War Archive 2022 02/24 Monitoring Russian and Ukraine War.

[Old School]

The Russian army managed to advance on a large part of the front on the Kupiansk-Svatovo-Seversk axis, capturing important Ukrainian strongholds.
The Ukrainian army is facing a domino effect of collapse that will force it to retreat to a depth of km behind the Oskol River.



FAB-1500 bombs against Ukrainian positions in Seversk

 

[Saif]

G7 leaders agree $50bn deal

Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) major democracies yesterday agreed an outline deal to provide $50 billion of loans for Ukraine using interest from Russian sovereign assets frozen after Moscow launched its invasion of its neighbour in 2022.

www.thedailystar.net

Ukraine support plan
G7 leaders agree $50bn deal

Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) major democracies yesterday agreed an outline deal to provide $50 billion of loans for Ukraine using interest from Russian sovereign assets frozen after Moscow launched its invasion of its neighbour in 2022.

The political agreement was the centrepiece of the opening day in southern Italy of the annual summit of G7 leaders, attended for a second successive year by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The Ukrainian leader was scheduled to sign a new, long-term security accord with US President Joe Biden later yesterday, as well as one with fellow G7 member Japan.

Many of the G7 leaders are struggling at home but determined to make a difference on the world stage as they also seek to counter China's economic ambitions.

"There is a lot of work to be done, but I am sure that in these two days we will be able to have discussions that will lead to concrete and measurable results," Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told her G7 guests as their talks started in a luxury hotel resort in the southern region of Puglia.

The G7 plan for Ukraine is based on a multi-year loan using profits from some $300 billion of impounded Russian funds.

From left, President of the European Council Charles Michel, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen pose for a group photo at Borgo Egnazia resort during the G7 Summit hosted by Italy in Apulia region, Savelletri yesterday. Photo: AFP
The technical details will be finalised in the coming weeks, a G7 diplomatic source told Reuters. The source, who asked not to be named, said the additional funding would arrive by the end of this year.

A senior US official said the United States had agreed to provide up to $50 billion itself, but that amount could decline significantly as other countries announced their participation.

The aim of the deal was to ensure it can run for years regardless of who is in power in each G7 state - a nod to concerns that US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump might be much less sympathetic to Kyiv if he beats Biden in November, according to a person close to the talks.

While Meloni is flying high after triumphing in weekend European elections, the leaders of the other six nations - the United States, Japan, France, Germany, Britain and Canada - face major domestic woes that risk undermining their authority.​

 

[Saif]

Putin demands more Ukrainian land to end war; Kyiv rejects ‘ultimatum’

President Vladimir Putin said on Friday Russia would end the war in Ukraine only if Kyiv agreed to drop its NATO ambitions and hand over the entirety of four provinces claimed by Moscow, demands Kyiv swiftly rejected as tantamount to surrender. On the eve of a conference in Switzerland to which Ru

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Putin demands more Ukrainian land to end war; Kyiv rejects 'ultimatum'
Published :
Jun 14, 2024 21:42
Updated :
Jun 14, 2024 21:42

Russia's President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with the leadership of the Russian foreign ministry in Moscow, Russia June 14, 2024. Photo : REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

President Vladimir Putin said on Friday Russia would end the war in Ukraine only if Kyiv agreed to drop its NATO ambitions and hand over the entirety of four provinces claimed by Moscow, demands Kyiv swiftly rejected as tantamount to surrender.

On the eve of a conference in Switzerland to which Russia has not been invited, Putin set out maximalist conditions wholly at odds with the terms demanded by Ukraine, apparently reflecting Moscow's growing confidence that its forces have the upper hand in the war.

He restated his demand for Ukraine's demilitarisation, unchanged from the day he sent in his troops on Feb 24, 2022, and said an end to Western sanctions must also be part of a peace deal.

He also repeated his call for Ukraine's "denazification", based on what Kyiv calls an unfounded slur against its leadership.

Ukraine said the conditions were "absurd".

"He is offering for Ukraine to admit defeat. He is offering for Ukraine to legally give up its territories to Russia. He is offering for Ukraine to sign away its geopolitical sovereignty," Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak told Reuters.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told Italy's SkyTG24 news channel: "These are ultimatum messages that are no different from messages from the past."

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels: "He (Putin) is not in any position to dictate to Ukraine what they must do to bring about peace."

The timing of Putin's speech was clearly intended to preempt the Swiss summit, billed as a "peace conference" despite Russia's exclusion, where Zelenskiy seeks a show of international support for Kyiv's terms to end the war.

"The conditions are very simple," Putin said, listing them as the full withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the entire territory of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions in eastern and southern Ukraine.

Russia claimed the four regions, which its forces control only partially, as part of its own territory in 2022, an act rejected by most countries at the United Nations as illegal.

Moscow also seized and annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in 2014.

"As soon as they declare in Kyiv that they are ready for such a decision and begin a real withdrawal of troops from these regions, and also officially announce the abandonment of their plans to join NATO - on our side, immediately, literally at the same minute, an order will follow to cease fire and begin negotiations," Putin said.

"I repeat, we will do this immediately. Naturally, we will simultaneously guarantee the unhindered and safe withdrawal of Ukrainian units and formations."

Russia controls nearly a fifth of Ukrainian territory in the third year of the war. Ukraine says peace can only be based on the full withdrawal of Russian forces and the restoration of its territorial integrity.

