by Emmanuel PEUCHOT Agence France-Presse KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — Ukraine suffered sweeping blackouts and water supplies were cut to large parts of Kyiv on Monday after another wave of Russian missile strikes on key infrastructure. The Ukrainian army’s commander in chief, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, said on Telegram that Russia had launched 55 cruise missiles and dozens of other munitions at “civilian targets” across the country, days after Russia blamed Ukraine for drone attacks on its fleet […]
Tag: Ukraine
US, China discuss relations, war in Ukraine: State Dept
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi discussed the rivalry between the two superpowers and Russia’s war in Ukraine in a call Sunday, the State Department said. The top diplomats talked about the need to “responsibly manage the competition between our two countries,” Blinken said in a tweet. They also discussed the need for Beijing and Washington to keep open lines of communications as well […]
President Putin: World’s ‘most dangerous’ decade since the end of World War II
Moscow, Russia | AFP | President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that the war in Ukraine was part of Russia’s wider struggle against Western domination, and warned that the world is probably entering the “most dangerous” decade since the end of World War II. The Russian leader showed no sign of backpedalling on the eight-month-old invasion of Ukraine, and indeed painted the current situation as part of the decline of Western dominance in global affairs. […]
Russia amends law to boost forces fighting in Ukraine
Moscow, Russia | AFP | The Russian parliament on Thursday passed a law allowing ex-convicts to be mobilised into the army and other measures to prop up Moscow’s troops in Ukraine. Last month President Vladimir Putin announced the mobilisation of hundreds of thousands of reservists in the country to boost his Ukraine military campaign. People who were released from prison but hold a criminal record for serious crimes can now be mobilised into the Russian […]
Authorities in Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia order phone checks on residents
Moscow, Russia | AFP | Russian-installed authorities in Ukraine’s occupied region of Zaporizhzhia ordered phone checks on local residents on Thursday, announcing the implementation of military censorship under Russian President Vladimir Putin’s martial law decree. “From today in the Zaporizhzhia region, law enforcement officers have begun a selective preventing check of the mobile phones of citizens,” Moscow-appointed official Vladimir Rogov said. He said those subscribed to “propaganda resources of the terrorist Kyiv regime” will receive […]
Russia tells China, India Ukraine planning ‘dirty bomb’ attack
Moscow, Russia | AFP | Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu on Wednesday reiterated claims that Ukraine is preparing a provocation using a “dirty bomb” in a video call with his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe, according to Moscow’s defence ministry. “The situation in Ukraine was discussed. Army General Sergei Shoigu conveyed to his Chinese counterpart concerns about possible provocations by Ukraine with the use of a ‘dirty bomb’,” the ministry said in a statement. In […]
Zelensky asks donors for $38 bn as Russia shells Bakhmut
by Emmanuel PEUCHOT with Daphne ROUSSEAU in Bakhmut and Femke COLBORNE in Berlin Agence France-Presse KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday asked the international community to cover an expected budget deficit of $38 billion next year for his war-torn country, with Moscow’s invasion badly hitting the economy. Russian shelling meanwhile pummeled the eastern Donbas town of Bakhmut, where AFP journalists saw smoke rising from fierce battles between Russian forces and Ukraine […]
NATO warns Russia against ‘dirty bomb’ pretext
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — Russia must not escalate the conflict in Ukraine with false claims that Kyiv is planning to unleash a so-called “dirty bomb”, the head of NATO warned Monday. Jens Stoltenberg weighed in following Moscow’s repeated allegations that Ukraine could deploy such a weapon, sparking fears Russia could use one and blame Kyiv. The head of the US-led military alliance said he had spoken with Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin and Britain’s Defense Secretary […]
Russian TV presenter apologises for calls to burn Ukrainian children
Moscow, Russia | AFP | A presenter with state-funded Russian television channel RT apologised on Monday after being suspended for calling for the burning of Ukrainian children. “I apologise to everyone who was stunned by this. I apologise to Margarita, to everyone who found these comments wild, unthinkable,” Anton Krasovsky, a 47-year-old pro-Kremlin pundit under Western sanctions, said on Telegram. Margarita Simonyan, the chief editor of RT, formerly called Russia Today, during the night from […]
Ukraine slams Russia’s ‘dirty bomb’ claims as ‘dangerous’ lies
by Dmytro Gorshkov Agence France-Presse KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — Ukraine slammed Russia on Sunday for alleging Kyiv was planning to use a radioactive bomb in its own territory, calling the claims “dangerous” lies and prompting Western allies to warn Moscow against using any pretext for escalating the conflict. Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu spoke with his British, French and Turkish counterparts to convey “concerns about possible provocations by Ukraine with the use of a ‘dirty […]
Ukraine warns Russia planning to destroy hydro dam
Kyiv, Ukraine | AFP | by Emmanuel PEUCHOT Kyiv accused Russia of planning to destroy a hydroelectric dam in the eastern Kherson region, where Ukrainian soldiers have been steadily advancing and Moscow-installed authorities have begun evacuations. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian forces had mined the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant with the intent of blowing it up, in what would amount to a “catastrophe on a grand scale”. Hundreds of thousands of people around the […]
Pro-Moscow officials say Ukraine killed four in Kherson evacuations
Moscow, Russia | AFP | Moscow-installed authorities in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region Friday said Kyiv forces killed four people when they shelled the Antonivskiy bridge over the Dnipro river used for evacuations. “Four people were killed,” pro-Moscow official Kirill Stremousov said on Telegram. “The city of Kherson, like a fortress, is preparing for its defence.” A Ukrainian military spokeswoman Nataliya Gumenyuk denied Kyiv’s forces had killed civilians. “We do not hit critical infrastructure. We do not […]





