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☆ Ukraine tells Chinese envoy it won't accept ceding land to Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

KYIV, May 17 (Reuters) - Ukraine's foreign minister told a top Chinese envoy at talks in Kyiv on Wednesday that Kyiv would not accept any proposals to end the war with Russia that involved it losing territory or freezing the conflict, the Ukrainian foreign ministry said. Li Hui, China's special representative for Eurasian affairs and former ambassador to Russia, visited Ukraine on Tuesday and Wednesday, and met Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, the ministry said in a statement. The visit is the first to Kyiv by a senior envoy from China, which has burgeoning ties with Russia, since Moscow's full-scale invasion in February 2022. "He stressed that Ukraine did not accept any proposals involving the loss of its territories or the freezing of the conflict," it said. The senior Chinese official's trip to Europe is expected also to include talks in Russia, Poland, France and Germany.

REUTERS/Sofiia GatilovaKYIV, May 17 (Reuters) - Ukraine's military said it had made new advances on Wednesday in heavy fighting near the eastern city of Bakhmut, and that Russia was continuing to send in new units including paratroopers. Moscow sees Bakhmut, a city of about 70,000 before Russia's invasion, as a stepping stone towards capturing the rest of the eastern industrial Donbas region bordering Russia. Ukrainian officials have signalled the advances around Bakhmut are not part of a broader counteroffensive planned by Kyiv to push back the Russian forces. Prigozhin, in an audio statement, appeared to confirm Ukrainian forces now held an advantage in Bakhmut and he newly criticized Russian commanders. "Russian troops have lost the initiative on the flanks - our troops have cut off those flanks," Musiyenko told NV Radio.

☆ Zelenskiy: Ukraine, West can make Russia's defeat 'irreversible' this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KYIV, May 14 (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday that Kyiv and its Western supporters could make Russia's defeat in the war in Ukraine "irreversible" this year, as he thanked Germany for its military support. The Ukrainian leader told a joint news conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin that Kyiv would always be grateful to Germany for its support during Russia's full-scale invasion. "Now is the time for us to determine the end of the war already this year, we can make the aggressor's defeat irreversible already this year," he said. "The war is happening on the territory of our country and so any peace plan will be based on Ukraine's proposals," he said. Reporting by Pavel Polityuk Writing by Tom Balmforth Editing by David GoodmanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Ukraine says it routs Russia brigade, Kremlin admits campaign 'very difficult'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The unit's claim appeared to back up comments by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner private army, who on Tuesday said the Russian brigade had abandoned its positions. "We managed to beat up the Ukrainian military machine quite a bit," said Peskov, citing Russian missile strikes in Ukraine. His comments did not address claims that Russia's 72nd Separate Motor-rifle Brigade had abandoned positions on the southwestern outskirts of Bakhmut. Prigozhin's report about the flight of Russia's 72nd Independent Motorized Rifle Brigade from near Bakhmut and the '500 corpses' of Russians left behind is true." A Russian brigade is typically formed of several thousand troops.

☆ Russian brigade seriously damaged, Bakhmut still Moscow's top target - Kyiv
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

KYIV, May 10 (Reuters) - Ukraine's military said on Wednesday its forces had seriously damaged though not destroyed Russia's 72nd Separate Motor-rifle Brigade near Bakhmut, and that the eastern city remained Moscow's main target. Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesperson for Ukrainian troops in the east, said the situation remained "difficult" in Bakhmut, but that Moscow was increasingly forced to use regular army forces because of heavy losses among the Wagner private army group. Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose private Wagner Group is fighting in Bakhmut, said on Tuesday that the 72nd Separate Motor-rifle Brigade had abandoned its positions. "Unfortunately they have not destroyed the whole (Russian) brigade yet, two companies have been seriously damaged there," Cherevatyi said in televised comments. "The situation (in Bakhmut) remains difficult because for the enemy, despite all the white noise Prigozhin is trying to create, it (Bakhmut) is (still) the main direction of attack, the main coveted target."

☆ Czech president: Ukraine could have our L-159 jets
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PRAGUE, May 10 (Reuters) - The Czech Republic could give Ukraine some of its L-159 fighter jets to support its planned counter-offensive, Czech President Petr Pavel was quoted as saying on Wednesday. "It is worth considering whether we could provide Ukraine with our L-159 aircraft," Pavel told Czech public radio in an interview. "As direct combat support aircraft, (the planes) could also help Ukraine significantly in the counteroffensive," he said. Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte said last week that talks on a potential donation of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine were progressing, but no decision has been made. Slovakia and Poland provided Ukraine with Soviet-era MIG-29 fighter jets in March.

