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☆ Russian strikes on Kyiv wound at least five, officials say
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/4] An explosion of a drone is seen during a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine May 8, 2023. REUTERS/Gleb GaranichMay 8 (Reuters) - At least five people were wounded due to Russian strikes on Kyiv, city officials said early on Monday, as Moscow launched another large-scale attack on Ukraine. Klitschko said drone wreckage fell on a two-storey building in the Sviatoshyn region, adding that blasts continued in Kyiv. Reuters' witnesses said they had heard numerous explosions in Kyiv, with local officials saying that air defence systems were repelling the attacks. Separately, Russian forces shelled eight locations in Sumy region in northeastern Ukraine on Sunday, the regional military administration said in a Facebook post.

☆ Russia keeps up missile attacks on Ukraine ahead of expected Kyiv offensive
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KYIV, May 7 (Reuters) - Russia kept up its missile attacks on Ukraine on Sunday ahead of a widely anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive, targeting an industrial site in the southern Mykolaiv region, authorities said. Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat told local television on Sunday morning that a total of six of those missiles had been fired at Ukraine overnight but that none had hit their targets. Russian forces have stepped up their long-range missile strikes on civilian and infrastructure targets in recent days. The overnight strikes coincided with Ukrainian and Russian media reports of multiple explosions across Russian-occupied Crimea. Ukraine, without confirming any role in those attacks, says destroying enemy infrastructure is preparation for a planned ground assault.

☆ Ukraine general: Russia hopes to capture Bakhmut by Tuesday, steps up fighting
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 8 (Reuters) - Russia has intensified shelling of Bakhmut hoping to take it by Tuesday, Ukraine's top general in charge of the defence of the besieged city said late on Sunday, vowing to do everything to prevent it. Victory Day in Russia is May 9, one of the country's most commemorated public holidays marking the anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany. Moscow sees Bakhmut as a stepping stone to attacking other Ukrainian cities. Kyiv has said before that keeping the defence of Bakhmut, allows for the military to prepare its expected counteroffensive. Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Lisa ShumakerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ More than 1,600 evacuated from Zaporizhzhia nuclear-plant areas
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 8 (Reuters) - Some 1,679 people, including 660 children, have been evacuated from areas near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, a Moscow-installed official in the Russia-controlled parts of the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine said late on Sunday. The head of the U.N.'s nuclear power watchdog warned on Saturday that the situation around the plant has become "potentially dangerous" as Moscow-installed officials began evacuating people from nearby areas. Ukraine is expected to start soon a much-anticipated counteroffensive to retake Russian-held territory, including in the Zaporizhzhia region. "(The evacuees) have already been placed in the temporary accommodation centre for residents of the front-line territories of the Zaporizhzhia region in Berdiansk," Yevgeny Balitsky, Russian-installed governor of the Russia-controlled part of Zaporizhzhia region, said on his Telegram messaging channel. Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Sandra MalerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Ukraine launches more than 10 drones on Crimea - Russia-installed official
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 7 (Reuters) - Ukraine launched more than 10 drones overnight on the Crimean Peninsula, including three on the port of Sevastopol, a Russian-installed official said early on Sunday, adding that air defence systems repelled all the attacks on Sevastopol. "No objects (in Sevastopol) were damaged," Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Moscow-installed governor of Sevastopol, said on the Telegram messaging app. There were no immediate details of any damage from the strikes elsewhere on the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014. According to Ukrainian monitoring of Telegram channels, explosions took place in Sevastopol and Saki - where Russia has an air base - as well as a few other places. Ukraine, without confirming any role in those attacks, says destroying infrastructure is preparation for its planned ground assault.

☆ Gunpowder depot on fire in Russia's Urals, village evacuated - officials
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 7 (Reuters) - A wildfire has spread to a gunpowder depot in Russia's Urals mountains setting it ablaze and forcing the evacuation of a small village in the Sverdlovsk region, local officials said Saturday evening. According to preliminary information, there have been no casualties in the fire that has spread across 960 square metres (10,300 square feet), Sverdlovsk's ministry of emergency situations said on its Telegram messaging channel. A state of emergency was introduced in the Rezhevsky administrative district of the region, where the depot was located in a small village of Pervomaisky, the region's administration said, adding that there was a threat the fire will spread to other nearby villages. Last week, at least one person was killed and hundreds of people were left homeless when a fire of unknown origin swept through a village in the Sverdlovsk region. Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Daniel WallisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Russia's Prigozhin says no further offensive in Bakhmut possible without ammunition
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 6 (Reuters) - The head of Russia's mercenary Wagner Group said on Saturday that he had still not received additional ammunition from Moscow ahead of the expected withdrawal of his forces from Bakhmut because of heavy losses and inadequate supplies. "As of today, no one has come to replenish ammunition, to provide it in the necessary volume," Prigozhin said in an audio message posted on the Telegram channel of his press service. Wagner forces, he said, had no ammunition and could not pursue any further offensives near the city, under Russian siege for some 10 months. He added that his forces have taken 95% of Bakhmut, a city in eastern Ukraine that had a population of more than 70,000 before the war. Reporting by Nick Starkov and Ron Popeski, Editing by Lidia Kelly and Chizu NomiyamaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Russia launches unsuccessful strikes on Kyiv - Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

