Russia presses counter-counteroffensive in northeast Ukraine
KUPYANSK, Ukraine — With the world focused on the war between Israel and Hamas, Russia has launched ferocious attacks in eastern Ukraine, simultaneously ramping up its efforts to encircle the city of Avdiivka in the Donetsk region and pummeling the area around the formerly occupied cities of Kupyansk and Lyman.
Moscow’s reinforced positions and renewed attacks at these strategic points on the eastern front are forcing Ukraine to defend swaths of territory that were occupied for months after Russia’s invasion in February 2022 and then liberated roughly a year ago.
Some of the most intense fighting is taking place near Kupyansk, a city located on the Oskil River, just 25 miles from the border with Russia. Ukrainian commanders and officials stationed along the eastern front said in interviews that Russia had noticeably bolstered its forces in recent weeks by creating new, fresh brigades.
Read the full story here.
KUPYANSK, Ukraine — With the world focused on the war between Israel and Hamas, Russia has launched ferocious attacks in eastern Ukraine, simultaneously ramping up its efforts to encircle the city of Avdiivka in the Donetsk region and pummeling the area around the formerly occupied cities of Kupyansk and Lyman.
Moscow’s reinforced positions and renewed attacks at these strategic points on the eastern front are forcing Ukraine to defend swaths of territory that were occupied for months after Russia’s invasion in February 2022 and then liberated roughly a year ago.
Some of the most intense fighting is taking place near Kupyansk, a city located on the Oskil River, just 25 miles from the border with Russia. Ukrainian commanders and officials stationed along the eastern front said in interviews that Russia had noticeably bolstered its forces in recent weeks by creating new, fresh brigades.
Read the full story here.
Back-channel talks keep Ukraine and Russia in contact, despite war
KYIV — Away from the public eye and the bloody front line, Ukraine and Russia are still talking.
The countries, now sworn enemies fighting a grinding war, are managing to negotiate on a few core humanitarian issues: exchanging prisoners of war and dead soldiers’ bodies; the passage of ships from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports; and, most recently, the return of Ukrainian children from Russia.
In some cases, Moscow and Kyiv use intermediaries, including Turkey, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, the Vatican, and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
But most of the wartime bartering is done directly, by individual representatives, including in tough and unpleasant face-to-face meetings on the Ukrainian-Russian border and in Istanbul, as well as phone calls, according to some Ukrainian officials involved in the discussions.
Read the full story here.
KYIV — Away from the public eye and the bloody front line, Ukraine and Russia are still talking.
The countries, now sworn enemies fighting a grinding war, are managing to negotiate on a few core humanitarian issues: exchanging prisoners of war and dead soldiers’ bodies; the passage of ships from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports; and, most recently, the return of Ukrainian children from Russia.
In some cases, Moscow and Kyiv use intermediaries, including Turkey, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, the Vatican, and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
But most of the wartime bartering is done directly, by individual representatives, including in tough and unpleasant face-to-face meetings on the Ukrainian-Russian border and in Istanbul, as well as phone calls, according to some Ukrainian officials involved in the discussions.
Read the full story here.
Russia prison population plummets as convicts are sent to war
RIGA, Latvia — Russia has freed up to 100,000 prison inmates and sent them to fight in Ukraine, according to government statistics and rights advocates — a far greater number than was previously known.
The sharp drop in the number of inmates is evidence that the Defense Ministry continued to aggressively recruit convicted criminals even after blocking access to prisoners by the Wagner mercenary group, which pioneered the campaign to trade clemency for military service.
The Russian prison population, estimated at roughly 420,000 before the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, plummeted to a historic low of about 266,000, according to Deputy Justice Minister Vsevolod Vukolov, who disclosed the figure during a panel discussion earlier this month.
Read the full story here.
RIGA, Latvia — Russia has freed up to 100,000 prison inmates and sent them to fight in Ukraine, according to government statistics and rights advocates — a far greater number than was previously known.
