DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ This Ukrainian woman refused to let the Russian invasion destroy her small business
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Stephanie Stacey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Before Russia's invasion, her retail business It's Craft operated out of a warehouse in Nova Kakhovka — a small, strategically-significant city in the Kherson region of Ukraine. In April, Viktoria fled her home in Nova Kakhovka and reestablished herself — and her online store — in a new city. Now, she told Insider, business is booming — and sales have even outstripped pre-war figures. It all happened very fastIt was only after a lot of hesitation that Viktoria and Pavlo finally decided to flee Nova Kakhovka. Hardened resolveBefore escaping Nova Kakhovka, Viktoria had applied to the Ukrainian Social Venture Fund to seek financial support for relaunching and relocating It's Craft.

☆ Ukraine war: major developments since Russia's invasion
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Following are some of the major developments in Europe's biggest conflict since World War Two. Russian forces made slow, steady gains in a phase of the conflict that inflicted a heavy toll on both sides. UKRAINE COUNTER-ATTACKSAs the war churned on, the United States and Europe began giving Ukraine increasingly powerful and longer-range weaponry and used sanctions to try to hamper Russia's military machine. In early September, Ukrainian forces reeled off surprising gains in the northeastern Kharkiv region, wresting back the sole rail hub supplying Russia's regional front line. Joyous residents feted the return of Ukrainian forces, though the city remains subject to Russian shelling.

☆ Ukraine war live updates: Ukrainian children sent to Russian 're-education' camps, study says; UK dampens fighter jet hopes
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Heavy shelling in eastern Ukraine continues, with Kherson, Bakhmut and Donetsk reporting multiple injuries and at least one death. A new report from the Conflict Observatory, in partnership with Yale University's Humanitarian Research Lab, alleges Russia has forced more than 6,000 Ukrainian children into "re-education" camps. The report, titled "Russia's systematic program for the re-education and adoption of Ukraine's children," outlines what it calls the Kremlin's systematic efforts to abduct children, prevent their return to Ukraine and "re-educate" them to become pro-Russia. Meanwhile, NATO members are in Brussels for their last day of talks, during which they pledged to continue support for Ukraine. Still, despite months of pleas from Kyiv for fighter jets, getting them appears unlikely.

☆ A year into war, Ukraine's Zelenskiy defies Putin against the odds
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Tom Balmforth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

[1/4] Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy sings the national anthem during his visit in Kherson, Ukraine November 14, 2022. Nor does Russian President Vladimir Putin, who launched his "special military operation" in Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022 and appears to be preparing for a long war. They underestimated his leadership qualities," said Volodymyr Fesenko, a Kyiv-based analyst who said Putin misjudged Zelenskiy. "(Putin) prepared a special operation not a full-fledged war ... because he thought Zelenskiy and the Ukrainian army were weak and that they would not be able to put up lengthy resistance. Anton Grushetsky, deputy director of the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, put public trust in Zelenskiy at 70% to 80%.

☆ Zelenskiy urges speedy help from allies as Russia pounds Ukraine's east
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Pavel Polityuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Much of Russia's artillery fire was focused on Bakhmut, a bombed-out city in Donetsk province and a principal target for President Vladimir Putin. Zelenskiy said Russia was in a hurry to achieve as much as it could with its latest push before Ukraine and its allies could gather strength. Speed saves people's lives, speed brings back security, and I thank all our partners who realize that speed is important." Russian forces had made incremental progress in their assault on Bahkmut, White House spokesperson John Kirby said. Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin said Russian forces would not be able to capture the town anytime soon.

☆ Top US general says Russia has already 'lost' the Ukraine war and has paid an 'enormous price on the battlefield'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Gen. Mark Milley said Russia has "lost" in Ukraine as the war approaches the one-year mark. The top US general ripped into Moscow for launching an unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, emphasizing that Russia has paid an "enormous price on the battlefield" as a consequence. In short, Russia has lost — they've lost strategically, operationally, and tactically," Milley added. But Russian forces failed in that objective as Ukrainian troops put up a far stiffer resistance than expected. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has warned that Putin is unfazed by the high rate of casualties and is vying to overwhelm Ukrainian forces with sheer numbers.

