[🇺🇦] Monitoring Russian and Ukraine War.

[Saif]

Foreign fighters in Ukraine war: What we know

Zelensky said this week more than 150 Chinese nationals were fighting for Russia's army in its war against Ukraine

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Foreign fighters in Ukraine war: What we know
AFP
Published: 11 Apr 2025, 17: 12

Founder of Wagner private mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin makes a statement as he stand next to Wagner fighters in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in Bakhmut, Ukraine, in this still image taken from video released 20 May, 2023 AFP

Volodymyr Zelensky said this week more than 150 Chinese nationals were fighting for Russia's army in its war against Ukraine and accused Moscow of "dragging" other countries into its invasion.

It was the latest accusation of foreign involvement in a conflict which has seen both Russia and Ukraine deploy fighters from other countries.

Here is what we know about their use on the battlefield:

The most significant presence of foreign fighters in the war is Russia's use of North Korean troops in its Western Kursk region.

Kyiv, the West and South Korea all say Pyongyang despatched more than 10,000 soldiers from its army after Ukraine launched a shock cross-border offensive there in August 2024.

North Korean officials initially denied the deployment though Russian President Vladimir Putin sidestepped the issue when asked about Western satellite images apparently showing North Korean troops movements.

"Images are a serious thing; if there are images, they reflect something," he said in October.

Ukraine last year said it had captured two wounded North Korean soldiers, publishing video interrogations with them.

Other foreign fighters on both sides are largely volunteers who travelled to fight on their own accord, moved by a desire to help Ukraine defend itself in the face of the Russian invasion, or lured by high salaries on offer by both militaries.

Moscow has also faced allegations and complaints from other countries, including India and Bangladesh, that military recruiters have duped or coerced their citizens into fighting for the army.

Russia classes foreigners fighting for Ukraine as "mercenaries", a crime punishable by years in prison under Russian law.

Moscow has also offered fast-track citizenship to those who join its army during the Ukraine offensive in a bid to attract recruits.

Zelensky on Wednesday said Russia had been recruiting Chinese fighters through adverts on TikTok and other social media channels.

Neither side routinely provides information on how many foreign fighters have joined their militaries.

In March 2022, two weeks after Russia invaded, Ukraine said more than 20,000 had said they wanted to sign up to join a specially created military unit for foreigners, called the "International Legion."

Ukrainian officials have not given any detailed update on how many of them actually served in combat or on the size of the Legion today.

Russia has similarly not given any information on how many foreign citizens have joined its army, but in November 2024, the interior ministry said it had awarded Russian citizenship to 3,300 foreigners that year who had served in its military.

Throughout the conflict, AFP journalists in eastern Ukraine have spoken to soldiers fighting on the Ukrainian side from the likes of the United States, Britain, France, Japan, Ireland and as far away as Colombia.

Many had professional military experience and were motivated to fight against Russia's invasion and help Ukraine defend itself.

Notable numbers of Georgians and Chechens -- who fought against Russia's army in the 1990s and 2000s -- are also known to have travelled to Ukraine to support Kyiv's military.

As have some Russian citizens, outraged at President Vladimir Putin and having decided to take up arms against their own country.

Alongside the use of North Korean troops, Russia has largely recruited soldiers from poor countries, offering huge salaries to fighters from Cuba, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Sierra Leone and Somalia, among others -- according to accounts from prisoners of war and media reports in Ukraine, Russia and those countries.

According to media reports in Central Asia, Moscow has also recruited hundreds from ex-Soviet countries in the region.​

 

[Saif]

Europe vows more arms for Ukraine

Ukraine’s European allies vowed Friday to step up weapons deliveries as support from the United States dries up under president Donald Trump.

www.newagebd.net

Europe vows more arms for Ukraine
Agence France-Presse . Brussels, Belgium 11 April, 2025, 22:43

Ukraine’s European allies vowed Friday to step up weapons deliveries as support from the United States dries up under president Donald Trump.

The US leader has switched Washington’s focus from backing Kyiv’s fight against Russia’s invasion to trying to negotiate a peace deal with President Vladimir Putin to halt the war.

Britain and Germany took the reins of a meeting of Ukraine’s backers at NATO’s headquarters in Brussels—that used to be chaired by the United States under president Joe Biden.

US defence secretary Pete Hegseth dialled into the talks via video call.

‘In the weeks to come, we will see what’s going to happen with the US participation, with the US support. I am not able to have a look in the crystal ball,’ German defence minister Boris Pistorius said.

‘We take on more responsibility as Europeans.’

British defence minister John Healey said overall $24 billion more has been promised towards helping arm Ukraine.

He said London was looking to surge support worth $450 million—including thousands of drones—to Kyiv’s fighters on the front line.

‘2025 is the critical year for this war in Ukraine, and now is the critical moment in that war,’ Healey said.

‘We are sending a signal to Putin, but we are also sending a message to Ukraine, and we are saying to Ukraine, we stand with you in the fight.’

Ukraine’s defence minister, Rustem Umerov, said that ‘Europe is taking over the lead in security assistance, for which we are thankful’.

‘It’s a share of responsibilities, European partners are taking the lead and the US is beside us and focused on the peace.’​

 

[Saif]

Russia launches scores of drones on Ukraine, four people injured, Kyiv says

Russia launched a barrage of drones in an overnight attack on Ukraine, injuring four people and damaging residential and commercial buildings in Kyiv and other parts of the country, Ukrainian officials said on Saturday. Ukraine's air defences shot down 56 of 88 Russian drones, its air force said.