☆ Photos show how Putin massively scaled back his Victory Day celebrations compared to the ostentatious military displays of previous years
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Photos from this year compared to previous years show how much the Victory Day parade has changed:A Soviet T-34 tank during the Victory Day Red Square Parade on May 9, 2023, in Moscow, Russia. Russian tanks in Red Square during the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, May 9, 2021. Armored vehicles drive past the Kremlin after a military parade on Victory Day, with an empty sky, on May 9, 2023. Russian soldiers march toward Red Square to attend a Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 9, 2023. A Russian service member walks across a street before a military parade on Victory Day in Moscow, Russia, on May 9 2023.

May 9 (Reuters) - Russia launched about 15 cruise missiles at Ukraine's capital on Tuesday, the second attack in as many days, with air defence systems shooting all of them down, officials said, after air raid alerts blared over most of the country. "As at the front, the plans of the aggressor failed," Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv's city military administration, said in comments posted on the Telegram messaging app. Tuesday's attacks - the fifth in May - came a day after Russia launched its biggest drone swarm yet in a renewed air campaign unleashed 10 days ago after a lull since early March. "(They) try to kill as many civilians as possible - on this day," Popko said. Falling debris fell on a house in the Holosiivskyi district in the southwest of Kyiv, Kyiv's Mayor Vitalii Klitschko said on his Telegram messaging channel, adding there were no casualties or much damage.

☆ Ukraine says it has alternatives if grain export deal not extended
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KYIV, May 9 (Reuters) - Ukraine has alternative ways of transporting grain if a deal on safe Black Sea exports is not extended on May 18, and would not see that outcome as an "apocalyptic scenario", its agriculture minister said. Ukrainian Black Sea ports were blockaded after Russia's invasion last year, but access to three of them was cleared last July under a deal between Moscow and Kyiv that was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey. The United Nations said on Monday that so far nearly 30 million metric tonnes of grain and foodstuffs had been exported from Ukraine under the Black Sea deal, including nearly 600,000 metric tonnes of grain in World Food Programme vessels for aid operations in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Yemen. Russia's state-owned RIA news agency quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin as saying a high-level four-way meeting on the Black Sea grain deal would take place in Istanbul on May 10-11. Ukraine also exports grain via Danube River ports and has said previously that what is known as the Danube Cluster offers a viable alternative export route.

[1/5] An agricultural worker operates a tractor with a tiller in a field near the village Kyshchentsi, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Cherkasy region, Ukraine May 1, 2023. Around 40 of his 350 workers have signed up to fight in the war, and the replacements he has found lack their experience. Huizinga fears this could mean a fall in grain and milk yields, and with them a drop in his income. His farm, in a village in the rolling hills and green flat plains of the Cherkasy region in central Ukraine, is not the only one losing valued farmhands to the war. Marchuk said farmers were prioritising some employees, bringing in more women workers, recruiting those people displaced by the war and by retraining other workers.

☆ Ukraine says Moscow deploying Wagner fighters to Bakhmut from elsewhere
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Pavel Polityuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KYIV, May 5 (Reuters) - Ukraine said on Friday Russia was bringing Wagner mercenary fighters from other parts of the front line to fight in Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, and that Moscow wanted to capture the city in time for Victory Day celebrations next week. Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said his mercenary forces would pull out of Bakhmut on May 10 because of heavy losses and inadequate ammunition supplies. "We are now seeing them pulling (fighters) from the entire offensive line where the Wagner fighters were, they are pulling (them) to the Bakhmut direction," Maliar said in televised comments. Prigozhin's Wagner mercenaries have spearheaded Russia's months-long assault on Bakhmut in the industrial Donbas region. He has regularly accused Russia's military top brass of incompetence.

Prior to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February last year, Ukraine ran its nuclear reactors on Russian fuel, producing 55% of the country's electricity. Cameco, like Energoatom, can adjust how much uranium it delivers on two years' notice, Kotin said. Contracted uranium prices are typically higher than spot prices, meaning that Cameco may take a discount if Ukraine purchases less uranium due to the war's impact, Carter said. Kotin said Energoatom will buy Cameco's uranium at a price based equally on a fixed price and a market price. BIG POTENTIAL REWARDSWhile Ukraine will rely on Cameco for uranium, it has struck separate deals for further processing.