May 3 (Reuters) - Russia launched a third nightly round of attacks on Kyiv in six days, city authorities said early on Wednesday, but air defence systems destroyed all its drones, with no immediate reports of casualties or destruction. Air raid sirens blared for several hours in Kyiv, the surrounding region and most of eastern Ukraine, with the skies clearing only at dawn. Russia used Iranian-made Shahed drones in the attacks, it added. It was not immediately known how many drones were shot down. Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Clarence FernandezOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Fuel depot ablaze in Russia's Krasnodar, governor says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 3 (Reuters) - A fuel storage facility near a key bridge in Russia's southwestern region of Krasnodar was on fire in the early hours of Wednesday, the regional governor said, but there were no initial reports of casualties. "The fire has been classified as the highest rank of difficulty," Veniamin Kondratyev, the governor of Krasnodar, which lies across the Sea of Azov from Ukraine, said on the Telegram messaging app. It lies close to the Crimean Bridge, or the Kerch Strait bridge, that links Russia's mainland with the Crimea peninsula it annexed in 2014 from Ukraine. The incident comes after a drone strike set ablaze a Russian fuel storage facility in the Crimean port of Sevastopol early on Saturday, in what Moscow said was a Ukrainian attack. Over the weekend, however, Kyiv's military said undermining Russia's logistics formed part of preparations for a long-expected counteroffensive.

☆ Ukraine tried to assassinate Putin by drone, Kremlin says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Shortly after the Kremlin announcement, Ukraine reported alerts for air strikes over the capital Kyiv and other cities. "The Russian side reserves the right to take retaliatory measures where and when it sees fit," the Kremlin added. "When the enemy can achieve nothing on the battlefield, it strikes at peaceful cities," Ukrainian military spokesperson Serhii Cherevatyi said. Elsewhere, oil depots were ablaze in southern Russia and Ukraine alike as both sides escalated a drone war ahead of Kyiv's promised spring counteroffensive against Russian forces. Blinken said later the U.S. government had authorised another $300 million worth of arms and equipment for Ukraine.

☆ As counteroffensive looms, Ukraine vows not to give up Bakhmut
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Olena Harmash | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KYIV, May 2 (Reuters) - Ukraine's military vowed on Tuesday not to give up the eastern city of Bakhmut as it prepares to launch a counteroffensive against Russian forces. General Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukrainian ground forces, underlined the importance Kyiv attaches to holding Bakhmut as preparations continue for a counterattack which it hopes will change the dynamic of the war in Ukraine. The battle for Bakhmut has symbolic importance for both sides, with Ukraine still holding on to some parts of the city after months of fierce fighting against regular Russian troops and fighters from the Wagner mercenary force. Syrskyi said on Monday Ukrainian units had ousted Russian forces from some positions in Bakhmut. Kyiv is widely expected soon to launch its counteroffensive, hoping to retake territory occupied by Russian forces after the invasion in February 2022.

☆ Ukrainian forces shell village in Russia's Bryansk region - governor
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 2 (Reuters) - Ukrainian forces shelled a village in the Russian Bryansk region bordering Ukraine early on Tuesday, the local governor said in a social media post, a day after an explosion derailed a freight train in the region. "In the morning, the Armed Forces of Ukraine shelled the village of Kurkovichi in the Starodubsky municipal district." Bryansk Governor Alexander Bogomaz said in a post on his Telegram channel. On Monday, a locomotive and seven freight wagons were derailed in Bryansk after an unidentified explosive device went off, Bogomaz said. On Saturday, the governor said four civilians died when a village was struck by shelling from the Ukrainian side of the border.

