Page 11 - Ukraine

Schumer urges show of support for Ukraine with spending Bill amid war

The Senate inched closer to passing a $1.7 trillion government funding bill Wednesday with supporters pointing to a visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the evening as another reason to advance the measure in a show of support for the beleaguered nation. The measure includes $44.9 billion in emergency assistance to Ukraine and NATO allies, above even President Joe Biden's request, and ensures that funding flows to the war effort for months to come. The measure would also boost U.S. defense spending by about 10% to $858 billion, addressing concerns from some lawmakers that more investment in the nation's military is needed to ensure America's security. The Senate could approve the bill as soon as Wednesday. The House will then have to take it up and pass the measure before midnight Friday to avoid a partial-government shutdown. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., took to the floor Wednesday urging colleague

Washington trip tops Ukrainian prez Zelenskyy's list of surprise war moves

President since 2019, Zelenskiy has made it a point of his leadership to stay in his battered country, close to the people and soldiers fighting in a war

IMF approves new program to support Ukraine's macroeconomic stability

The programme is aimed at mobilising state budget revenues, strengthening the financial sector, and improving management transparency and effectiveness for state-owned enterprises

Russian govt intensifies crackdown targeting human rights group and maps

The Russian government has intensified its crackdown on critics and what it sees as harmful information about its special military operation in Ukraine with moves to ban a human rights group and publication of maps that omit annexed Ukrainian land. The crackdown fits a theme Russian President Vladimir Putin sounded Tuesday in a video address honouring Russia's military and security agencies. Putin, a former KGB operative, called on those forces to redouble their efforts to protect the stability of society and the security of the government against direct threats to internal security. His speech coincided with a report by the state Tass news agency that Russia's Justice Ministry filed a lawsuit to disband one of the country's oldest human rights organizations, the Moscow Helsinki Group. No reason was given for the action, but it fits a pattern against other organizations the government accuses of working against the country's interests. One of the group's leaders told the Meduza news

Zelenskyy visits front-line city of Bakhmut; Putin meets troops in Kremlin

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met Tuesday with troops in the eastern city of Bakhmut, the scene of some of the most intense combat since Russia invaded the country, praising their courage, resilience and strength" as artillery boomed in the background. For his part, Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed the courage and self-denial of his forces in Ukraine but he did so at a ceremony in an opulent and glittering hall at the Kremlin in Moscow, not on the battlefield. Both leaders sought to build morale as the stalemated conflict grinds through its 10th month and winter sets in. Zelenskky met with military personnel in a dimly lit building possibly a disused factory in Bakhmut, which he has called the hottest spot on the entire front line, his office said. The city, about 600 kilometers (380 miles) east of Kyiv, has remained in Ukrainian hands, thwarting Moscow's goal of capturing the rest of Donetsk province and the entire Donbas industrial region. The Ukrainian leader

Ukraine accelerates efforts to erase Russian influence from public spaces

On the streets of Kyiv, Fyodor Dostoevsky is on the way out. Andy Warhol is on the way in. Ukraine is accelerating efforts to erase the vestiges of Soviet and Russian influence from its public spaces by pulling down monuments and renaming hundreds of streets to honour its own artists, poets, soldiers, independence leaders and others including heroes of this year's war. Following Moscow's invasion on Feb. 24 that has killed or injured untold numbers of civilians and soldiers and pummeled buildings and infrastructure, Ukraine's leaders have shifted a campaign that once focused on dismantling its Communist past into one of de-Russification. Streets that honoured revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin or the Bolshevik Revolution were largely already gone; now Russia, not Soviet legacy, is the enemy. It's part punishment for crimes meted out by Russia, and part affirmation of a national identity by honouring Ukrainian notables who have been mostly overlooked. Russia, through the Soviet .

Ukraine boosts border defence with Belarus amid fear of fresh attacks

Amid fears that Russia may be preparing for a fresh attack, Ukraine is boosting the defences of its border with Belarus, a Minister in Kiev has confirmed

UN chief Antonio Guterres strongly hopes for Ukraine war to end in 2023

The United Nations chief expressed strong hopes that the Ukraine war will end in 2023 and on other global hotspots condemned the Iranian government's crackdown on demonstrators, urged all countries to fight terrorist threats from the extreme right and called on the international community to tell Israel's new right-wing government that there is no alternative to the two-state solution. In a wide-ranging end-of-year news conference on Monday, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he sees no prospect of talks to end the war in Ukraine in the immediate future and expects the already escalating military conflict to continue. But he called for everything possible to be done to halt the most devastating conflict in Europe since World War II by the end of 2023 -- which he strongly hopes will happen. On other issues, Guterres urged Afghanistan's Taliban rulers to include all ethnic groups in the government, restore girls' rights to education at all levels and women's rights to work, and to

Russia fires 70 missiles in one of its biggest blitz on Ukraine: Report

Either we'll win the war or world would be destroyed: Putin's key aide

Russia launches another missile attack, explosions in 3 Ukrainian cities

Ukrainian authorities reported explosions in at least three cities on Friday, saying Russia has launched a major missile attack on energy facilities and infrastructure. Local authorities on social media reported explosions in the capital, Kyiv, southern Kryvyi Rih and northeastern Kharkiv as authorities sounded air raid alarms across the country warning of a new devastating barrage of the Russian strikes that have occurred intermittently since mid-October. Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on Telegram that the city is without electricity. The strikes targeting energy infrastructure have been part of a new Russian strategy to try to freeze Ukrainians into submission after several key battlefield losses by Russian forces in recent months.

US Senate passes record $858 billion defense bill, sends bill to Prez Biden

The fiscal 2023 NDAA authorizes $858 billion in military spending and includes a 4.6% pay increase for the troops, funding for purchases of weapons, ships and aircraft, and support for Taiwan

Ukraine launches largest attack on Donetsk in years, says report

On Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had said a Christmas ceasefire was "not on the agenda"

Ukrainian parliament adopts laws to launch membership talks with EU

The Ukrainian Parliament has adopted all laws needed for launching membership talks with the European Union, Parliament Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk said

IAEA to send permanent technical missions to all nuclear plants in Ukraine

The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency will send permanent technical missions to all the nuclear power plants in Ukraine as part of stepped-up efforts to help prevent a nuclear accident

Multiple explosions reported in central district of Ukraine's Kyiv: Mayor

The mayor of Kyiv is reporting multiple explosions in the Ukrainian capital on Wednesday, the first such time in weeks during Russia's ongoing war against the country. Vitali Klitschko wrote in a post on Telegram that there were explosions in a central district of the capital that is home to many government agencies and buildings. He said municipal teams were in place and more details were expected.

US finalising arms upgrade to Ukraine with Patriot missile batteries

The US is poised to send Patriot air and missile defense batteries to Ukraine pending final approval from President Joe Biden, two US officials said

Ukraine to get $1 bn from partners to go through winter season: PM Shmyhal

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has said that Ukraine will get $1 billion from its partners to go through the winter cold season, the government press service reported

Zelenskyy calls for aid of 50 mn LED lightbulbs to cope with energy crisis

In the wake of Russian attacks on Ukraine's fragile energy infrastructure, President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for 50 million LED lightbulbs which would save around one gigawatt of power

Over 1.5 million people left without power in Ukraine's port city Odesa

Darkness gripped Ukraine's Odesa on Saturday as over 1.5 million people in the port city were left without electricity amid dipping temperatures after the energy facilities were hit

PM Modi to skip annual summit with Russia's Putin over Ukraine nuke threats

It would mark only the second time the leaders of India and Russia haven't met face to face since 2000, when the relationship was elevated to a strategic partnership