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☆ Russia war on Ukraine: Ukraine faces retreat without US aid, Zelensky says
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-29 | by ( Mariya Knight | Chris Lau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Ukrainian forces would have to cede further territory to Russia if US military aid does not arrive soon, President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned, in his latest appeal to Congress to pass a multibillion-dollar package. President Joe Biden’s administration is struggling to push a $95 billion international aid package – which includes $60 billion for Ukraine – through the House of Representatives more than month since it was passed in the Senate. Zelensky warned that the lack of aid was urgent, and could endanger Ukraine’s major cities. Meanwhile, Zelensky said, Ukraine is scrambling “to find some way not to retreat.”The goal for Ukraine so far is to keep the frontline situation stable, according to Zelensky. “If the front remains stable, Ukraine can arm and train new brigades in the rear to conduct a new counteroffensive later this year,” he said.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelensky, Joe Biden’s, Zelensky, ”, Vladimir Putin, Putin, keener, Mike Johnson, Ukraine can’t Organizations: CNN, Ukraine –, Patriot, Washington Post, Kyiv, GOP, Ukraine Locations: Ukrainian, Russia, Ukraine, ”, Ukraine’s, Russian, Moscow, Avdiivka, Bakhmut

WASHINGTON (AP) — For over a month, House Speaker Mike Johnson has sat on a funding package that would send desperately needed ammunition and weaponry to Ukraine, mulling how best to gain a grasp of what is expected to be a difficult lift in the House. The Republican speaker has indicated he will attempt to push for approval of tens of billions in wartime funding for Ukraine, as well as Israel, once the House returns in April. “We'll turn our attention to it and we won't delay on that,” the Louisiana representative said of the Ukraine package at a news conference last week. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a far-right Republican from Georgia, has filed a motion to vacate Johnson as speaker and warned him not to put Ukraine funding on the House floor. Before becoming speaker, Johnson was deeply skeptical of approving funding for Ukraine and voted repeatedly against it.

Persons: Mike Johnson, “, Johnson, Gregory Meeks, Marjorie Taylor Greene, ” Greene, ” Johnson, Ronald Reagan, ”, Michael McCaul, Greene, Don Bacon, Shelby Magid Organizations: WASHINGTON, Republican, Ukraine, NATO, Rep, House Foreign Affairs Committee, Capitol, Senate, Kyiv, Republicans, Democrats, Senior Republicans, House Foreign Relations, CBS, House, Eurasia Center, Atlantic Council Locations: Ukraine, Israel, Louisiana, Russia, Kyiv, Georgia, Gaza, Washington, “, Europe

☆ For Many Ukrainians, It’s Been a 10-Year War, Not a 2-Year One
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-23 | by ( Andrew E. Kramer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

They were a ragtag army, fighting with baseball bats, Molotov cocktails and plywood shields. But for Ukrainians, the protesters who faced off with riot police on Kyiv’s main square a decade ago were the first soldiers in a war still raging today. Their portraits now adorn a wall of honor at St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery in Kyiv. They are displayed first, ahead of portraits of soldiers killed in the simmering, eight-year conflict in Ukraine’s east that served as a prelude to Russia’s full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022. And a museum dedicated to the street uprising identifies those who died on the square as the first soldiers killed in the war with Russia.

Persons: Molotov, Viktor F, Yanukovych, Michael’s Organizations: St Locations: Europe, Ukraine, Moscow, Kyiv, Ukraine’s, Russia

☆ Opinion | Putin Has Already Lost
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Rajan Menon | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

As the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine approaches, it has become a commonplace that time favors President Vladimir Putin. For Mr. Putin, more concerned by Ukraine than any other country that arose from the wreckage of the Soviet Union, that alone is tantamount to defeat. If the fundamental purpose of Mr. Putin’s war was to keep Ukraine within Russia’s orbit — politically, culturally and economically — it has had the opposite effect. Ukraine’s leaders and citizens, particularly those from younger generations, have decided that their future lies with the West, not Russia. Everywhere you go, Ukrainians speak Western languages, particularly English, in seemingly ever greater numbers.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Moscow —, Carl von Clausewitz, Putin Organizations: Ukraine Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Moscow, Soviet Union, subordinating