☆ Elon Musk and astronaut Scott Kelly debate use of Starlink in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Michael Sheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Comments by SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell last week reignited the debate around how the company's Starlink hardware and service should be used in the Ukrainian conflict – leading CEO Elon Musk and high-profile former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly to weigh in. Kelly on Saturday called on Musk to "restore the full functionality of your Starlink satellites." In a roundtable conversation after her remarks, Shotwell said that Ukraine using Starlink as a communications system "for the military is fine." She specifically noted reports about Ukraine using Starlink "on drones." Ukrainian soldiers have described using Starlink to connect drones and identify and destroy enemy targets, the Times of London reported in March 2022.

☆ A big bang or a grinding assault? What to expect from Russia's new offensive in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Russian citizens recruited as part of partial mobilization attend combat training in the training spots of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) as Russia-Ukraine war continues in Donetsk, Ukraine on October 05, 2022. Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty ImagesA renewed Russian offensive in the east of Ukraine is underway. Over the weekend, Russian forces shelled Ukrainian cities like Nikopol, a city in the southeastern Dnipropetrovsk region, where one person was reportedly killed. Ukrainian servicemen make a trench near Bakhmut on Feb. 1, 2023, as they prepare for a Russian offensive in the area. Shea, who was deputy assistant secretary general for emerging security challenges at NATO until 2018, said he did not expect a big bang start to the offensive.

☆ Analysis: Kremlin moves to rein in Russian mercenary boss Prigozhin
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Andrew Osborn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

"The position of the (Kremlin) political bloc is not to let him into politics. Prigozhin told a Russian interviewer on Friday that he had "zero" political ambitions. Markov, who described Prigozhin as extremely confrontational, said he believed Putin had told Prigozhin to halt public criticism of the top brass at a St Petersburg meeting around Jan. 14. It advised recipients to stop mentioning Prigozhin or Wagner and suggested generic phrases to describe his forces instead. After years of denials, Prigozhin stepped out of the shadows in September to admit he had founded Wagner in 2014.

☆ Ukrainian troops equipped with devastating HIMARS are waiting for US targeting data before firing on Russian forces, officials say
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Chris Panella | Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ukrainian troops usually won't fire their HIMARS without targeting data from the US, officials said. The US-provided HIMARS have been a key weapon for Ukrainian forces throughout the war. According to a senior Ukrainian official who spoke to the Post, the targeting process often involves Ukrainian forces identifying a Russian target, requesting more accurate coordinates from US partners, and then waiting to receive said coordinates. In one particular noteworthy incident from earlier this year, Ukrainian troops used their HIMARS to carry out a deadly strike on Russian positions in the eastern occupied city of Makiivka. The attack left scores of Russian troops dead and triggered widespread criticism of Moscow's military leadership.

For much of the winter, the war in Ukraine settled into a slow-moving but exceedingly violent fight along a jagged 600-mile-long frontline in the southeast. Now, both Ukraine and Russia are poised to go on the offensive. They are looking for vulnerabilities, hoping to exploit gaps, and setting the stage for what Ukraine warns could be Moscow’s most ambitious campaign since the start of the war. Ukraine must now defend against the Russian assault without exhausting the resources it needs to mount an offensive of its own. President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has given an order to take all of the Donbas region by March, Ukrainian intelligence says.

[1/2] The remains of the Ninel Hotel, a hotel taken over by Russian security officials that was hit by the Ukrainian military on October 5, are seen in downtown Kherson, Ukraine November 17, 2022. Ukraine's SBU and Russia's FSB did not respond to requests for comment on Dollar’s account or other partisan operations. Pavlo Zaporozhets served in the Ukrainian army from 2014-17 and joined Ukraine's GUR military intelligence during the occupation of Kherson, Ladin said. While some details about the FSB account were true, Ladin said, the FSB falsely accused Zaporozhets of deliberately targeting civilians as well as the night patrol. Despite the liberation of Kherson, Dollar said he and Kosatka would continue aiding the resistance until Ukrainian troops recover Crimea, where the couple owns an apartment.

