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☆ Ukrainian soldier admits some of the marines trying to defend a key river against Russian attack 'can't even swim'
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Ukrainian soldier described to the BBC problems they're facing on a key part of the frontline. The soldier said Ukrainian forces are being reinforced by inexperienced conscripts. AdvertisementA Ukrainian soldier has told the BBC that soldiers sent to help defend recent Ukrainian advances on the Dnipro river are so inexperienced they can't even swim. The advance has been hailed as a triumph by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and comes after weeks of stalemate in fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces near Kherson. However, the soldier said that Ukrainian forces are experiencing serious shortages in equipment and reinforcements as they defend their positions, which are under relentless Russian attack.

Persons: —, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, we're, Valery Zaluzhny Organizations: NEW, Service, BBC Locations: Ukrainian, Ukraine, Dnipro, Kherson, Russia

☆ Russia-Ukraine war: Putin orders Russian army to add 170,000 troops
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-02 | by ( Christian Edwards | Yulia Kesaieva | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the country’s military to increase its number of troops by 170,000, as Moscow’s war in Ukraine enters its 22nd month. The increase would take the overall number of Russian military personnel to more than 2.2 million, including 1.32 million troops, according to the decree published by the Kremlin Friday. In August 2022, Putin ordered an increase of 137,000 troops by January 1, 2023, which put the military’s staffing at just over 2 million personnel, including 1.15 million troops. In September 2022, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said 5,937 troops had been killed in the war. Putin’s latest decree comes as Russia’s war in Ukraine is set to enter its second winter, with both sides suffering heavy losses without making significant gains on the battlefield.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Russia’s, Putin, recriminations, Dmitry Medvedev, Gavriil, Sergei Shoigu, Putin’s, Valery Zaluzhny, Volodomyr Zelensky Organizations: CNN, NATO, Russia’s Security, Victory, Nazi, Sputnik, Russian, United, Economist, NBC Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Moscow, Soviet, Nazi Germany, United Kingdom

The Director of Russia's Mariinsky Theatre, Valery Gergiev, Is Also Put in Charge of the BolshoiThe Russian government has named the renowned director of the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg to also lead Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre

Persons: Valery Gergiev Organizations: Russia's Mariinsky Theatre, Bolshoi, Mariinsky Theatre Locations: St . Petersburg

REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Russian conductor Valery Gergiev, no longer welcome in Western concert halls since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, was named on Friday as director of Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre. After performing for decades on the world's biggest classical stages, Gergiev has been shunned in the West since the start of the war in February 2022. The following month he was fired as chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra after the city's mayor said Gergiev had declined to "clearly and unambiguously" distance himself from the invasion. Gergiev, also a former principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, has long been controversial outside Russia because of his support for President Vladimir Putin. He spoke out in favour of Russia's invasion of Crimea in 2014.

Persons: Valery Gergiev, Lisi Niesner, Gergiev, Vladimir Urin, Urin, Vladimir Putin, Putin, we're, we've, Mark Trevelyan, Kevin Liffey Organizations: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, REUTERS, Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre, Mariinsky Theatre, Munich, Orchestra, Bolshoi, London Symphony Orchestra, Islamic, Thomson Locations: Russian, Vienna, Austria, Ukraine, St Petersburg, West, Russia, Crimea, Palmyra, Syria, Islamic State, China

☆ Ukraine makes new push to defeat Russia’s electronic warfare
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Clare Sebastian | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Ukraine is already racing to catch up with Russia when it comes to electronic warfare. Electronic warfare, or EW, involves weapons or tactics using the electromagnetic spectrum. Pavlo Petrychenko, drone commander with Ukraine’s 59th Motorized Brigade, says destroying Russia's electronic warfare systems is crucial to Ukraine's war effort. Otherwise, there’s a real risk that electronic warfare systems can work against you, downing your own drones, Fedorov added. It’s a future where “electronic warfare capabilities, tactics are integrated into conventional force operations,” she added.

