KYIV, Ukraine, Nov 29, 2023 (AFP) – Extreme weather that stormed through Ukraine’s south earlier this week killed 12 people, while bad weather and the war with Russia have left more than 800 villages without power, Kyiv said on Wednesday. Hurricane winds and snowfall hit southern Ukraine, already severely affected by Russia’s invasion, on Monday. The strong winds also swept through occupied Ukraine, Moscow-annexed Crimea and southern Russia. “Twelve people died due to the weather,” […]
Tag: Russia
Ukraine suspects Russia poisoned spy chief’s wife
KYIV, Ukraine, Nov 28, 2023 (AFP) – Ukraine said Tuesday it believed Russia had poisoned the wife of its military intelligence chief, in an apparent assassination attempt targeting the heart of Kyiv’s leadership. Marianna Budanova, who is an advisor to Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko, was hospitalised after a prolonged deterioration in her health, the Babel news outlet reported earlier. Ukrainian investigators’ “main hypothesis” is that Russia was involved in the poisoning attempt, Ukrainian military […]
Deadly storm cuts power to nearly 2 mn people in Russia, Ukraine
MOSCOW, Nov 27, 2023 (AFP) – Almost two million people in Russia and occupied Ukraine were left without power on Monday, after hurricane force winds and heavy rains cut electricity lines and caused widespread flooding. Huge waves crashed over beachside areas of Russia’s Black Sea coast, video from social media showed, as wind speeds reached over 140 kilometres (about 90 miles) per hour in some places. At least four people were killed during the […]
President Putin says Russia must rival ‘dangerous’ Western AI
MOSCOW, Nov 24, 2023 (AFP) – President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that the West had a “dangerous” monopoly over artificial intelligence and Russia needed to rival “biased” Western chatbots with its own technology. The race to develop AI has heated up since the breakout launch of the ChatGPT generative chatbot last year, with Russia and China spending billions to rival the United States’ dominance in the field. “I think you are well aware that […]
Ukraine says Kyiv hit by ‘most massive’ drone attack since war began
KYIV, Ukraine, Nov 25, 2023 (AFP) – Ukraine said on Saturday it had downed 71 Russian attack drones overnight, in what Kyiv authorities said was the biggest attack on the capital since the start of the invasion. The Ukrainian army said the majority of the Iranian-made Shahed drones were downed over the capital, Kyiv, causing power cuts in the centre of the city as temperatures dipped below freezing. The drone attack came as Ukraine marked […]
Russia says downed 16 Ukrainian drones in south, Crimea
MOSCOW, Nov 24, 2023 (AFP) – Russia said Friday it had destroyed 16 Ukrainian drones in the south of the country and over the annexed Crimean peninsula. On Thursday night, “an attempt by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack using aerial drones against sites on the territory of the Russian Federation was thwarted,” Russia’s defence ministry said. “Air defence systems destroyed 16 drones, including 13 over the Crimean peninsula and three over […]
NATO chief warns of ‘malign’ Russian interference in Bosnia
SARAJEVO, Nov 20, 2023 (AFP) – NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned on Monday of Russia’s “malign” interference in Bosnia, saying Moscow’s actions threatened the stability of the deeply divided Balkan country. Nearly 30 years after the end of its civil war, Bosnia remains fractured along ethnic lines, with NATO troops and later European peacekeepers stationed in the country to help keep the peace. “We are concerned by secessionist and divisive rhetoric as well as […]
Finland sees asylum surge before Russia border crossings shut
NUIJAMAA, Finland, Nov 17, 2023 (AFP) – Dozens of asylum seekers arrived at four Finnish border crossings with Russia on Friday, just hours before they were to close, a border guard captain told AFP. Finland is to shut half of its eight crossings along its eastern land border with Russia from midnight (2200 GMT). Authorities have accused Russia of seeking to destabilise Finland by letting undocumented migrants — mainly from the Middle East and Africa […]
Kyiv reports increase in Russian overnight drone attacks
KYIV, Ukraine, Nov 18, 2023 (AFP) – Ukraine’s air force said Saturday Russia fired 38 drones at its territory overnight — the highest reported number in more than six weeks. Both Kyiv and Moscow have used attack and reconnaissance drones extensively throughout the 21-month war. Ukraine’s air force said it shot down 29 of the 38 Iranian-made Shahed drones — also known as “kamikaze drones” because they are packed with explosives to detonate upon reaching […]
Japan PM voices ‘serious concerns’ to Xi on Chinese military activity, Russia collaboration
SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 17, 2023 (AFP) – Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Thursday that he expressed to President Xi Jinping his “serious concerns” about Chinese military activity in the region while demanding that a ban on seafood imports be revoked. “I… expressed our serious concerns over China’s increasing military activity near Japan, including its collaboration with Russia,” Kishida said after meeting Xi for the first time in a year. “At the same time, I […]
Russian delegation leaves North Korea: KCNA
SEOUL, Nov 16, 2023 (AFP) – A Russian delegation led by natural resources minister Alexander Kozlov has left Pyongyang after a two-day visit, North Korea’s state media said Friday, with the two countries’ growing cooperation triggering concern in Washington and Seoul. The visit came after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned this month that ties between Pyongyang and Moscow were “growing and dangerous”, urging the North’s ally China to restrain the nuclear-armed country. The […]
Russia admits Ukraine has positions on Russian-held bank of Dnipro river
KYIV, Ukraine, Nov 15, 2023 (AFP) – Russia said Wednesday for the first time that some Ukrainian troops had established positions on the Russian-held side of the Dnipro river, the vast waterway that splits the frontline in southern Ukraine. A sustained Ukrainian breakthrough across the river would be a significant tactical success, coming as Kyiv’s wider counteroffensive has failed to turn the tide of the 21-month war. “Small groups” of Ukrainian soldiers were stretched along […]





