DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

Its towering smokestacks once puffed out clouds of steam. In gigantic machine rooms, turbines whirled around the clock. In the Soviet era, the Kurakhove Heating and Power Plant gave rise to the town around it in Ukraine’s east, driving the local economy and sustaining the community with wages and heating for homes. “Our plant is the heart of our city,” said Halyna Liubchenko, a retiree whose husband worked his entire career in nearby coal mines that fed the facility. That heart is barely beating now, partly destroyed by artillery.

Persons: ”, Halyna Liubchenko Organizations: Power Locations: Soviet, Ukraine’s, Ukraine’s Donbas

☆ In Ukraine’s West, Draft Dodgers Run, and Swim, to Avoid the War
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-13 | by ( Andrew E. Kramer | Nicole Tung | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The roiling water can be treacherous, the banks are steep and slick with mud, and the riverbed is covered in jagged, hidden boulders. Yet Ukrainian border guards often find their quarry — men seeking to escape the military draft — swimming in these hazardous conditions, trying to cross the Tysa River where it forms the border with Romania. Lt. Vladyslav Tonkoshtan recently detained a man on the bank, where he was preparing to cross the river in the hope of reuniting with his wife and children, whom he had not seen in two years since they fled to another country in Europe. That thousands of Ukrainian men have chosen to risk the swim rather than face the dangers as soldiers on the eastern front highlights the challenge for President Volodymyr Zelensky as he seeks to mobilize new troops after more than two years of bruising, bloody trench warfare with Russia.

Persons: Vladyslav Tonkoshtan, Volodymyr Zelensky Locations: Romania, Europe, Russia

400,000 Men at each age 200,000 Age: 15 25 35 45 55 65 75 85 95Can Ukraine Find New Soldiers Without Decimating a Whole Generation? Healthy men under age 30, the backbone of most militaries, are part of the smallest generation in Ukraine’s modern history. Mr. Zelensky’s decision to draft men starting at age 25 risks further diminishing this small generation of Ukrainians. But the lower draft age risks shrinking a small generation even more. And in occupied areas of the country Russia is conscripting Ukrainian men to fight against Ukraine, starting at age 18.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelensky, birthrates, thein, —, Oleksandr Gladun, it’s, ”, Serhiy Hrabsky, Gladun, “ Organizations: Boys, United Nations, Ptukha, Social Studies, European Union, Eurostat, Ukraine Locations: Ukraine, United States, Soviet Union, Russia, Europe

☆ Dwindling Ammunition Stocks Pose Grave Threat to Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-05 | by ( Andrew E. Kramer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The crew at an artillery position in eastern Ukraine had 33 shells in its ammunition bunker, stacked neatly like firewood against a wall. Twenty minutes later, smoke wafted around a howitzer and 17 shells were gone — more than half the crew’s ammunition. The rapidly depleted stack was emblematic of Ukraine’s dwindling supply of artillery munitions, even as Russian attacks persist. “Artillery decides battles,” said Capt. Vladyslav Slominsky, the artillery commander along this section of the front.

Persons: ”, Vladyslav Slominsky, Mike Johnson Organizations: “ Artillery, ”, U.S . Congress, Republicans Locations: Ukraine, Russia

A new sign went up a few miles from the front line recently on the main billboard of an occupied town in Ukraine’s Luhansk region. Together we’re strong,” read the sign in the white, blue and red colors of the Russian flag, according to Anastasiia, a resident. The message was clear to her: That the president was Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, not Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, and that Mr. Putin was the only choice in the Russian presidential vote taking place in the occupied parts of Ukraine over the past three weeks. Mr. Putin long ago transformed Russian elections into a predictable ritual meant to convey legitimacy to his rule. In the occupied territories, this practice has the additional goals of presenting the occupation as a fait accompli and identifying dissenters, said political analysts and Ukrainian officials.