Persons: London CNN —, Pavlo Petrychenko, Pavlo Petrychenko “, ” Petrychenko, Russian jammers, Mikhail Mishustin, Valery Zaluzhny, ” Zaluzhny, Zaluzhny, Charlie Dietz, ” Dietz, Mykhailo Fedorov, ” Fedorov, Fedorov, “ oversaturating, –, Petrychenko, “, ”, Kari Bingen, Dietz Organizations: London CNN, Kyiv, Ukraine’s 59th Motorized Brigade, “, CNN, High Mobility Artillery, Ukraine’s NATO, GPS, Russian Defense Ministry, TASS, Russian, Pentagon, HIMARS, Royal United Services Institute, Aerospace Security, Strategic, International Studies Locations: Ukrainian, Donetsk, Ukraine, Russia, Avdiivka, Ukraine’s, Russian, Moscow, United States, Kyiv, British

☆ Ukraine Welcomes Western Allies' Air Defence Coalition
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Nov. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

(Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his defence minister welcomed the formation by Ukraine's Western allies on Thursday of a 20-nation "coalition" to boost air defences, seen as a key element in the country's campaign against Russian forces. Zelenskiy said the group, one of several devoted to specific areas of Ukraine's defence, was formed at a virtual meeting of the "Ramstein group" examining Ukraine's military needs. "Not everything can be disclosed publicly at this time, but the Ukrainian air shield is becoming stronger every month." Defence Minister Rustem Umerov also noted other assistance agreed by participants, including a German air defence package announced this week during a visit to Kyiv by Defence Minister Boris Pistorius. Zelenskiy has long pointed to improved air defence as a key element to help keep Ukrainian cities safe from Russian air strikes - including on energy infrastructure - as wintry weather takes hold.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Zelenskiy, Rustem Umerov, Boris Pistorius, General Valery Zaluzhniy, Ron Popeski, Ludwig Berger, Stephen Coates Organizations: Reuters, Russian, Germany's Defence Ministry, " Defence Locations: Ramstein, Germany, France, Kyiv, Dutch, Russia

The agony came in waves as the wounded Ukrainian soldier in the back of the ambulance slipped in and out of consciousness. The driver, hurtling past cratered fields on roads thick with mud, was racing to escape Russian artillery fire north of the city of Avdiivka, while hoping he was not spotted by drones. “They are just razing everything to the ground,” said the driver, Seagull, using only his call-sign in accordance with military protocol. Ukrainian forces are resisting furiously, while probing for openings in a southern counteroffensive and conducting river crossings near the southern port city of Kherson. When Ukraine’s top military commander, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, said recently that the war had reached a “stalemate”— with intense and exhausting battles yielding little territorial gains — it created an impression in some quarters of a war in stasis.

Persons: ”, Valery Zaluzhny Locations: Ukrainian, Avdiivka, Ukraine, Kherson

The war is approaching the end of its second year, and Ukraine’s military needs more manpower to sustain a bloody war of attrition against Russia, a country with more than three times the population of Ukraine. In a recent essay, Ukraine’s top military commander, Valery Zaluzhny acknowledged that training and recruiting troops was becoming a serious challenge. The essay acknowledged a bleak reality: Ukraine needs more people in uniform, and it needs them now. Ukraine fills its ranks with volunteers but also has a system of conscription that allows the state to draft men of military age. If the war continues with the same intensity as it is today, there is no way to avoid conscription.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelensky, Valery Zaluzhny, ”, Andriy Demchenko, it’s, Maj, Viktor Kysil, won’t, Mark Holovei, I’m, I’ve, we’re, Maria Zaika, Maria Zaika “, ’, “ I’ve, “, Oleksandr Dyadyushkin, Vlad, Dmytro Kostyuk Organizations: CNN, Russia, State Border Service of, It’s, 5th Assault Brigade, Foreigners Locations: Ukrainian, Washington, Ukraine, Kyiv, State Border Service of Ukraine, Moscow, North Korea, Israel, Gaza, Europe, Russia, Bakhmut