The weekend summit in Switzerland, which will be attended by representatives of more than 90 nations and organisations, is expected to shy away from territorial issues and focus instead on matters such as food security and nuclear safety in Ukraine.

The Kremlin has said the gathering will prove "futile" without Russia being represented.

To read the rest of the news, please click on the link above.​

 

[Lulldapull]

Gents, jiss ka dar thaa vohi ho ra hae. UCV’s are out now. Nobody wanna sit in a tank or APC and commit suicide. AI is rapidly taking over. I bet anyone money that within the decade all the worlds advanced military’s goin be totally transformed big time:

 

[Deleted due to Error (Muji Iqbal)]

I hope Russia wins, because there needs to be alternatives to USA.

I also heard Putin is threatening to make the war go nuclear. lol.

 

[Saif]

Ukraine seeks path to peace at Swiss summit

President Volodymyr Zelensky said he hoped to find paths to a ‘just peace’ as soon as possible, as a first international summit on pathways to end...

www.newagebd.net

Ukraine seeks path to peace at Swiss summit
Agence France-Presse . Burgenstock 16 June, 2024, 00:44

Volodymyr Zelensky | AFP file photo

President Volodymyr Zelensky said he hoped to find paths to a 'just peace' as soon as possible, as a first international summit on pathways to end Russia's war in Ukraine opened Saturday.

More than 50 world leaders were joining Zelensky at the Burgenstock resort in Switzerland for a two-day peace summit—though with Moscow rejecting the event, it only has the modest ambitions of laying the groundwork for ending the conflict, now in its third year.

'I believe that we will witness history being made here at the summit. May a just peace be established as soon as possible,' Zelensky said as the event began.

The summit is aimed at trying to agree a basic international platform for eventual peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow.

Swiss president Viola Amherd said future summits were envisioned, eventually involving Russia.

'We will not be able to negotiate or even proclaim peace for Ukraine here on the Burgenstock, but we wish to inspire a process for a just and lasting peace, and we wish to take concrete steps in this direction,' she said.

However, in a combative speech Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin slammed the conference and demanded that Kyiv effectively surrender before any actual peace negotiations.

Zelensky said Saturday the only person who wanted the war 'was Putin. But in any case, the world is stronger'.

NATO and the United States also immediately rejected Putin's hardline conditions.

The conference, convening 100 countries and global institutions, comes at a perilous moment for exhausted Ukrainians and outgunned soldiers, more than two years since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

The leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan are attending, as is the European Union chief and the leaders of Colombia, Chile, Finland, Ghana, Kenya and Poland.

US president Joe Biden sent his vice president Kamala Harris, who announced more than $1.5 billion in new aid for Ukraine, mainly for its energy sector and in humanitarian assistance.

Argentinian President Javier Milei and the presidents of Fiji and Ecuador were among the early arrivals.

Russia's BRICS allies Brazil and South Africa are only sending an envoy, and India will be represented at the ministerial level.

China is absent, insisting it will not take part without Moscow's presence.

After almost a year of stalemate, Ukraine was forced to abandon dozens of frontline settlements this spring, with Russian troops holding a significant advantage in manpower and resources.

Near Ukraine's embattled eastern front, hopes for any major breakthrough are nearly nil.

Ukrainian shelling on the Russian border town of Shebekino killed five people and wounded several, the governor of the region of Belgorod said on Saturday.

Since Russia launched its military offensive on Ukraine in 2022, Belgorod has faced waves of attacks, which Kyiv say are retaliation for Moscow's large-scale assault.

'Four bodies were recovered from the rubble' of a partially collapsed house in Shebekino, said governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, who added that another woman had died in hospital.

Russia's emergency services published footage of a crane and rescuers sifting through the rubble of a destroyed five-storey building in the night.

Six civilians were wounded in the late evening shelling, the governor said.

To read the rest of the news, please click on the link above.​

 

[Saif]

Ukrainian families cross Europe to plead for prisoners held by Russia

Svitlana Bilous travelled half way across Europe - from her home in Ukraine to a Swiss mountaintop resort - to stand on the sidelines of an international summit to pressure Russia to end its war in Ukraine and tell the world about her missing husband. During the day’s events, she will join s

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Ukrainian families cross Europe to plead for prisoners held by Russia
Published :
Jun 15, 2024 17:04
Updated :
Jun 15, 2024 17:04

Svitlana Bilous, a 34-year-old civic activist and the wife of a Ukrainian soldier missing in action, and Illia Illiashenko, a Ukrainian former prisoner of war who was captured by Russian forces in Mariupol in 2022, look at posters before their bus tour to Switzerland to advocate for Ukrainian soldiers in Russian captivity, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine June 12, 2024. Photo : Reuters/Charlotte Bruneau

Svitlana Bilous travelled half way across Europe - from her home in Ukraine to a Swiss mountaintop resort - to stand on the sidelines of an international summit to pressure Russia to end its war in Ukraine and tell the world about her missing husband.

During the day's events, she will join scores of other relatives of Ukrainian soldiers waving banners and shouting slogans and trying to raise awareness of the troops who have disappeared on the battlefield.

Many do not know if their loved ones have been killed or taken by Russia as prisoners of war.

Russia is not invited to the summit in Buergenstock near Lucerne, at which Ukraine will present its plan to end the war that started with Moscow's full-scale invasion in February 2022.

The families want the other world powers there to find ways to press Moscow to hand over information, improve the conditions of any captives and, as soon as possible, send them home.

