Page 12 - Ukraine

Helping Ukraine is 'self-preservation' for West: Finance chief Marchenko

Ukraine's finance minister says crucial Western financial support is not charity but self-preservation in the fight to defend democracy as his country deals with growing costs to repair electrical and heating infrastructure wrecked by Russian attacks. Serhiy Marchenko also told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday from Kyiv that he believes European Union officials will sort out a dispute with Hungary that has blocked a key 18 billion-euro (USD 18.97 billion) aid package and would cover much of Ukraine's looming budget gap. Marchenko said financial support for Ukraine is tiny compared to what developed countries spent to combat emergencies like the global financial crisis of 2008 and the COVID-19 pandemic. And that the money bolsters freedom and security far beyond his country's struggle, he added. It's not charity to support Ukraine, Marchenko said. We are trying to protect freedom and democracy of all (the) civilized world." He said the damage from Russian missile attack

'Unrestrained' supply of western weapons complicating Ukraine unrest: Iran

The Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has said that the "unrestrained" delivery of American and European weapons to Ukraine has further complicated the situation in the country

US sending additional $275 million in military aid to Ukraine: Officials

The US is sending an additional USD 275 million in military aid to Ukraine, including large amounts of ammunition and high-tech systems that can be used to detect and counter drones in its ongoing war with Russia, according to US officials. The total aid amount is smaller than most of the recent packages the US has delivered, and it comes as many military officials and experts predict a reduction in attacks during the winter. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Russia appears to be slowing its military activities to regroup and launch a new offensive when the weather warms. The officials said the latest package of aid includes 80,000 rounds of ammunition for howitzers and an undisclosed amount of ammunition for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, known as HIMARS. It also includes systems to counter drones and air defences, along with more HUMVEES, generators and other combat equipment. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the aid package prior to .

A difficult year with worse to follow

There is a lot at stake for Russia in the ongoing Ukraine war, and it could cause a great deal of pain for the world

India exploring options to minimise impact on students' education: Kamboj

India, which facilitated the safe return of its 22,500 nationals, most of them students, from Ukraine amid the conflict, is exploring options to minimise the impact on its students' education, the country's envoy here told a UN Security Council briefing. Speaking at the briefing titled Ukraine: Protection of civilians and the situation of children' on Tuesday, Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj said the conflict in Ukraine is severely impacting the 7.5 million children across the country. Kamboj, the President of the Security Council for the month of December, said in her remarks that the international community must not forget that the situation in Ukraine has also affected foreign students, including those from India. India facilitated a safe return of 22,500 Indian nationals, most of them students, studying in various universities in Ukraine. We are exploring options to minimise the impact on our students' education, she said. Kamboj reiterated India's continued concern over the situatio

Power system functioning despite Russian strikes, says Ukraine PM

Ukraine's power system is functioning and remains intact despite Russia's latest missile attacks on the energy facilities, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said

Ethiopia receives 25,000 tons of food grain from Ukraine amid drought

The first shipment of grain as part of Ukraine's own initiative to supply countries in need arrived in Djibouti Monday for delivery to neighbouring Ethiopia amid the region's worst drought in decades. Ukraine's embassy in Ethiopia confirmed that the Grain from Ukraine" shipment of 25,000 tons is separate from a United Nations World Food Program effort that has funded humanitarian grain shipments from Ukraine. A second ship with 30,000 tons of wheat will be heading to Ethiopia next week, while a third vessel is currently being loaded with 25,000 tons of wheat bound for Somalia, an embassy statement said. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky last month announced the initiative aimed at helping countries the most struck by the food crisis. Ukraine has said it plans to send more than 60 ships to Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Congo, Kenya, Yemen and other countries. Millions of people in Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya are going hungry due to drought following the fifth straight

Ukraine reports new wave of Russian strikes across country, many killed

Russia on Monday unleashed what Ukraine called a massive missile attack across the country, striking homes and buildings, killing civilians and disrupting electrical power that caused blackouts and cut water supplies for the Black Sea port of Odesa. Russian President Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, drove a truck across a bridge linking his country to the Crimean Peninsula following its repair from a bombing in October that had embarrassed Moscow. The missile barrage, which Ukrainian authorities have been anticipating for days, was the latest round of punishment by Russia as it sought to disable Ukraine's energy supplies and infrastructure as winter approaches part of a new strategy in its nine-month war. The country's electricity provider, Ukrenergo, lashed out at Russia over the eighth massive missile attack by a terrorist country," saying its facilities had been hit, triggering blackouts. It urged residents to stay in shelters as its crews tried to repair the damage. In the capital o

