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☆ Explainer-Why Does Russia Want to Capture Ukraine's Avdiivka?
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +4 min

By Dan Peleschuk and Andrew OsbornKYIV/LONDON (Reuters) - Russian forces are intensifying efforts to seize the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka as Moscow's war in Ukraine grinds on. Russian war bloggers, whom the Kremlin has brought under tight control, have acknowledged heavy Russian losses but alleged significant Ukrainian losses too. They say Kyiv's forces can be encircled if Russian forces can cut their last main supply line to the west. Avdiivka is seen as a gateway to Donetsk city, whose residential areas Russian officials say have been shelled by Ukrainian forces, sometimes from Avdiivka. Seizing it could boost Russian morale and demoralise Ukrainian forces, which have made only incremental gains in a broad counteroffensive since June.

Persons: Dan Peleschuk, Andrew Osborn, Avdiivka, Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Sergei Markov, Mykola Bielieskov, Bielieskov, Mike Collett, White, Timothy Heritage Organizations: LONDON, Mechanized Brigade, Radio Liberty, Kremlin, National Institute for Strategic Studies, Kyiv Locations: Ukrainian, Avdiivka, Ukraine, Bakhmut, Russia, Moscow, Russian, Donetsk, Luhansk, Avdeyevka, Kyiv, Kremlin

☆ Ukrainian boy badly burned in Russian attack returns to school, music and dance
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Andriy Perun | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

She was among 28 people killed, while Roman suffered shrapnel wounds, a broken arm and burns over 45% of his body. At a large hall nearby, young contestants wearing bow ties and dresses paired up for the ballroom dance competition. He went back to school, continues his education," said Yaroslav. "I think the question is not what he has gone through but how will he go on ... I hope that he will continue with the same strength as now to grow, to develop himself."

Persons: Roman, Yaroslav, Mike Collett, Jon Boyle Organizations: Russian, REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Ukrainian, Vinnytsia, Lviv, Ukraine, Rights LVIV, Russian, Dresden, Germany, Charleston, bayan

The fighting is reminiscent of a battle for another eastern city, Bakhmut, which fell to Russian forces last May after months of brutal urban combat. Since Moscow launched its renewed offensive around Avdiivka in October, Ukraine's top general and Western military experts have made downbeat assessments of Ukraine's ability to break Russian lines. Located just north of the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk in the industrial Donbas region, Avdiivka hosts deeply entrenched Ukrainian defences. Pushing Ukrainian forces out of Avdiivka would be seen as enlarging the amount of territory Russia controls and making Donetsk city safer. Seizing Avdiivka could boost Russian morale and deal a psychological blow to Ukrainian forces, which have made only incremental gains in a counteroffensive launched in June.

Persons: Nuzhnenko, Ukraine's, Russia's, Andrei Gurulyov, Semyon Pegov, Vladimir Putin, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Mykola Bielieskov, Bielieskov, Dan Peleschuk, Andrew Osborn, Mike Collett, White Organizations: Ukraine's National Guard Omega, Radio Free, Radio Liberty, REUTERS Acquire, Mechanized Brigade, Avdiivka, National Institute for Strategic Studies, Kyiv, Timothy Heritage, Thomson Locations: Avdiivka, Ukraine, Donetsk region, Radio Free Europe, Ukrainian, Bakhmut, Russian, Moscow, Kyiv, Soviet, Donetsk, Luhansk, Russia

☆ For eastern Ukrainians, the ordeal of war is entering its second decade
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Max Hunder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

It is now close to the front line between Ukrainian and Russian forces, and many of its buildings are damaged or destroyed. Like most people from Chasiv Yar, Tkachov has moved further from the fighting though some remain. All of them have lived through nearly a decade of war, a reminder that for millions in eastern Ukraine the conflict has rumbled on since 2014, long before Russia's full-scale invasion in February last year grabbed the world's attention. BUILD-UPUkraine and its Western allies say Russia infiltrated eastern Ukraine with fighters and intelligence operatives to stage a coup in Donbas in 2014 which Moscow subsequently supported with regular troops. FULL-SCALE WARThe U.N. human rights office estimated that more than 14,000 military personnel and civilians were killed in eastern Ukraine from early April 2014 to the end of 2021.

