~theguardian-world | Bookmarks (39)

Mykola Solskyi is first known minister under Volodymyr Zelenskiy to be named in a corruption case“The advance of Russian forces west of Avdiivka, Donetsk Oblast, has accelerated within the past week,” according to a British intelligence update.The first reparation payments are to be made in the next few weeks to survivors of wartime rape by Russian soldiers during the invasion of Ukraine, in a...

Ukraine’s SBU security service drones struck two oil depots in Russia’s Smolensk overnight, according to a Ukrainian intelligence source. It came as the US Senate approved wartime foreign aid for UkraineHere are some of the latest images on the newswires:Ukraine’s SBU security service drones struck two Rosneft-owned oil depots in Russia’s Smolensk region in an overnight attack, according to a source in Ukrainian intelligence...

Andrzej Duda says country could host arms if Nato decides to deploy the weapons in the face of Russia reinforcing its armaments in Belarus and KaliningradEurope “cannot relax” its support for Ukraine following US lawmakers’ approval of a $61bn (€57bn, £49bn) aid package, Kyiv’s most vocal allies in the region have said.Baiba Braže, Latvia’s new foreign minister, warned against slackening the EU’s efforts to...

Ukrainian president urges Senate to ratify aid package so that country can strengthen frontline with RussiaUkraine’s president has said the vote by the US House of Representatives to pass a long-delayed $61bn (£49bn) military aid package demonstrated that his country would not be abandoned by the west in its effort to fight the Russian invasion.Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in an interview with US television that...

Poland’s national prosecutor says man was preparing to share security details of airport used by Ukrainian presidentA Polish man has been arrested on allegations that he aided a plot by Russian intelligence services to assassinate the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, according to Polish and Ukrainian prosecutors.The office of Poland’s national prosecutor said in a statement that the man, identified only as Pawel K, was...

In today’s newsletter: As the crisis in the Middle East shifts resources away from the Russian invasion, Zelenskiy is calling for more money, weapons and attention• Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood morning.As soon as Iran launched its aerial attack on Israel, western allies coordinated a rapid, united military and diplomatic response. The US, Britain, France and others intercepted more than...

International Atomic Energy Agency warns about safety after Russia says Ukrainian drone detonated at nuclear power plantSee all our Ukraine war coverageThe International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was informed on Sunday by authorities at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant that a drone detonated on site today.“IAEA experts have been informed by ZNPP that a drone detonated on site today. Such detonation is consistent with...

Ukraine led attack on to military airfield near town of Morozovsk in Rostov region in RussiaA Ukrainian intelligence source has described the operation targeting the Morozovsk air base as an important one.The source did not say how the attack was conducted but that six Russian warplanes were destroyed, and eight more were damaged, in a joint operation by the SBU security service and the...

Volodymyr Zelenskiy signs bills lowering age for combat duty from 27 to 25 and requiring those given disability waivers to undergo a fresh assessmentSee all our Ukraine war coveragePresident Volodymyr Zelenskiy has signed a bill to lower the mobilisation age for combat duty from 27 to 25, a move that should help Ukraine generate more fighting power in its war with Russia.The move expands...

Head of Ukrainian air force says they were able to shoot down 10 out of 13 drones launched overnight by Moscow’s forcesKyrgyzstan’s foreign ministry has urged citizens of the central Asian nation to put off unnecessary travel to Russia following the Crocus City Hall terror attack, Reuters reports.The massacre has increased existing anti-immigrant sentiment in Russia, especially towards migrant labourers from the predominantly Muslim...

Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova says war could expand geographically. This live blog is closedLeonid Volkov told Reuters hours before an assailant attacked him with a hammer and tear gas outside his home in Lithuania that he and other exiles feared for their lives.Volkov, the top aide to Alexei Navalny, said leaders of the late Russian opposition leader’s organisation knew they were facing...

Ukraine president issues response after comments from pope as foreign minister says only flag country will raise is ‘yellow and blue’A cryptocurrency firm transferred digital assets worth more than $4.2m to a crypto wallet belonging to a member of an alleged Russian arms-dealing network who was later hit with US sanctions, it can be revealed.Details of the transactions involving Copper Technologies raise questions about...

