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☆ Belarus arms emergency ministry to be ready in case of armed conflict
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 25 (Reuters) - The Belarusian ministry of emergency situations is completing the arming and military training of its personnel to be ready to aid the defence and internal ministries in the event of an armed conflict, the head of the emergency ministry said on Monday. Emergency Minister Vadim Sinyavsky told state Belarus 1 television that employees will be ready to assist the ministries "in the event of an armed conflict or some kind of riots in which a significant number of personnel must be involved." Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said earlier this year he wants "every man - and not only a man" to be able to at least handle weapons to respond to an act of aggression. While not sending his own troops to Ukraine, Lukashenko allowed Moscow to use Belarusian territory to launch its full-scale invasion on Ukraine in February 2022. Russia and Belarus are linked in a partnership called the "union state" in which Moscow is by far the dominant player.

Persons: Vadim Sinyavsky, Alexander Lukashenko, Lukashenko, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Lidia Kelly, Chris Reese Organizations: West, Thomson Locations: Belarusian, Belarus, Ukraine, Moscow, Russia, Kyiv, Melbourne

☆ Russia launches sixth air attack on Kyiv in July - Ukraine's military
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 25 (Reuters) - Russia launched its sixth air attack this month on Kyiv early on Tuesday, the military administration of the Ukrainian capital said, with air raid alerts blaring for more than three hours over the city and east half of the country. Russia attacked Kyiv with Iranian-made Shahed drones, and based on preliminary information all the drones were downed by Ukraine's air defence systems, Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv's military administration, said on the Telegram messaging app. Air raid sirens wailed for more than three hours across most of Ukraine's east from about 1:40 a.m. (2240 GMT), the country's Air Force said. At 5:30 a.m. the Air Force said on its Telegram channel that there was a fresh threat of attacks on Ukraine's east and southeast regions using ballistic weapons and issued air raid warnings for those areas. Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Simon Cameron-MooreOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Serhiy Popko, Lidia Kelly, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: Reuters, country's Air Force, Air Force, Thomson Locations: Russia, Iranian, Melbourne

☆ Russia accuses Ukraine of 'terrorism' after drone strike near Moscow army HQ
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( Andrew Osborn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The drone attack, though not serious in terms of its human cost or damage, was the most high-profile of its kind since two drones reached the Kremlin in May. [1/5]A member of the security services investigates the damaged building following a reported drone attack in Moscow, Russia, July 24. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told the RTVI TV channel Ukraine was guilty of what she called "an act of international terrorism." Citing emergency services, Russian state news agencies reported that drone fragments had been found near a building on Komsomolsky Avenue, which runs through Moscow. After May's drone attack on the Kremlin, U.S. drone experts concluded they might have been launched from inside Russia.

Persons: Nobody, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Maxim Shemetov, Mykhailo Fedorov, Fedorov, Maria Zakharova, Sergei Sobyanin, Andrew Osborn, Lidia Kelly, Simon Cameron, Moore, David Holmes, Bernadette Baum Organizations: Defence Ministry, Defence, Russian, Reuters, Kremlin, Russian Defence Ministry, Odesa, REUTERS, ACT, Foreign Ministry, Moscow, Thomson Locations: Russia, Moscow, Ukraine, MOSCOW, Crimea, Russian, Ukrainian, U.S, Melbourne

☆ Russia's attack on Odesa kills one, damages city's largest cathedral
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"Odesa: another night attack of the monsters," Oleh Kiper, governor of southern Ukraine's Odesa region, said on the Telegram messaging app. Odesa's military administration said that the Spaso-Preobrazhenskyi Cathedral of the Moscow-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), was severely damaged. The Spaso-Preobrazhenskyi Cathedral, or the Transfiguration Cathedral, is Odesa's largest Orthodox church building. Ukraine has accused the UOC of maintaining links to the pro-invasion Russian Orthodox Church, which used to be its parent church but with which the UOC says it broke ties in May last year. Social media videos showed a distressed man walking inside the dark cathedral repeating, "The church is no longer .... Lord, have mercy."