☆ US allies bordering Russia are buying up HIMARS, weapons that have devastated Putin's forces in Ukraine, and longer-range rockets and missiles for them
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The US State Department has approved the sale of HIMARS launchers, missiles, and rockets to Poland. The country is among several other US allies bordering Russia that have sought to obtain this capability. The HIMARS has proven to be a highly effective weapon for Ukraine, which has used the system to devastate Russian forces on the battlefield. With this sale, Poland would become the latest eastern European country that borders Russia to secure the much-celebrated HIMARS. The State Department last year approved a sale of HIMARS to Estonia, which borders mainland Russia.

☆ Russia: NATO involvement in Ukraine threatens 'unpredictable' escalation
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 7 (Reuters) - Russia's defence minister said on Tuesday that Western arms supplies to Ukraine were effectively dragging NATO into the conflict, warning this could lead to an "unpredictable" escalation. "To do this, they have started supplying heavy offensive weapons, openly urging Ukraine to seize our territories. In fact, such steps are dragging NATO countries into the conflict and could lead to an unpredictable level of escalation." WESTERN ARMSMoscow has repeatedly accused the West and NATO military alliance of playing a direct role in the Ukraine conflict by supplying arms to Kyiv, and has warned that NATO weapons are "legitimate targets" for its armed forces. Shoigu also said on Tuesday that military operations near Vuhledar and the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine - where Russia has intensified its offensive - were "progressing well".

Zelenskiy says he needs to show that Ukraine was a safe steward of billions of dollars of Western military and other aid. Ukrainian aircraft have launched nine strikes on areas of concentration of Russian forces and two anti-aircraft positions, it said. Arakhamia had said the 37-year-old head of military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, would replace Reznikov, who would become minister of strategic industries. One obstacle to replacing Reznikov with Budanov, a fast-rising officer decorated for operations that remain secret, is a rule requiring the defence minister to be a civilian. Ukraine said on Monday evening that Russian forces had trained tank, mortar and artillery fire there in the past 24 hours.

☆ Dozens of soldiers freed in Russia-Ukraine prisoner swap
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Dozens of Russian and Ukrainian prisoners of war have returned home following a prisoner swap, officials on both sides said Saturday. Top Ukrainian presidential aide Andriy Yermak said in a Telegram post that 116 Ukrainians were freed. Russian defense officials, meanwhile, announced that 63 Russian troops had returned from Ukraine following the swap, including some "special category" prisoners whose release was secured following mediation by the United Arab Emirates. Two people were killed and 14 others wounded in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region by Russian shelling and missile strikes, local Gov. Elsewhere, regional Ukrainian officials reported overnight shelling by Russia of border settlements in the northern Sumy region, as well as the town of Marhanets, which neighbors the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

☆ Ukraine, Russia swap prisoners; bodies of British volunteers returned
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 4 (Reuters) - Ukraine and Russia traded almost 200 prisoners of war in a swap announced separately by both sides on Saturday, with the bodies of two British volunteers also being sent back to Ukraine. The Ukrainian president's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said 116 Ukrainians had been returned, while Russian news agencies cited Moscow's defence ministry saying 63 Russian POWs had been freed. Yermak also said the bodies of British volunteer aid workers Andrew Bagshaw and Chris Parry had been sent back to Ukraine. Bagshaw and Parry were killed during an attempted humanitarian evacuation in eastern Ukraine in January, Parry's family has previously said. Russia's Defence Ministry said the released Russian servicemen included "sensitive category" persons, whose exchange was made possible through the mediation of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to agencies.

☆ Russia has committed more than 65,000 war crimes in Ukraine, prosecutor general says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Amanda Macias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

War crime prosecutor of Kharkiv Oblast stands with forensic technician and policeman at the site of a mass burial in a forest during exhumation on September 16, 2022 in Izium, Ukraine. WASHINGTON – Ukraine's Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said Wednesday that regional authorities have registered more than 65,000 Russian war crimes since Moscow's conflict began nearly a year ago. The conflict has shown few signs of ending soon, even as local and international officials try to probe potential crimes committed over recent months in Ukraine. Because potential war crimes cross a range of jurisdictions, the International Criminal Court cannot prosecute them, or heads of state such as Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russia has repeatedly denied that its troops have committed war crimes or deliberately targeted civilians.