As the war continued to rage in Ukraine’s east, much of its Western border was blocked on Tuesday by another fight, this one with Polish farmers. The farmers have for months been protesting an influx of Ukrainian products that they say is crowding the Polish market and undercutting their livelihood. On Tuesday, they obstructed check points for commercial transportation, halted the passage of about 3,000 Ukrainian trucks and opened some train cars containing Ukrainian grain, spilling it onto the rails. “It’s either us or them,” a Polish farmer said on Tuesday on the Polish TV channel Polsat News. “Someone must be interested in us.”The demonstration prompted a counterprotest in Ukraine, where previous blockades by Polish truckers have hampered the supply chain of goods reaching the country, causing shortages that have begun to affect soldiers on the battlefield.

Persons: It’s, ” Organizations: Polsat Locations: Polish, Ukraine

☆ Ukraine's military is shifting to a defensive strategy that failed Nazi Germany in WWII
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-17 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Ukraine's military has chosen a defensive strategy that echoes the German approach from WWII. AdvertisementAnswering that question first requires defining “active defense,” one of those broad military terms that mean different things to different people. Active defense is meant to be waged by large units, while Ukraine appears to conducting small-unit operations. “Active defense was understood to be generally applicable to divisions, corps and field armies,” Nash said. Even a limited ‘active defense’ needs all of these elements, too.”Last summer, Ukraine’s frontal assault with vehicles hit mines and were menaced by missiles fired from Russian helicopters.

Persons: today’s, Douglas Nash, ” Nash, “, –, Erich von Manstein, von Manstein, von Manstein’s, “ Von Manstein, Ukraine —, Russia —, Diego Herrera Carcedo, Erich Von Manstein, it’s, Von Manstein, Hitler, inflexibly, von Organizations: Third Reich, Red Army, US, US Army, Western Allies, Wehrmacht, Keystone, Getty, German, Reuters, AK, Russo, NATO, West, NATO —, Soviets Locations: Nazi Germany, Ukraine, Russia, today’s Ukraine, Berlin, Stalingrad, Germany, Italy, France, Kharkov, Ukrainian, Donetsk Oblast, Avdiivka, Ukraine’s, It’s, Russian, Warsaw, Western Europe, West Germany

☆ Putin should face war crimes probe over ‘devastating’ assault on Mariupol, major new report finds
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Rob Picheta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Russian forces encircled Mariupol within days of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, before launching a months-long bombardment to break down a stubborn Ukrainian military resistance. The city, which lies on the Sea of Azov in Ukraine’s southeast, saw some of the most intense and vicious fighting of the war. A Russian tank in Mariupol in April 2022, during the peak of the fighting around the city. Even as fighting for the city raged, concerns were rife that Moscow’s forces could conceal evidence of possible war crimes in the city. Russian authorities plan to rebuild the city in Moscow’s image by 2025, with further development by 2035, the HRW report outlined.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Alexander Ermochenko, Ida Sawyer, “, ”, Putin, Sawyer, Valentina Ryabokrys, Mariupol, ” Sawyer Organizations: CNN, Human Rights Watch, Reuters, International Criminal Court, ICC, Russian, Kremlin Locations: Ukrainian, Mariupol, Ukraine, Azov, Ukraine’s, Russian, Russia, Moscow, Moscow’s, Nazi, ”

The Ukrainian soldier stared at the Russian tank. It was destroyed over a year ago in the country’s east and now sat far from the front line. The soldier was not there for the tank’s engine or turret or treads. The metal would be cut and strapped as protection to Ukrainian armored personnel carriers defending the embattled town of Avdiivka, around 65 miles away. The need to cannibalize a destroyed Russian vehicle to help protect Ukraine’s dwindling supply of equipment underscores Kyiv’s current challenges on the battlefield as it prepares for another year of pitched combat.