Persons: Tkachov, Alina Smutko, CHASIV, Chasiv Yar, Vladimir Putin, Viktor Yanukovych, Yanukovych, Max Hunder, Mike Collett, White Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Russian, Russia, Timothy Heritage, Thomson Locations: Kostiantynivka, Ukraine, Donetsk region, Donbas, CHASIV YAR, Chasiv, Russian, Russia, Moscow, Donetsk, Luhansk, Soviet Union, Ukrainian, CRIMEA, Kyiv, Crimea, Sloviansk, Soviet

☆ 'Let Us Be a Lesson', Say Kazakhs Wary of Return to Nuclear Testing
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Nov. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +6 min

Many nuclear proliferation experts believe resuming testing by either nuclear superpower more than 30 years after the last test is unlikely soon. "I remember I was about five years old," said Baglan Gabullin, a resident of Kaynar, another village that lived under the shadow of nuclear testing. Gabullin, speaking near a small monument to victims of nuclear tests erected in Kaynar, also said losses were common. While villages such as Kaynar and Saryzhal were exposed to direct radiation, steppe winds carried nuclear fallout across an area the size of Italy. "Underground testing can also have severe consequences," said Alicia Sanders-Zakre of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.

Persons: Mariya Gordeyeva SARYZHAL, Vladimir Putin, Serikbay Ybyrai, Baglan Gabullin, Gulsum Mukanova, Mukanova, Alicia Sanders, Olzhas, Gloria Dickie, Olzhas Auyezov, Mike Collett, White, Timothy Heritage Organizations: Reuters, International, Nuclear Locations: Kazakhstan, Russia, United States, Soviet, Semey, Kazakh, Russian, Ukraine, Moscow, Saryzhal, Kaynar, Italy, Soviet Union, Novaya Zemlya, Russia's, Almaty, London

[1/3] Polish trucks are parked as they block crossings at the Ukrainian border near the village of Hrebenne, Poland November 19, 2023. The Polish hauliers' central demand is to stop Ukrainian truckers having permit-free access to the EU, something that Kyiv and Brussels say is impossible. Jan Buczek, head of Poland's main trucker business association, said Kyiv was showing no readiness to compromise and was creating obstacles for EU truckers operating in Ukraine. POLISH POLITICAL TRANSITIONThe Polish truckers say they will continue protesting until their demands are met and want more engagement from politicians from Poland's main political parties. The Federation of Employers of Ukraine, an industry lobby group, has estimated direct losses to the economy at around 400 million euros ($437 million).

Persons: Yan, hauliers, Taras Kachka, Kachka, it's, Vitaliy Vavryshchuk, Taras Vysotskiy, Serhiy Derkach, Derkach, Jan Buczek, Donald Tusk, Kromberg, Schubert, Olena Makarchuk, Karol Badohal, Alan Charlish, Mike Collett Organizations: REUTERS, Union, Reuters, EU, Justice, Federation, Employers of, Thomson Locations: Ukrainian, Hrebenne, Poland, Ukraine, KYIV, Kyiv, Brussels, Goods, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine's Zhytomyr, Employers of Ukraine, Warsaw

☆ 'Let us be a lesson', say Kazakhs wary of return to nuclear testing
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Mariya Gordeyeva | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Many nuclear proliferation experts believe resuming testing by either nuclear superpower more than 30 years after the last test is unlikely soon. "I remember I was about five years old," said Baglan Gabullin, a resident of Kaynar, another village that lived under the shadow of nuclear testing. [1/5]A view shows a model of a nuclear test at the museum of the Semipalatinsk Test Site, one of the main locations for nuclear testing in the Soviet Union, in the town of Kurchatov in the Abai Region, Kazakhstan November 7, 2023. Gabullin, speaking near a small monument to victims of nuclear tests erected in Kaynar, also said losses were common. While villages such as Kaynar and Saryzhal were exposed to direct radiation, steppe winds carried nuclear fallout across an area the size of Italy.