Persons: ”, Vladimir V, Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky, Mr Locations: Ukraine’s Luhansk, Russia, Ukraine

☆ Rebellious Russians Stage Daring Attacks From Ukraine on Russian Soil
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-16 | by ( Andrew E. Kramer | Oleksandr Chubko | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Gathered in a Ukrainian farmhouse, soldiers checked their kits: rifles, machine guns, grenade launchers, spare batteries for radios, red and white flashlights, all that would be needed for a stealthy and daring night assault across the border into Russia. The soldiers are Russians who have turned against the government of their country’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, and are now fighting for the Ukrainian side by making incursions back into Russia. Their goal has been to break through a first line of Russian defenses, hoping to open a path for another unit to drive deeper into Russia with tanks and armored personnel carriers. “We will jump in their trench and hold it,” one of the soldiers, who declined to be identified for security reasons, explained. “Either we take them out, or they take us out.”

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, ” Locations: Russia

☆ For Many Ukrainians, It’s Been a 10-Year War, Not a 2-Year One
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-23 | by ( Andrew E. Kramer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

They were a ragtag army, fighting with baseball bats, Molotov cocktails and plywood shields. But for Ukrainians, the protesters who faced off with riot police on Kyiv’s main square a decade ago were the first soldiers in a war still raging today. Their portraits now adorn a wall of honor at St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery in Kyiv. They are displayed first, ahead of portraits of soldiers killed in the simmering, eight-year conflict in Ukraine’s east that served as a prelude to Russia’s full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022. And a museum dedicated to the street uprising identifies those who died on the square as the first soldiers killed in the war with Russia.

Persons: Molotov, Viktor F, Yanukovych, Michael’s Organizations: St Locations: Europe, Ukraine, Moscow, Kyiv, Ukraine’s, Russia

☆ Aleksei Navalny, Putin Critic, Dies in Prison, Russian Authorities Say
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-16 | by ( Andrew E. Kramer | Valerie Hopkins | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Aleksei A. Navalny, an anticorruption activist who for more than a decade led the political opposition in President Vladimir V. Putin’s Russia, died Friday in a prison inside the Arctic Circle, according to Russian authorities. His death was announced by Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service, which said that Mr. Navalny, 47, lost consciousness on Friday after taking a walk in the prison where he was moved late last year. He was last seen on Thursday, when he had appeared in a court hearing via video link, smiling behind the bars of a cell and making jokes.

Persons: Aleksei A, Vladimir V, Navalny Organizations: Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service Locations: Russia

☆ Aleksei Navalny, Russian Opposition Leader, Dies in Prison at 47
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-16 | by ( Valerie Hopkins | Andrew E. Kramer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Aleksei A. Navalny, an anticorruption activist who for more than a decade led the political opposition in President Vladimir V. Putin’s Russia while enduring arrests, assaults and a near-fatal poisoning, died Friday in a Russian prison, according to Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service. The prison authorities said that Mr. Navalny lost consciousness on Friday after taking a walk in the Arctic penal colony where he was moved late last year. He was last seen on Thursday, when he had appeared in a court hearing via video link, smiling behind the bars of a cell and making jokes. Kira Yarmysh, Navalny’s press secretary, said in a live broadcast Friday that Navalny’s advisers were not yet able to issue an official confirmation of his death but believed that he had perished. Despite increasingly harsh conditions, including repeated stints in solitary confinement, he maintained a presence on social media, while members of his team continued to publish investigations into Russia’s corrupt elite from exile.

Persons: Aleksei A, Vladimir V, Navalny, Kira Yarmysh, Biden, “, Putin, ” Mr Organizations: Russia’s Federal, Service, White House Locations: Russia, Russia’s, United States

☆ Short on Soldiers, Ukraine Debates How to Find the Next Wave of Troops
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-11 | by ( Andrew E. Kramer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Soldiers fight in freezing, muddy trenches bombarded by artillery, or in warrens of burned and blown-up houses in urban combat. Casualty rates are high and dangerous missions, such as storming enemy-held tree lines, abound. In a tumultuous week for Ukraine’s war effort, President Volodymyr Zelensky removed his commanding general, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, on Thursday, while aid from the country’s largest source of weapons and ammunition, the United States, hung in doubt in Congress. While Ukraine relies on allies for weaponry, replenishing the ranks is a domestic challenge. Small protests have broken out in opposition to a Parliament proposal to expand the draft to include younger men, though so far, Parliament has slow-walked the measure.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelensky, Valery Zaluzhny Locations: United States, Ukraine

