansk and Belgorod regions.

    The attack Friday came a day after one on a petrochemical facility in what appears to have been Ukraine’s deepest strike into Russia. A senior official in Russia’s Bashkortostan region, about 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) from the Ukrainian border, said Thursday’s drone strike in the city of Salavat caused a fire at the petrochemical facility.

    The Russian Emergencies Ministry said that a pumping station building on refinery land was damaged, but there was no fire. Ukrainian military intelligence refused to comment.

    Ukraine has repeatedly targeted refineries, hoping to disrupt the Kremlin’s war machine. Russia is one of the world’s biggest oil producers.

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  • China’s Xi visits Pyrenees mountains, in a personal gesture by France’s Macron

    China’s Xi visits Pyrenees mountains, in a personal gesture by France’s Macron

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    TOURMALET PASS, France — France’s president hosted China’s leader at a remote mountain pass in the Pyrenees on Tuesday for private meetings after a high-stakes state visit in Paris dominated by trade disputes and Russia’s war in Ukraine.

    French President Emmanuel Macron made a point of inviting Chinese President Xi Jinping to the Tourmalet Pass near the Spanish border, where Macron spent time as a child visiting his grandmother. It is meant to be a reciprocal gesture after Xi took Macron last year to the residence of the governor of Guangdong province, where the Chinese president’s father once lived.

    Snow coated nearby slopes after new snowfall overnight, and security was tightened around the area. The winding roads up to the pass were blocked by authorities Tuesday for dozens of kilometers.

    Foggy weather, falling snow and brisk winds obscured the view of the dramatic Tourmalet Pass. Macron and Xi — together with their wives, Brigitte Macron and Peng Liyuan — visited a mountain restaurant. Before lunch, protected from the elements by umbrellas, they watched a traditional folk dance performance on the terrace. The leaders could be seen eating ham and blueberry pie, among other local specialties.

    Macron presented Xi with a yellow Tour de France jersey — with the Tourmalet Pass one of the most famous climbs of the race — a woolen blanket made in the Pyrenees and a bottle of Armagnac, French broadcaster BFMTV said.

    The mountain meetings come after a grandiose state visit by Xi on Monday that included a ceremonial welcome at the monument housing Napoleon’s tomb and a state dinner at the Elysee Palace with celebrities and magnates.

    Xi left France from the Pyrenees on Tuesday evening by plane, in a departure ceremony that included military fanfare.

    The Elysee said Tuesday it welcomed the dialogue between Macron and Xi, which was “friendly but also very frank,” according to BFMTV. The broadcaster also noted that Macron had brought up the issue of human rights with the Chinese president, including “a few individual cases”.

    Xi is on a trip to Europe aimed at reinvigorating relations at a time of global tensions. He heads next to Serbia and Hungary.

    The last day of his visit to France came as authorities were searching the European Parliament office of a prominent German far-right lawmaker in Brussels on Tuesday, Germany’s top prosecutor’s office said.

    Maximilian Krah, the Alternative for Germany party’s top candidate in the upcoming European Parliament election, has been under scrutiny after an assistant of his was arrested last month on suspicion of spying for China.

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  • Ukraine marks its third Easter at war as it comes under fire from Russian drones and troops

    Ukraine marks its third Easter at war as it comes under fire from Russian drones and troops

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    KYIV, Ukraine — As Ukraine marked its third Easter at war, Russia on Sunday launched a barrage of drones concentrated in Ukraine’s east, wounding more than a dozen people, and claimed its troops took control of a village they had been targeting.

    Ukraine’s air force said that Russia had launched 24 Shahed drones overnight, of which 23 were shot down.

    Six people, including a child, were wounded in a drone strike in the eastern Kharkiv region, regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said. Ten more were wounded in an airstrike Sunday afternoon on the Kharkiv regional capital, also called Kharkiv, Syniehubov said, adding the city was attacked by an aerial bomb.

    Fires broke out when debris from drones that were shot down fell on buildings in the neighboring Dnipropetrovsk region. No casualties were reported.