Persons: Kiper, God, Gleb Garanich, Lidia Kelly, Paul Simao, Richard Chang Organizations: Sunday, Church, Odesa, Reuters, Russia, Onyx, Thomson Locations: Odesa, Ukraine's, Russia, Preobrazhenskyi, Moscow, Ukraine, Russian, Crimea, Ukrainian, Kyiv, Melbourne

☆ Russia's Putin: Black Sea grain deal became meaningless
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

July 24 (Reuters) - Russia withdrew from the Black Sea grain deal that ensured the safe export of Ukrainian grains because the agreement lost its meaning, President Vladimir Putin wrote in an article published early on Monday. "The continuation of the 'grain deal' - which did not justify its humanitarian purpose - has lost its meaning," Putin said, according to the article on the Kremlin's website. The key demands Putin presented last week for Moscow to return to the deal, however, did not directly refer to humanitarian purposes. After quitting the deal, Russia has been pounding Ukrainian food-exporting ports nearly on a daily basis. "I want to assure that our country is able to replace Ukrainian grain both commercially and free of charge, especially since we again expect a record harvest this year," Putin said.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin, Lidia Kelly, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: United, Thomson Locations: Russia, Moscow, Ukraine, Odesa, Africa, St . Petersburg, United Nations, Melbourne

☆ Putin, Lukashenko to meet after Russia warns about aggression against Belarus
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

July 23 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko will meet on Sunday, the Kremlin said, two days after Moscow warned that any aggression against the its neighbour and staunchest ally would be considered an attack on Russia. After Poland decided earlier this week to move military units closer to its border with Belarus in response to the arrival in Belarus of forces from Russia's Wagner Group, Putin said Moscow would use all means it has to react to any hostility towards Minsk. The Kremlin said Lukashenko is paying a working visit to Russia and will talk to Putin about further development of the countries' "strategic partnership." While not sending his own troops to Ukraine, Lukashenko allowed Moscow to use Belarusian territory to launch its full-scale invasion on Ukraine in February 2022 and has since met with Putin frequently. Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Paul SimaoOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Alexander Lukashenko, Russia's, Putin, Lukashenko, Wagner, Poland, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Lidia Kelly, Paul Simao Organizations: Kremlin, Russia's Wagner Group, West, Wagner Group, NATO, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, Poland, Belarus, Minsk, Kremlin, Ukraine, Kyiv, Belarusian, Africa, Melbourne

☆ Fire at military base in Crimea forces evacuation of more than 2,000 people
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

July 19 (Reuters) - A fire that broke out at the military training grounds in the Kirovske district on the Crimean Peninsula has forced the evacuation of more than 2,000 people and a closure of nearby highway, the Moscow-backed governor of Crimea said on Wednesday. "It is planned to temporarily evacuate residents of four settlements - this is more than 2,000 people," Russian-installed Governor Sergei Aksyonov of Crimea said on the Telegram messaging app. Serhiy Bratchuk, spokesperson for the Odesa military administration in Ukraine posted two videos of a fire in an uninhabited area, saying, "Enemy ammunition depot. Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in 2014. Ukraine's military also said that a drone attack at Kyiv was successfully repelled early on Wednesday.

Persons: Sergei Aksyonov, Serhiy Bratchuk, Vladimir Putin, Lidia Kelly, Guy Faulconbridge Organizations: Reuters, Kyiv, Thomson Locations: Kirovske, Crimean, Moscow, Crimea, Ukraine, Russia, Odesa, Melbourne

According to a decree signed by Putin on Sunday, the Russian state had taken control of Danone's Russian subsidiary along with beer company Carlsberg's (CARLb.CO) stake in a brewer. Yakub Zakriev, 32, a deputy prime minister of Chechnya and the republic's agriculture minister, took the post of general director of Danone Russia on Tuesday, Interfax's SPARK database of company disclosure documents in Russia showed. "Choosing him as general director of Danone Russia shows that representatives of the team of Chechen President and Hero of Russia Ramzan Akhmatovich Kadyrov are talented and successful managers," Dudayev said on his Telegram messaging app. Kadyrov, a close ally of Putin, has referred on social media to Zakriev as his "dear nephew". Danone sought alliances with big local players during the boom years, eventually gaining at least a fifth of Russia's dairy market.