☆ A New General Takes Over as Ukraine Struggles on the Battlefield
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Andrew E. Kramer | Maria Varenikova | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It was a strung-out, vicious spell of urban combat in the eastern city of Bakhmut last winter, and even as Ukraine was clearly losing ground in the fight, General Syrsky, then commander of the ground forces, had argued that the decision to defend was sound since Russia was losing more soldiers than Ukraine. Ukraine maintained what military parlance calls a favorable attrition ratio in the Bakhmut street fighting, but it did little to win backers for the general’s strategy among rank-and-file soldiers. Bakhmut ultimately fell, after Ukraine had lost thousands of troops in the grinding fight. The nickname “the Butcher” for General Syrsky is now widespread in Ukraine’s Army. In the two earlier successful battles — in the defense of the capital, Kyiv, and in the northern Kharkiv region — General Syrsky’s soldiers had turned to small-unit tactics and rapid maneuvers to defeat the larger, better armed Russian forces.

Persons: Oleksandr Syrsky, General Syrsky, Bakhmut, Syrsky, — Organizations: Russia, Ukraine’s Army, —, Ukrainian Army Locations: Bakhmut, Ukraine, Russia, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Russian, United States

☆ Zelensky Removes His Top General, in Major Shake-Up of Ukraine Military
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Andrew E. Kramer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said on Thursday he had removed his top general in the most significant leadership shake-up since Russia invaded Ukraine almost two years ago. While praising Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, the commander who has led the nation’s war effort for two years, Mr. Zelensky said “urgent changes” were needed to ensure victory. “Starting today, a new management team will take over the leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” Mr. Zelensky said in an evening address to the nation, adding the he had met with General Zaluzhny and thanked him for his service. General Zaluzhny will be replaced by Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky, the head of Ukraine’s ground forces, the president said.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelensky, Gen, Valery Zaluzhny, Zelensky, ” Mr, General Zaluzhny, Oleksandr Syrsky Organizations: Armed Forces of Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Armed Forces of Ukraine

☆ Russian Strikes Hit Ukrainian Cities at a Tense Time for Kyiv
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Marc Santora | Andrew E. Kramer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Missiles streaked into Kyiv early Wednesday in a Russian attack that killed at least five people, according to local officials, jolted residents awake with air alarms and explosions, and ignited a fire that sent plumes of smoke billowing over the Ukrainian capital. The barrage, which directed missiles and drones at cities across the country, coincided with a moment of heightened uncertainty for Ukraine. Mr. Zelensky is considering replacing Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, the country’s top military commander, but has not announced any decision on the matter. General Zaluzhny remains in his job and said on Wednesday morning that Ukrainian air defense teams had destroyed 44 of the 64 cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and drones that Russia had fired in the assault. Since the end of last year, Russia has stepped up its large-scale aerial bombardments in a bid to exploit dwindling supplies of critical Western air defense munitions and inflict maximum damage.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelensky, Zelensky, Valery Zaluzhny, Zaluzhny Locations: Ukraine, Russia

☆ Ukraine Worries About Losing Its Biggest Weapon: U.S. Military Aid
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Andrew E. Kramer | Marc Santora | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But there was always the prospect of more American aid on the horizon. That support was critical, analysts and leaders in Kyiv say. The United States has provided about half of the foreign military assistance to Ukraine’s arsenal, roughly $47 billion. But this week leaders in Kyiv have waited anxiously to see if that lifeline will come to an end, as a stalemate between lawmakers in the United States Congress threatens to end, for now, American support for the war against Russia. A measure that would allow American arms to flow to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan and fund border security was defeated in a Senate vote on Wednesday amid growing Republican opposition and deep division on Capitol Hill.