Persons: Putin, Vladimir Putin, Serikbay Ybyrai, Baglan Gabullin, Pavel Mikheyev, Gulsum Mukanova, Mukanova, Alicia Sanders, Olzhas, Gloria Dickie, Olzhas Auyezov, Mike Collett, White Organizations: Soviet, REUTERS, International, Nuclear, Reuters, Timothy Heritage, Thomson Locations: Kazakhstan, SARYZHAL, Russia, United States, Soviet, Semey, Kazakh, Russian, Ukraine, Moscow, Saryzhal, Kaynar, Soviet Union, Kurchatov, Abai Region, Italy, Novaya Zemlya, Russia's, Almaty, London

[1/10] Cadets of Military Institute of Taras Shevchenko National University take part in a swearing-in ceremony at the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine September 8, 2023. "We want Ukraine to win, but not through the efforts of the same people," she said in an interview at her home in Kyiv. Women on the home front have also had to become stronger, she added: "But at what cost did we become stronger?" Only Ukrainian men aged between 27 and 60 can be mobilised by draft officers. Ukraine, which has said it has about 1 million people under arms, has barred military-age men from going abroad.

Persons: Viacheslav, Antonina Danylevych's, Danylevych, Oleksandr, who's, they're, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Zelenskiy, Dyma Cherevychenko, Oksen Lisovyi, Ben Wallace, Zelenskiy's, David Arakhamia, Anton Hrushetskyi, We'd, Hrushetskyi, couldn't, Charlotte Bruneau, Thomas Peter, Tom Balmforth, Mike Collett, White Organizations: of Military Institute, Taras Shevchenko National University, National Museum of, REUTERS, Army, Russian, shirk, Economist, dodgers, Reuters, Education, Facebook, Telegraph, Trust, Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Kyiv, KYIV, Ukrainian, Russian, Bakhmut, Kyiv's, United States, Russia, Romania

Prior to the February 2022 invasion, Chinese cars accounted for less than 10% of the Russian market. Russia has jumped from 11th place to become China's largest export market for cars, reaching a value of $9.4 billion in January-October, Chinese customs data showed. Overall, monthly car sales in Russia are now more than double what they were a year ago, Autostat data showed, while separate data from federal statistics service Rosstat showed car production was nearly three times higher in September year-on-year, underlining the sector's partial recovery. 'UNSTABLE, SHAKY' MARKETSanctions against Russia contributed to lower car production and sales most notably in 2022, but also after Moscow annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in 2014. Meanwhile, the rouble's slide to 100 against the dollar this year has made imports more expensive, depressing purchases of Chinese cars.

Persons: PPK, Sergei Udalov, Udalov, Russia's, Natalia Zubarevich, Zubarevich, Gleb Stolyarov, Alexander Marrow, Zoey Zhang, Vineet Sachdev, Mike Collett, White, Mark Potter Organizations: Reuters, Reuters Graphics, Chery, Geely, HK, West shuns, Autostat, Russia, Western, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Moscow State University, Wages, Lada, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Russia, Moscow, Ukraine, Soviet, Beijing, China, West shuns Russia, Western

☆ British author A.S. Byatt, who won Booker prize for 'Possession' dies aged 87
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The Man Booker Prize shortlisted authors Adam Foulds (L), Hilary Mantel (2nd L), A S Byatt (2nd R) and Simon Mawer pose for photographers in London October 5, 2009. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Booker-prize winning British novelist Antonia Susan Byatt, known most commonly as A.S. Byatt, has died aged 87, her publisher said in a statement on Friday. Byatt, whose career spanned nearly 60 years, was best known for her 1990 novel "Possession: A Romance". Seven years later came her breakthrough with Possession, which became a bestseller and won the coveted Booker Prize for Fiction the same year. Byatt won a number of awards and titles including a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) and DBE (Dame of the British Empire).