Locations: Ukrainian, Avdiivka, Russian

☆ AI defined 2023. Bullets and ballots will shape 2024
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( Simon Robinson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

In that spirit, I asked OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard – two of the most popular generative AI tools – to do the job for me. It missed the war between Hamas and Israel. In 2024, expect more progress and more news on regulators scrambling to keep up. Next year will also be defined by bullets and ballots. Like many newsrooms, Reuters is experimenting with how AI can help us package, produce and deliver our journalism.

Persons: OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Bard –, ChatGPT, “, ”, Bard, –, Donald Trump, Narendra Modi, machismo, Claudia Sheinbaum, Vladimir Putin, Joseph Stalin’s, What’s, Taylor, Edward Tobin Organizations: United Nations, Gaza Health Ministry, Brussels –, Ukraine –, Washington, U.S, Mexico City, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Gaza, Ukrainian, Ukraine’s, Washington, Brussels, Moscow, Kyiv, Beijing, Taiwan, U.S, India, Mexico, United States

CNN —The eastern Ukrainian town of Avdiivka is increasingly becoming a flashpoint in the conflict, where fighting remains intense even when the front lines have barely moved for months. Russia appears to have made tactical advances in the outskirts of the embattled town as Ukraine claims it is inflicting heavy losses on assaulting troops. Here is what you need to know about the past week in Ukraine. Defensive fortifications will be bolstered along all of Ukraine’s northern territory which borders Belarus and Russia. Ukraine claims defensive actions in and around the town are inflicting heavy losses on Russian troops and equipment.

Persons: Zelensky, Volodymyr Zelensky, ”, “, Vitalii, Jens Stoltenberg, ” Stoltenberg, chief’s, Marianna Budanova, GUR, Kyrylo Budanov, Andriy Yusov, Russia —, — Organizations: CNN, Analysts, Ukrainian, Russian, Ukrainian Security Service, Russian Railway, NATO Locations: Ukrainian, Avdiivka, Russia, Ukraine, Donetsk, Kupiansk, Kharkiv, Belarus, Kherson, Russian, Dnipro, Ukraine’s, CNN Ukraine, Buryatia, Siberia, Mongolia, North Korea, China, Finland, Helsinki, Brussels, Turkey, Soviet Union

☆ Surviving Winter in a Decimated Ukrainian Village
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-24 | by ( Emile Ducke | Thomas Gibbons-Neff | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Winter in Ukraine’s eastern steppe brings an inescapable cold. The wind blowing through damaged homes, the shattered windows, the chill in your bones — it feels as if it will be permanent. But winter is still weeks away. For a handful of families who live in a string of destroyed villages along what was once the front line near the city of Izium, these dwindling fall days are all the time they have to prepare for seasonal survival.

Locations: Izium

Ukrainian forces say they have have “gained a foothold” on the left (eastern) bank of the Dnipro River in southern Ukraine. In March, EU member states agreed to provide Ukraine with 1 million rounds of artillery ammunition for Ukraine to be delivered within 12 months. Both Ukraine and Russia need to replenish extraordinary amounts of ammunition as a grinding war of attrition continues in Ukraine’s east and south. Sergei Khadzhikurbanov, pictured in court in 2014, has received a presidential pardon after doing a stint fighting in Ukraine. The visit was previously unannounced and comes amid concerns that the Israel-Gaza conflict will divert international attention from the war in Ukraine.

Persons: “, Vladimir Saldo, Pilipey, Saldo, ” Boris Pistorius, Pistorius, Josep Borrell, Dimitar Dilkoff, Anna Politkovskaya, Vladimir Putin, Sergey Khadzhikurbanov, Politkovskaya, Khadzhikurbanov’s, Alexey Mikhalchik, Putin, ” Mikhalchik, Khadzhikurbanov, ”, Sergei Khadzhikurbanov, Pavel Golovkin, David Cameron, Zelensky, ” Cameron, Cameron, ” Cameron –, Alexandra Skochilenko, Skochilenko “ Organizations: CNN —, Defense Forces, CNN, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, Getty, Novaya Gazeta, Russian Ministry of Defense, Khadzhikurbanov, AP, Armed Forces, Russian Federation Locations: CNN — Ukraine, Dnipro, Kyiv, Germany, Ukraine, Kherson, Russia, Russian, AFP, Krynky, Crimea, Brussels, EU, Ukraine’s, South, North Korea, Moscow, British, Israel, Gaza, St, Petersburg, St . Petersburg, Skochilenko