☆ Moscow says US behind Kremlin drone attack, Russian forces target Kyiv
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Pavel Polityuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov, without providing evidence, said Ukraine had acted on U.S. orders with the alleged drone attack on the Kremlin citadel in the early hours of Wednesday. "Attempts to disown this (attack on the Kremlin), both in Kyiv and in Washington, are, of course, absolutely ridiculous. Separately, Russia's foreign ministry said the alleged drone attack "must not go unanswered" and that it showed Kyiv had no desire to end the 15-month old war at the negotiating table. Russian emergency services quickly extinguished a fire at the Ilsky oil refinery, one of the largest in southern Russia, after a drone attack set product storage facilities ablaze, TASS news agency reported. Reporting by Kyiv, Moscow and Amsterdam buros Writing by Gareth Jones Editing by Nick MacfieOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/5] A firefighter works at the site of a train station hit by a Russian military strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kherson, Ukraine May 3, 2023. Pools of blood and piles of debris lay on the ground outside the Kherson hypermarket, whose entrance had been heavily damaged and cordoned off, Reuters correspondents on the scene said. Russia did not comment on the attacks in Kherson, one of four Ukrainian regions it said it annexed last September. Many windows were smashed at the railway station, and at least two survivors were seen being carried out on stretchers. Regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin on Wednesday announced a curfew in Kherson city to last from Friday evening until Monday morning for "law enforcement" reasons.

☆ Russian commanders now punish misbehaving troops by sticking them in dirt holes covered with metal grilles called 'zindans:' UK intelligence
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The holes in the ground are covered by metal grilles, and are makeshift dungeons called "zindans." Independent Russian media also reported recent cases of Russian troops being held in"zindans." The intelligence update comes several weeks after the independent Russian media outlet Vertska also reported that Russian troops were beaten and placed in "zindans." He pleaded for help from the Russian defense ministry, accusing his commanding officer of being "corrupt." The Russian defense ministry's press service did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment sent outside regular business hours.

☆ Rainy weather hits spring sowing in Ukraine but favours winter crops
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Ukrainian farmers started spring sowing in late February, but only about 1 million hectares of crops were sown by April 21. "Agrometeorological conditions ... were generally unfavourable for field work on tillage and sowing of early spring crops," APK-Inform consultancy quoted forecasters as saying. Ukraine traditionally plants winter wheat, which accounts for more than 95% of the total wheat harvest. Forecasters said that most of the winter wheat crop was in good or perfect condition. Ukraine harvested a record 86 million tonnes of grain in 2021, including 32 million tonnes of wheat, before Russia's invasion of the country.

☆ Enphase Energy second-quarter revenue forecast disappoints, shares fall
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Arshreet Singh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Companies Enphase Energy Inc FollowApril 25 (Reuters) - Enphase Energy Inc (ENPH.O) reported market-beating profit in the first quarter on strong sales in Europe, but forecast second-quarter revenue below Wall Street expectations, sending its shares down as much as 17% in extended trading on Tuesday. The company expects second-quarter revenue between $700 million and $750 million, below analysts' estimate of $773 million, according to Refinitiv data. Enphase in February had expected first-quarter revenue in the range of $700 million to $740 million. Raymond James' Molchanov sees revenue growing in the second half of the year with the second quarter remaining flat. The company in March said shipments of its microinverters from Romania are expected to begin in the second quarter of this year.

☆ NHL roundup: Oilers prevail in OT, level series with Kings
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Kevin Fiala contributed two assists as he made his playoff debut for Los Angeles after missing the past three weeks with a lower-body injury. The Oilers erased a 3-0 deficit by scoring three straight goals in the second period. After winning both games in Sunrise, the Presidents' Trophy winners will try to clinch the series in Boston on Wednesday night. Florida got goals from Tkachuk and Sam Bennett, with the goal by Bennett Florida's first successful power play of the series. Roope Hintz collected three assists for the Stars, giving him eight points (four goals, four assists) in the series.

☆ Russia Evacuates Thousands in Border City It Accidentally Bombed
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Matthew Luxmoore | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A Russian Su-34 jet fighter mistakenly bombed the city of Belgorod near the Ukraine border on Thursday, according to the Defense Ministry. The region’s governor said the explosion left a 66-foot crater and injured three people. Photo: Pavel Kolyadin/Zuma PressRussian authorities on Saturday rushed to evacuate thousands of residents from parts of a border city struck by its own air force in an accidental attack the previous day, after finding unexploded ordnance in the area. Authorities in Belgorod, which sits just 25 miles from the Ukrainian border, said that around 3,000 people who occupied 17 residential buildings were being evacuated.