Persons: Booker, Adam Foulds, Hilary, Simon Mawer, Toby Melville, Antonia Susan Byatt, Byatt, Margaret Drabble, Antonia, Charles, Gwyneth Paltrow, Harry Potter, JK Rowling, Mike Collett, White, Kylie MacLellan, Gareth Jones Organizations: REUTERS, Chatto & Windus, Penguin Random, Quaker, Cambridge, Oxford, Thomson Locations: London, British, English, Sheffield, York

Ten days after that, Russia said a Hamas delegation was in Moscow for talks. Moscow has offered to host a regional meeting of foreign ministers and Putin has said that Russia is well placed to help. "My explanation is it's because the war is becoming the organising principle of Russian foreign policy and (because of) ties with Iran, which brings military materiel to the table. The central Russian war effort is more important than, for example, the relationship with Israel." "We're going to finish this war (with Hamas) ... After this, Russia will pay the price," Weitmann said in a stormy October interview with Russian state broadcaster RT.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Yosri, Putin, Benjamin Netanyahu, Sergei Markov, Washington, Hanna Notte, Moscow, Alexei Pushkov, Pushkov, Markov, Alex Gabuev, Anatoly Viktorov, Alexander Ben Zvi, Mikhail Bogdanov, Amir Weitmann, Weitmann, we're, Andrew Osborn, Mike Collett, White, Nick Macfie Organizations: Hamas, West Bank, REUTERS, West, EU, Kremlin, U.S, Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, Likud, RT, Ukraine, Thomson Locations: Russian, Gaza, Israel, Hebron, Russia, Moscow, United States, U.S, EU, Iran, Tehran, Ukraine, Berlin, Washington, Palestine, Arab, Jerusalem, Syria

☆ Thousands of Ukrainian children taken to Belarus -Yale research
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Anthony Deutsch | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

More than 2,000 children Yale identified were transported to the Dubrava children's centre in Belarus' Minsk region between September 2022 and May 2023, it said, while 392 children were taken to 12 other facilities. "Russia's federal government and Belarus' regime have been working together to coordinate and fund the movement of children from Russia-occupied Ukraine through Russia to Belarus." Transports to Belarus through Russia were "ultimately coordinated" between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko, it added. Lukashenko approved the use of state organizations to transport children from Ukraine to Belarus and finance their transportation, the Yale report said. Once in Belarus, children have been subjected to military training and re-education, it said.

Persons: Alexander Lukashenko, Pavel Bednyakov, Vladimir Putin, Russia's Putin, Maria Lvova, Lukashenko, David Ljunggren, Mike Collett, White, Alexandra Hudson, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: Commonwealth of Independent States, CIS, Sputnik, Rights, Yale University, Humanitarian, Yale School of Public Health, State Department, Reuters, U.S . State Department, Ukraine, Yale, Transports, Criminal, Thomson Locations: Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Russian, United States, Ukraine's Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Minsk, The Hague

☆ Private jets of Russian oligarchs keep flying but not to Europe
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Gleb Stolyarov | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

A view shows the Boeing 737-700 BBJ (plane number RA-73890) private aircraft on the tarmac of the Pulkovo International Airport in Saint Petersburg, Russia, June 14, 2023. The Boeing linked to Yevtushenkov was among at least 50 private jets re-registered under the Russian flag since the February 2022 invasion, according to previously unreported national aircraft registry data up to early August reviewed by Reuters. Several of the repatriated private jets were associated with prominent politicians and business figures, according to two senior Russian aviation industry sources, who were not authorised to speak to the media and spoke on condition of anonymity. Because of sanctions, Russian planes are prohibited from entering the 27-country European Union, where Russia's oligarchs previously flew frequently for business and leisure and where many private jets linked to them were registered before the war, tail numbers show. VEB, Uralkali and Mazepin did not respond to requests for comment on the registration of the jets in Russia.