The sharp drop in the number of inmates is evidence that the Defense Ministry continued to aggressively recruit convicted criminals even after blocking access to prisoners by the Wagner mercenary group, which pioneered the campaign to trade clemency for military service.
The Russian prison population, estimated at roughly 420,000 before the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, plummeted to a historic low of about 266,000, according to Deputy Justice Minister Vsevolod Vukolov, who disclosed the figure during a panel discussion earlier this month.
Read the full story here.
Biden preps $50 billion for domestic crises on top of Israel, Ukraine aid
White House aides are preparing to propose spending roughly $50 billion on urgent domestic needs, two people familiar with the matter said, just days after President Biden unveiled a roughly $100 billion request for crises in Ukraine, Israel and other international priorities.
The proposed legislation will call for more funding for child care, high-speed internet access, natural disaster relief, and firefighters battling wildfires, among other domestic priorities, White House Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda D. Young said in a letter Friday. It is not exactly clear how much funding the president will propose for each program, and the people familiar with the matter cautioned that planning remains in flux. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because the details are not final, and the size of the total proposal could still change.
Read the full story here.
White House aides are preparing to propose spending roughly $50 billion on urgent domestic needs, two people familiar with the matter said, just days after President Biden unveiled a roughly $100 billion request for crises in Ukraine, Israel and other international priorities.
The proposed legislation will call for more funding for child care, high-speed internet access, natural disaster relief, and firefighters battling wildfires, among other domestic priorities, White House Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda D. Young said in a letter Friday. It is not exactly clear how much funding the president will propose for each program, and the people familiar with the matter cautioned that planning remains in flux. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because the details are not final, and the size of the total proposal could still change.
Read the full story here.
Hundreds of Ukrainians stranded in Gaza, Kyiv says
Hundreds of Ukrainian nationals are trapped inside the Gaza Strip with no way of leaving, the Ukrainian government said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs told The Washington Post on Thursday that 357 Ukrainians, including 208 women, have informed the government that they wish to leave Gaza. Because of the closure of the Rafah border crossing, however, the ministry said there is “currently no possibility to leave.”
The Ukrainian ministry also confirmed that the number of Ukrainian nationals killed in Hamas’s deadly attack inside Israel on Oct. 7 has risen to 21, with one missing. Three Ukrainians have been killed inside Gaza, two of them children, the ministry said.
Read more live updates on the Israel-Gaza war here.
Hundreds of Ukrainian nationals are trapped inside the Gaza Strip with no way of leaving, the Ukrainian government said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs told The Washington Post on Thursday that 357 Ukrainians, including 208 women, have informed the government that they wish to leave Gaza. Because of the closure of the Rafah border crossing, however, the ministry said there is “currently no possibility to leave.”
The Ukrainian ministry also confirmed that the number of Ukrainian nationals killed in Hamas’s deadly attack inside Israel on Oct. 7 has risen to 21, with one missing. Three Ukrainians have been killed inside Gaza, two of them children, the ministry said.
Read more live updates on the Israel-Gaza war here.
U.S., Russia veto each other’s U.N. resolutions on Israel-Gaza war
The U.N. Security Council failed again Wednesday to adopt a unified position on stopping the carnage in the Middle East, with the United States and Russia vetoing each others’ resolutions.
In charges and countercharges reminiscent of Cold War debates and more recent discord over Ukraine, Moscow and Washington charged each other with bad faith, political posturing and pushing their own positions on other council members without consultation.
The principal difference between the competing resolutions was Washington’s call for “all measures, specifically to include humanitarian pauses,” to allow aid to flow into Gaza — a position it rejected as recently as last week and with no specific mention of ongoing Israeli airstrikes — vs. Moscow’s call for a complete cease-fire. In an address to the council Tuesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said a pause should be “considered.”
Read the full story here.
The U.N. Security Council failed again Wednesday to adopt a unified position on stopping the carnage in the Middle East, with the United States and Russia vetoing each others’ resolutions.
