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By Emmanuel PEUCHOT NEAR BAKHMUT, Ukraine, Dec 19, 2023 (AFP) – After 22 months of war with a horrific human cost, the Ukrainian army is struggling to find recruits to battle Russian forces that are once again on the offensive. Some Ukrainians who joined the fighting at the February 2022 start are still in combat and exhausted, while volunteers to replace those killed or wounded are becoming rarer. “Our units are understaffed. We need young, […]
PARIS, Dec 19, 2023 (AFP) – French sports retail giant Decathlon has secretly continued selling clothes in Russia despite officially pulling out in protest at Russia’s war in Ukraine, a media report published Tuesday said. The multinational retailer, which posted sales of 15.4 billion euros ($16.9 billion) last year, announced within weeks of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that it would withdraw from the Russian market. In October of this year, it sold its 60 […]
MOSCOW, Dec 17, 2023 (AFP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday vowed to make Russia “sovereign and self-sufficient” in the face of the West, in his first campaign speech before a March vote to extend his long rule until at least 2030. Putin will stand for a fifth Kremlin term in an election with no real opposition that will come just over two years since he launched the seismic Ukraine offensive. The 71-year-old came […]
MOSCOW, Dec 15, 2023 (AFP) – Hungary is “defending its interests” by blocking EU aid to Ukraine, the Kremlin said Friday, after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban derailed the bloc’s new 50 billion euro aid package for Kyiv. “Hungary is a sovereign country. It has its own interests. And Hungary, in contrast to many European countries, firmly defends its interests, which impresses us,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Moscow sees Hungary as one of its […]
By Max Delany and Dave Clark BRUSSELS, Dec 15, 2023 (AFP) – Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Friday blocked 50 billion euros ($55 billion) in EU aid for Ukraine, after leaders side-stepped his opposition to agree to open talks with Kyiv on joining the bloc. A crunch summit in Brussels broke up after a day of wrangling as the Hungarian authoritarian leader refused to greenlight funding to help prop up Ukraine’s government over the […]
MOSCOW, Dec 14, 2023 (AFP) – President Vladimir Putin talked up Russia’s offensive in Ukraine Thursday as he staged a marathon press conference a week after saying he plans to stay in the Kremlin until at least 2030. Clearly bolstered by Kyiv’s recent struggles on the battlefield, the 71-year-old looked relaxed as he brushed off nearly two years of Western sanctions and reaffirmed his maximalist goals in Ukraine. “There will be peace when we achieve […]
WASHINGTON, Dec 12, 2023 (AFP) – President Joe Biden told President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday that the United States will not abandon Ukraine in its desperate fight against Russia, even as Republicans signaled opposition to extending US war funding. Standing alongside the Ukrainian leader at a White House press conference, Biden vowed: “I will not walk away from Ukraine and neither will the American people.” And he said that allowing a Ukrainian defeat would mean […]
KYIV, Ukraine, Dec 11, 2023 (AFP) – Ukrainian forces shot down eight Russian missiles headed for the capital Kyiv on Monday morning, the air force said. “The Russian invaders launched a missile attack on Kyiv region” at about 4:00 am local time (0200 GMT), Ukraine’s air force said, adding that “air defence destroyed eight air targets that were flying in the direction of the capital”. Missile fragments fell in the eastern Darnytskyi district of the […]
By Danny Kemp and Frankie Taggart WASHINGTON, Dec 6, 2023 (AFP) – Republican senators blocked a White House request for $106 billion in emergency aid primarily for Ukraine and Israel Wednesday as conservatives balked at the exclusion of immigration reforms they had demanded as part of the package. The vote marked a significant defeat for President Joe Biden, who had warned Congress earlier in the day that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not stop with […]
By Danny KEMP WASHINGTON, Dec 5, 2023 (AFP) – The White House issued a dire warning Monday that US aid for Ukraine will run out by the end of the year, adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin could win the war if Congress fails to agree fresh funding. President Joe Biden’s budget director, Shalanda Young, said in a blunt letter to Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson that if military assistance dries up it would “kneecap” […]
KYIV, Ukraine, Dec 2, 2023 (AFP) – Kyiv accused Russia on Saturday of committing a war crime by executing Ukrainian soldiers who had signalled their intention to surrender. A short video posted on Telegram shows two men coming out of a shelter, one with his hands above his head, before lying on the ground in front of another group of soldiers. This is followed by what appears to be gunfire, and smoke appears, before the […]
KYIV, Ukraine, Dec 1, 2023 (AFP) – Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said Thursday Moscow had stopped swapping prisoners of war with Kyiv. The two warring sides have carried out many rounds of prisoner exchanges during Moscow’s 21-month long invasion, but in the latter half of this year the process stalled. “Exchanges are not taking place because Russia does not want them to,” Lubinets said on Telegram. “All initiatives, wishes and actions of Ukraine […]