☆ Russia minted 22 new billionaires last year, even as the West slapped sanctions on the country to try to cripple it financially
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russia minted 22 new billionaires in 2022, per Forbes World's Billionaires List. There are now 105 Russian billionaires worth $474 billion collectively — up from $320 billion on-year. The fortunes of some Russian billionaires have been boosted by high commodity prices. In the US, 735 billionaires saw $200 billion wiped off their collective net worth between March 2022 and 2023, per Forbes. In China, 735 billionaires saw their net worth crash by $300 billion in the same period, per Forbes.

☆ Exclusive: Kazakhstan has ramped up oil exports bypassing Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Pavel MikheyevMOSCOW, April 21 (Reuters) - Kazakhstan ramped up oil exports bypassing Russia in the first quarter of 2023 as it seeks to reduce its dependency on its vast neighbour, data from industry sources and Refinitiv showed. While Kazakh oil exports through the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus are relatively small, they have risen sharply since Moscow began what it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine in February last year. Last year, Kazakhstan's oil exports via routes other than Russia reached 1.8 million tonnes (36,000 barrels per day), up by 638,000 tonnes from 2021. The main, and most profitable, route for oil exports from Kazakhstan remains the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which supplies the global market via a Russian Black Sea terminal. Supplies via CPC dipped 1% last year to 51.99 million tonnes, but they still represented more than 80% of total oil exports from Kazakhstan.

☆ Ukraine appeals to NATO chief for membership and more arms
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Pavel Polityuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NATO has supported Ukraine throughout the war, with member states supplying it with weapons, but Zelenskiy said more were needed. [1/6] NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg visits the Wall of Remembrance to pay tribute to killed Ukrainian soldiers, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine April 20, 2023. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich 1 2 3 4 5"Mr President, I am here today with a simple message: NATO stands with Ukraine," he said. Ukraine announced a bid for fast-track membership of NATO last September after the Kremlin said it had annexed four Ukrainian regions that its troops have partially occupied. The Kremlin reiterated to reporters on a conference call that Moscow opposed NATO admitting Ukraine, a former Soviet republic.

☆ Ukraine says Black Sea grain deal risks being shut down
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Pavel Polityuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KYIV, April 17 (Reuters) - Kyiv said on Monday a U.N.-brokered initiative allowing the safe Black Sea export of Ukrainian grain was in danger of "shutdown" after Russia blocked inspections of participating ships in Turkish waters. Ukrainian Black Sea ports were blockaded after Russia's invasion last year, but access to three of them was cleared last July under a deal between Moscow and Kyiv that was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey. Russia did not respond to Brink's or the ministry's comments, but the Kremlin said prospects for a renewal of the grain deal were "not so bright". Moscow says a separate deal, under which the U.N. agreed to help Russia with its food and fertilizer exports, is not working. "Ukraine categorically rejects Russia's latest demands and opposes its interference in the operation of Ukrainian ports," the ministry said.

KYIV, April 17 (Reuters) - Kyiv will aim to secure the re-opening of food and grain transit via Poland as "a first step" at talks in Warsaw on Monday, Ukraine's agriculture minister said, after Poland and Hungary announced bans on some imports from Ukraine. Poland's ban on grains, in effect since Saturday evening, also applied to transit through the country. Officials have said it is meant to keep grain transport from entering the Polish market. Deliveries to Hungary accounted for around 6% of Ukraine's farm exports, he said, adding that Ukrainian food transit via Hungary and Slovakia was unaffected. Talks between Ukraine and Poland were due to start in Warsaw around 12:00 p.m. (1000 GMT), Polish Agriculture Minister Robert Telus said on TVP Info.

☆ Ukraine brings home 130 military in Easter prisoner exchange
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

KYIV, April 16 (Reuters) - One hundred and thirty Ukrainian prisoners of war have been released and returned home in a "great Easter exchange", a senior Ukrainian presidential official said on Sunday, the day of Orthodox Easter. Ukrainian and Russian forces have held regular prisoner exchanges during Moscow's invasion, now in its 14th month. Yermak said those returning home included military, border guards, national guard members, sailors and employees of the state border guard. The exchange was the second large prisoner swap in the past week. On Monday, Russia and Ukraine said they carried out a major prisoner swap with 106 Russian prisoners of war being freed in exchange for 100 Ukrainians.

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