In charges and countercharges reminiscent of Cold War debates and more recent discord over Ukraine, Moscow and Washington charged each other with bad faith, political posturing and pushing their own positions on other council members without consultation.
The principal difference between the competing resolutions was Washington’s call for “all measures, specifically to include humanitarian pauses,” to allow aid to flow into Gaza — a position it rejected as recently as last week and with no specific mention of ongoing Israeli airstrikes — vs. Moscow’s call for a complete cease-fire. In an address to the council Tuesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said a pause should be “considered.”
Read the full story here.
For Putin foe Alexey Navalny, Ukraine has long been a volatile issue
He is the imprisoned opposition leader who more than any other Russian political figure has challenged Vladimir Putin’s rule. He has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and said that Moscow must withdraw its troops and pay reparations. He is half-Ukrainian.
And yet Alexey Navalny is widely distrusted, if not despised, in Ukraine.
For Navalny, like millions of other Russians with Ukrainian roots, Putin’s war has been a blood-soaked tragedy. It has also put him in political quandary — compelled to change and clarify earlier statements that appeared to deny Ukrainian nationhood as he espoused the idea that Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians are all one people, and that Crimea, annexed by Putin, was an integral part of Russia wrongfully given to Ukraine by a Soviet leader.
Read the full story here.
He is the imprisoned opposition leader who more than any other Russian political figure has challenged Vladimir Putin’s rule. He has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and said that Moscow must withdraw its troops and pay reparations. He is half-Ukrainian.
And yet Alexey Navalny is widely distrusted, if not despised, in Ukraine.
For Navalny, like millions of other Russians with Ukrainian roots, Putin’s war has been a blood-soaked tragedy. It has also put him in political quandary — compelled to change and clarify earlier statements that appeared to deny Ukrainian nationhood as he espoused the idea that Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians are all one people, and that Crimea, annexed by Putin, was an integral part of Russia wrongfully given to Ukraine by a Soviet leader.
Read the full story here.
Russia and Ukraine intensify fight over Avdiivka, another ruined city
AVDIIVKA, Ukraine — Russia and Ukraine are once again locked in a fierce battle for control of a dead city.
In recent days, Moscow’s forces have gradually advanced to the north of Avdiivka — about three miles north of the occupied regional capital of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine — hoping to encircle the city and seize control of one of Ukraine’s most well-fortified points on the front.
The fierce escalation in fighting bears ominous echoes to the hellish months-long battle for Bakhmut in which tens of thousands of Russian and Ukrainian soldiers died over control of a city that was largely razed, leaving little more than smoldering ruins.
In response to ferocious Russian attacks, Ukraine in recent days has redeployed battalions from at least one brigade on the southern front to Avdiivka — a sign that Kyiv is drawing on resources that otherwise might be focused on its counteroffensive to oust Russian occupiers.
Read the full story here.
AVDIIVKA, Ukraine — Russia and Ukraine are once again locked in a fierce battle for control of a dead city.
In recent days, Moscow’s forces have gradually advanced to the north of Avdiivka — about three miles north of the occupied regional capital of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine — hoping to encircle the city and seize control of one of Ukraine’s most well-fortified points on the front.
The fierce escalation in fighting bears ominous echoes to the hellish months-long battle for Bakhmut in which tens of thousands of Russian and Ukrainian soldiers died over control of a city that was largely razed, leaving little more than smoldering ruins.
In response to ferocious Russian attacks, Ukraine in recent days has redeployed battalions from at least one brigade on the southern front to Avdiivka — a sign that Kyiv is drawing on resources that otherwise might be focused on its counteroffensive to oust Russian occupiers.
Read the full story here.
New danger for Ukraine: Taking Israel’s side in war against Hamas and Gaza
KYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s immediate and forceful support for Israel in its fight against Hamas has imperiled almost a year of concerted efforts by Kyiv to win the support of Arab and Muslim nations in its war against Russia.
