Europe

Ukraine air strike on fuel depot in Russia: local governor

  MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Ukrainian helicopters have carried out a strike on a fuel storage facility in Russia’s western town of Belgorod, the local governor said on Friday. “There was a fire at the petrol depot because of an air strike carried out by two Ukrainian army helicopters, who entered Russian territory at a low altitude,” Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on his Telegram channel. Two employees at the storage facilities were injured as a result […]

EU to seek China rethink over Russia ties

by Julien GIRAULT with Patrick BAERT in Beijing © Agence France-Presse BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — The EU holds a virtual summit with China on Friday amid increasing alarm over Beijing’s growing proximity with Moscow and its reluctance to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold the videoconference with EU leaders Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen, carrying through on an annual exercise that was skipped last year as tensions simmered. […]

Putin’s gas threat as Ukraine, West dismiss de-escalation claim

by Danny Kemp  © Agence France-Presse KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) Russia threatened Thursday to turn off its gas taps to Europe, opening up a new front in its war in Ukraine amid growing skepticism over Moscow’s claim it is scaling back its onslaught. Over a month into Russia’s invasion of its neighbor, Vladimir Putin’s troops have devastated cities like Mariupol with shelling, killing at least 5,000 people in the port city alone. But they have struggled […]

Russians leave Chernobyl with Ukrainian troops as hostages: Kyiv

KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — Russian troops on Tuesday vacated Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear power plant after weeks of occupation, but took an unspecified number of captive Ukrainian servicemen with them, officials in Kyiv said on Thursday. “As they ran away from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the Russian occupiers took members of the National Guard, whom they had held hostage since Feb 24, with them,” the state nuclear agency Energoatom said in a statement on Telegram, […]

12 dead, 33 injured in airstrike in Ukraine’s Mykolaiv

KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) – At least 12 people were killed and 33 wounded on Tuesday when a Russian missile hit a regional government building in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, emergency officials said. The strike hit the nine-storey building shortly before 9 am local time, destroying the entire central part of the structure. “The bodies of 12 people have been recovered from the site of the destruction and 33 people have been injured,” Ukraine’s […]

Russia pledge to deescalate in Ukraine leaves West cold

by Danny Kemp, with Anne Chaon in Istanbul KIEV, Ukraine (AFP) — Russia pledged to scale down fighting around Kyiv and a second major city following peace talks on Tuesday that Ukraine’s leader said showed “positive” signs, but Western allies made clear their doubts over Moscow’s intentions. Details filtering from the talks in Istanbul raised hopes after more than a month of war that has left thousands dead and millions displaced. Kyiv’s negotiator David Arakhamia […]

‘We live here now’: villagers flee in Russian-occupied Ukraine

by Danny KEMP Agence France-Presse BROVARY, Ukraine (AFP) – When a group of Russian soldiers burst into Valerii Koriachenko’s home in a village east of Kyiv, they told him his house and all his belongings were now theirs, down to his socks and underwear. “They took the rifle off safety and ‘politely asked’ us to go wherever we wanted, and said they were living there now,” said the 50-year-old baker, his bottom lip trembling with […]

Russian, Ukrainian negotiators begin talks in Istanbul

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) – Russian and Ukrainian negotiators began face-to-face talks in Istanbul on Tuesday, the official Turkish news agency said, with host Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urging them to “put an end to this tragedy”. The face-to-face talks at the Dolmabahce palace in Istanbul are aimed at trying to end a war has killed an estimated 20,000 people and forced more than 10 million from their homes. “The two parties have legitimate concerns. […]

Seven EU countries urge their citizens not to join fight in Ukraine

  BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — Seven European Union countries on Monday urged their citizens to refrain from joining the Ukrainian military resistance against Russia’s invading troops. The appeal was issued by the justice ministers of France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Luxembourg and Belgium. The ministers of the seven countries “have unanimously discouraged Europeans from joining” the ranks of voluntary combatants heading to the war in Ukraine, according to a statement published after their meeting […]

Regime change, the controversial strategy the US no longer wants

    by Francesco FONTEMAGGI Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States says it is not seeking a “regime change” in Russia, hasty clarification that shows the strategy once popular among neoconservatives has become a hot button issue after negative experiences in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. President Joe Biden caused a stir Saturday when, during an impassioned speech in Warsaw, said his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power.” The […]

Ukraine says 5,000 dead in ‘catastrophic’ Mariupol siege

  by Danny KEMP Agence France Presse KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — Ukraine said Monday that at least 5,000 people have died in the “catastrophic” humanitarian crisis gripping pulverized Mariupol, as fighting raged around Kyiv including in a strategic suburb where defenders claim to have driven out Russian invaders. Multiple cities in Ukraine remained under crushing Russian bombardment on the eve of new face-to-face peace negotiations Tuesday in Turkey, as Kyiv — and its allies in […]

Russian invasion of Ukraine a ‘repeat’ of Syrian war: Amnesty

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP) – Russia’s assault on Ukraine is similar to its actions in the Syrian war, Amnesty International said Tuesday, raising concerns of “war crimes” as the civilian toll grows a month after Moscow’s invasion. “What is happening in Ukraine is a repetition of what we have seen in Syria,” Agnes Callamard, secretary general of the global rights watchdog, told AFP. She was speaking in Johannesburg at the launch of the group’s annual […]