    The Russian Ministry of Defense announced Sunday that its troops had taken control of the village of Ocheretyne, which has been in the crosshairs of Russian forces in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. Drone footage obtained by The Associated press showed the village battered by fighting. Not a single person is seen in the footage obtained late Friday, and no building in Ocheretyne appears to have been left untouched by the fighting.

    Officials in Kyiv urged residents to follow Orthodox Easter services online due to safety concerns. Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv city administration, warned that “even on such bright days of celebration, we can expect evil deeds from the aggressor.”

    In his Easter address, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on Ukrainians to be “united in one common prayer.”

    In a video filmed in front of Kyiv’s Saint Sophia Cathedral, wearing a traditional Vyshyvanka embroidered shirt, Zelenskyy said that God “has a chevron with the Ukrainian flag on his shoulder.” With “such an ally,” Zelenskyy said, “life will definitely win over death.”

    A majority of Ukrainians identify as Orthodox Christians, though the church is divided. Many belong to the independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine. The rival Ukrainian Orthodox Church was loyal to the patriarch in Moscow until splitting from Russia after the 2022 invasion and is viewed with suspicion by many Ukrainians.

    In Moscow, worshippers including President Vladimir Putin packed Moscow’s landmark Christ the Savior Cathedral late Saturday for a nighttime Easter service led by Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church and an outspoken supporter of the Kremlin.

    Eastern Orthodox Christians usually celebrate Easter later than Catholic and Protestant churches, because they use a different method of calculating the date for the holy day that marks Christ’s resurrection.

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    Morton reported from London.

    ___

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  • Defense chiefs from US, Australia, Japan and Philippines vow to deepen cooperation

    Defense chiefs from US, Australia, Japan and Philippines vow to deepen cooperation

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    HONOLULU — Defense chiefs from the U.S., Australia, Japan and the Philippines vowed to deepen their cooperation as they gathered Thursday in Hawaii for their second-ever joint meeting amid concerns about China‘s operations in the South China Sea.

    The meeting came after the four countries last month held their first joint naval exercises in the South China Sea, a major shipping route where Beijing has long-simmering territorial disputes with a number of Southeast Asian nations and has caused alarm with its recent assertiveness in the waters.

    U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters at a news conference after their discussion that the drills strengthened the ability of the nations to work together, build bonds among their forces and underscore their shared commitment to international law in the waterway.

    Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said the defense chiefs talked about increasing the tempo of their defense exercises.

    “Today, the meetings that we have held represent a very significant message to the region and to the world about four democracies which are committed to the global rules-based order,” Marles said at the joint news conference with his counterparts.

    Austin hosted the defense chiefs at the U.S. military’s regional headquarters, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, at Camp H.M. Smith in the hills above Pearl Harbor. Earlier in the day, Austin had separate bilateral meetings with Australia and Japan followed by a trilateral meeting with Australia and Japan.

    Defense chiefs from the four nations held their first meeting in Singapore last year.

    The U.S. has decades-old defense treaties with all three nations.

    The U.S. lays no claims to the South China Sea, but has deployed Navy ships and fighter jets in what it calls freedom of navigation operations that have challenged China’s claims to virtually the entire waterway. The U.S. says freedom of navigation and overflight in the waters is in America’s national interest.

    Aside from China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei also have overlapping claims in the resource-rich sea. Beijing has refused to recognize a 2016 international arbitration ruling that invalidated its expansive claims on historical grounds.

    Skirmishes between Beijing and Manila in particular have flared since last year. Earlier this week, Chinese coast guard ships fired water cannons at two Philippine patrol vessels off off Scarborough Shoal, damaging both.

    The repeated high-seas confrontations have sparked fears of a larger conflict that could put China and the United States on a collision course.. The U.S. has warned repeatedly that it’s obligated to defend the Philippines — its oldest treaty ally in Asia — if Filipino forces, ships or aircraft come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea.