☆ Zelenskiy calls for rapid operations changes for soldiers, sacks commander
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 19 (Reuters) - Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Sunday demanded rapid changes in the operations of Ukraine's military and announced the dismissal of the commander of the military's medical forces. "In today's meeting with Defence Minister Umerov, priorities were set," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address. Zelenskiy said he had replaced Major-General Tetiana Ostashchenko as commander of the Armed Forces Medical Forces. "The task is clear, as has been repeatedly stressed in society, particularly among combat medics, we need a fundamentally new level of medical support for our soldiers," he said. Umerov acknowledged the change on the Telegram messaging app and set as top priorities digitalisation, "tactical medicine" and rotation of servicemen.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Zelenskiy's, Rustem Umerov, Umerov, Zelenskiy, Tetiana Ostashchenko, Valery Zaluzhniy, Ostashchenko, Anatoliy Kazmirchuk, Ron Popeski, Oleksandr, Chris Reese Organizations: Sunday, Russia, Defence, Armed Forces Medical Forces, Russian, Major, Thomson Locations: Dnipro, Kherson, Ukrainian, Ukraine, United States, Kyiv

☆ Opinion: The strategy that can support Ukraine even if Trump is elected
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( Christopher Good | Fareed Zakaria | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Between the tragic, ongoing war in Gaza and the Biden-Xi summit, one crucial global crisis is in danger of being forgotten — the war in Ukraine. And this is a terrible time for it to be slipping from public consciousness because Ukraine faces trouble on two fronts. Despite the drones and Starlink connectivity, this is looking like the trench warfare during World War I, which ground on for four years. The second front that is equally worrying is in the West, where support for Ukraine is weakening. An international legal organization and process of adjudicating claims should be established and the funds handled through it.

Persons: Fareed Zakaria, “ Fareed Zakaria, General Valery Zaluzhny, Biden’s, Giorgia Meloni, “, Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Trump, Laurence Tribe, Larry Summers, Robert Zoellick, Philip Zelikow, Summers, Zoellick Organizations: CNN, Biden, World Bank, Bank Locations: Gaza, Ukraine, Russia, Kherson, Italian, Moscow, Putin, Switzerland, Belgium, Kyiv, United States

☆ Ukraine claims a new ‘foothold’ in the country’s south. What does that mean for Kyiv’s efforts to keep the West on its side?
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Nathan Hodge | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

In a recent interview with the Economist, General Valery Zaluzhny acknowledged that Ukrainian forces had failed to achieve a major breakthrough of layered Russian defensive lines. Ukrainian forces near Dnipro River. But the Ukrainian gains on the Dnipro’s left bank are tenuous. A pro-Ukrainian Telegram channel that closely tracks military operations said Thursday that “several small footholds had to be abandoned” on the Dnipro’s left bank. “Russian forces are trying to eliminate the main AFU [Armed Forces of Ukraine] bridgehead in Krynky with the support of all possible means of long-range defeat,” said one blogger.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelensky’s, Andriy Yermak, “, Yermak, General Valery Zaluzhny, Zaluzhnyi, ”, Roman Pilipey, Vladimir Saldo, David Cameron, ” Zelensky, Cameron, Boris Johnson’s, Boris Johnson, ” Cameron, Russia –, Dmytro Kuleba, Kuleba Organizations: Ukraine CNN —, Kremlin, Dnipro “, Getty, Ukrainian Telegram, CNN, Armed Forces, ” CNN, Dnipro, Russia, Ukraine’s, Ukraine, Union Locations: Kyiv, Ukraine, Ukraine CNN — Ukraine, Washington, Dnipro, Russian, Kherson, Krynky, ” Ukraine, Russia, Dnipro River, Roman, AFP, Crimea, Kherson Oblast, United Kingdom, Ukrainian, Avdiivka

☆ Ukraine says Russians intensify bombardment of Avdiivka
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A local resident walks next to residential buildings heavily damaged by Russian military strikes in the front line town of Avdiivka, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine November 8, 2023. Officials said Russian forces had suffered heavy losses around the city. They also said Ukrainian forces had repelled Russian attacks in other areas of the 1,000-km (600-mile) front line. Over the last two days, the occupiers have increased the number of air strikes using guided bombs from Su-35 aircraft," Ukrainian military spokesman Oleksandr Shtupun told national television. Ukrainian forces, he said, had repelled eight attacks in the past 24 hours on the city, known for its vast coking plant.