“It can be assumed that the 1 million rounds will not be reached,” Boris Pistorius said ahead of an EU defense ministers meeting in Brussels. In March, EU member states agreed to provide Ukraine with 1 million rounds of artillery ammunition for Ukraine to be delivered within 12 months. The US has also been ramping up ammunition production to supply Ukraine. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Kyiv urgently needed the EU to ramp up its ability to supply ammunition for the Ukrainian military. Ukraine is “ringing the bells a lot and loudly” over EU ammunition supply, he said on national television on Monday night.

Persons: ” Boris Pistorius, Pistorius, Josep Borrell, Borrell, Boris Pistorius, Omar Havana, Dmytro Kuleba, “, ”, ” Nick Witney, Tom Waldwyn, Waldwyn Organizations: CNN, EU, German, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, Ukraine’s, European Council, Foreign Relations, International Institute for Strategic Studies Locations: Ukraine, Kyiv, Russia, Brussels, EU, Ukraine’s, South, North Korea, Europe

Meanwhile, a blast in Russian-occupied territory in Luhansk, eastern Ukraine, killed a pro-Moscow official, with a Ukrainian intelligence agency taking credit for the assassination. The Black Sea frontUkrainian Defense Intelligence (GUR) claimed it hit two small Russian naval vessels in the Black Sea on Friday, its latest display of Ukraine’s ability to hit Russian targets in occupied Crimea. “Two Russian landing craft have been hit with Ukrainian sea drones near Chernomorske, Crimea,” Andriy Yusov, a representative of GUR, said in comments to CNN. Ukraine Defence Intelligence released grainy, grayscale video showing what it claims is the moment of its srikes on Russian navy vessels in the Black sea. Kyiv has also focused on breaking Russia’s dominance in Ukraine’s territorial Black Sea waters.

Persons: GUR, ” Andriy Yusov, Vlada, Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, Mikhail Filiponenko, Igor Kornet, Ursula von der Leyen, John Thys, Volodymyr Zelensky, ”, Ursula von der, “ Organizations: CNN, Moscow, Ukrainian Defense Intelligence, CNN . Defence Intelligence, Ukraine Defence Intelligence, Ukrainian Ministry of Defense CNN, Liberian, Operational Command, UN, Police, Getty, Tavria, Forces, Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence, People’s Militia, Luhansk People’s, Defense Intelligence, Russian, European Union, EU, NATO Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Ukraine’s, Crimea, Luhansk, Ukrainian, “, Chernomorske, ”, Russian, Kyiv, Moscow, Odesa, Avdiivka, Donetsk, Luhansk People’s Republic, AFP, Europe

☆ Russia says it shot down 36 Ukrainian drones as fighting grinds on in Ukraine’s east
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-29 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A satellite image shows smoke billowing from Russian Black Sea navy headquarters after a missile strike, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in Sevastopol, Crimea, on Sept. 22, 2023. Russian air defense shot down over 30 Ukrainian drones over the Black Sea and the Crimean peninsula overnight Saturday, Russia's Defense Ministry said Sunday. "The air defense systems in place destroyed 36 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the Black Sea and the northwestern part of the Crimean peninsula," the ministry wrote on Telegram. Local authorities in the southern Krasnodar region bordering the Black Sea said that a fire broke out at an oil refinery in the early hours of Sunday, but did not specify the cause. In Ukraine, the country's air force said Sunday it had shot down five Iranian-made Shahed exploding drones launched by Russia overnight.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Vyacheslav Volodin, Volodin, Ursula von der Leyen Organizations: Russia's Defense, Telegram . Local, Russia, Russian, UK Ministry, European Union, State Duma, European, Russian Federation Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Sevastopol, Crimea, Crimean, Krasnodar, Moscow, Siversk, Donetsk province, British, Russia, Avdiivka, Donetsk, Kyiv, Belgium, Europe