"I must do everything in my power to get my husband back," Bilous, 34, from the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, told Reuters as officials arrived ahead of the summit

Since Anatoliy went missing in April last year, she has only heard that he is alive but had no direct contact with him. Every day she carries the shoulder patch from his uniform and prays for his return.

"I always carry his chevron with me with his callsign, Fox, always," Svitlana told Reuters, adding that she wanted Russia to adhere to the Geneva Conventions on the treatment of prisoners of war.

"We want specific actions regarding the return of prisoners of war (and) admission of the International Committee of the Red Cross to all places of detention," she said.

Ukrainian officials said in February about 8,000 people - civilians and soldiers - are in Russian hands.

The ICRC says it is trying to get information on the fate of 28,000 people - soldiers and civilians on both sides - who have lost contact with their families.

The banners carried by Bilous and fellow protesters read "Stop Russia torturing and killing Ukrainian PoWs" and "Russia is hiding Ukrainian PoWs".

Russia has repeatedly denied carrying out war crimes in Ukraine, including the torture of PoWs.

It says its forces are careful to comply with international law. Cases where Russian soldiers are alleged to have committed serious crimes in Ukraine have been and continue to be prosecuted by Russian courts, it says.

In Buergenstock, returned Ukrainian prisoner of war Illia Illiashenko will address a side event organised by the Ukrainian Society of Switzerland.

Illiashenko, a sergeant in the coastal troops of Ukraine's border guard was captured during fighting in his home town of Mariupol, and held in three different camps.

The 21-year-old, who used the call-sign Smurf - was held for 10 months before being returned in a prisoner exchange.

"There is constant physical and psychological pressure in Russian captivity. They try to break your personality, you as a human. And they do it with effective methods," said Illiashenko, who was beaten and burned while in captivity.

He hoped the summit would improve the situation of his comrades who are still being held and who he hopes to see again soon.

Russia and Ukraine are both signatories to the Geneva Conventions covering the treatment of prisoners.

To read the rest of the news, please click on the link above.​

 

[Saif]

Russian official says Ukraine pouring troops into contested Kharkiv region

A Russian official said on Monday that fighting was gripping parts of Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region which Moscow has been trying to seize and added that Ukraine’s military was pouring men and equipment into the contested area. Ukrainian President Voldodymyr Zelenskiy said Kyiv&

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Russian official says Ukraine pouring troops into contested Kharkiv region
Published :
Jun 18, 2024 09:34
Updated :
Jun 18, 2024 09:34

Rescuers work at a site of a private house destroyed during a Russian air strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine June 10, 2024. Photo : REUTERS/Viacheslav Ratynskyi/ File Photo

A Russian official said on Monday that fighting was gripping parts of Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region which Moscow has been trying to seize and added that Ukraine's military was pouring men and equipment into the contested area.

Ukrainian President Voldodymyr Zelenskiy said Kyiv's forces were gradually pushing Russian troops out of the contested area. His top commander predicted that Moscow would try to press forward pending the arrival in Ukraine of sophisticated Western equipment, including U.S-made F-16 fighter jets.

Russian forces crossed into parts of Kharkiv region last month and officials say they have seized about a dozen villages.

Vitaly Ganchev, Russia-appointed governor of the areas of Kharkiv region controlled by Moscow, said Russian forces were beating back Ukraine's latest counter-attacks in areas near Vovchansk, five kilometres (three miles) inside the border.

"There is fighting still going on in the Kharkiv sector. The fiercest clashes are in Vovchansk and near Lyptsy," Ganchev told Russian news agencies.

"The enemy is sending reserves and trying to counter-attack but is meeting a fierce response from our armed forces."

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the incursion sought to create a "buffer zone" to prevent Ukraine from shelling border areas, including Belgorod region, opposite Kharkiv.

Over the past week, Ukrainian officials have said the Russian advance is firmly under control.

Zelenskiy, in his nightly video address, said Ukrainian troops were "gradually pushing the occupiers out of the Kharkiv region". The military's General Staff reported 10 Russian attacks were repelled near Vovchansk and Lyptsi.

Ukraine's top military commander, Oleksander Syrskyi, said on Telegram that Moscow's commanders "were building intensity and expanding the geography of military activity.

"The enemy clearly understands that the gradual arrival of weapons and equipment from our partners, the arrival of the first F-16s, strengthens our air defences," he wrote. "Time is one our side and their chances of success will diminish."

Ukrainian military bloggers said Kyiv's forces were holding positions around Vovchansk and trying to break through Russian lines to consolidate units around the town.

Russian forces seized much of Kharkiv region in the early weeks of the February 2022 invasion, but Ukraine recaptured large swathes of territory later that year.

Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, 30 km (18 miles) from the border, stayed out of Russian hands, and months of Russian attacks have eased, Ukrainian officials say, thanks to the arrival of new weaponry.​

 

[Saif]

Russia ups attacks after ‘lull’: Kyiv

Russian forces have escalated attacks near Toretsk, a frontline town in eastern Ukraine that has remained relatively calm over recent months of fighting, officials said yesterday.

www.thedailystar.net

Russia ups attacks after 'lull': Kyiv

Russian forces have escalated attacks near Toretsk, a frontline town in eastern Ukraine that has remained relatively calm over recent months of fighting, officials said yesterday.

Ukrainian forces lacking critical manpower and arms have struggled to hold the line in the eastern Donbas region, which the Kremlin claims is part of Russia.