Persons: Kadyrov, Danone Russia Kovalchuk, Carlsberg, Ramzan Kadyrov, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Yakub Zakriev, Akhmed Dudayev, of Russia Ramzan Akhmatovich Kadyrov, Dudayev, Zakriev, Zulai, Akhmad Kadyrov, Kadyrov's, Danone, Yuri, Mikhail Kovalchuk, Bolloev, Guy Faulconbridge, Lidia Kelly, Shubhendu, Stephen Coates, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Danone Russia, Danone, Kremlin, Sunday, Chechen, Moscow State University, Cuban Missile, Soviet, Financial Times, Shubhendu Deshmukh, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Russia, Ukraine, Russian, Chechnya, Grozny, Paris, Red, Soviet Union, United States, China, Baltika, St Petersburg, Moscow, Melbourne, Bengaluru

☆ Russia strikes Ukraine's Odesa port in 'hellish' attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Nick Starkov | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/3] Children's bicycles are seen among debris in an apartment building damaged during Russian missile and drone strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near Odesa, Ukraine July 19, 2023. The attack was "very powerful, truly massive," Serhiy Bratchuk, spokesperson for the Odesa military administration, said in a voice message on his Telegram channel on Wednesday. Most of Ukraine was under air raid alerts on and off starting soon after midnight on Wednesday, with Russia striking other places, including a drone attack on Kyiv. It was a much lower success rate than Ukraine usually reports for countering Russian air attacks. Telegram channels linked to Russian security services and Ukrainian media said an ammunition depot was on fire at the base after a Ukrainian overnight air attack.

Persons: Stringer, Serhiy Bratchuk, Odesa, Serhiy Popko, Sergei Aksyonov, Bratchuk, U.N, Stephane Dujarric, Russia's, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Moscow, Dmitry Peskov, Gleb Garanich, Lidia Kelly, Ron Popeski, Philippa Fletcher, Leslie Adler, Stephen Coates, Michael Perry Organizations: Russian, REUTERS, Kyiv, United Nations, Telegram, Russia's Defence Ministry, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Odesa, Crimea, Kyiv Ukrainian, Moscow, Russia, Crimean, ., Turkey, Kyiv, Kyiv's, Kirovske, Russian, Crimea's Kirovske, Africa, Asia, Ukrainian, Melbourne, Winnipeg

☆ Road traffic partially restored on Crimean Bridge - Russia deputy PM
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

July 18 (Reuters) - Partial road traffic opened on one lane of the Crimean Bridge late on Monday, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin said on his Telegram channel. "Motor transport on the Crimean Bridge has been restored in reverse mode on the most outer right lane," Khusnullin wrote on Monday. However, ferry operations were suspended early on Tuesday, due to bad weather, Russian agencies reported, citing the Moscow-backed emergency situations ministry of Crimea. Early on Monday, a blast knocked out the bridge linking Russia to the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014, in what Moscow called a strike by Ukrainian sea drones. Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Kim CoghillOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Marat Khusnullin, Khusnullin, Lidia Kelly, Jonathan Oatis, Kim Coghill Organizations: Thomson Locations: Russian, Moscow, Crimea, Russia, Crimean, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Melbourne

Asked whether the counter-offensive was a failure, at least so far, General Mark Milley, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said: "It is far from a failure. Speaking after another round of talks on arms for Ukraine in its fight against Russia's now nearly 17-month invasion, Milley said that the Ukrainian counteroffensive will be slow. Moscow says the Ukrainian counteroffensive has failed. Six weeks since Ukraine launched a counteroffensive in the east and south, Russia is mounting a ground offensive of its own in the northeast. Oleksiy Reznikov, Ukraine defence minister, said after the Tuesday talks that "supply of weapons and equipment urgently needed" is a priority for Ukraine.