    President Joe Biden’s administration has said it aims to build what it calls a “latticework” of alliances in the Indo-Pacific even as the U.S. grapples with the Israel-Hamas war and Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

    Beijing says the strengthening of U.S. alliances in Asia is aimed at containing China and threatens regional stability.

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  • Russian missiles hit Ukraine’s Odesa for the third time in a week, injuring 14

    Russian missiles hit Ukraine’s Odesa for the third time in a week, injuring 14

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    KYIV, Ukraine — The situation on the front line in eastern Ukraine is worsening but local defenders are so far holding firm against a concerted push by Russia’s bigger and better-equipped forces, a senior Ukrainian military official said Thursday.

    Nazar Voloshyn, spokesperson for Ukrainian strategic command in the east of the country, said Russia has amassed troops in the Donetsk region in an effort to punch through the Ukrainian defensive line.

    “The enemy is actively attacking along the entire front line, and in several directions they have achieved certain tactical advances,” he said on national television. “The situation is changing dynamically.”

    Russia has pushed Ukraine onto the back foot on the battlefield as Kyiv grapples with shortages of troops and ammunition. Ukrainian forces are now racing to build more defensive fortifications at places along the around 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line.

    Ukraine’s difficulties have been deepening for months as the military waited for vital new military aid from the United States. The support was held up in Washington for six months.

    Ukrainian soldiers withdrew from Avdiivka, a city in the Donetsk region, in February under a withering Russian barrage that had sapped their fighting strength and morale. Since then, the Kremlin’s forces have used their military might to take village after village in the area, bludgeoning them into submission, as they look to capture the parts of Donetsk they don’t already occupy.

    In France, President Emmanuel Macron reiterated in an interview published Thursday that he doesn’t exclude sending troops to Ukraine.

    ‘’I’m not ruling anything out, because we are facing someone who is not ruling anything out,’’ he told the Economist, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. ″If the Russians penetrate the front lines, if there is a Ukrainian request — which is not the case today — we should legitimately ask ourselves the question″ of sending troops, Macron was quoted as saying.

    Macron drew criticism from Russia and Western allies when he first floated the possibility earlier this year. “If Russia wins in Ukraine we will no longer have security in Europe. Who can pretend that Russia would stop there?’’ he said in the interview.

    Cities in Russia’s crosshairs, including recent target Chasiv Yar in eastern Ukraine, are pulverized by Moscow’s missiles, drones and glide bombs.

    The Donetsk and Luhansk provinces together make up the Donbas, an expansive industrial region bordering Russia that President Vladimir Putin identified as a focus from the war’s outset and where Moscow-backed separatists have fought since 2014.

    Also, Russia launched its third attack in a week on Odesa, firing ballistic missiles at the southern Ukrainian port city and injuring 14 people, local officials and emergency services said.

    The attack hit a sorting depot belonging to Ukraine’s biggest private delivery company, Nova Poshta. No staff were injured, the company said, but the strike started a major fire.

    On Monday, six people were killed in a Russian missile strike on Odesa, and two days later three people died there when the Kremlin’s forces targeted civilian infrastructure.

    Long-range strikes have been a feature of Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II, which mostly has focused on attrition. Kyiv officials have pleaded for more air defense systems from Ukraine’s Western partners, but they have been slow in coming.

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that Russia had launched more than 300 missiles of various types, almost 300 Shahed-drones, and more than 3,200 guided aerial bombs at Ukraine in April alone.

    Odesa, a key export hub for millions of tons of Ukrainian grain exports through the Black Sea, has been repeatedly targeted by Russia. Thursday was the 10th anniversary of clashes in the city between pro- and anti-Russia demonstrators that left 48 people dead.

    Ukraine has deployed increasingly sophisticated long-range drones to hit back, aiming at targets on Russian soil, especially infrastructure that sustains the Russian economy and war effort.

    The governors of three Russian regions reported that energy facilities were damaged by Ukrainian drone strikes overnight. Oryol region Gov. Andrei Klychkov said energy infrastructure was hit in two communities. The Smolensk and Kursk governors reported one facility damaged in each region.