Persons: Luba, Vladimir Yevtushenkov, Yevtushenkov, Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Mazepin, Putin, Igor Shuvalov, Mazepin, Gleb Stolyarov, Mike Collett, White, Frank Jack Daniel Our Organizations: Boeing, Pulkovo, REUTERS, Soviet, Reuters, Sistema, Ministry, Transport, JETS, Russian, Union, Bombardier Challenger, Uralkali, Bombardier, VEB.RF, VEB, EU, United Arab, Thomson Locations: Saint Petersburg, Russia, Riviera, Belarus, oligarch, Ukraine, Turkey, Dubai, China, Russian, Maldives, Seychelles, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Yevtushenkov, United Kingdom, Aruba, of, Uralkali, UAE, Prague, Bishkek, States, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Italy, United Arab Emirates, Latvia, Britain, Oman, Soviet

☆ How Ukraine's counteroffensive has struggled so far
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

But in mid-October, some Russian military bloggers reported that Ukrainian forces had formed a small bridgehead on the eastern bank. Shortly after, Ukrainian soldiers breached the first line of defences south of the town of Velyka Novosilka in the first known breakthrough of the counteroffensive. Military analysts and authorities in Kyiv said Ukraine had badly damaged a large landing ship and an attack submarine. Just over a week later, a Ukrainian missile attack hit Russia's Black Sea naval headquarters in Sevastopol. In mid-October, Ukrainian forces used U.S.-supplied long-range ATACMS missiles for the first time, damaging airfields near Luhansk in Ukraine's east and in Berdiansk on the Sea of Azov, both under Russian control.

Persons: Alina Smutko, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, General Valery Zaluzhnyi, Wagner, Mike Collett Organizations: 67th Mechanised Brigade, Armed Forces, REUTERS, Reuters, Military, White, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Kreminna, Luhansk region, Kyiv, KHERSON, Dnipro, Russia, Velyka, Neskuchne, Orikhiv, Azov, Crimea, AVDIIVKA, Avdiivka, Russian, Ukrainian, Donetsk, Bakhmut, BAKHMUT, Moscow, Kharkiv, Kherson, KUPIANSK, Russia's Belgorod, Kupiansk, Crimean, Sevastopol, East, Luhansk, Ukraine's, Berdiansk

☆ Ukrainian troops battle exhaustion as war drags into second winter
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Max Hunder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

"Non-stop fighting, assaults, evacuations, and you know, I managed it," he told a Reuters reporter visiting his position on Thursday. FALTERING OFFENSIVEIstoryk serves in a rifles battalion of the 67th Mechanised Brigade in the Serebryanskyi forest in the Luhansk region. More dramatic advances are still possible; last year Russian forces swiftly retreated from positions in Kherson region in early November. "We're exhausted, they're exhausted. Additional reporting by Ivan Lyubysh-Kirdey; Writing by Mike Collett-White Editing by Gareth JonesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Alina Smutko, Valery Zaluzhnyi, Zaluzhnyi, Istoryk, Oleksandr Popov, Michael Kofman, Velyka Novosilka, Popov, Ivan Lyubysh, Mike Collett, Gareth Jones Organizations: 67th Mechanised Brigade, Armed Forces, REUTERS, Russian, Reuters, Carnegie Endowment, International, Artillery, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Kreminna, Luhansk region, West, KREMINNA, pinewood, Russia, Kyiv's, Kyiv, Luhansk, Russia's Belgorod, Azov, Kherson region, Bakhmut, Orikhiv, Velyka, Lyman, North Korea, Zakhid

☆ The drones fighting cat and mouse battles behind Russian front lines in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( Max Hunder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/6] Serviceman of the 15th Separate Artillery Reconnaissance Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, callsign Buryi, 30-years-old, checks a Shark drone before launching, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine, October 30, 2023. On this occasion the drone that had found the target for the artillery unit was temporarily incapacitated when Russian electronic jamming systems interrupted the video transmission. Ukraine uses an array of drones from established local manufacturers and startups as well as Western suppliers, both to locate targets and hit them directly. The crew said Ukrainian-made drones were usually easier to repair if damaged, as they could be quickly sent back to the manufacturer. "Artillery has been the god of war for a long time, and artillery reconnaissance is the eyes of the gods," said Soliara, the rumble of cannon fire audible in the distance.