Persons: Nuzhnenko, Oleksandr Shtupun, Barabash, General Valery Zaluzhnyi, Charles Brown, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ron Popeski, Michael Perry Organizations: Radio Free, Radio Liberty, REUTERS, Ukrainian, Joint Chiefs, Staff, Thomson Locations: Avdiivka, Ukraine, Donetsk region, Radio Free Europe, Russia, Kyiv, Russian, Donetsk, Ukrainian, Maryinka, Bakhmut, Kupiansk, Ukraine's, U.S

☆ Kremlin says report on Zelenskiy's alleged ignorance of Nord Stream attack is 'alarming'
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

FILE PHOTO: Gas bubbles from the Nord Stream 2 leak reaching surface of the Baltic Sea in the area shows disturbance of well over one kilometre diameter near Bornholm, Denmark, September 27, 2022. A spokesperson for Ukraine's military told Reuters on Sunday he had "no information" about the report. Russia has repeatedly said, without providing evidence, that the West was behind the Nord Stream blasts - particularly the United States and Britain, which both deny involvement. The New York Times and The Washington Post have reported that Ukraine - which has repeatedly denied involvement, was behind the attack. In a blog post, entitled "How America Took Out The Nord Stream Pipeline", Hersh said the plan was hatched in 2021 at the highest levels in the United States.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Chervinsky, Valery Zaluzhnyi, Dmitry Peskov, Zelenskiy, Peskov, Vladimir Putin, Seymour Hersh, Hersh, Dmitry Antonov, Vladimir Soldatkin, Guy Faulconbridge, Andrew Osborn Organizations: Danish Defence Command, REUTERS, Rights, Washington Post, Reuters, Sunday, U.S, New York Times, Thomson Locations: Baltic, Bornholm, Denmark, Ukrainian, Russia's, Europe, Ukraine, Germany, Russia, United States, Britain, Washington

☆ The West could live with a frozen Ukraine conflict
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( Hugo Dixon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Ukraine may be heading for a similarly frozen conflict with Russia. So a frozen conflict would help the West achieve – at least partly – its key geostrategic aim: to show hostile powers that it doesn’t pay to invade one of its friends. In a frozen conflict, Ukraine would still need to invest heavily in massive fortifications, anti-missile defence systems and technology to deter Russian attacks. ECONOMIC WARIn a frozen conflict, sanctions against Russia would probably remain more or less in place. REBUILDING UKRAINEIt will be harder to rebuild Ukraine’s infrastructure in a frozen conflict than if there was peace.

Persons: Nuzhnenko, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Valery Zaluzhny, Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Tim Ash, Peter Thal Larsen, Thomas Shum Organizations: Ukraine's National Guard Omega, Radio Free, Radio Liberty, REUTERS Acquire, Reuters, Moscow, Hamas, U.S, EU, International Monetary Fund, Kremlin, Investors, BlueBay Asset Management, Soviet, Cyprus, European Commission, West, Thomson Locations: Avdiivka, Ukraine, Donetsk region, Radio Free Europe, Korea, Cyprus, Russia, Kyiv, –, Israel, United States, Moscow, North Korea, Iran, Russian, UKRAINE, West Germany, Soviet Union

☆ Ukraine special forces colonel played a key role in sabotaging the Nord Stream gas pipelines, a report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-12 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Nord Stream gas pipelines were damaged in an act of sabotage last year. AdvertisementAdvertisementA senior Ukrainian military official played a key role in sabotaging the Nord Stream gas pipelines last year, according to an investigation by two international newspapers. AdvertisementAdvertisementHowever, The Post reported that Zelenskyy would not have known about the Nord Stream operation and that those involved reported to Zaluzhny. Chervinsky denied his role in the attacks in a statement to the papers through his lawyer: "All speculations about my involvement in the attack on Nord Stream are being spread by Russian propaganda without any basis." AdvertisementAdvertisementThe blasts in September last year damaged three of the four pipelines that make up Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2.