☆ Oil depot fire part of Ukraine's preparation for counter-offensive - military
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 1 (Reuters) - Undermining Russia's logistics is one of the elements of preparation for the expected Ukrainian counter-offensive, a Ukrainian military spokeswoman said on Sunday, after a fire destroyed a large Russian fuel depot in Crimea. While not directly admitting to striking the fuel storage facility in the Crimean port of Sevastopol, Ukraine's military command said that "a fire" destroyed 10 oil tanks with a capacity of about 40,000 tonnes. The city's Moscow-installed governor blamed Ukraine and later said the fire had been put out before a disaster occurred. Natalia Humeniuk, a spokesperson for Ukraine's southern command, said the fire has cause a great deal of "anxiety" in the Russian military. On Friday, Ukraine said it was wrapping up preparations for the counter-offensive against Russian forces, although officials gave no date for when that would happen.

☆ Soviet and Russian fashion icon Zaitsev dies - agencies
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Lidia Kelly | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 1 (Reuters) - Vyacheslav "Slava" Zaitsev, the couturier behind world-famous Soviet fashion that was often adorned with colourful Russian folkloric motifs, died on Sunday at age 85, Russian news agencies reported. After the show, Zaitsev received offers to open stores in the West, which the Soviet authorities rejected. In 1979, Zaitsev left the All-Union House of Models for a small atelier, which by 1982 he turned into the Slava Zaitsev Moscow Fashion House, becoming the first Soviet designer allowed to label his clothing. Among Zaitsev's Russian clients were music stars, actors, socialites and politicians. The patronage of Raisa Gorbacheva, the wife of the last Soviet Union leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, elevated his international fame in the 1980s.

☆ Air defence systems repelling Russian missile attacks in Kyiv region, officials say
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

May 1 (Reuters) - Air defence systems were repelling missile attacks in the early hours on Monday in the Kyiv region, local authorities said, after air raid alerts were issued throughout all of Ukraine by emergency services. "Air defences are at work!" Kyiv's regional administration wrote on the Telegram messaging app, after reports of explosions heard in the region. Reuters was unable to independently verify the reports ot blasts. Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Christian SchmollingerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Ukraine controls key supply route into Bakhmut - military
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 30 (Reuters) - Ukraine remains in control of a key supply route into Bakhmut, but the situation remains "really difficult" in the besieged eastern city, a Ukrainian military spokesman said on Saturday. Russian forces have been trying for 10 months to punch their way into the shattered remains of what was once a city of 70,000. Kyiv has pledged to defend Bakhmut, which Russia sees as a stepping stone to attacking other cities. "Yes, it is really difficult there, because their attempts to seize the road continue, as well as attempts to establish fire control. If Bakhmut fell, Chasiv Yar would probably be next to come under Russian attack according to military analysts, though it is on higher ground and Ukrainian forces are believed to have built defensive fortifications nearby.

☆ Two civilians killed in Ukrainian shelling on Bryansk: governor
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

April 30 (Reuters) - Two civilians died as a result of Ukrainian shelling on a village in Russia's Bryansk region on Saturday evening, a local governor said. "According to preliminary information, one residential building was completely destroyed, two more houses were partially destroyed," Governor Alexander Bogomaz said on the Telegram messaging app. Ukraine almost never publicly claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia and on Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine. Both sides deny targeting civilians in the 14-month-old Russian invasion on Ukraine. Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Sandra MalerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/5] A Cuban tanker ship enters Havana's bay with a sign that reads in Spanish: "No more blockade", referring to the trade embargo on Cuba imposed by the U.S., Havana, Cuba, April 25, 2023. Venezuela's oil exports to Cuba so far this year have dropped to 55,000 barrels per day (bpd) from almost 80,000 in 2020. Cuba has also imported since November at least five cargoes from Russia, a long-time supplier, as well as fuel from Caribbean terminals and Europe, the data shows. Officials also blame U.S. sanctions, which complicate the financing and transport of fuel to Cuba, for the crisis. Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA and oil ministry, Pemex, and Mexico's foreign ministry did not reply to requests for comment.

☆ Russia's new T-14 Armata battle tank debuts in Ukraine - RIA
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 25 (Reuters) - Russia has begun using its new T-14 Armata battle tanks to fire on Ukrainian positions "but they have not yet participated in direct assault operations," the RIA state news agency reported on Tuesday, quoting a source close the matter. RIA said that the tanks have been fitted with extra protection on their flanks and crews have undergone "combat coordination" at training grounds in Ukraine. The T-14 tank has an unmanned turret, with crew remotely controlling the armaments from "an isolated armoured capsule located in the front of the hull." The tanks have a maximum speed on the highway of 80 kilometres (50 miles) per hour, RIA reported. In January, British military intelligence reported that Russian forces in Ukraine were reluctant to accept the first tranche of the tanks due to their "poor condition."