Persons: Alina Smutko, Oleksandr Popov, Max Hunder, Mike Collett, White, Philippa Fletcher Organizations: Artillery Reconnaissance Brigade, Armed Forces of, REUTERS, Artillery Reconnaissance, Reuters, Shark, Star Wars, Artillery, Thomson Locations: Armed Forces of Ukraine, Ukraine, Kharkiv region, Ukraine Russia, KHARKIV, Ukrainian, Kharkiv, Russia

That fell to 21-22 million tonnes by 2021, and after Russia invaded last year, output hit 6.3 million in 2022. But even with consumption nearly doubling to 2.6 million tonnes between January and September, that is not enough to sustain a sector that used to export four fifths of its output. Zaporizhstal expects to export two thirds of its 2.4-2.5 million tonnes of iron ore and rolled steel production in 2023. Before the invasion, output was 4.2 million tonnes a year. "We can say that blackouts last winter (reduced) steel production by two to three times," Zinchenko said, citing production data for the months when blackouts were most regular.

Persons: Oleksandr Ratushniak, ZAPORIZHZHIA, Roman Slobodianiuk, Ukraine's, Oleksandr Kalenkov, Slobodianiuk, Stanislav Zinchenko, Medkov, Oleksandr Yasunas, Zinchenko, Mike Collett, White, Barbara Lewis Organizations: Steel, REUTERS, Staff, Reuters, GMK, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Zaporizhzhia, Russia, Soviet, Ukrainian, Mariupol, Europe, Odesa, Kyiv, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Russian

☆ Wanted: Thousands of Ukrainian judges, in huge overhaul sought by EU
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( Dan Peleschuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Ukraine is desperately short of judges, and is kick-starting a long-delayed nationwide hiring spree to fill more than 2,000 vacancies and vet around as many sitting judges for potential malfeasance. Court cases have piled up across Ukraine as a result. The regional appeals court in northeastern Ukraine's Sumy has only four judges left out of a full staff of 35. Some 2,000 sitting judges also require integrity checks, part of the judicial house-cleaning launched, but never finished, after Maidan. Oleksandr Tupytskyi, now living in Vienna according to Ukrainian media reports, has denied wrongdoing and said the cases against him are political.

Persons: Lady Justice, Thomas Peter Acquire, Vira Levko, Levko, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ruslan Sydorovych, it's, Sydorovych, Halyna Chyzhyk, shouldn't, Mykhailo Zhernakov, Oleksandr Tupytskyi, Zhernakov, I've, Dan Peleschuk, Anna Dabrowska, Mike Collett, White, Gareth Jones Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, European Union, European Commission, Kyiv, EU, DEJURE Foundation, Constitutional, Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, Thomson Locations: Pecherskyi, Kyiv City, Kyiv, Ukraine, KYIV, Ukrainian, Dniprovskyi, Russia, Ukraine's Sumy, Maidan, Halyna, Vienna

☆ Wanted: Thousands of Ukrainian Judges, in Huge Overhaul Sought by EU
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( Oct. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +6 min

By Dan PeleschukKYIV (Reuters) - Vira Levko, a judge in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, typically handles dozens of administrative cases and several criminal hearings every day. Ukraine is desperately short of judges, and is kick-starting a long-delayed nationwide hiring spree to fill more than 2,000 vacancies and vet around as many sitting judges for potential malfeasance. Court cases have piled up across Ukraine as a result. The regional appeals court in northeastern Ukraine's Sumy has only four judges left out of a full staff of 35. Some 2,000 sitting judges also require integrity checks, part of the judicial house-cleaning launched, but never finished, after Maidan.