Persons: Mark Milley, Russia's, Milley, Reznikov, Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali, Doina, Lidia Kelly, Chris Reese, Leslie Adler, Michael Perry Organizations: Joint Chiefs, Staff, Kyiv, European Union, Twitter, Thomson Locations: Russia, United States, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Kyiv, Bakhmut, Moscow, Kupiansk, Reznikov, Melbourne

☆ Russia says Ukrainian attack on Crimea Bridge kills two, orphaned daughter injured
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Blasts were reported before dawn on the 19-km (12-mile) road and rail bridge linking Russia to Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Russia blamed Ukraine for an attack on the bridge last October, saying it was organised by Ukrainian military intelligence and its director, Kyrylo Budanov. After the October attack, Russia launched strikes against Ukrainian cities including power supplies in retaliation. Crimea was transferred from Soviet Russia to Soviet Ukraine in 1954 by then Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and recognised by Russia in 1994 after the collapse of the USSR. Footage taken from a train crossing the bridge showed passengers gasping as they saw the damage to the road.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin, Vyacheslav Gladkov, Kyrylo, Sergei Mironov, Arkady Rotenberg, Nikita Khrushchev, Vladimir Saldo, Lidia Kelly, Guy Faulconbridge, Kim Coghill, Michael Perry, Lincoln, Nick Macfie Organizations: UN, Ukraine's Security Service, Mercedes, Russia, Thomson Locations: Russia, Ukrainian, Ukraine, KERCH, Crimea, Belgorod, Kyrylo Budanov, Russia's, Moscow, Soviet Russia, Soviet Ukraine, Soviet, USSR, Russian, Kherson, Melbourne

☆ Britain rejects Russia's accusation of UK's possible involvement in Crimean bridge attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 17 (Reuters) - Britain rejected accusations by Russia on Monday that British intelligence services might have been involved in an attack on Russia's bridge to Crimea. Russia's deputy U.N. ambassador, Dmitry Polyanskiy, said on Monday, without providing any evidence, that British intelligence services might have been involved in the attack that killed two, injured a girl, and damaged the bridge. "I have not heard any condemnation of this act of terrorism from any of the Western sponsors of the Kiev regime," Polyanskiy told the United Nations Security Council. "And we have yet to figure out to what extent Western, in particular British intelligence agencies, were involved in the preparation and implementation of this terrorist attack. Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne and Michelle Nichols at the United Nations; editing by Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: U.N, Dmitry Polyanskiy, Polyanskiy, Lidia Kelly, Michelle Nichols, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: United Nations Security Council, United Nations, Thomson Locations: Britain, Russia, Crimea, Kiev, Crimean, Moscow, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Melbourne

☆ Russian scientists warn of powerful solar flare activity on Monday
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 17 (Reuters) - Powerful solar flare activity is forecast for Monday which may interfere with short-wave communications, Russian scientists said after three flares were observed on the sun on Sunday. The Fedorov Institute of Applied Geophysics in Moscow said class X flares were possible, including proton flares, and short-wave radio conditions were expected to deteriorate. Proton flares are a storm of solar energetic particles, composed chiefly of proton. Solar flares happen when the powerful magnetic fields in and around the sun reconnect. Three solar flares were observed on Sunday, the Fedorov Institute said, with one lasting 14 minutes, accompanied by disruption in radio communication.

Persons: Fedorov, Lidia Kelly, Stephen Coates Organizations: Fedorov Institute, Applied Geophysics, NASA, SpaceX, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Melbourne

☆ Russia launches drones, missiles on Ukraine's south and east - Ukraine's Air Force
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Gleb Garanich | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KYIV, July 18 (Reuters) - Russia launched overnight air attacks on Ukraine's south and east using drones and possibly ballistic missiles, Ukraine's Air Force and officials said early on Tuesday. "It's quite serious," Mayor Oleksandr Senkevich said on the Telegram messaging app of the fire, adding that more detail will come in the morning. Air raid alerts blared in many Ukrainian regions for hours, before being called off at around 04:30 a.m. local time (0130 GMT). Oleh Kiper, the head of the Odesa region's military administration, said air defence systems there were engaged in repelling several waves of Russian drone attacks. Serhiy Bratchuk, a spokesperson for Ukraine's Odesa military administration, said on the Telegram messaging app that details of the attack will come later in the morning.