☆ Kyiv: Touting American-made guns, frontline Ukrainian soldiers fear potential loss of US military support
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( Vasco Cotovio Frederik Pleitgen Daniel Hodge Kostyantin Gak | Vasco Cotovio | Frederik Pleitgen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Donetsk region, Ukraine CNN —A Ukrainian solider rushes through the front-line in Klishchiivka, eastern Ukraine, as gun and artillery fire erupt around him. A Ukrainian soldier practices with an American-donated machine gun at a training ground in eastern Ukraine. Vasco Cotovio/CNNUnfazed by the artillery duels just a few miles away, over the battered city of Bakhmut, Vasyl, 44, practices with a US-made M2 Browning machine gun. “This is a large-caliber machine gun that works without failures,” said Vasyl, who asked that his last name not be used due to safety concerns. Back at the Ukrainian military training ground, smoke billows on the horizon but a momentary silence suggests an end to the artillery duel in the distance.

Persons: Panting, United States —, Joe Biden, Vasco Cotovio, ”, Vasyl, “, Oleksiy Danilov, Vladimir, Putin, ” Danilov, it’s Organizations: Ukraine CNN —, Russian, United, Ukraine, CNN, Ukraine’s National, US Locations: Donetsk, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Klishchiivka, American, Belgian, United States, Kyiv, Washington, Bakhmut, Soviet

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania have agreed on a plan they hope will help expedite Ukrainian grain exports, officials said Tuesday, with needy countries beyond Europe potentially benefitting from speedier procedures. The move seeks to facilitate the transit of Ukrainian exports through Polish territory, the statement said, without providing further details. While the stated goal is to hasten Ukrainian grain exports, the agreement may also help defuse tensions over grain prices between Ukraine and Poland a time when some international support for Kyiv's efforts to throw back Russia's invasion may be fraying. That has left more expensive overland routes through Europe as the main path for Ukraine’s exports. Sealed freight has helped combat that problem, and sending Ukrainian grain straight to the Lithuanian port may also be an answer.

Persons: ___ Monika Scislowska, Yuras Organizations: —, Farmers, European Union, World Trade Organization, EU Locations: KYIV, Ukraine, — Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, Europe, Lithuanian, Baltic, Klaipeda, Russia, Hungary, Slovakia, Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Warsaw, Tallinn, Estonia, russia, ukraine

☆ Poland says it will stop arming Ukraine. How did we get here – and what does it mean for the war?
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( Rob Picheta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Poland’s decision was both sudden and predictable, coming after months of tensions over a temporary ban on Ukrainian grain imports to a number of European Union countries. “We no longer transfer weapons to Ukraine because we are now arming Poland,” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said in a blunt social media statement on Wednesday. But three nations – Poland, Hungary and Slovakia – said they intended to defy the change and keep the restrictions in place. They are particularly suffering in their stronghold rural regions in eastern Poland, where agriculture is an important economic pillar. The urgency of the war to Poland has also slipped over the course of year.

Persons: Mateusz Morawiecki, Morawiecki, Piotr Muller, CNN Muller, Slovakia –, Alexander Ermochenko, Volodymyr Zelensky, Zelensky, ”, Mateusz, Beata Zawrzel, PiS, Vladimir Putin Organizations: London CNN, European Union, NATO, Ukrainian, CNN, EU, European Commission, Reuters, UN, Assembly, Ukraine, Law, Justice, Confederation, Kyiv Locations: Kyiv, Russia, Poland’s, Poland, Ukraine, Polish, United States, Soviet, Warsaw, Slovakia, Hungary, Europe, Zaporizhzhia, Russian, New York, Moscow, Ukrainian, Germany, Ukraine’s

☆ Russian Strike on Ukrainian City Kills 17
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-07 | by ( Anastasiia Malenko | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

CCTV captured the moment a Russian attack hit a market in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region. Photo: Evgeniy Maloletka/Associated PressAt least 17 people were killed and over 30 injured in a Russian aerial attack on a shopping district in the eastern city of Kostyantynivka, the worst such attack in recent weeks and a fresh sign that Russia is singling out towns near the front lines used by both civilians and Ukrainian soldiers.