Persons: Dan Peleschuk, Vira Levko, Levko, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ruslan Sydorovych, it's, Sydorovych, Halyna Chyzhyk, shouldn't, Mykhailo Zhernakov, Oleksandr Tupytskyi, Zhernakov, I've, Anna Dabrowska, Mike Collett, White, Gareth Jones Organizations: Dan Peleschuk KYIV, Reuters, European Union, European Commission, Kyiv, EU, DEJURE Foundation, Constitutional, Kyiv International Institute of Sociology Locations: Ukrainian, Kyiv, Dniprovskyi, Ukraine, Russia, Ukraine's Sumy, Maidan, Halyna, Vienna

☆ Ukraine heads into winter with a hobbled energy system
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-06 | by ( Olena Harmash | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Ukraine declines to share detailed data on the impact of attacks on its energy system, treating it as sensitive information during wartime. Kyiv School of Economics' research centre estimated the direct damage to Ukraine's energy infrastructure at $8.8 billion as of June. Last winter, Ukraine was helped by relatively mild weather, rapid repairs, nuclear power and electricity imports from Europe, but some officials expect tougher conditions this time. Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, head of national grid operator Ukrenergo, said the main grid, one of the most damaged parts of the energy system, was ready to transmit winter volumes of electricity. "The energy system is not as reliable and with a smaller reserve capacity than it was before the targeted strikes," he said.

Persons: Marcus Lippold, It's, it's, Andriy Sadovy, Oleksandr Kharchenko, Dmytro Sakharuk, Sakharuk, DTEK, Denys Shmyhal, Shmyhal, Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, Oleksiy Chernyshov, Serhiy Sukhomlyn, Julia Payne, Mike Collett, White, Gareth Jones Organizations: United Nations, Kyiv School of Economics, Lviv, Energy Industry Research Center, Reuters, Ukraine's, Naftogaz, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Russian, Brussels, Russia, Moscow, Europe, Zhytomyr, Kyiv

☆ 'Half the village is gone': Ukraine hamlet reels after missile strike
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-06 | by ( Max Hunder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Valeriy Kozyr, 61, cries as he sits next to graves after losing his daughter and other relatives in a Russian military strike, at a cemetery outside the village of Hroza, Kharkiv region, Ukraine. Moscow denies targeting civilians in its full-scale invasion, a position it repeated on Friday in response to the Hroza strike. "On one side, the neighbours are gone, and on the other side a woman is gone." 'HALF THE VILLAGE GONE'As darkness fell on Thursday, dazed emergency crews carried bodies placed in white bags on to the back of a pickup truck. "Half the village is gone, families are gone," said Kozyr, standing beside his wife as she wept.

Persons: Valeriy Kozyr, Thomas Peter Acquire, Kozyr, Olya, Volodymr Zelenskiy, Serhiy Bolvinov, Valentyna Kozienko, Oleksandr Mukhovatyi, Andriy Kozyr, Valeriy, Andriy, Mike Collett, Philippa Fletcher Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Regional, Local, Thomson Locations: Russian, Hroza, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Russia, Moscow, Kharkiv, Ukrainian

☆ Romania bolsters defences to stop Ukraine war crossing NATO threshold
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( Luiza Ilie | Thomson Reuters | Bucharest-Based General News Reporter Covering A Wide Range Of Romanian Topics Elections | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/2] A view shows a building of Ukraine's Black Sea Danube shipping company destroyed during a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Izmail, Odesa region, Ukraine August 2, 2023. In November last year, a missile hit southern Poland killing two people and prompting a brief security scare, although it was later determined that Ukrainian air defences were to blame. Among the targets were the Ukrainian ports of Izmail and Reni, both of which lie across the Danube from Romanian soil. "They (Russian drones) fly at very low altitudes, sometimes less than 200 metres (above ground) ... they are built in such a way that least reflects radar waves," he said. In July, when the Danube bombing campaign began in earnest, Russians had more targeted success because Ukraine had not set up extensive air defence systems in the area.