Persons: Zelenskyy, —, Der Spiegel, Valery Zaluzhny, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Jack Teixeira, Chervinsky Organizations: Service, Washington Post, Post, Pentagon, Nord, Kyiv, European Union Locations: Ukrainian, Russia, Germany, Ukraine, Western, Nord, Kyiv, Russian

☆ Russia parades Ukrainian war prisoners as ‘volunteers’ for its army in apparent violation of international law
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( Anna Chernova | Yulia Kesaieva | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —A group of former Ukrainian servicemen, including prisoners of war, have “volunteered” to fight on the front lines for Russia, Moscow’s state-run news agency RIA Novosti has claimed, in a potential violation of international law. The Washington-based think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW), citing Russian state media, said in late October that Russia had “recruited” 70 Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) from various penal colonies. Coercing POWs to serve in the Russian forces would be a violation of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, which have been adopted by all nations, according to the International Red Cross. “Russian authorities have likely coerced Ukrainian prisoners of war into joining a ‘volunteer’ formation that will fight in Ukraine, which would constitute an apparent violation of the Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War,” the ISW said. Russia and Ukraine remain locked in battle as the war enters a third winter with neither country’s forces establishing the upper hand.

Persons: ”, –, Bogdan Khmelnitsky, ” Khmelnitsky, “, Volodymyr Zelensky, Valery Zaluzhny Organizations: CNN, Novosti, RIA Novosti, Ukrainian Armed Forces, Donetsk People’s, Cross, Geneva Convention Locations: Russia, Moscow’s, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Donetsk, Donetsk People’s Republic, Ukraine’s, The Washington, Russian, Geneva

☆ Russia's Putin meets military top brass to discuss Ukraine war
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/3] Russia's President Vladimir Putin speaks with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu as he visits the headquarters of the troops involved in the country's military campaign in Ukraine, in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, in this picture released November 10, 2023. Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Kremlin via REUTERS Acquire Licensing RightsMOSCOW, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday discussed the war in Ukraine with his military top brass including Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and General Staff Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff. Pictures released by the Kremlin showed Putin at meeting with Shoigu, Gerasimov and General Sergei Rudskoy, head of the General Staff's Main Operational Directorate, at the southern military grouping's headquarters in Rostov. "The supreme commander in chief was shown new models of military equipment," the Kremlin said. Putin last month visited the military headquarters in Rostov, where Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin began a failed mutiny in June.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Sergei Shoigu, General Staff Valery Gerasimov, Putin, Shoigu, Sergei Rudskoy, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Guy Faulconbridge Organizations: Sputnik, REUTERS Acquire, Rights, General Staff, Kremlin, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Rostov, Don, Russia, Kremlin, Gerasimov

☆ Russia-Ukraine war live updates: Russian forces ‘trying to surround’ east Ukraine stronghold; Putin meets military top brass
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A Ukrainian infantryman walks along a trench in the mud after the rain on Nov. 9, 2023, in an area the military calls the "Horlivka front," an urban-type settlement in Toretsk urban hromada, Donetsk Oblast, eastern Ukraine. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said Friday that the Russian military "does not stop trying to surround" the shattered eastern stronghold of Avdiivka. The industrial hub of Avdiivka, which is regarded as the gateway to Donetsk, has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance. The update from Ukraine's General Staff reported a series of Russian assaults in the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions over the last 24 hours. Elswhere, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, chief of the General Staff, Gen. Valery Gerasimov and other key figures at the southern military grouping's headquarters to discuss the Ukraine war.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Sergei Shoigu, Valery Gerasimov Organizations: The General Staff of, Armed Forces, Ukraine's General Staff, Ukraine's Ministry of Defense, CNBC, General Staff Locations: hromada, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, Avdiivka, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Russian

