Tag: conflict

US could have done more to limit civilian toll in Raqqa battle: study

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US military could have done more to limit civilian casualties and damage during the battle for the Syrian city of Raqqa that marked the Islamic State’s fall in 2017, according to a report commissioned by the Pentagon. At the end of the nearly five-month battle to free the city from IS, “60 to 80 percent” of it was “uninhabitable” and resentment of the population was directed at the liberators, […]

Apocalyptic price of Ukraine’s victory in Irpin

  by Danny Kemp © Agence France-Presse IRPIN, Ukraine (AFP) — The last survivors in the ruins of Irpin have just one word to describe the Russians who have retreated after one of the pivotal battles of the war in Ukraine. “Fascists!” rages Bogdan, 58, as he and his friends walk a dog through a deserted town center that is free of shelling for the first time in a month. His friends nod in agreement. […]

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, […]

Two Ukrainians among five killed in Israel shooting: police

JERUSALEM, Undefined (AFP) – Two of the five men killed by a Palestinian gunman in the central Israeli city of Bnei Brak were Ukrainian nationals, Israeli police said on Wednesday. A police statement identified those slain in Tuesday’s attack, noting that “a foreigner from Ukraine, aged 23” and “a foreigner from Ukraine, aged 32” were among them. According to police, Diaa Armashah, a Palestinian from the West Bank village Yabad, had opened fire in the […]

Germany looks to farm fumes in breakup with Russian gas

by Florian CAZERES Agence France-Presse RIBBECK, Germany (AFP) – As Germany scrambles to reduce its dependence on Russian energy, the pungent fumes from the manure and other organic waste in Peter Kaim’s farm could be part of the solution. An hour’s drive west of Berlin, a strong smell emanates from three large cylinders in the middle of a muddy field on Kaim’s property shared with 100 dairy cows. Every day, tonnes of organic waste — […]

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 […]

Russia insists on ruble payments for gas after G7 outcry

  MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) –Russia reiterated Tuesday that it will only be accepting payment for gas deliveries to the EU in rubles after G7 ministers called this arrangement “unacceptable”. “Nobody will supply gas for free. This is just impossible. And it can only be paid for in rubles,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “Companies must understand the completely changed environment that has arisen in the conditions of the economic war waged against Russia,” he […]

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. […]

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 […]

As Ukraine sowing season starts, fuel shortages threaten food supply

by Selim SAHEB ETTABA Agence France-Presse Bahaté, Ukraine (AFP) – In an endless field in southwest Ukraine, farmers began to plant sunflower seeds at the start of the sowing season, but a fuel shortage threatens production in the war-torn country, whose land feeds millions around the world. The world’s top producer of sunflower oil and a major exporter of wheat is a breadbasket of the world under threat from the Russian invasion. This means the […]