Zelensky says ‘world can stop Russian terror’ as he seeks more Patriots for Ukraine
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Russia has lost more than 1,500 soldiers in the past week in the grinding war in Kharkiv even as Vladimir Putin claimed he has “no plans” to take Ukraine’s second largest city.
As of yesterday evening, Russia has lost 1,572 soldiers in just the last seven days and 263 units of military equipment, including 75 drones, 66 army vehicles and eight tanks, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said.
In the past 24 hours, Russian troops have tried to break through Ukraine’s defences using aircraft and guided aerial bombs, and there have been around a dozen ground skirmishes.
Tens of thousands of Russian forces stormed across the border into the Kharkiv region last month to capture the city. But Mr Putin, speaking in Beijing last week, said his troops have “no plans as of today” to try and take control of Kharkiv city.
This comes as at least 11 people were killed and dozens were wounded after Russian forces struck a busy lakeside resort on the edge of Kharkiv and attacked villages in the surrounding region.
Putin appoints another economist as deputy Russian defence minister
President Vladimir Putin on Monday appointed former deputy economy minister Oleg Savelyev as a deputy defence minister, according to a published decree, in a further sign of his intention to improve the efficiency of Russia‘s war economy.
Putin sprang a surprise last week by removing defence minister Sergei Shoigu and replacing him with Andrei Belousov, an economist and former deputy prime minister. The move was widely seen as aimed at getting more value from defence spending and cleaning up the defence ministry, which has been hit by a major bribery scandal.
Savelyev worked in the economy ministry from 2008 to 2014 and briefly served as a deputy to Belousov, who headed the ministry at the time.
After Russia‘s annexation of Crimea, Savelyev served as Minister for Crimean Affairs in 2014-2015. For the past five years, he has been an auditor for the Russian Accounts Chamber, overseeing state defence and security spending.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain20 May 2024 17:01
Ukraine’s Zelensky congratulates Croatia’s new PM
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky today said he congratulated Andrej Plenković on his appointment as prime minister of Croatia.
He added that the two discussed Croatia’s support for the beginning of Ukraine’s EU accession talks, as well as “the possibility of Croatia joining the G7 Vilnius Declaration in support of Ukraine”.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain20 May 2024 16:35
Ukraine war ‘needs to come to a stop’- Grant Shapps
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps, speaking at defence questions, told the Commons: “We are very mindful of the situation in Ukraine and particularly in Kharkiv, where Russia are making, or trying to make, inroads.
“This is an existential battle for all civilised countries that believe in democracy and freedom and it is the case that we must ensure the world continues to keep up the efforts.
“It is not right for there to be pauses in our support and when there are, the sort of losses we’ve seen, I hope on a very temporary, and believe on a very temporary, basis, in Kharkiv around the villages to the north are an inevitable consequence of inaction.”
Mr Shapps later told MPs: “This bloody war is now killing up to 1,000 Russians a day, or causing casualties, and it needs to come to a stop.”
Maryam Zakir-Hussain20 May 2024 16:12
Ukrainian military says it’s ‘holding back’ Russian forces near Bilohorivka
Ukraine said on Monday its troops were holding back Russian forces near Bilohorivka in the east, a village Moscow has claimed to be under its control.
“The defence forces for quite a long time today have been holding back the onslaught of the enemy, which is trying to somehow move forward in the area of Bilohorivka,” Kyiv’s general staff said on Facebook.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain20 May 2024 15:54
Maryam Zakir-Hussain20 May 2024 15:32
It’s horrifying what’s happened to Ukrainians with disabilities during Russia’s war – we cannot abandon them
Comment: Reporting on the kidnapping and abuse of the most vulnerable in Ukrainian society makes one thing clear, writes Bel Trew: in war people with disabilities are the last to be remembered and the first to be left behind:
Read more here:
Maryam Zakir-Hussain20 May 2024 15:30
Pentagon vows to keep weapons moving to Ukraine as Kyiv faces a renewed assault by Russia
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin committed Monday to keeping U.S. weapons moving to Ukraine as Kyiv faces one of its toughest moments against a renewed assault by Russia.
Austin and as many as 50 defense leaders from Europe and around the world were meeting Monday to coordinate more military aid to Ukraine, as Kyiv tries to hold off a Russian offensive in the northeast while launching its own massive assault on the Russia-occupied Crimean Peninsula.
“We’re meeting in a moment of challenge,” Austin said, noting that Russia’s new onslaught of Kharkiv showed why the continued commitment by the countries was vital to keep coming. Austin vowed to keep U.S. weapons moving “week after week.”
Maryam Zakir-Hussain20 May 2024 15:05
Russian theater director and playwright go on trial over a play authorities say justifies terrorism
A Russian court on Monday opened the trial of a theater director and a playwright accused of advocating terrorism in a play, the latest step in an unrelenting crackdown on dissent in Russia that has reached new heights since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine.
Zhenya Berkovich, a prominent independent theater director, and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk have been jailed for over a year. Authorities claim their play “Finist, the Brave Falcon” justifies terrorism, which is a criminal offense in Russia punishable by up to seven years in prison. Berkovich and Petriychuk have both repeatedly rejected the accusations against them.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain20 May 2024 14:44
Russia says it took full control of Bilohorivka in eastern Ukraine
The Russian military said on Monday it had taken full control of the settlement of Bilohorivka in Ukraine‘s Luhansk region and had taken up better positions in the area.
The Russian Defence Ministry said in a statement its forces had also been involved in fierce clashes in Ukraine‘s Kharkiv region near Vovchansk, Starytsia and Hlyboke where it said they had repelled two counter-attacks.
Russian forces earlier this month thrust into the Kharkiv region in what President Vladimir Putin said was an operation to create a buffer zone to protect Russian border regions.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain20 May 2024 14:26
Russia stresses strong ties with Iran as Putin calls interim president
Vladimir Putin phoned Iran’s new interim president on Monday as Moscow made clear its desire to preserve and build on its deepening relationship with Tehran despite the sudden death of President Ebrahim Raisi.
The Kremlin said Putin expressed his condolences to interim president Mohammad Mokhber and to the whole Iranian people over Raisi’s death in a helicopter crash, describing Raisi as a “reliable partner who made an invaluable personal contribution” to bilateral relations.
“Both sides emphasised their mutual desire to further consistently strengthen comprehensive Russian-Iranian interaction for the benefit of the peoples of the two countries,” the Kremlin said in its readout of the Putin-Mokhber call.
State news agency RIA quoted Sergei Shoigu, secretary of Russia‘s Security Council, as saying Moscow could assist Iran in its investigation of the crash.
Since the state of the war in Ukraine, Russia has moved to strengthen its political, trade and military ties with Iran in a deepening relationship that the United States and Israel view with concern.
In January, Russia‘s Foreign Ministry said a new interstate treaty reflecting the “unprecedented upswing” in Russia-Iran ties was in the final stages of being agreed, and Putin and Raisi were expected to sign it soon.
Putin held five hours of talks with Raisi in the Kremlin in December and had spoken to him by phone in March and April, according to the Kremlin website.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain20 May 2024 14:01
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