☆ Black Sea Fleet repels drone attack on Sevastopol - Russian-backed governor
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 24 (Reuters) - Russia's Black Sea Fleet repelled a drone attack on the Crimean port of Sevastopol in the early hours of Monday, the Moscow-installed governor of the city said through social media. "According to the latest information: one surface drone was destroyed ... the second one exploded on its own," governor Mikhail Razvozhaev wrote on the Telegram messaging app. No damage was reported, Razvozhaev added. Passenger ferry transport had been suspended in the Black Sea port city, Russia's Interfax news agency reported, citing Sevastopol transport authorities. No reason was given, but the agency said traffic had been suspended in the past due to drone attacks or storms.

☆ Russia launches 17 drones on Ukraine, 14 destroyed - Ukraine's Air Force
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

April 4 (Reuters) - Russia sent 17 Iranian-made Shahed drones to attack Ukraine overnight, Ukraine's Air Force command said early on Tuesday, with its air-defence systems destroying 14 of them. "In total, up to 17 launches of UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) attacks were recorded, presumably from the eastern coast area of the Sea of Azov," the command said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app. Yuriy Kruk, head of the regional military administration in the Black Sea port city of Odesa, said the region was struck with a number of drones. "As a result of the work of the air defence systems, there is damage," Kruk said on the administration's Facebook page. Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Lincoln Feast.

☆ Putin ally accuses Western leaders of blood on their hands for supporting Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 4 (Reuters) - Russia's parliament speaker said on Tuesday that Western leaders have blood on their hands for supporting Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and that support has led to the creation of a "terrorist state" in Europe's centre. Vyacheslav Volodin, an ally of President Vladimir Putin, said that the killing of prominent war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky in St Petersburg over the weekend was a "terrorist act" committed by Kyiv. "The support of Washington and Brussels for the Kyiv authorities has led to the creation of a terrorist state in the centre of Europe," Volodin said on the Telegram messaging app. "The blood of the dead and wounded is on the hands of (U.S. President Joe) Biden, (President Emmanuel) Macron, (German Chancellor Olaf) Scholz and other heads of state who support the Zelenskiy regime." Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Christopher CushingOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Ukraine battles on in Bakhmut as Finland joins NATO
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Pavel Polityuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/2] An Ukrainian serviceman sits atop an infantry fighting vehicle (IFV), amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, near the bombed-out eastern city of Bakhmut, in the eastern Donetsk region, Ukraine, April 2, 2023. "From a legal point of view, Bakhmut has been taken," said Prigozhin, who has previously made premature claims. "Bakhmut is Ukrainian and they have not captured anything and are very far from doing that," Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesperson for the eastern military command, told Reuters. Western pressure on Russia may increase with Finland, which shares a 1,300-km (810-mile) border with Russia, joining NATO on Tuesday. "In the event that the forces and resources of other NATO members are deployed in Finland, we will take additional steps to reliably ensure Russia's military security," he told RIA.

☆ Washington trying to wreck Russia-Africa summit -Russia's Lavrov
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Ronald Popeski | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 4 (Reuters) - The U.S. is trying to wreck Russia's planned summit with African countries as part of efforts to isolate Moscow, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview published on Tuesday. Moscow is preparing for its second summit with African countries, scheduled for the end of July in St. Petersburg, including work on infrastructure, technology and energy projects. "It is true that the United States and its vassals are doing everything possible to achieve Russia's international isolation," Lavrov told the website. "In particular, they are trying to torpedo the planned second Russia-Africa summit ... to persuade our African friends not to take part." U.S. President Joe Biden hosted a U.S.-Africa leaders summit in 2022 in Washington, seeking to bolster alliances amid the growing Russian and Chinese presence on the continent.

☆ Russia to place nuclear weapons near Belarus' borders with NATO
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 3 (Reuters) - Russia will move its tactical nuclear weapons close to the western borders of Belarus, the Russian envoy to Minsk said on Sunday, placing them at NATO's threshold in a move likely to further escalate Moscow's standoff with the West. In one of the Russia's most pronounced nuclear signals since the beginning of its invasion of Ukraine 13 months ago, President Vladimir Putin said on March 26 that Russia will station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. The weapons "will be moved to the western border of our union state and will increase the possibilities to ensure security," Russian ambassador to Belarus, Boris Gryzlov, told Belarusian state television. The U.S. and Kyiv's other allies have said they were concerned about the possibility that Russia would send tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, with President Joe Biden saying it was "worrisome." President Alexander Lukashenko said on Friday that Belarus would also allow Russia to put intercontinental nuclear missiles there too if necessary.

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