Overnight Russian artillery and mortar attacks kill two women and a man in the Kharkiv region; Andiy Yermak meets Chinese representatives Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian president, is expected to visit Turkey today for talks with the country’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.A Turkish diplomatic source told Reuters that Turkey is expected to underscore its continued support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and “it is planned to...

Popular national figure given new role after being dismissed by Volodymyr Zelenskiy a month agoUkraine’s former commander in chief, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, is to become the country’s next ambassador to the UK, a month after he was fired by the president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, from his job leading the military.The decision makes good on Zelenskiy’s promise to keep the popular former general “as part of the...

Missile strike appears to land near Ukrainian president and Greek prime minister in Odesa; Russian officer says prospect of new conflict increasingIndia’s embassy in Moscow has confirmed the death of a citizen recruited by the Russian army, days after a relative told Agence France-Presse (AFP) he had been sent to fight in Ukraine.Two years after Russia’s invasion began, tens of thousands of its soldiers...

Russian forces ‘don’t care’ whether targets are military or civilians, says Zelenskiy; Greek PM describes experience as ‘very intense’ A deadly Russian missile strike on the Ukrainian port city of Odesa appeared to land near President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and visiting Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who described the moment of the bombardment as “intense”.The attack on port infrastructure on Wednesday killed five people and...

Two people killed, eight injured and six missing after Russian drone crashed into apartment block in southern port city, authorities sayRussia’s state news agency says a drone crashed into an apartment building in St Petersburg.The Associated Press cited a report by RIA Novosti, which said six people received medical help after an explosion on Saturday morning, citing the press service of the city’s health...

Ukraine’s president also concedes western weaponry is in short supply at a crucial time in the war with RussiaVolodymyr Zelenskiy has given a figure for the number of Ukrainian battlefield deaths in the war with Russia for the first time, acknowledging that 31,000 soldiers have been killed and saying 2024 will be decisive for the outcome of the conflict.Speaking in Kyiv a day after...

Political pressure at home, splintering international support and prospect of Trump’s re-election make for existential threatsVolodymyr Zelenskiy has an unenviable task over the coming months. As Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine enters its third year, the Ukrainian president has a very difficult balancing act to manage.Ukrainian society is exhausted by the war and international support is splintering, leading to a critical shortage of ammunition...

G7 leaders urge ‘additional support to close Ukraine’s remaining budget gap for 2024’Here are some of the latest images coming out of Ukraine:In a new bookshop opened in Kyiv on the street where Putin planned a conquerors’ parade two years ago, the mood is sombre. Continue reading...

Ukraine’s president met the prime ministers of Italy, Canada and Belgium in a show of unity after recent battlefield defeatsVolodymyr Zelenskiy welcomed western leaders to Kyiv on Saturday on the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, declaring that Vladimir Putin “must lose absolutely everything”.Ukraine’s president met the prime ministers of Italy, Canada and Belgium – Giorgia Meloni, Justin Trudeau and Alexander De...

Spokesperson for the Russian opposition politician, who died in prison last week, said funeral arrangements are still to be determinedKing Charles III praises the “determination and strength” of the Ukrainian people in a message marking the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion. The monarch said he was “greatly encouraged” by the UK’s efforts to support Ukraine and commended their “true valour”. He has said:The determination...

Retreat from Avdiivka deals military blow and hands initiative to Putin as war’s second anniversary loomsVolodymyr Zelenskiy issued a desperate plea for fresh arms on Saturday as his army commanders announced that Ukrainian troops were pulling out of the key eastern city of Avdiivka, handing Moscow its first major military victory since last May, just days before the second anniversary of the Russian invasion.Ukraine’s...

Russian takeover of eastern city would give it full control of area surrounding Donetsk, which Moscow annexed in 2014Ukrainian troops have withdrawn from the eastern city of Avdiivka to avoid encirclement, army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi has said, marking the biggest change on the frontlines since Russian forces captured Bakhmut in May last year.In a Facebook post on Saturday, the recently appointed Syrskyi said he...