Persons: Evgeniy Organizations: Associated Press Locations: Donetsk, Kostyantynivka, Russia, Ukrainian

☆ Ukrainian intercepts show Russian soldiers’ anger at losses, disarray
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

Story contains strong languageUkraine’s counteroffensive was in its second month when Andrey, a Russian soldier, called his wife to say his unit was taking heavy casualties. The expletive-laden intercepts, shared with Reuters by a Ukrainian intelligence source, provide a rare - albeit partial - glimpse into the conditions of some Russian soldiers as Kyiv prosecuted a major counteroffensive, which started in early June, two military analysts told Reuters. Ukraine has acknowledged that its efforts to recapture territory have been hindered by vast Russian minefields and well-prepared defensive lines. The Ukrainian intelligence source said they illustrated the challenges facing Russian soldiers but did not elaborate on how the recordings were selected. In the excerpts, several soldiers used profane language to describe Russian units that had taken heavy casualties and had been unable to retrieve their wounded.

Persons: Andrey, ” Andrey, “, Neil Melvin, Vladimir Putin, SBU, ” Maxim, Anna, Kupiansk, Maxim, Putin, ”, Elena, Alexei, “ Everyone’s, Dmitry Medvedev, Tom Balmforth, Filipp Lebedev, Eve Watling, Daniel Flynn Organizations: Security Service of Ukraine, Reuters, International Security, Royal United Services Institute, Russia’s Defence Ministry, Ukrainian General Staff, Lyman, Russia’s 52nd Regiment, U.S . Defence Intelligence Agency, “, ” Reuters, Russian Security Council Locations: Russian, Soviet, Soviet Union, Ukraine, Russia, London, Irkutsk, Russia’s, Afghanistan, Rubizhne, Ukraine’s, Luhansk

☆ Ukrainian Commander Urges More Defenses in the Northeast
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-26 | by ( Thomas Gibbons-Neff | More About Thomas Gibbons-Neff | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Russian forces have managed to push forward around the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kupiansk in recent weeks as Kyiv’s forces have made slow headway in their continuing counteroffensive in the south and the east. Russia’s gains, while not significant, have led Ukrainian forces to dedicate some troops to defend parts of the sprawling front line, which stretches for several hundred miles, despite their need elsewhere. “Enemy units continue to inflict damage with artillery, mortars and aircraft,” the general, Oleksandr Syrsky, the commander of Ukraine’s eastern forces, said on the Telegram messaging app on Friday. Under the Pentagon’s reasoning, Kyiv should have committed an outsize number of forces on one portion of the front line to attempt a breakthrough. Ukrainian commanders have instead tried to divide troops and firepower in a manner that they consider to be as fair and as equal as possible between the east and south.

Persons: Oleksandr Syrsky Organizations: “, The New York Times Locations: Kyiv, Washington, Ukraine, Russia, Ukrainian, Kupiansk

CNN —Ukraine has passed legislation moving its official Christmas holiday to December 25, further distancing itself from the traditions of the Putin-aligned Russian Orthodox Church, which celebrates the holiday on January 7. A branch of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine allowed its churches to celebrate Christmas on December 25 last year. Ukraine’s main Greek Catholic church said in February it was moving to a new calendar to celebrate Christmas on December 25 as well. In December, the Ukrainian government launched a poll asking citizens whether the date for Christmas should be moved to December 25. They added that they celebrated Christmas on December 25 last year and felt they would “quickly adapt.”“Ukraine should be a civilized European country,” Alla said.