☆ Opinion: Who a ‘stalemate’ in Ukraine really benefits
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Augusta Anthony | Opinion Jade Mcglynn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

CNN —Responses to the recent statements by the commander in chief of the Ukrainian military, Valery Zaluzhny, warning of a stalemate war between Ukraine and Russia, have been varied and revealing. On the other side, skeptics of Western support for Ukraine gloatingly cited the interview as evidence that Ukraine should have capitulated at some imagined earlier opportunity. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyi meets with the Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg on September 28, 2023 in Kyiv, Ukraine. It is not Ukraine that is desperate to continue war despite plentiful options to stop the bloodshed — it is Russia. And would there still be ‘fatigue’ in Western capitals if Ukraine had retaken more territories during the summer counteroffensive?

Persons: Jade McGlynn, “, Read, Valery Zaluzhny, Jade McGlynn Jade McGlynn, Zaluzhny, Zaluzhny’s, Volodymyr Zelensky, Igor Zhovka, Ukraine gloatingly, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, NATO Jens Stoltenberg, Yan Dobronosov, Dmitry Peskov, Peskov, Anatolii Stepanov, Washington, ’, Putin, worldviews, Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian Armed Forces Valeriy Zaluzhny, Gleb Garanich Organizations: Center for Strategic, International Studies, CNN, Western, Ukraine, NATO, Ukrainian Air Defence, Kremlin, Ukrainian Armed Forces, Reuters, EU, North Korea — Locations: Putin’s Russia, Ukraine, Russia, frontlines, Kyiv, AFP, North America, West Germany, West, Iran, North Korea, freefall, Europe, Eastern Europe, Korea

☆ Ukraine says it used a car bomb to take out a Russian-backed politician in an occupied city
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Thibault Spirlet | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Ukraine said it killed a Russian-backed lawmaker in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday. Mikhail Filiponenko, a deputy in Luhansk, died in a car bomb explosion, per Ukrainian intelligence. Mikhail Filiponenko, a member of the Russian-backed parliament in occupied Luhansk, and a former leader of its armed forces, died in a car bomb explosion on Wednesday, per the statement. Andriy Cherniak, a representative of Ukrainian intelligence, confirmed to Politico Europe that Ukraine was behind the bombing. Prior to that, Darya Dugina, a prominent war supporter and daughter of Aleksandr Dugin, commonly known as "Putin's brain," was assassinated by a car bomb outside Moscow in August 2022, Insider previously reported .

Persons: Mikhail Filiponenko, —, Andriy Cherniak, Filiponenko, Valery Gerasimov, Darya, Aleksandr Dugin Organizations: Politico, Service, Center, Reuters, Washington Post, General Staff Locations: Ukraine, Russian, Luhansk, Ukrainian, Politico Europe, Moscow, Donetsk

☆ Live grenade in birthday gift kills aide to Ukraine’s military chief
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Rob Picheta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Kyiv, Ukraine CNN —An aide to the commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s military was killed after receiving a live grenade as a birthday present that was immediately detonated by his 13-year-old son. Chastyakov’s 13-year-old son then picked up one of the grenades and started turning the ring, Klymenko wrote. Zaluzhny, the chief of Ukraine’s military, wrote on Telegram that his “assistant and close friend” died “under tragic circumstances.”Police found five more unexploded grenades in the apartment, Klymenko said. Police said criminal proceedings had been initiated and an investigation is ongoing, though the Ukrainian interior ministry later said it considers the death an “accident” based on preliminary information. Klymenko assisted Zaluzhny as the military chief led Ukrainian troops in the war with Russia.