Jaishankar-Baerbock talks to include India-China ties, Ukraine conflict

India's relationship with China and the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine are set to figure in talks between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock on Monday. Baerbock is arriving here on Monday morning on a two-day visit. A statement released by the German embassy said Baerbock is travelling to India against the background of the global consequences of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. During the two-day inaugural visit, cooperation in the energy transition away from oil, coal and gas will also play a role, a spokesman for Germany's Federal Foreign Office said in Berlin. In this context, Baerbock will visit projects for renewable energies and sustainability in the rural surroundings of New Delhi, the embassy said. "In Baerbock's talks with her Indian counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, India's relationship with China is likely to be discussed in addition to the Russian war against Ukraine and its consequences,

Russia rejects $60-a-barrel price cap on its oil, warns of cutoffs

Russian authorities rejected a price cap on the country's oil set by Ukraine's Western supporters and threatened Saturday to stop supplying the nations that endorsed it. Australia, Britain, Canada, Japan, the United States and the 27-nation European Union agreed Friday to cap what they would pay for Russian oil at $60-per-barrel. The limit is set to take effect Monday, along with an EU embargo on Russian oil shipped by sea. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia needed to analyze the situation before deciding on a specific response but that it would not accept the price ceiling. Russia's permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, warned that the cap's European backers would come to rue their decision. From this year, Europe will live without Russian oil," Ulyanov tweeted. "Moscow has already made it clear that it will not supply oil to those countries that support anti-market price caps. Wait, very soon the EU will accuse Russia of using

Ukraine urges tougher western squeeze on Russian oil prices as war wages

The office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Saturday for a lower price cap on Russian oil than the one agreed to by Ukraine's Western supporters, while Russian authorities called the $60-per-barrel cap harmful to free, stable markets. Andriy Yermak, the head of Zelenskyy's office, wrote on social media that the price ceiling set by the European Union, Australia, Britain, Canada, Japan, and the United States on Friday didn't go far enough. The cap is set to take effect Monday, along with an EU embargo on Russian oil shipped by sea. It would be necessary to lower it to $30 in order to destroy the enemy's economy faster, Yermak wrote on Telegram, staking out a position also favored by Poland a leading critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine. The Russian Embassy in Washington insisted that Russian oil "will continue to be in demand" and criticized the price limit as reshaping the basic principles of the functioning of free markets. A post on the ...

Vladimir Putin is open to talks and diplomacy on Ukraine, says Kremlin

The premier replying to US President Joe Biden' comment stating his willingness to speak with Putin but with conditions, said the the West must accept Moscow's demands

Ukrainian engineers scramble to keep mobile phones working during war

With Ukraine scrambling to keep communication lines open during the war, an army of engineers from the country's phone companies has mobilised to help the public and policymakers stay in touch during repeated Russian missile and drone strikes. The engineers, who typically go unseen and unsung in peacetime, often work around the clock to maintain or restore phone service, sometimes braving minefields to do so. After Russian strikes took out the electricity that cellphone towers usually run on, they revved up generators to keep the towers on. I know our guys my colleagues are very exhausted, but they're motivated by the fact that we are doing an important thing, Yuriy Dugnist, an engineer with Ukrainian telecommunications company Kyivstar, said after crunching through 15 centimeters of fresh snow to reach a fenced-in mobile phone tower on the western fringe of Kyiv, the capital. Dugrist and his co-workers offered a glimpse of their new daily routines, which involve using an app on

Finnish PM warns Russian win over Ukraine would empower aggressors

Finland's Prime Minister Sanna Marin warned an Australian audience on Friday that a Russian victory over Ukraine would empower other aggressors and urged democracies against forming critical dependencies on authoritarian states such as China. Marin was speaking in Sydney at the end of the first-ever visit by a Finnish prime minister to Australia and New Zealand. Australia's pursuit of a free trade deal with the European Union was on the agenda. She used a speech to urge democracies to ramp up sanctions against Russia. Make no mistake, if Russia wins its terrible gamble, it will not be the only one to feel empowered, Marin told the Lowy Institute international policy think tank. Others will also be tempted by the same dark agenda, she added. A free trade agreement being finalised between the European Union, which includes Finland, and Australia was an opportunity to develop resilient supply chains, she said. We have become far too dependent on cooperation with regimes that do not