Persons: Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine “, “, Kirill, Alla, Oksana, ” Alla, ” Vitalina, Pavlo, ” Pavlo, Tetyana Organizations: CNN, Church, ”, Orthodox, of, Catholic, Ukrainian Locations: Ukraine, ” Ukraine, Russia, Crimea, Donbas, Moscow, Christianity, of Ukraine, Ukraine’s, Ukrainian, Zaporizhzhia, Lviv, Kyiv, Europe

Image Mr. Prigozhin and President Vladimir Putin at one of Mr. Prigozhin’s factories in St. Petersburg in 2010. Mr. Prigozhin accused the Russian military of attacking his forces, vowed to retaliate, on Friday. In an earlier videotaped speech, Mr. Prigozhin did not explicitly impugn Mr. Putin, instead casting him as a leader being misled by his officials. But, during the battle for Bakhmut, Mr. Prigozhin also emerged as a populist political figure, excoriating Russia’s military leadership for corruption. Others theorized that the Kremlin had orchestrated Mr. Prigozhin’s tirades against Mr. Shoigu, the defense minister, to deflect blame from Mr. Putin himself.

Persons: Yevgeny V, Vladimir V, Putin, Prigozhin, Wagner, Mr, ” Gen, Vladimir Alekseyev, ” Mr, Prigozhin’s Wagner, Russia’s, ’, “, ”, GOH, Volodymyr Zelensky, Mykhailo Podolyak, Adam Hodge, Vladimir Putin, —, Sergei K, Shoigu, Dmitri S, diatribes, excoriating, Prigozhin’s, Igor Girkin, Girkin, ” Julian E, Barnes, Cassandra Vinograd Organizations: Russian, ., Reuters, Russian Defense Ministry, Russia’s, Defense Ministry, Telegram, Twitter, National Security, Associated Press, Bakhmut, Kremlin Locations: Ukraine, Moscow, Rostov, Don, Russia, White, St . Petersburg, St, Petersburg, Syria, Africa, Ukrainian, Bakhmut, Prigozhin, Russian, Ukraine’s, “

☆ Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia: Russian accounts admit Ukrainian forces are making some gains in heavy fighting
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Tim Lister Josh Pennington Maria Kostenko Helen Regan | Tim Lister | Josh Pennington | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The channel said Monday that Ukrainian forces were trying to take higher ground to “create conditions for advancing,” and assessed that their aim was to advance toward the Russian-occupied hub of Staromlynivka. CNN cannot independently verify battlefield reports and other accounts paint a gloomier picture for Russian forces around Makarivka. Ukrainian deputy defense minister Maliar said Monday that Makarivka was one of seven villages recaptured by Ukrainian forces in the past week. Meanwhile, one of the most prominent Russian bloggers, Voenkor Kotenok, said late Monday that a senior Russian officer was killed as troops of Russia’s Fifth Army were forced to leave Makarivka. ‘Ultimate goal’In his nightly address Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the fighting in the Donetsk-Zaporizhzhia border region is tough but Ukrainian forces are recapturing territory.

Persons: Kryvyi Rih, Oleksandr Vilkul, Hanna Maliar, Kyiv’s, Vladimir Rogov, ” Rogov, Anatolii Stepanov, ”, Rogov, Maliar, Makarivka, “, Neskuchne, Voenkor Kotenok, Voenkor, Sergei Goryachev, Goryachev, WarGonzo, Volodymyr Zelensky, ” Zelensky, Igor Zhovkva, ” Zhovkva Organizations: CNN, Air, Saturday, Russian Telegram, ”, Getty, Makarivka, 127th Division, Donetsk, “, Donetsk ”, Russia’s Fifth Army, Staff, Arms Army, Russian Defense Ministry, United Group of Forces, Ukrainian Ground Forces Locations: Ukraine’s, Donetsk, Russian, Ukrainian, Kryvyi, Moscow, Velyka, Ukraine, Russia, Urozhaine, Staromlynivka, Zaporizhzhia, AFP, Makarivka, ”, Orikhiv, Crimea

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