KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — Ukraine on Monday said it had retaken seven villages and made small gains in a “tough” counter-offensive against Russian forces that France said could last months. “The fighting is tough, but we are moving forward, this is very important,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a daily evening address. “I thank our guys for every Ukrainian flag that is now returning to its rightful place in villages on the newly de-occupied […]
Tag: Russia
Ukraine says three villages retaken in fresh offensive
KYIV, Ukraine, June 12, 2023 (AFP) – Ukraine announced that its forces have retaken three villages in the eastern region of Donetsk, the first reported gains of their new offensive. But three people were killed and at least another 23 wounded as Russia shelled a rescue boat evacuating civilians from Russian-controlled territory, the Kherson region prosecutors’ office said on Sunday. Analysts at Washington-based think tank the Institute for the Study of War say that Kyiv’s […]
NATO begins unprecedented air drill in ‘show of strength’
By Deborah COLE Agence France-Presse BERLIN, June 12, 2023 (AFP) — NATO will begin the largest air force deployment exercise in Europe in the alliance’s history on Monday in a display of unity toward partners and potential threats such as Russia. The German-led “Air Defender 23” will run until June 23 and include some 250 military aircraft from 25 NATO and partner countries including Japan and Sweden, which is bidding to join the alliance. Up […]
Iceland to suspend embassy operations in Russia in August
REYKJAVIK, June 9, 2023 (AFP) – Iceland said Friday it would suspend work at its embassy in Russia as of August 1, the first country to do so, and asked Russia to limit its operations in Reykjavik. “The current situation simply does not make it viable for the small foreign service of Iceland to operate an embassy in Russia,” Foreign Minister Thordis Gylfadottir said. AFP’s bureau in Moscow said Iceland was the first country to […]
Seismological institute says detected Ukraine dam blast
OSLO, June 9, 2023 (AFP) – Norway’s seismological institute said Friday it had detected “an explosion” at the site and time a dam was breached in Ukraine that caused major flooding. Norsar’s announcement, which did not provide any information about the cause of the blast, supports suggestions that the hydroelectric dam, located in a Russian-held zone, did not burst as a result of damage incurred during months of heavy bombing. Russia and Ukraine have been […]
Russia says military ties with China provide global ‘stability’
MOSCOW, June 9, 2023 (AFP) – Russian armed forces chief of staff Valery Gerasimov said on Friday his country’s strong military partnership with China provides stability around the world. Gerasimov, who is commander of Russia’s military operations in Ukraine, made the remark during a videoconference with his Chinese counterpart, Liu Zhenli. “The coordination of Russian and Chinese efforts on the international stage has a stabilising effect on the global situation,” Gerasimov told Liu, according to […]
Fighting in southern Ukraine as offensive expectations build
MOSCOW, June 9, 2023 (AFP) – Fighting raged Friday in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region, a Russian official said, with observers seeing the combat as the possible start of Kyiv’s long-expected offensive. Ukraine has not offered any confirmation but expectations have built for months over when its forces, bolstered with Western weapons and training, would launch a counter-offensive in a bid to reclaim land occupied by Russian forces. The fighting comes as the humanitarian and environmental […]
Developing story: Drone hits residential building in Russian city of Voronezh: governor
MOSCOW, June 9, 2023 (AFP) – A drone hit a residential building in Russia’s southern city of Voronezh Friday injuring two people, the local governor said. Drone attacks have hit Russian cities — including the capital Moscow — often in recent months as Kyiv says it is preparing for a major counteroffensive. Friday’s attack was the first in Voronezh, a city of some one million people that lies in a region deeper inside Russia […]
Zelensky ‘in shock’ over lack of aid for dam disaster
BERLIN, Germany (AF)) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday expressed dismay at a lack of help from the UN and Red Cross with the fallout from the destruction of the Russian-occupied Kakhovka dam. “They are not there,” Zelensky said in English in an interview with Germany’s Bild daily, adding that he was “in shock because I think they are the forces who have to be there to save people’s lives”. The destruction of the […]
Ukraine evacuates thousands after key dam destroyed
KHERSON, Ukraine, June 6, 2023 (AFP) — An attack on a major Russian-held dam in southern Ukraine on Tuesday unleashed a torrent of water that flooded two dozen villages and forced the evacuation of 17,000 people, sparking fears of a humanitarian disaster. Washington warned there would be “likely many deaths” as Moscow and Kyiv traded blame for ripping a gaping hole in the Kakhovka dam, which is located on the frontline and provides cooling water […]
Ukraine dam partially destroyed
KYIV, Ukraine, June 6, 2023 (AFP) — The Kakhovka hydroelectric dam in southern Ukraine was partially destroyed on Tuesday, with Moscow and Kyiv accusing each other of being responsible. News of rising water levels were noted in several areas near the dam as expectations built over Ukraine’s long-awaited offensive against Russian forces. “Kakhovka hydroelectric plant. Another war crime committed by Russian terrorists. The president has convened the National Security Council,” the Ukrainian president’s chief of […]
Zelensky hails advances as Russia says offensive repelled
KYIV, Ukraine, June 6, 2023 (AFP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday praised his troops for advances claimed near the devastated city of Bakhmut, while Russia said it had repelled a large-scale attack. The contrasting claims came as Pope Francis’s peace envoy, Italian Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, arrived in Kyiv for two days of talks. “Well done, warriors! We see how hysterically Russia reacts to any step we take there, all positions we take. The […]