Persons: Oleksandr Senkevich, blared, Oleh Kiper, Serhiy Bratchuk, Gleb Garanich, Lidia Kelly, Kim Coghill, Lincoln, Michael Perry Organizations: Ukraine's Air Force, Air Force, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Russia, Mykolaiv, Ukraine, Odesa, Donetsk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, Cherkasy, Kharkiv, Kirovohrad, Crimean, Moscow, Ukrainian, Kyiv, Melbourne

☆ Russia halts grain deal in what UN calls blow to needy people everywhere
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres signalled that Russia's withdrawal meant that the related pact to assist Russia's grain and fertilizer exports was also terminated. Moscow said it would consider rejoining the grain deal if it saw "concrete results" on its demands but that its guarantees for the safety of navigation would meanwhile be revoked. REUTERS/StringerUkrainian forces have been striking Russian supply lines as it pursues a counteroffensive to drive Russian forces out of its south and east. On Monday it reported two more civilians killed by Russian forces, which it said had begun a major push in the northeast. The grain deal was hailed as preventing a global food emergency when brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last year.

Persons: Dmitry Peskov, Antonio Guterres, Moscow, Antony Blinken, Saraf, Halima Hussein, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Zelenskiy, Stringer, Hanna Maliar, Serhiy Cherevatyi, Vladimir Putin, Marat Khusnullin, Putin, Artem Dekhtyarenko, Max Hunder, Michelle Nichols, Abdi Sheikh, Ron Popeski, Lidia Kelly, Peter Graff, Philippa Fletcher, Alex Richardson, Grant McCool Organizations: UN, Russian Federation, International Rescue, REUTERS, Stringer Ukrainian, Lyman, Ukrainian Armed Forces, TV, Reuters, Ukraine's Security, Ukraine, United, United Nations, Thomson Locations: Crimea, Ukraine, Russian, KYIV, Russia, Moscow, Ukrainian, Washington, AFRICA Ukraine, East Africa, Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia's, Mogadishu, Kyiv, Turkey, Kerch, Kupiansk, Kharkiv, United Nations, New York

Blood seeps from the door into a puddle on the road as an occupants of another car implores the girl to keep still. The video was verified by Reuters as having been filmed on the Crimean Bridge. The damaged car’s colour, alloy wheels and open fuel cap matched video from the scene shot in daylight, which showed the same car on the damaged bridge. "Two civilians were killed – a man and a woman driving a car on the bridge. "At about 3 o'clock in the morning, the family heard the first bang, after which the lights went out on the bridge," the relative said.

Persons: Vladimir Putin's, Angelina, Alexei, Nataliya, Vyacheslav Gladkov, –, Guy Faulconbridge, Lidia Kelly, Kevin Liffey, William Maclean Organizations: Reuters, Russia's, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Moscow, Ukrainian, Belgorod, Russian, Ukraine, Russia, Crimea, Europe, Melbourne

☆ Crimea Bridge: why is it important and what happened to it
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A cargo ship sails next to the Crimea bridge in the Kerch Strait, Crimea, March 14, 2023. The RBC-Ukraine news agency reported that explosions were heard on the bridge, with Russian military bloggers reporting two strikes. The bridge is a crucial supply route for Russian forces in Ukraine. In October, the bridge was damaged in a powerful blast, with Russian officials saying the explosion was caused by a truck that blew up while crossing the bridge, killing three people. CRIMEA AND RUSSIA LINKThe 19-km (12-mile) Crimea Bridge over the Kerch Strait is the only direct link between the transport network of Russia and the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in2014.