The military said in a briefing late Tuesday that Russia had "intensified" its assaults near Toretsk and "launched five assault operations at once," targeting surrounding towns and villages.

Military analysts reported Russian advances towards Toretsk.

One resident of the town, 67-year-old Oleksandr told AFP journalists by telephone that he had experienced an uptick in Russian bombardments, corroborating official reports.​

 

[Saif]

UK party leader says West provoked Ukraine war

Nigel Farage, leader of Britain’s anti-immigration Reform UK party, faced strong criticism Saturday after saying that the West provoked Russia’s invasion of...

www.newagebd.net

UK party leader says West provoked Ukraine war
Agence France-Presse . London 23 June, 2024, 00:47

Nigel Farage

Nigel Farage, leader of Britain's anti-immigration Reform UK party, faced strong criticism Saturday after saying that the West provoked Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

In an interview with the BBC on Friday, Farage said 'we've provoked this war', while adding that 'of course' it was Russian president Vladimir Putin's 'fault'.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told reporters that Farage's claim was 'completely wrong and only plays into Putin's hands'.

Farage — a former European parliamentarian who has tried and failed to run for Westminster seven times — is gunning for a seat from Clacton in east England in the country's general election next month.

His party is currently polling third behind the two major parties, but is only predicted to pick up a few seats.

Even so, a surge of popularity for Reform UK since Farage took over as leader earlier this month risks drawing away votes that the Conservative party sorely needs to win a fifth term in power.

His comments met with outrage on Saturday.

Interior minister James Cleverly criticised Farage for 'echoing Putin's vile justification for the brutal invasion of Ukraine.'

Former Conservative defence minister Tobias Ellwood called the comments 'shocking' in the Daily Telegraph newspaper, adding that 'Churchill will be turning in his grave'.

Meanwhile Labour's shadow defence minister John Healey called the comments 'disgraceful' and said his stance made him 'unfit for any political office in our country'.

Probed further on his views on Putin in the interview, Farage said that he 'disliked him as a person' but 'admired him as a political operator because he's managed to take control of running Russia'.

The former Brexit figurehead, Farage is close to former US President Donald Trump, who has said he gets along with Putin 'great'.

Farage has also spoken about his intention to run for prime minister in 2029.

He also stood by claims that Sunak, the UK's first prime minister of colour, does not 'understand our culture', in response to Sunak leaving D-Day commemorations in France early.

He clarified in the interview that he meant Sunak was 'too upper class'.

Farage's comments on Sunak—first made in a political leaders debate—had drawn criticism across parties, with one Tory minister saying they made him 'very uncomfortable'.​

 

[Saif]

Ukraine missile attack on Crimea kills three

A Ukrainian missile attack on Sunday on a city in the Russian-annexed Crimea peninsula killed three people, including two children, and wounded over 100, officials said...

www.newagebd.net

Ukraine missile attack on Crimea kills three
Agence France-Presse . Moscow 23 June, 2024, 23:36

A Ukrainian missile attack on Sunday on a city in the Russian-annexed Crimea peninsula killed three people, including two children, and wounded over 100, officials said.

Fragments hit beachgoers in Sevastopol after at least one missile was intercepted by air defences and exploded in the air, according to officials.

Sevastopol governor Mikhail Razvozhayev wrote on Telegram that two children and one adult had died. A Russian health ministry official told RIA Novosti news agency that 124 people were injured, including 27 children.

Russia's defence ministry said Ukraine used US-supplied weapons in the attack and accused it of using cluster munitions.

Sevastopol, a Black Sea port city and naval base on the Crimean peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014, regularly comes under fire from Ukraine but Sunday's attack was unusually deadly.

Razvozhayev said the attack hit Uchkuyevka, an area with sandy beaches and hotels.

Videos posted on social media showed people running from the beach as explosions go off and people in swimming outfits carrying a stretcher. AFP could not verify their authenticity.

A local news channel on Telegram, ChP Sevastopol, cited witnesses as saying that an elderly woman was killed as she swam in the sea.

The investigative committee, which probes major crimes, said it was opening an investigation into 'a terrorist act'. The governor said Ukraine had launched five missiles which Russian air defences intercepted over the sea but fragments fell onto the shore area and shrapnel wounded people.

Razvozhayev said missile fragments hit beach areas in the north of the city and set fire to a house and woodland.

A Russian defence ministry statement said Ukraine committed a 'terrorist attack on the civilian infrastructure of Sevastopol with US-supplied ATACMS tactical missiles loaded with cluster warheads'.

The ministry said four missiles were downed and a fifth changed trajectory after being intercepted 'with its warhead exploding in the air over the city'.

Ukraine's military has not commented on the attack, which came a day after a Russian guided bomb strike on the city of Kharkiv hit an apartment building, killing two people and injuring more than 50.

On Sunday, another Russian strike hit a house in the city, killing one and injuring five, regional governor Oleg Synegubov said. Kharkiv mayor Igor Terekhov said three people were wounded by a separate strike on a children's educational facility.

A drone launched by Ukraine on Russia's southern Belgorod region on Sunday killed a man, the governor said.

Three Ukrainian attack drones struck Graivoron, near the border with Ukraine, said Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, with one hitting a car park near a multi-storey block of flats.

'A peaceful civilian was killed. The man died from his wounds at the spot' and three people were wounded, Gladkov wrote on Telegram.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in a social media post urged supporter countries to help Ukraine step up attacks on Russian soil.