Persons: Molotov Organizations: United, United States, Russia, Capitol Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Kyiv, United States, Israel, Taiwan

☆ Grateful for E.U. Aid, Ukraine Now Waits for the United States
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Andrew E. Kramer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Ukrainian officials were quick to thank the European Union Thursday for approving an assistance package of about $54 billion, funds that will help alleviate a potentially severe financial crisis. The money will cover pensions, payments to people displaced by war and routine outlays such as salaries for teachers and doctors. But in thanking his European neighbors, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, also alluded to uncertainty over future American support, which Ukraine also needs. A $60 billion aid package for Ukraine is currently languishing in the United States Congress. Europe’s commitment, Mr. Zelensky said, would “send a signal across the Atlantic.”“Europe sets the tone for global affairs,” he told the E.U.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelensky, Zelensky, ” Organizations: United States Congress Locations: Ukraine, Europe

☆ With Fate of Ukraine’s Top General in Question, All Eyes Turn to Zelensky
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Andrew E. Kramer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But the fate of Ukraine’s top commander, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, now appears to be hanging by a thread — not over his standing in the army, where he is well regarded, but over tensions with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky. The president’s frustrations have mounted since it became clear in the fall that Ukraine’s southern counteroffensive, a push that started with high hopes for Ukraine and its backers, had failed. The fighting has since bogged down in bloody, static trench warfare. Should Mr. Zelensky dismiss the general, it could create a host of problems for him both in the war and at home. Although Mr. Zelensky embodies his country’s resistance to Russian aggression to many of his supporters abroad, the general is widely hailed as a hero in Ukraine.

Persons: Ukraine’s, Valery Zaluzhny, Volodymyr Zelensky, Zelensky Locations: Ukraine

☆ With Aid Stalled, Ukraine Scrambles to Make Ends Meet
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Andrew E. Kramer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Strapped for cash as well as personnel and equipment for its war against Russia, Ukraine’s government says it has cobbled together financing to last several months without long-stalled aid from the United States and Europe. But further delays would trigger an all-but-certain economic crisis, officials and analysts say. Museums and theaters — as well as government research institutes and universities — could be forced to shut their doors. Restaurants, department stores and a host of other businesses currently remain open in Ukrainian cities away from the front line. But without enough financial aid, the ripple effects would quickly be felt across the economy, as the government runs out of cash to support a wide range of people and institutions.

Persons: Ukraine’s Locations: Russia, United States, Europe

☆ Ukraine’s Latest Challenge: Festering Tension Among Top Leaders
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Andrew E. Kramer | Marc Santora | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As Ukraine fights against a fierce Russian offensive and its leaders wait to see whether the West will approve more than $100 million in much-needed assistance, the government in Kyiv is dealing with a festering distraction: tumult in its top ranks centered on the fate of the top military commander. Speculation raged on Monday in political and military circles, the news media and online that President Volodymyr Zelensky had fired the commander, Gen. Valeriy Zaluzhny, with rumors becoming so widespread that the president’s office was forced to issue a public denial. “There was no dismissal,” the president’s spokesman, Serhiy Nikiforov, told the Ukrainian media. “I cannot say anything else,” he said. When asked whether the president intended to dismiss the general, Mr. Nikiforov replied: “I repeat to you once again — there is no subject of conversation.”The curt response only fueled further speculation that the president’s office had planned to fire General Zaluzhny but backed down after a furious backlash, and on Tuesday the capital was still consumed with whether the general would be staying or going.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelensky, Valeriy, Serhiy Nikiforov, ”, Nikiforov, “, curt, Zaluzhny Organizations: Ukraine Locations: Russian, Kyiv, Ukrainian

☆ Ukraine Searches for Answers on Russian Plane Crash
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-25 | by ( Andrew E. Kramer | More About Andrew E. Kramer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ukrainian officials searched for answers on Thursday to the circumstances of a deadly plane crash over the border in Russia, asking for patience from citizens while they investigated Moscow’s claims that Ukraine had shot down a Russian military aircraft carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war. The plane went down in the Belgorod region near the border with Ukraine, killing all onboard, the Russian Ministry of Defense and the regional governor said on Wednesday. The ministry said that the plane had been carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war who were to be released in a prisoner exchange. The cause of the crash remains unknown, though Ukrainian officials have not denied shooting down the aircraft. They say they cannot confirm that Ukrainian soldiers on their way to a prisoner exchange were aboard the plane.