Hamas and Russia are the “same evil, and the only difference is that there is a terrorist organization that attacked Israel and here is a terrorist state that attacked Ukraine,” Zelensky said in a speech to NATO’s Parliamentary Assembly on Oct. 9.
But with Israel’s military operation set to enter its fourth week, and Palestinian civilian casualties mounting, the war in Gaza is posing one of the most difficult diplomatic tests for Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
Read the full story here.
KYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s immediate and forceful support for Israel in its fight against Hamas has imperiled almost a year of concerted efforts by Kyiv to win the support of Arab and Muslim nations in its war against Russia.
Hamas and Russia are the “same evil, and the only difference is that there is a terrorist organization that attacked Israel and here is a terrorist state that attacked Ukraine,” Zelensky said in a speech to NATO’s Parliamentary Assembly on Oct. 9.
But with Israel’s military operation set to enter its fourth week, and Palestinian civilian casualties mounting, the war in Gaza is posing one of the most difficult diplomatic tests for Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
Read the full story here.
In peace and war, these Ukrainian brothers bonded. Then death came.
TOMAKIVKA, Ukraine — Maksym and Ivan Lyakh, born four years apart, weren’t just brothers. They were best friends. So, when Russia invaded Ukraine and they wanted to fight for their country, they insisted on fighting together.
“We were always together,” said Ivan Lyakh, 19. “We would always party together, hang out together. We were inseparable. So we were set on fighting together. They tried to split us up, but we were stubborn.”
Russia’s war has left a permanent mark on nearly almost every Ukrainian family, but the burden is arguably heaviest on those with multiple loved ones deployed to the front.
For Serhii Lyakh, 47, who owns a farming business in Tomakivka, and his wife, Lilya, 43, who has a women’s clothing boutique, it was their two sons — their only children — who left to fight for the country’s freedom.
Read the full story here.
TOMAKIVKA, Ukraine — Maksym and Ivan Lyakh, born four years apart, weren’t just brothers. They were best friends. So, when Russia invaded Ukraine and they wanted to fight for their country, they insisted on fighting together.
“We were always together,” said Ivan Lyakh, 19. “We would always party together, hang out together. We were inseparable. So we were set on fighting together. They tried to split us up, but we were stubborn.”
Russia’s war has left a permanent mark on nearly almost every Ukrainian family, but the burden is arguably heaviest on those with multiple loved ones deployed to the front.
For Serhii Lyakh, 47, who owns a farming business in Tomakivka, and his wife, Lilya, 43, who has a women’s clothing boutique, it was their two sons — their only children — who left to fight for the country’s freedom.
Read the full story here.
Arrest of ex-FSB agent signals Kremlin crackdown on pro-war hawks
MOSCOW — Russia’s arrest of Igor Girkin, the former security agent who was convicted this year in absentia by a Dutch court in the 2014 downing of a passenger jet over Ukraine, made clear that Moscow’s protection had come to an end.
But it was also a warning shot to the country’s ultranationalist hawks, who believe President Vladimir Putin hasn’t gone hard enough on Ukraine and have grown increasingly vocal about it.
As a former agent of the FSB, Girkin helped foment Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea and war in eastern Ukraine. But it wasn’t his role in those actions, or in the murder of the 298 passengers and crew aboard Malaysian Airlines Flight 17, that got him into trouble with the Kremlin.
Read the full story here.
MOSCOW — Russia’s arrest of Igor Girkin, the former security agent who was convicted this year in absentia by a Dutch court in the 2014 downing of a passenger jet over Ukraine, made clear that Moscow’s protection had come to an end.
But it was also a warning shot to the country’s ultranationalist hawks, who believe President Vladimir Putin hasn’t gone hard enough on Ukraine and have grown increasingly vocal about it.