Persons: Major Gennadiy Chastyakov, Valery Zaluzhny, Ihor Klymenko, Klymenko, Chastyakov, ”, ” Mariana Reva, ” Reva, “, Zaluzhny, Reva, Volodymyr Zelensky Organizations: Ukraine CNN, Ukrainian, ” Police, police, Police, Ministry of Interior, Armed Forces of Locations: Kyiv, Ukraine, Klymenko, Ukrainian, Russia, Armed Forces of Ukraine

☆ As a Ukrainian, I Refuse to Compete for Attention - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Sasha Dovzhyk | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The day Hamas attacked Israel, I unexpectedly reunited with my best friend in Kyiv. My friend, meanwhile, traveled across Ukraine as a local producer for foreign journalists covering the war. “They leave Ukraine because the front is moving slowly,” my friend told me when we met at her place in Kyiv. “The journalists will be back in no time once we liberate any significant patch of land.”Liberate another significant patch of occupied territories and discover another mass grave, I thought. Those of us not in the trenches must continue selling Ukrainian resistance to the world, telling our stories in the hope of support.

Persons: Valery Zaluzhny Locations: Israel, Kyiv, Ukraine, Britain, Lviv, Poland, London

☆ Ukraine Investigates Birthday Explosion That Killed Military Aide
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Constant Méheut | More About Constant Méheut | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ukrainian prosecutors announced on Tuesday that they had opened an investigation into a bizarre explosion at a birthday celebration that killed an aide to Ukraine’s top military commander, in what the authorities portrayed as a tragic accident. The prosecutor’s office said that one of the grenades had been picked up by the major’s son. While taking the grenade from the boy, “the officer pulled the ring, which caused the explosion,” the office said in a statement. Prosecutors said that Major Chastyakov, an aide to Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, commander in chief of the Ukrainian military, had been killed on the spot by the explosion. There was no explanation of why someone would give the major grenades as a present or why he would have pulled the ring.

Persons: Gennadiy Chastyakov, Chastyakov, Valery Zaluzhny Organizations: Prosecutors Locations: Ukraine’s, Kyiv

☆ Ukraine Commander Says Assistant Killed by Booby-Trapped Gift
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-06 | by ( Nov. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

(Reuters) - Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief said on Monday that his assistant, a major in rank, was killed when a booby-trapped birthday present he had been given exploded. "My assistant and close friend, Major Hennady Chastyakov, was killed in tragic circumstances on his birthday in a family setting," General Valery Zaluzhnyi wrote on the Telegram messaging app. The Ukrainska Pravda online news outlet said a security source was told by Chastyakov's wife that the gift was a bottle of liquor in the form of a grenade that he had brought home. The source told Ukrainska Pravda that Chastyakov, 39, was a graduate of a military academy and fully trained in handling grenades. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had denied any suggestion that the war has entered into a stalemate.

Persons: Major Hennady Chastyakov, Valery Zaluzhnyi, Chastyakov's, Ukrainska, Zaluzhnyi, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ron Popeski, Bill Berkrot Organizations: Reuters, Ukraine's, Pravda, Ukrainska Pravda, Economist

☆ Zelensky invites Trump to Ukraine and says former president ‘can’t bring peace’ because of Putin
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-06 | by ( Manav Tanneeru | Christian Edwards | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky invited Donald Trump to visit Ukraine, after the former US president claimed he could end Russia’s war against Ukraine war within 24 hours if he wins reelection next year. “If he can come here, I will need 24 minutes – yes, 24 minutes… to explain (to) President Trump that he can’t manage this war. “If I’m president, I will have that war settled in one day, 24 hours,” Trump told CNN. “The Russian fleet is being destroyed by our ammunition,” Zelensky told NBC, after a number of successful Ukrainian strikes on Russian warships and Crimean ports over the summer. Former President Donald Trump told CNN's Kaitlan Collins in May he would end Russia's war on Ukraine in "24 hours."

Persons: Volodymyr Zelensky, Donald Trump, Zelensky, Trump’s, NBC’s “, “, Trump, Putin, ” Zelensky, Joe Biden, ” Trump, he’d, Russia’s, “ I’ll, I’ll, ”, Valery Zaluzhny, Zaluzhny, CNN's Kaitlan Collins, Will Lanzoni, Mike Johnson, Biden, Washington’s, – Organizations: CNN, Ukraine, Press, Zelensky, NBC, Russia, US Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Avdviika, Vuhledar, Donetsk, Kupyansk, Kharkiv, Crimea, Crimean, Israel, NATO

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