    The Russian Defense Ministry said Ukrainian drones were shot down over the Bryansk, Krasnodar, Rostov and Belgorod regions. Most were intercepted in Bryansk, where five were brought down, it said.

    In other developments, Zelenskyy confirmed that a peace summit for Ukraine will take place at the lakeside Bürgenstock resort near Lucerne, Switzerland on June 15 and 16.

    Zelenskyy said he expected that heads of states and governments from all continents would attend the meeting “to discuss ways to achieving comprehensive, just and lasting peace for Ukraine in accordance with the U.N. Charter and international law.”

    The Swiss Foreign Ministry said more than 160 delegations are expected, including international bodies, but Russia has not so far been invited.

    Switzerland is open to inviting Russia, and is convinced that Russia must be involved, it said, but noted that the Kremlin has repeatedly said that it has no interest in participating.

    ___

    Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

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  • Ukraine pulls back from three villages in east as Russia claims gains

    Ukraine pulls back from three villages in east as Russia claims gains

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    Ukraine’s top commander has said Kyiv’s outnumbered troops fell back to new positions west of three villages on the eastern front, where Russia has concentrated significant forces in several locations.

    Sunday’s statement by Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskii reflected on Ukraine’s deteriorating position in the east, which Kyiv hopes it can stabilise once it receives United States weapons under a $61bn aid package approved in the US this week.

    “The situation at the front has worsened,” Syrskii wrote on the Telegram app, describing the “most difficult” areas as west of occupied Maryinka and northwest of Avdiivka, the town captured by Russian forces in February.

    Kyiv’s troops, he said, had taken up new positions west of the villages of Berdychi and Semenivka, both north of Avdiivka, and Novomykhailivka, further south near the town of Maryinka.

    “In general, the enemy achieved certain tactical successes in these areas, but could not gain operational advantages,” Oleksandr Syrskii said, adding that Russia had committed four brigades to the assault.

    Freshly rested Ukrainian brigades were being rotated in those areas to replace units that had suffered losses, he said.

    His statement did not mention the status of Novobakhmutivka, another village near Berdychi, which Russia’s Ministry of Defence said on Sunday its forces had captured.

    Superior ammunition and air power

    Al Jazeera’s John Holman, reporting from Kyiv, said Russian forces are concentrating on several different points on the front line.

    “This gives them the initiative on the battlefield,” Holman also said, adding that the Russian side has superior ammunition and air power.

    He said that Ukrainian army personnel on the front lines told Al Jazeera that “they are out-shelled six or seven to one”.

    Holman added that the Ukrainian military is waiting for the recently approved US aid to arrive, which will help close the firepower disparity between the sides.

    Ukrainian officials say the aid is critical to holding off Russia’s two-year-old invasion.

    Moscow’s troops have been slowly advancing since capturing the bastion town of Avdiivka, taking advantage of Ukrainian shortages of artillery shells and manpower.

    Online battlefield maps produced by open-source intelligence analysts suggest they have advanced more than 15km (9.3 miles) in the direction of the village of Ocheretyne since capturing Avdiivka.

    Further up the front, the Ukrainian-held town of Chasiv Yar is a key emerging battleground because of its position on elevated ground that could serve as a gateway to the cities of Kostiantynivka, Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.

    Syrskiy described Chasiv Yar and the village of Ivanivske to its northeast as the “hottest spots” on that part of the front. Russia’s Ministry of Defence said it had repelled Ukrainian counterattacks near Chasiv Yar.

     

    Meanwhile, in what could prove a worrying development for Ukraine, Syrskii said his forces were closely monitoring an increase in the number of Russian troops in the area of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.

    The northeastern city of 1.3 million – located just 30km (18.6 miles) from the Russian border – has been hammered by air attacks in recent months in what Kyiv has said is a deliberate effort by Moscow to make Kharkiv uninhabitable.

    Syrskii said there were signs that Russia was directly preparing for an offensive in the north of the country.

    “In the most threatening directions, our troops have been reinforced by artillery and tank units,” he said.

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