'We have enough determination to destroy terrorists on their territory — it is only fair — and we need the same determination from our partners. We can stop Russia,' Zelensky wrote.​

 

[Saif]

Russia warns US after Ukraine strikes Crimea

The Kremlin yesterday directly blamed the United States for an attack on Crimea with US-supplied ATACMS missiles that killed at least four people and injured 151, and Moscow formally warned the US ambassador that retaliation would follow.

www.thedailystar.net

Russia warns US after Ukraine strikes Crimea
Summons US envoy

The Kremlin yesterday directly blamed the United States for an attack on Crimea with US-supplied ATACMS missiles that killed at least four people and injured 151, and Moscow formally warned the US ambassador that retaliation would follow.

The war in Ukraine has triggered the biggest confrontation between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, and Russian officials have said that the conflict is entering the most dangerous escalatory phase to date.

But directly blaming the United States for a deadly attack on Crimea - which Russia annexed in 2014 and now considers to be Russian territory although most of the world considers it to be part of Ukraine - is a step further.

"You should ask my colleagues in Europe, and above all in Washington, the press secretaries, why their governments are killing Russian children. Just ask them this question," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters of the attack.

At least two children were killed in the attack on Sevastopol on Sunday, according to Russian officials. People were shown running from a beach near Sevastopol and some of the injured being carried off on sun loungers.

Russia said that the United States had supplied the weapons, while US military specialists had aimed the weapons and provided data for them.

Meanwhile, a Russian missile attack on Ukraine's eastern town of Pokrovsk killed at least four people and injured 34 more, the regional governor said yesterday. Two children were among the injured, Vadym Filashkin said on Telegram.​

 

[Saif]

Why arrival of F-16s won't rapidly change Ukraine's fortunes in war with Russia

Around two years after Ukraine started asking allies for F-16 fighter jets to help it fight Russian forces, the first planes are set to arrive by next month. The length of the process, from procuring the US-designed aircraft and training Ukrainian pilots to fly them, has frustrated Kyiv. Russia h

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Why arrival of F-16s won't rapidly change Ukraine's fortunes in war with Russia
REUTERS
Published :
Jun 27, 2024 21:04
Updated :
Jun 27, 2024 21:05

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen sit in a F-16 fighter jet at Skrydstrup Airbase in Vojens, Denmark, August 20, 2023. Photo : Ritzau Scanpix/Mads Claus Rasmussen via REUTERS/Files

Around two years after Ukraine started asking allies for F-16 fighter jets to help it fight Russian forces, the first planes are set to arrive by next month.
The length of the process, from procuring the US-designed aircraft and training Ukrainian pilots to fly them, has frustrated Kyiv.

Russia has had time to prepare defences to try to nullify the F-16s' impact, and Ukraine has had to survive with a depleted air force a fraction of the size and sophistication of the enemy's.

Here are some facts about how the F-16s may help Ukraine and what obstacles still lie in the way of effective deployment:

POTENTIAL IMPACT

Some analysts say the F-16s will not alone prove a turning point in the war, which began with Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.

"You'd have to separate symbolism from the actual impact on the battlefield - which will be useful but modest, particularly in the beginning," said Mark Cancian, senior adviser with the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Serhii Kuzan, chairman of the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Center, a non-governmental research group, said at least 60 planes would be needed for significant operations as Ukraine attempts to push Russian aviation back from its borders.

Lawmaker Oleksandra Ustinova, who leads Kyiv's parliamentary commission on arms and munitions, said that Ukraine would need nearer to 120 F-16s to boost its air capability significantly.

Britain's final debate before next week's general election was a testy standoff,

While the pilots gain experience in Ukrainian skies and the military builds out its air infrastructure, the initial deliveries could at least help Ukraine strengthen its air shield, experts say.

"It will provide some air defence and depth capacity, potentially also help intercepting Shaheds [Iranian-built drones] and cruise missiles. Although it is a very expensive way of doing that, munitions-wise," said Justin Bronk, senior research fellow for airpower and technology at Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).

Ukraine's military has worked hard to reduce the threat to the arriving F-16s in recent months by attacking Russian air defences, according to Kuzan.

"The formation of the battlefield, especially in the south, is already taking place," he said. "Ukraine has the capabilities to systematically strike Russia's foremost air defence complexes."

But Cancian of CSIS said he expected Ukraine to try to open gaps in Russia's defences in the immediate run-up to planned F-16 attacks rather than a long time in advance.

PILOTS AND MAINTENANCE

Training will be crucial.

"You can have lots of fast jets but if they don't have effective weapons, and air crew able to employ them with effective tactics, then they will just be shot down in large numbers," said Bronk.

The timeline for the training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16s has dominated discussions about deliveries and pledges of more than 70 jets.

By the end of 2024, Ukraine expects to have at least 20 pilots ready to fly F-16s, Ustinova said.

"It is difficult to solicit more planes when you don't have people to pilot them," she said, adding that, at first, Ukraine will have more F-16s than qualified pilots.

"Waiting in line for 10 years before our pilots are trained is not OK."

The Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson declined to comment.

US officials have directed questions on training to Ukraine and noted that pilots can also be trained in Europe. However, Bronk said NATO's capacity was already stretched.

He added that aircraft maintenance was an even more pressing challenge than pilot training.

He said most repairs and maintenance would need to happen inside Ukraine, and it would probably have to rely on foreign contractors who know the aircraft.