Russian shelling cuts off power again in liberated Ukrainian city

Russian shelling cut off power in much of the recently liberated Ukrainian city of Kherson on Thursday, just days after it was restored amid Moscow's ongoing drive to destroy key civilian infrastructure as freezing weather sets in. In Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko warned the capital's millions of residents that they should stock up on water and preserved food to see them through a winter that could prove miserable if more energy infrastructure is damaged. He also urged people to consider leaving the city to stay with friends or family elsewhere, if possible. Trying months lie ahead. The enemy still possesses substantial resources, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said. He added, however, that "signs are accumulating that (Russia) needs a pause at all costs. Ukraine has faced a blistering onslaught of Russian artillery fire and drone attacks since early October. The shelling has been especially intense in Kherson since Russian forces withdrew and Ukraine's army reclaimed t

Russia continues hold on Indian oil supplies; West's price cap threat looms

India will be unable to use Western tankers and insurance if it refuses to adhere to price cap

UN makes record aid appeal of $51.5 billion amid disasters, Ukraine war

The United Nations said on Thursday that it is asking member states for a record USD 51.5 billion in aid funding for next year, as disasters and the ongoing war in Ukraine drive up humanitarian needs worldwide. The global body's humanitarian office said the funds are needed to help 339 million people in 69 countries, an increase of 65 million people compared with the same time last year. The appeal is a 25 per cent increase on that made for 2022, it said. Humanitarian needs are shockingly high, as this year's extreme events are spilling into 2023, said the UN's emergency relief coordinator, Martin Griffiths. He cited droughts in the Horn of Africa, floods in Pakistan and the conflict in Ukraine, which have pushed the number of displaced people worldwide above 100 million. All of this on top of the devastation left by the pandemic among the world's poorest, said Griffiths. For people on the brink, this appeal is a lifeline. For the international community, it is a strategy to make

US, NATO directly involved in Ukraine conflict: Russian foreign minister

Russia's foreign minister on Thursday accused the West of becoming directly involved in the conflict in Ukraine by supplying it with weapons and training its soldiers. Sergey Lavrov also said that Russia's strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities and other key infrastructure that have left millions without power, heating and water were intended to weaken Ukraine's military potential and derail the shipments of Western weapons. You shouldn't say that the US and NATO aren't taking part in this war, you are directly participating in it, Lavrov said in a video call with reporters. And not just by providing weapons but also by training personnel. You are training their military on your territory, on the territories of Britain, Germany, Italy and other countries. He said that the barrage of Russian missile strikes was intended to knock out energy facilities that allow you to keep pumping deadly weapons into Ukraine in order to kill the Russians. The infrastructure that is targeted by thos

Ukrainian Olympian auctioning medals to help war effort against Russia

One of Ukraine's most decorated Olympians is auctioning his medals two golds and a bronze in hopes of raising a six-figure donation to contribute to the war effort in his native land. My Olympic medals won't matter if Ukraine can't stand for this fight for freedom and independence, two-time canoe champion Yuri Cheban told The Associated Press in an email exchange Wednesday. Cheban won Olympic gold in the 200 meters in 2012 and 2016 and a bronze in the 500 meters in 2008. SCP Auctions, which is conducting the sale, expects the gold medals to fetch in the neighborhood of $75,000 each, an impressive estimate buoyed by the relative scarcity of available recent medals, and also their meaning. Cheban will give the proceeds to the Olympic Circle charity fund, a collection started by athletes and targeted toward helping the city of Mykolaiv, which isn't far from the recently liberated city of Kherson and also close to Cheban's home, the Black Sea port city of Odessa. I think a lot of peo

Ukrainian Olympian auctioning medals to raise funds to help war effort

One of Ukraine's most decorated Olympians is auctioning his medals two golds and a bronze in hopes of raising a six-figure donation to contribute to the war effort in his native land. "My Olympic medals won't matter if Ukraine can't stand for this fight for freedom and independence," two-time canoe champion Yuri Cheban told The Associated Press in an email exchange Wednesday. Cheban won Olympic gold in the 200 meters in 2012 and 2016 and a bronze in the 500 meters in 2008. SCP Auctions, which is conducting the sale, expects the gold medals to fetch in the neighborhood of $75,000 each, an impressive estimate buoyed by the relative scarcity of available recent medals, and also their meaning. Cheban will give the proceeds to the Olympic Circle charity fund, a collection started by athletes and targeted toward helping the city of Mykolaiv, which isn't far from the recently liberated city of Kherson and also close to Cheban's home, the Black Sea port city of Odessa. I think a lot of .