As a former agent of the FSB, Girkin helped foment Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea and war in eastern Ukraine. But it wasn’t his role in those actions, or in the murder of the 298 passengers and crew aboard Malaysian Airlines Flight 17, that got him into trouble with the Kremlin.
Read the full story here.
Russian missile strikes brigade in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine says
KYIV — Russia launched a deadly missile strike on a Ukrainian military brigade in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region over the weekend, killing an unspecified number of soldiers, Ukrainian officials said. Unconfirmed Ukrainian media reports and a member of the brigade said that dozens may have been killed and injured.
Russian forces hit troops of the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade with an Iskander-M missile on Friday, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said in a social media post late Saturday.
“Servicemen were killed, and local residents were also injured of various degrees of severity,” the ministry said, without providing the number of dead, or the circumstances or precise location of the attack.
Read the full story here.
KYIV — Russia launched a deadly missile strike on a Ukrainian military brigade in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region over the weekend, killing an unspecified number of soldiers, Ukrainian officials said. Unconfirmed Ukrainian media reports and a member of the brigade said that dozens may have been killed and injured.
Russian forces hit troops of the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade with an Iskander-M missile on Friday, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said in a social media post late Saturday.
“Servicemen were killed, and local residents were also injured of various degrees of severity,” the ministry said, without providing the number of dead, or the circumstances or precise location of the attack.
Read the full story here.
Grenade in birthday gift kills aide to Ukraine’s top commander
KYIV — A top aide to the commander of Ukraine’s armed forces was killed Monday when a birthday gift exploded, the military leader announced.
In a message published on Telegram, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny said that his assistant, Maj. Hennadii Chastiakov, was killed under “tragic circumstances” while celebrating his birthday with relatives when “an unknown explosive device went off in one of the gifts.”
Chastiakov was “a reliable shoulder for me” since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Zaluzhny wrote. “The reasons and circumstances [surrounding his death] will be established during the pre-trial investigation,” he wrote.
Read the full story here.
KYIV — A top aide to the commander of Ukraine’s armed forces was killed Monday when a birthday gift exploded, the military leader announced.
In a message published on Telegram, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny said that his assistant, Maj. Hennadii Chastiakov, was killed under “tragic circumstances” while celebrating his birthday with relatives when “an unknown explosive device went off in one of the gifts.”
Chastiakov was “a reliable shoulder for me” since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Zaluzhny wrote. “The reasons and circumstances [surrounding his death] will be established during the pre-trial investigation,” he wrote.
Read the full story here.
As war frustrations rise, stalemate tests Zelensky and top general Zaluzhny
KYIV — After months of heavy losses in a largely stalled counteroffensive against Russia, tension among Ukraine’s senior leaders has spilled awkwardly into the open in recent days — prompting President Volodymyr Zelensky to call for a halt to political infighting.
“Everyone should be concentrating their efforts right now on defending the country,” Zelensky said Monday in his nightly address. “Put themselves together and do not rest; do not drown in infighting or other issues.” He warned that shattered unity could have drastic consequences: “The situation is now the same as it was before — if there is no victory, there will be no country.”
Zelensky’s plea to stop any infighting came after he engaged in his own rare, public dispute with the commander of Ukraine’s armed forces, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, over whether the war has reached a World War I-style “stalemate.”
Read the full story here.
KYIV — After months of heavy losses in a largely stalled counteroffensive against Russia, tension among Ukraine’s senior leaders has spilled awkwardly into the open in recent days — prompting President Volodymyr Zelensky to call for a halt to political infighting.
“Everyone should be concentrating their efforts right now on defending the country,” Zelensky said Monday in his nightly address. “Put themselves together and do not rest; do not drown in infighting or other issues.” He warned that shattered unity could have drastic consequences: “The situation is now the same as it was before — if there is no victory, there will be no country.”
Zelensky’s plea to stop any infighting came after he engaged in his own rare, public dispute with the commander of Ukraine’s armed forces, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, over whether the war has reached a World War I-style “stalemate.”
Read the full story here.