AIR BASES UNDER THREAT

Russia has already intensified its attacks on infrastructure that could be used for the maintenance and deployment of F-16s, some experts said.

"Russia is striking all airfields, potential F-16 bases, every day, including attempts to damage airstrips and infrastructure. These strikes have not paused for the last two months, at least," Kuzan said.

The targets will become all the more valuable when the aircraft, pilots and maintenance teams arrive. This is likely to force Ukraine to install missile defences to protect them, even though it is short of both air defence systems and ammunition.

"We have to accept the fact that the airfields will be well-protected when civilian objects could be under attack," Kuzan said, adding that each base would need at least two Patriot and two NASAMS batteries to secure it.

"As soon as we (build up our flight capabilities), we will push their planes back and the terror will stop. But these couple of months will be truly difficult," Kuzan added.​

 

[Saif]

Moscow claims Ukrainian village, drones kill 5 in Russian village

Russia on Saturday claimed another village in eastern Ukraine as it pushes towards the city of Toretsk in a fresh local offensive in the embattled Donetsk region...

www.newagebd.net

Moscow claims Ukrainian village, drones kill 5 in Russian village
Agence France-Presse . Moscow 29 June, 2024, 23:58

Russia on Saturday claimed another village in eastern Ukraine as it pushes towards the city of Toretsk in a fresh local offensive in the embattled Donetsk region.

Toretsk lies north-west of the city of Gorlivka, which has been under separatist control since 2014.

The city has been largely spared from the worst of the fighting but that has changed in recent weeks after Moscow's forces began advancing, taking Ukrainian forces by surprise.

Moscow's defence ministry said Russian forces had 'as a result of successful acts, liberated the settlement of Shumy' and gained a better 'tactical position.'

Shumy lies less than 10 kilometres east of Toretsk, a mining town which had a pre-war population of around 32,000.

Ukrainian forces have been particularly vulnerable since the end of 2023 because of major delays in European and US arms deliveries.

Meanwhile, a Ukrainian drone attack on a house in a Russian border village killed five people, including two children, the regional governor said Saturday.

The drone hit a house in the village of Gorodishche, a tiny village in Russia's Kursk region, just a few metres from the border with Ukraine.

'To our great grief, five people were killed ... including two small children. Another two members of the family are in a serious condition,' Kursk governor Alexei Smirnov said in a post on Telegram.

The attack was with a 'copter'-style drone, he added, a small device that can be fitted to carry grenades or other explosives that are dropped over targets.

Both sides have used drones, including larger self-detonating craft with ranges of up to hundreds of kilometres, extensively throughout the conflict which began in February 2022.

Ukraine has stepped up its attacks on Russian territory this year, targeting both energy sites that it says fuel Russia's military, as well as towns and villages just across the border.

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a major new land offensive on Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region last month in what he said was an operation to create a 'buffer zone' and push Ukrainian forces back to protect Russia's border Belgorod region from shelling.

The Kursk region, where Saturday's attack occurred, lies further north, across from Ukraine's Sumy region, which Kyiv controls.​

 

[Saif]

Russia downs 36 Ukraine-launched drones

Russia’s air defence systems destroyed 36 drones that Ukraine launched overnight targeting several regions in Russia’s southwest, the Russian defence ministry said yesterday.

www.thedailystar.net

Russia downs 36 Ukraine-launched drones
Claims two more east Ukrainian villages

Russia's air defence systems destroyed 36 drones that Ukraine launched overnight targeting several regions in Russia's southwest, the Russian defence ministry said yesterday.

Fifteen drones were destroyed over the Kursk region that borders Ukraine and nine over the Lipetsk region, several hundred kilometres south of Moscow, the defence ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.

Four drones were destroyed each over the Voronezh and Bryansk regions in southwestern Russia and two each over the nearby Oryol and Belgorod regions.

The governors of the Lipetsk and Bryansk regions said on their Telegram channels that there were no injuries or extensive damage as a result of the attacks, reports Reuters.

Kyiv has said attacks on Russia's military, transport and energy infrastructure are in response to Moscow's attacks on Ukraine's territory since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Meanwhile, Russia yesterday also claimed two more east Ukrainian villages as its forces have had the upper hand over Kyiv on the battlefield for months.

Moscow has claimed new villages in the east of Ukraine regularly for weeks, as outgunned and outmanned Ukrainian forces struggle to hold them back.​

 

[Saif]

Russia destroys 5 Ukrainian jets in strike on air base

Russia claimed on Tuesday to have destroyed or damaged five Ukrainian military jets in a strike on an air base, as Kyiv prepares for the arrival of long-awaited F-16 fighters...

www.newagebd.net

Russia destroys 5 Ukrainian jets in strike on air base
Agence France-Presse . Moscow 03 July, 2024, 00:19

Russia claimed on Tuesday to have destroyed or damaged five Ukrainian military jets in a strike on an air base, as Kyiv prepares for the arrival of long-awaited F-16 fighters.

Russia's defence ministry said it fired Iskander-M missiles at an air base near the central Ukrainian city of Myrgorod, around 150 kilometres from the Russian border.

'As a result of the Russian army strike, five operational SU-27 multirole fighters were destroyed, and two that were under repair were damaged,' it said in a statement on Telegram.

The ministry also published footage of what it said was the strike and its aftermath, showing grey smoke billowing at the airfield, where some parked planes were visible, and charred black earth.