Persons: Alexey Pavlishak, Sergei Aksyonov, Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Putin, Arkady Rotenberg, Lidia Kelly, Michael Perry Organizations: REUTERS, RBC, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Crimea, Kerch, Russia, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Kyiv, CRIMEA, RUSSIA, Moscow, Sevastopol, Ukraine's Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Melbourne

☆ Russia says prevents Ukraine "terrorist" attack on Crimea's Sevastopol
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

July 16 (Reuters) - Russia's defence ministry said its forces had prevented Ukraine from attacking the Black Sea port of Sevastopol on Sunday, destroying seven aerial and two underwater drones. It said that two aerial drones were shot down over the Black Sea at a great distance from the coastline, while five were intercepted by Russia's electronic warfare forces. Two unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV), known as underwater drones were discovered in the northern part of the Black Sea, and destroyed by fire, the ministry said. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine on the attack on Sevastopol, a port in the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Ukraine almost never publicly claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia or on Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine, but has been saying in recent months that destroying Russia's military infrastructure helps Kyiv's counteroffensive.

Persons: Mikhail Razvozhayev, Lidia Kelly, William Mallard, Jamie Freed, Michael Perry Organizations: Reuters, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Sevastopol, Kyiv, Crimean, Moscow, Khersones, Maritime, Russia, Melbourne

☆ Ukraine, Poland say Wagner fighters arrive in Belarus
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] A fighter from Russian Wagner mercenary group conducts training for Belarusian soldiers on a range near the town of Osipovichi, Belarus July 14, 2023 in this still image taken from handout video. "Wagner is in Belarus," Andriy Demchenko, a spokesman for the Ukrainian border agency, said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app. Some Wagner fighters have been in Belarus since at least Tuesday, two sources close to the fighters told Reuters. The Belarusian defence ministry released a video on Friday, showing what it said were Wagner fighters instructing Belarusian soldiers at a military range near the town of Osipovichi. Poland's deputy minister coordinator of special services, Stanislaw Zaryn, said Warsaw also has confirmation of Wagner fighters' presence in Belarus.

Persons: Russian Wagner, Wagner, Andriy Demchenko, Wagner's, Vladimir Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Stanislaw Zaryn, Zaryn, Alexander Lukashenko, Hajun, Lidia Kelly, Mark Trevelyan Organizations: Belarusian Defence Ministry, REUTERS, Fighters, Reuters, Twitter, Thomson Locations: Russian, Osipovichi, Belarus, Russia, Minsk, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Moscow, Rostov, Warsaw, Poland, Ukraine, Donetsk, Luhansk, Tsel, Melbourne, London

☆ Ukraine, Russia accuse each other of shelling civilians in Zaporizhzhia
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Ukrainian servicemen load a shell into a Partyzan small multiple rocket launch system before firing toward Russian troops at a position near a front line, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine July 13, 2023. REUTERS/Stringer/File photoJuly 16 (Reuters) - Three civilians were wounded in Russian shelling of a village in Zaporizhzhia, the head of Ukraine's presidential administration said on Saturday, while Moscow-backed officials said that Kyiv's forces shelled a school there. Russia also shelled the city of Zaporizhzhia, hitting and damaging at least 16 buildings there, Anatoliy Kurtiev, secretary of the city council said on the Telegram. Both sides deny targeting civilians in the nearly 17-month long war that Russia has been waging on its neighbour. Ukraine's top military command said that Russia is trying to stop Ukraine's advance there, shelling heavily the area.

Persons: Stringer, Andriy Yermak, Yermak, Anatoliy Kurtiev, Vladimir Rogov, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Zelenskiy, Lidia Kelly, Diane Craft Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Zaporizhzhia region, Zaporizhzhia, Moscow, Stepnohirske, Russia, Russian, Stulneve, Tokmak, Melbourne