Asked if the United States would provide the jets, Biden told reporters at the White House on Monday, "No." The Russian state news agency TASS quoted him as saying Russian forces were making advances there, but "not clear-cut, that is, here there is a battle for literally every meter." Ukraine still controls Maryinka and Vuhledar, where Russian attacks were less intense on Monday, according to Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov. In central Zaporizhzhia region and in southern Kherson region, Russian forces shelled more than 40 settlements. Zelenskiy is urging the West to hasten delivery of its promised weapons so Ukraine can go on the offensive.

☆ Ukraine calls for faster weapons supplies as Russia presses eastern offensive
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

We have to speed up events, speed up supplies and open up new weapons options for Ukraine." Three people were killed and six injured on Sunday by Russian strikes on Kherson that damaged a hospital and a school, the regional administration said. Russian troops had occupied Kherson shortly after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and held the city until Ukrainian forces recaptured it in November. Russia on Saturday accused the Ukrainian military of deliberately striking a hospital in a Russian-held area of eastern Ukraine, killing 14 people. Russia says it launched its "special military operation" in Ukraine to fend off a hostile West and "denazify" the country.

Behind the decision to sharply step up Western military aid to Ukraine lies a worry in some Western capitals that time might be on Russia’s side. That concern suggests the window for Ukraine isn’t indefinite and it needs powerful Western weapons—main battle tanks, other armored vehicles and more air-defense systems—soon to reinforce the momentum it achieved in offensive successes around Kyiv, Kharkiv and Kherson last year.

☆ Crimea is shaping up to be the battleground that will decide the Russia-Ukraine war
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Crimea is poised to be the next big battlefield, and one that could decide the Ukraine war. "The decisive terrain for this war is Crimea," Ben Hodges, a former commander of US Army Europe, told Insider. Ukraine will "never be safe or secure" if Russia retains control of Crimea, Hodges siad. The fight to retake Crimea could be extremely bloody, in a war that's already led to massive casualties for both sides. President of UkraineUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has pledged to expel Russian forces out of all occupied territory, including Crimea.

☆ 'Fast-track' talks are underway between Ukraine and Western allies for missiles and planes
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Ukraine and its Western allies are engaged in "fast-track" talks on the possibility of equipping the invaded country with long-range missiles and military aircraft, a top Ukrainian presidential aide said Saturday. Orban has refused to send weapons to neighboring Ukraine and sought to block EU funds earmarked for military aid. Amid news of the coordinated effort, Russia bombarded Ukraine with missiles, exploding drones and artillery shells. The attacks continued Saturday when Russian missiles struck the city of Kostyantynivka in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk province. In a separate Telegram post earlier Saturday, Kyrylenko reported that Russian attacks in the province killed four civilians in all and wounded seven others in 24 hours.

“There have been about 1,300 Russian tank losses … so the actual numbers of new tanks [for Ukraine] in a military sense are not that significant. There’s a lot of Ukraine and 20, 30, 40 tanks does not go that far,” said Ronald Ti, an expert in military logistics at King’s College, London. Nevertheless, the move to create a new “tank coalition,” as some officials called it, has been widely welcomed in Ukraine. Zelenskyy has said Ukraine requires around 300 tanks in order to successfully defend its territory from an expected Russian spring offensive, and to begin winning back territory ceded to Moscow since the invasion began last February. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, seen in Berlin on Wednesday, has faced prolonged criticism for a reluctance to send military equipment to Ukraine.

☆ Ukraine's Red Cross to step up aid as fighting seen intensifying
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BERLIN, Jan 25 (Reuters) - The Ukrainian Red Cross is preparing for more aid to the civil population in the country's war-plagued zones in light of a possible new Russian offensive, the organization's general secretary said. "Everyone expects some intensification of the fighting," Maksym Dotsenko told Reuters during a visit to the German capital Berlin. The Red Cross, Ukraine's biggest civil organization, has no access to Russian-occupied territories in eastern and southern Ukraine, but is operating in the rest of the country. The Red Cross, he said, is ready to provide generators to hospitals and other places in case of more Russian attacks on critical infrastructure. "Of course, we need more financial support," he added, but there was no need for donations of clothing.

Search resuls for: "Kherson"

25 mentions found