Persons: Moscow’s, Volodymyr Zelensky Organizations: Russian Ministry of Defense Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Russian, Belgorod

It was the middle of the night in early January when a Russian missile streaked in and exploded in the center of Kharkiv, blasting down walls and shattering windows. The next day, people went shopping and to work, ate out in restaurants and clogged the streets with traffic jams, almost as if nothing had happened. But behind the business-as-usual veneer, residents of Kharkiv have been seething. Over the past month, Ukraine’s second-largest city has taken the brunt of Russia’s missile campaign, which has killed and wounded dozens of people, blown up buildings and unnerved everyone. To vent, Kharkiv’s residents have a dedicated outlet: Radio Boiling Over, a new FM station.

Persons: Ukraine’s, It’s Locations: Russian, Kharkiv

With fighting still raging in Ukraine, and a front line that has barely shifted in more than a year, the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, headed on Tuesday to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, amid a swirl of diplomatic discussions about possible peace talks. In his speech, he promoted a Ukrainian peace plan and called for stiffer sanctions on Russia. But in a contrast with his comments to the forum last year, Mr. Zelensky made no direct appeals for weaponry for new offensives on the battlefield. “We need you in Ukraine to build, to reconstruct, to restore our lives,” he told the audience of investors. “Each of you can be even more successful with Ukraine.”

Persons: Volodymyr Zelensky, Zelensky, ” Organizations: Economic Locations: Ukraine, Davos, Switzerland, Ukrainian, Russia

The Russian soldiers turned up at her home close to midnight with an ominous message. “They said, ‘If in two weeks you don’t have a Russian passport, we will talk to you in a different way,’” recalled Evelina, a social worker who until this month lived under Russian occupation in southeastern Ukraine. She didn’t wait to have that conversation. Instead, she bundled a few possessions into a suitcase and left with her teenage daughter, heading for territory controlled by Ukraine. But for the estimated 4 million to 6 million Ukrainians living in Russian-held areas, as Evelina was, the stalemate means something more dispiriting: an occupation with no end in sight.

Persons: “, ’ ”, Evelina Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Europe

☆ Ukraine Indicts Officials Linked to Efforts to Investigate the Bidens
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Andrew E. Kramer | More About Andrew E. Kramer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Those accused include Kostyantyn Kulyk, a former Ukrainian deputy prosecutor general who had drafted a memo in 2019 suggesting Ukraine investigate Hunter Biden, President Biden’s son, for his role serving on the board of a Ukrainian energy company. Also implicated were a current member of Ukraine’s Parliament, Oleksandr Dubinsky, and a former member, Andriy Derkach, who had publicly advocated for an investigation in Ukraine into Hunter Biden. They had also promoted a spurious theory that it was Ukraine, and not Russia, that had meddled in the 2016 presidential election in the United States. The three were indicted on charges of treason and belonging to a criminal organization. The charges refer to “information-subversive activities” and focus on actions in 2019 before the American presidential election.

Persons: Rudolph W, Giuliani, Biden, Kostyantyn, Hunter Biden, Biden’s, Oleksandr Dubinsky, Andriy Derkach Organizations: Hunter Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Russia, United States

Ms. Vynokur, 26, the hardware store clerk, turned out for the training with a friend after seeing an advertisement on Instagram. “What attracted me is this is only for women,” she said. “As women, we are all on the same level,” she said. Of serving in the military, she said: “Everybody understands the war won’t be over in a month. It does not draft women, though recently it has required that women with medical training register for the draft.

Persons: Vynokur, ”, “ Locations: Kyiv

The family of Major Serhiy Kuznyev sensed something was wrong. He was not answering his phone. Officers in his unit refused to provide information on him. He had always told his family that he was deployed far from the front. “To us, he always said, ‘all is good,’” Anna said in a telephone interview.

Persons: Serhiy Kuznyev, Anna Kuznyeva, ’ ” Anna, “, Major Locations: Ukraine, Russian

Search resuls for: "Andrew E. Kramer"

25 mentions found