☆ One killed in Russian attacks on Ukraine as Zelenskiy talks to NATO
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KYIV, July 12 (Reuters) - Russia launched a drone strike on Kyiv early on Wednesday, and an old man was killed in Russian shelling in southern Ukraine as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met NATO leaders in Lithuania, Ukrainian officials said. But an 81-year-old man was killed and his 82-year-old wife wounded in shelling of the southern city of Kherson, Kherson region governor Oleksandr Prokudin said. The Russian shelling and heavy fighting did not stop as Zelenskiy was meeting NATO leaders to discuss security threats posed by Moscow, which denounced the Western military alliance's summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius. On Tuesday, Russia drones also attacked Kyiv and the southern port of Odesa, and Kherson came under artillery fire. Russia's TASS news agency cited military groupings as saying they had repelled several Ukrainian attacks in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine over the past day.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Oleksandr Prokudin, Yuriy Malashko, Zelenskiy, Olena Harmash, Anna Pruchnicka, Lidia Kelly, Timothy Organizations: NATO, Kyiv, Reuters, TASS, Timothy Heritage, Thomson Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Russian, Moscow, Lithuanian, Vilnius, Kyiv, Cherkasy, Odesa, Ukrainian, Bakhmut, Luhansk

☆ Russia keeps air strikes on Kyiv as NATO meets
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

According to preliminary information from Ukrainian military, there were no immediate reports of casualties or major destruction. The enemy launched another air attack on the capital," Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv's military administration said on the Telegram messaging app. Reuters witnesses in Kyiv heard blasts resembling the sound of air defence systems intercepting aerial objects. It was not immediately known how many of the Iranian Shahed drones Russia launched and how many were intercepted. A night earlier, Russia launched 28 drones on Kyiv and the southern port of Odesa, with Ukraine's air defence shooting down 26 of the Shahed drones.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Serhiy Popko, Lidia Kelly, Michael Perry Organizations: NATO, Russian Federation into, Air, Kremlin, Thomson Locations: Russia, Kyiv, Russian Federation into Ukraine, Ukraine, Moscow, Odesa, Vilinius, Melbourne

☆ Russia's Medvedev: NATO's military aid to Ukraine brings World War Three closer
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Sputnik/Yekaterina Shtukina/Pool via REUTERS/File PhotoJuly 12 (Reuters) - Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy secretary of Russia's powerful Security Council chaired by President Vladimir Putin, said late on Tuesday that the increase in military assistance to Ukraine by the NATO alliance brings World War Three closer. World War Three is getting closer," Medvedev wrote on the Telegram messaging app. He also advocated on Tuesday for using the "inhuman weapon" that is cluster munitions after what he said were reports of Ukraine already using it. The U.S. announced it would supply Kyiv with cluster munitions that typically release large numbers of small bomblets over a wide area and are banned by many countries. Russia and Ukraine have previously accused each other of already using cluster munitions in the 500-day war.

Persons: Dmitry Medvedev, Nikolay Pankov, Vladimir Putin, Medvedev, it's, Sergei Shoigu, Lidia Kelly, Stephen Coates Organizations: Deputy, Sputnik, NATO, Ukraine, Kremlin, U.S, Russian, Thomson Locations: Volgograd region, Russia, Ukraine, U.S, Lithuania, Kyiv, Moscow, United States, Melbourne

☆ Russian diplomats berate US, NATO over Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

July 11 (Reuters) - The U.S. is pushing NATO to the "most unfavourable" confrontation with Moscow with the decisions expected from the alliance's summit in Lithuania this week, while Kyiv's allies are "losing" in Ukraine, Russian diplomats said late on Monday. The Kremlin has been angered by the expected solidarity with Ukraine at the NATO summit which starts on Tuesday, saying Kyiv's potential membership in the alliance would be a threat to Russia and Moscow will react clearly and firmly. Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said the United States is preparing anti-Russian decisions at the NATO summit. Konstantin Gavrilov, a Vienna-based Russian diplomat and a senior Russian security negotiator, told the Russian RIA state news agency in an interview the West is "losing" in Ukraine. "Both the United States and NATO understand that time is not working for them.

Persons: Anatoly Antonov, Antonov, Konstantin Gavrilov, Gavrilov, Lidia Kelly, Lincoln Organizations: NATO, Diplomats, Russian Federation, Reuters, Thomson Locations: U.S, Moscow, Lithuania, Ukraine, Russia, Russian, United States, Vilnius, Lithuanian, Vienna, Bakhmut, Melbourne

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