AFP could not immediately verify the footage or the claims.

Russian and Ukrainian military bloggers previously reported the strike on Monday.

Ukraine's air force declined to comment when asked by AFP about Russia's claims.

In a social media post, air force commander Mykola Oleshchuk said: 'Ukrainian aircraft continue to successfully carry out combat missions, conduct missile and bomb attacks on the positions of the occupiers and eliminate important military facilities.'

He posted footage of what he said was a Ukrainian attack on an ammunition depot in Crimea, the peninsula Russia annexed in 2014, carried out on Monday.

But Ukrainian military bloggers and analysts said Kyiv had suffered equipment losses in Myrgorod, with some angry at commanders for parking the planes in the open without sufficient protection.

Kyiv hopes the arrival of Western F-16 fighters will enable it to better protect itself from Russian bombardment.

Ukraine has been calling for the US-made jets since the start of the conflict.

Several NATO countries have pledged to supply them and have been training Ukrainian pilots and crews for months.

The first deliveries, including from the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark are expected to arrive in the country imminently.

But recent strikes on Ukrainian airfields have raised questions about Kyiv's ability to protect the multi-million-dollar planes from Russian fire.

'As Ukraine waits for the F-16s, the question of ensuring their safety on the ground remains,' the Ukraine-based Defence Express think tank said Tuesday.

Russia has promised to target and destroy F-16s, along with all other Western military hardware shipped to Kyiv.

Ukraine has not said where it will base the F-16s.​

 

[Saif]

Russian forces advance in Ukraine’s eastern region

Russia said yesterday its forces had captured a district in the key hilltop town of Chasiv Yar near Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, where Moscow has been pressing for months.

www.thedailystar.net

Russian forces advance in Ukraine's eastern region
Kill five in Dnipro strikes; dozens injured

Russia said yesterday its forces had captured a district in the key hilltop town of Chasiv Yar near Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, where Moscow has been pressing for months.

The claim from Moscow came just after Kyiv said that Russian strikes on the industrial city of Dnipro had killed five people and wounded nearly three dozen more including a 14-year-old girl.

The defence ministry said its troops had "liberated" the Novy district of Chasiv Yar, but it was unclear if it was claiming its forces had crossed a canal which runs through the eastern part of the town.

The capture of Chasiv Yar -- a prized military hub that was once a sleepy town home to some 12,000 people -- would pave the way for Russian advances towards the last Ukrainian-controlled civilian centres in the Donetsk region.

Russia's capture of the district was also reported by the DeepState military blog, which has links to the Ukrainian army.

It said the area had been flattened by Russian bombardments, and that withdrawing was "a logical, albeit difficult decision." There was no immediate reaction from officials in Kyiv.

The Russian attack on Dnipro prompted Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky to call on allies to help bolster its air defences and provide more long-range weapons to thwart Russian strikes.​

 

[Saif]

Munitions depot inside Russia on fire

An overnight Ukrainian drone attack set a Russian munitions depot ablaze the Voronezh region, near the two countries’ shared border, Russian and Ukrainian officials said yesterday.

www.thedailystar.net

UKRAINE DRONE ATTACK
Munitions depot inside Russia on fire

An overnight Ukrainian drone attack set a Russian munitions depot ablaze the Voronezh region, near the two countries' shared border, Russian and Ukrainian officials said yesterday.

"Several drones were detected and destroyed overnight by air defence systems above the Voronezh region," regional governor Alexander Gusev wrote on Telegram.

"Their falling debris set off a fire in a depot" in the Podgorensky district, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) from the Ukrainian borderm.

"Explosives began to detonate", Gusev said, adding that there were no indications anybody had been hurt.

Rescue teams were at the scene and Gusev said local people living near the depot were being evacuated.

A Ukrainian defence source told AFP that its drones hit the munitions factory in an overnight attack.

"The enemy stored surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles, shells for tanks and artillery and boxes of ammunition" at the site, which was hit by drones resulting in a "powerful" explosion, the source said.

Russia and Ukraine have used drones, including large explosive devices with a range of hundreds of kilometres (miles), extensively since Russia launched its military offensive in February 2022.

Ukraine has stepped up its attacks on Russian territory this year, targeting both energy sites it says supply the Russian army and towns and villages just across the border.

Meanwhile, Russia said yesterday it struck two Patriot air defence launch systems, but Ukraine said Moscow had hit decoy targets designed to squander expensive enemy missiles.

Russia's defence ministry said in a statement the attack took place in the area of the Black Sea port of Yuzhne, adding that a radar station was also destroyed. It said Iskander-M ballistic missiles had been used.

Commenting on videos of the attack circulating on social media, Ukraine's air force commander Mykola Oleshchuk said in a post on Telegram on Saturday evening, that Russia had hit Ukrainian decoy Patriot systems.​

 

[Saif]

Russian missile attack kills 36, hits children’s hospital, Ukraine says

Russia rained missiles down on cities across Ukraine in broad daylight on Monday morning, killing at least 36 civilians and badly damaging Kyiv’s main children’s hospital in the deadliest air strike in months, officials said. Parents holding babies walked in the street outside the hosp

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Russian missile attack kills 36, hits children's hospital, Ukraine says
REUTERS
Published :
Jul 08, 2024 21:28
Updated :
Jul 08, 2024 21:28

Rescuers work at Ohmatdyt Children's Hospital that was damaged during a Russian missile strikes, in Kyiv, Ukraine, July 8. Photo : Reuters/Gleb Garanich

Russia rained missiles down on cities across Ukraine in broad daylight on Monday morning, killing at least 36 civilians and badly damaging Kyiv's main children's hospital in the deadliest air strike in months, officials said.