Persons: Nina Liashenko, Reni, Tudor Cernega, Jens Stoltenberg, Constantin Spinu, Cernega, Andrew Gray, Mike Collett, Philippa Fletcher Organizations: REUTERS, NATO, Local, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Izmail, Odesa, Romania, Moscow, BUCHAREST, Poland, Ukrainian, Russia, Romanian, Plauru, Ceatalchioi, U.S, ROMANIA, Kyiv, Brussels

"This shift, towards the courts, prosecutors and law enforcement units, shows that hackers are gathering evidence about Russian war crimes in Ukraine" with a view to following Ukraine's investigations, he added. Russian hackers have prioritised targeting government bodies and trying to gain access to their e-mail servers, Shchyhol said, without elaborating. An attempt by a Russian intelligence hacking group dubbed "Sandworm" to launch a destructive cyberattack against Ukraine's electricity grid was thwarted in April, 2022. Shchyhol said his department saw evidence that Russian hackers were accessing private security cameras within Ukraine to monitor the outcome of long-range missile and drone strikes. "You need to understand that the cyber war will not end even after Ukraine wins on the battlefield," Shchyhol said.

Persons: Ivan Lyubysh, Yurii Shchyhol, There's, Shchyhol, Vladimir Putin, Tom Balmforth, James Pearson, Mike Collett, White, Gareth Jones Organizations: State Service of, Reuters, REUTERS, Ukrainian, State Service of Special Communications, Foreign Ministry, Federal Security Service, Court, ICC, Kremlin, Russia, Ukraine, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Kyiv, LONDON, Russia, Netherlands, Russian, Ukrainian, London

Were he to follow through on his promise, it would represent a sea-change for Slovakia, until now a staunch ally of its eastern neighbour Ukraine in its war against Russia. Bratislava has supplied weapons and offered strong political support to Kyiv within the European Union and NATO. Western diplomats and officials in Kyiv also say a small country like Slovakia can only go so far in upending EU and NATO policy. Disinformation, meanwhile, has spread, undermining public support for Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion of 2022, said Katarina Klingova of think-tank Globsec. The hoax was debunked, but the reaction pointed to the influence that false information surrounding the Ukraine war has among Slovakia's 5.5 million population.

Persons: Robert Fico, Radovan Stoklasa, Robert Fico's, Fico, Eleonora Tanacova, Viktor Orban, Orban, Katarina Klingova, Klingova, Andrew Gray, Thomas Balmforth, Mike Collett, White, Gareth Jones Organizations: REUTERS, NATO, EU, European Union, Russia, Moscow, Hungarian, Progressive, Ukraine, Thomson Locations: Banovce nad Bebravou, Slovakia, Russian, Ukraine Brussels, Ukraine, Slovakian, Russia, Bratislava, Kyiv, Crimea, EU, Brussels, Moscow, Donbas, Luhansk, Western, Europe, Hungary, Progressive Slovakia

Three producers listed in the customs data confirmed to Reuters they had shipped coal from the two regions to Turkey during that period. Reuters was unable to find any information in customs data about deliveries of coal produced in the DNR to Turkey or other countries in 2022. Customs data shows Nedra-06 made two shipments of coal to Turkey totalling 1,600 tonnes in May and June. The buyers were Belize-based Brig Management LTD and Green Rabbit LTD of Hong Kong, the customs data showed. Coal bought at Russian ports by Brig Management LTD and Green Rabbit LTD was taken to Turkey, the data showed.

Persons: Vitaliy Khotsenko, Adzhmal, Vostokugol, Anton Nadeyev, Nadeyev, I'm, Denis Karashchuk, Karashchuk, Filipp Lebedev, Gleb Stolyarov, Humeyra Pamuk, Tom Balmforth, Julia Payne, Jose Sanchez, Mike Collett, White, Daniel Flynn Organizations: NATO, Reuters, European, British Virgin Islands, Donetsk People's Republic, Russia's Ministry of Energy, Federal Customs Service, Luhansk People's Republics, European Union, United, Ukraine, U.S . State Department, UN, Assembly, Florance, Management, Hong, Brig Management, Rabbit, Belize Companies, Corporate Affairs, Green Rabbit, Coal, Toksabay, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Turkey Ankara, Russia, Turkey, Donetsk, Luhansk, United States, European Union, Moscow . Washington, Moscow, Ankara, Ukrainian, Hong Kong, UAE, Belize, British Virgin, East, Africa, Russian, Rostov, Novorossiisk, Turkey . U.S, Antratsyt, Yasynuvata, Tbilisi, Washington, Kyiv, Brussels

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