Tag: Ukraine

Air strike kills two in Kyiv ahead of new round of talks

by Dmitry ZAKS / Dave CLARK KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — An airstrike on a residential building in Ukraine’s capital killed at least two people Monday, the country’s emergency service said, as Moscow maintained its devastating assault ahead of a fresh round of talks. The strike, which injured at least a dozen people, came as Russian troops edged closer to the city and kept up their siege of the southern port city of Mariupol, where officials […]

Chechen strongman Kadyrov says he is in Ukraine

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) – Ramzan Kadyrov, the strongman leader of Chechnya, said Monday that he was in Ukraine alongside Russian forces who are leading an offensive in the country. Kadyrov, who is accused by international NGOs of serious human rights violations in the tightly controlled Caucasus republic, posted a video on Telegram of himself in military uniform studying plans around a table with soldiers in a room. He said in a message that the video […]

Europe new ‘hotspot’ for arms imports: report

by Marc PRÉEL Agence France-Presse STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AFP) – Europe saw the world’s biggest rise in arms imports in the past five years, a trend set to accelerate following recent rearmament commitments amid the threat posed by Russia, researchers said Monday. While arms exports declined globally by 4.6 percent in 2017-2021 compared to the preceding five years, Europe posted a 19-percent increase, according to a study published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). […]

Zelensky warns NATO as Russia strikes near Polish border

Attack was at military base in Yavoriv which had been a training centre for Ukrainian forces with foreign instructors by Ionut IORDACHESCU with Dave CLARK in Kyiv Agence France Presse LVIV, Ukraine (AFP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned NATO Monday that its member states would soon be attacked by Russian forces after an air strike hit a Ukrainian military base close to the Polish border. Meanwhile, the death toll in the strategic southern port […]

US journalist shot dead in Ukraine

First foreign reported killed while covering Russia-Ukraine tensions   by Dmitry ZAKS Agence France Presse IRPIN, Ukraine (AFP) — A US journalist was shot dead and another wounded on Sunday in Irpin, a frontline suburb of Kyiv that has witnessed some of the fiercest fighting since Russia invaded Ukraine. Video documentary maker Brent Renaud, 50, was working for Time Studios on a project about global refugee issues, the media outlet said. “We are devastated by […]

US sets high-level talks with China Monday over Russia war

  WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A high-level US delegation meets in Rome Monday with a top Chinese official, the White House said as it warned Beijing would face severe “consequences” if it helps Russia evade sanctions over its war in Ukraine. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Yang Jiechi, the Chinese Communist Party’s chief diplomat, “will discuss ongoing efforts to manage the competition between our two countries and discuss the impact of Russia’s war […]

Russia, Ukraine to resume conflict talks Monday

KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — Conflict talks between Russia and Ukraine are set to resume Monday, negotiators and the Kremlin have said, after both sides hailed progress at earlier rounds aimed at ending more than two weeks of fighting. The talks would resume by video conference on Monday, Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and part of the negotiating team, said late Sunday. His statement, on Twitter, confirmed an earlier statement by Dmitry […]

More than 250 detained in Ukraine protests across Russia

  MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia detained more than 250 people for protesting Moscow’s “military operation” in Ukraine Sunday, as the conflict continues for a third week. OVD-Info, which monitors arrests during protests, said police had detained 268 people during demonstrations in 23 Russian cities. An AFP journalist present at a protest in the capital Moscow witnessed at least a dozen arrests and said police were taking away anybody without press papers. A young woman […]

Russia says it could target Western arms supplies to Ukraine

  MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia on Saturday said its troops could target supplies of Western weapons in Ukraine, where the Russian army has been advancing since late February. “We warned the United States that the orchestrated pumping of weapons from a number of countries is not just a dangerous move, it is a move that turns these convoys into legitimate targets,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told state television. He said Moscow had […]

Sanctions could cause space station to crash: Roscosmos

  MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Western sanctions against Russia could cause the International Space Station to crash, the head of Russian space agency Roscosmos warned Saturday, calling for the punitive measures to be lifted. According to Dmitry Rogozin, the sanctions, some of which predate Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, could disrupt the operation of Russian spacecraft servicing the ISS. As a result, the Russian segment of the station — which helps correct its orbit — could […]

Mayor of Ukraine city abducted by Russian troops

  KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — The mayor of southern Ukraine’s Melitopol was kidnapped on Friday by Russian soldiers occupying the city, President Volodymyr Zelensky and Ukrainian officials said. “A group of 10 occupiers kidnapped the mayor of Melitopol Ivan Fedorov,” Ukraine’s parliament said on Twitter. “He refused to cooperate with the enemy,” it added. It said the mayor was seized when he was at the city’s crisis centre dealing with supply issues. In a video […]

Eastern Europe embraces Ukraine refugees as workforce

  by Vessela SERGUEVA with Julia ZAPPEI in Vienna Agence France Presse SOFIA, Bulgaria (AFP) — Eastern European countries are embracing the millions of Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s invasion as a potential workforce but analysts warn it be challenging to integrate them all. Some 2.5 million people have already fled Ukraine, according to the United Nations, which calls it Europe’s fastest-growing refugee crisis since World War II. More than half are now in Poland but tens […]