Parents holding babies walked in the street outside the hospital, dazed and sobbing after the rare daylight aerial attack. Windows had been smashed and panels ripped off and hundreds of Kyiv residents were helping to clear debris.

"It was scary. I couldn't breathe, I was trying to cover (my baby). I was trying to cover him with this cloth so that he could breathe," Svitlana Kravchenko, 33, told Reuters.

Air defences shot down 30 of 38 incoming missiles, the air force said. Fifty civilian buildings, including residential buildings, a business centre and two medical facilities were damaged in Kyiv, the central cities of Kryvyi Rih and Dnipro and two eastern cities, the interior minister said.

An online video obtained by Reuters, the location of which was verified using buildings in the footage, showed a missile falling from the sky towards the children's hospital followed by a large explosion.

The Security Service of Ukraine identified the missile as an Kh-101 cruise missile.

Twenty one people were killed in Kyiv and 65 more wounded in the main missile volley and another strike that came two hours later, emergency services said. Debris from the latter missile hit a different Kyiv hospital, killing seven people, they said.

Eleven were confirmed dead in Kryvyi Rih and 47 wounded, the emergency services said. Three people had been killed in the eastern town of Pokrovsk where missiles hit an industrial facility, the regional governor said. One person was also killed in the city of Dnipro, officials said.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that Ukraine would retaliate and called on Kyiv's western allies to give a firm response to the attack.

"We will retaliate against these people, we will deliver a powerful response from our side to Russia, for sure. The question to our partners is: can they respond?" Zelenskiy who is visiting Poland said during a joint press conference with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

Kyiv was initiating an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council in connection with the attack, he said.

The Russian Defence Ministry said its forces had carried out strikes on defence industry targets and aviation bases in Ukraine.

Moscow has repeatedly denied targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, although its attacks have killed thousands of civilians since it launched its invasion in February 2022.

SECURITY COMMITMENTS

The attack came a day before leaders of NATO countries were due to begin a three-day summit of the military alliance that Zelenskiy is expected to attend with the war in Ukraine one of the focuses.

"This callous aggression - a total disregard for human life, jeopardizing European & Transatlantic security - is why leaders will make significant security commitments to Ukraine this week," the U.S. ambassador to Kyiv, Bridget Brink, posted on X.

Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said Ukraine still lacked enough air defences and urged Kyiv's allies to supply more systems promptly to help protect its cities and infrastructure from regular Russian aerial attacks.

The power grid has already sustained so much damage from targeted Russian air strikes that began in March that electricity cuts have become widespread and the whirring sound of backup power generators in the streets has become ubiquitous.

DTEK, the largest private power producer, said three electricity substations and networks had been damaged in Kyiv.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the attack on the capital was one of the largest of the war.

The Health Minister said that five units of the children's hospital, the largest and best equipped in the country, were damaged and children were evacuated to other facilities.

Pictures distributed by Ukrainian officials showed medical staff wearing blood-stained outfits and children - some still hooked up on medical machines - pictured outside the building with their mothers or hospital staff.​

 

[Saif]

Ukrainian drones target Russian military airfield, oil refinery

Ukrainian drones targeted a military airfield, an oil refinery and substation in southern Russia, a defence source in Kyiv said yesterday, after Moscow reported an overnight aerial barrage.

www.thedailystar.net

Ukrainian drones target Russian military airfield, oil refinery

Rescuers carry the body of a person found under debris at the site where an apartment building was hit by a Russian missile strike in Kyiv, Ukraine yesterday. Targeting hospitals in Ukraine is a "war crime," a senior UN official told an emergency meeting of the Security Council yesterday, called in the wake of deadly strikes that Kyiv blamed on Russia. Photo: REUTERS

Ukrainian drones targeted a military airfield, an oil refinery and substation in southern Russia, a defence source in Kyiv said yesterday, after Moscow reported an overnight aerial barrage.

Kyiv has stepped up cross border aerial attacks on Russia in recent months, attempting to damage energy infrastructure and the Kremlin's war chest by hurting oil revenues.

Russia has launched drone and missiles attacks that have crippled Ukrainian power plants and halved the country's generation capacity.

In an operation coordinated by Security Services of Ukraine and the country's military intelligence, drone spurred explosions at the Akhtyubinsk military airfield in Russia's Astrakhan region.

It also said there had been blasts at an electrical substation in the Rostov region and an oil depot in the southern Volgograd region.

The source added that Ukrainian forces would pursue more strikes on "Russian military facilities working for the war against Ukraine."

There was no response in Moscow to the specific claims.

The Russian defence ministry however had earlier said that its air defence systems had destroyed 38 Ukrainian drones in regions near the border between the two countries, including Rostov and Astrakhan.

Rostov's governor Vasily Golubev in comments to state-run agency TASS acknowledged an electric substation had been damaged in a drone attack, saying repairs would take three days.

And Astrakhan's governor Igor Babushkin said Ukraine had launched a "massive attempt to attack targets with drones" in the north of the region, adding that the attack had been "successfully repelled".

Both sides have used drones, including larger self-detonating craft with ranges stretching hundreds of kilometres extensively throughout the conflict, which began in February 2022.​