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Russia launches scores of drones on Ukraine, four people injured, Kyiv says
REUTERS
Published :
Apr 12, 2025 20:06
Updated :
Apr 12, 2025 20:06

A drone explodes in the sky over the city during a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine April 12, 2025. Photo : REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

Russia launched a barrage of drones in an overnight attack on Ukraine, injuring four people and damaging residential and commercial buildings in Kyiv and other parts of the country, Ukrainian officials said on Saturday.

Ukraine's air defences shot down 56 of 88 Russian drones, its air force said. It added that 24 drones were "lost" as the military used electronic warfare to redirect them.

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Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitchko said that three people were injured in the capital as a result of the drone attacks.

Drone debris also destroyed a private house and damaged several commercial buildings, causing large fires in different parts of Kyiv, city officials said.

One more person was wounded in the city of Kharkiv in the northeast, Kharkiv's mayor, Ihor Terekhov, said.

Regional officials also said that residential and commercial buildings were damaged in the central Dnipropetrovsk region, and the military reported damage in the Odesa region in the south.​

 

[Saif]

Trump envoy suggests allied zones of control in Ukraine

Keith Kellogg, US president Donald Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, suggested British and French troops could adopt zones of control in the country, in an interview with The Times newspaper published Saturday.

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Trump envoy suggests allied zones of control in Ukraine
Agence France-Presse . London, United Kingdom 13 April, 2025, 00:43

US president Donald Trump. | File photo

Keith Kellogg, US president Donald Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, suggested British and French troops could adopt zones of control in the country, in an interview with The Times newspaper published Saturday.

Kellogg suggested they could have areas of responsibility west of the Dnipro river, as part of a ‘reassurance force’, with a demilitarised zone separating them from Russian-occupied areas in the east.

‘You could almost make it look like what happened with Berlin after World War II, when you had a Russian zone, a French zone, and a British zone, a US zone,’ he said, later clarifying on X that the United States would not be providing troops.

‘You’re west of the [Dnipro], which is a major obstacle,’ Kellogg said, adding that the force would therefore ‘not be provocative at all’ to Russia.

He suggested that a demilitarised zone could be implemented along the existing lines of control in eastern Ukraine, The Times said.

A retired lieutenant general and former acting national security advisor during Trump’s first term, Kellogg, 80, said Ukraine was big enough to accommodate several armies seeking to enforce a ceasefire.

To make sure that British, French, Ukrainian and other allied forces do not exchange fire with Russian troops, Kellogg said a buffer zone would be needed.

‘You look at a map and you create, for lack of a better term, a demilitarised zone,’ he said. ‘You have a... DMZ that you can monitor, and you’ve got this... no-fire zone.’

But he added: ‘Now, are there going to be violations? Probably, because there always are. But your ability to monitor that is easy.’

Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Kellogg admitted that Russian president Vladimir Putin ‘might not accept’ the proposal.

Kellogg later clarified his position, posting on X. ‘I was speaking of a post-ceasefire resiliency force in support of Ukraine’s sovereignty. In discussions of partitioning, I was referencing areas or zones of responsibility for an allied force [without US troops]. I was NOT referring to a partitioning of Ukraine,’ he said.

Britain and France are spearheading talks among a 30-nation ‘coalition of the willing’ on potentially deploying forces to Ukraine to shore up any ceasefire Trump may strike.

London and Paris describe the possible deployment as a ‘reassurance force’ aimed at offering Ukraine some kind of security guarantee. But many questions remain unanswered, from the size of any force, to who would contribute, what the mandate would be and whether the United States would back it up.

Putin, in power for 25 years and repeatedly elected in votes with no competition, has often questioned Volodymyr Zelensky’s ‘legitimacy’ as president, after the Ukrainian leader’s initial five-year mandate ended in May 2024.

Under Ukrainian law, elections are suspended during times of major military conflict, and Zelensky’s domestic opponents have all said no ballots should be held until after the conflict.

‘If you get to a ceasefire, you’re going to have elections,’ said Kellogg.

‘I think Zelensky is open to do that once you get to a ceasefire and once you get some resolution. But that’s a call for the Ukrainian people in the Ukrainian parliament. Not ours.’

Kellogg said relations between Ukraine and the United States were now ‘back on track’, citing resumed talks over a proposed deal on Ukraine’s mineral resources.

He said officials would try to turn a ‘business deal’ into a ‘diplomatic deal’ over the coming days.​

 

[Saif]

Russian missile strike kills 32 in Ukraine

A Russian missile strike on Ukraine’s northeastern city of Sumy killed at least 32 people, including two children, and wounded dozens on Sunday, Kyiv said, in the deadliest attack in months...

www.newagebd.net

Russian missile strike kills 32 in Ukraine
Agence France-Presse . Sumy, Ukraine 13 April, 2025, 16:26

In this handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Emergency Service on Sunday, a Ukrainian rescuer works to extinguish a fire at the site of a missile attack in Sumy, northeastern Ukraine, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. | AFP photo

A Russian missile strike on Ukraine’s northeastern city of Sumy killed at least 32 people, including two children, and wounded dozens on Sunday, Kyiv said, in the deadliest attack in months.

European leaders expressed indignation at Moscow’s attack on Sumy’s city centre, while Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, pointing out it happened on Palm Sunday, said: ‘Only *&*&*&*&*&*&*&*& do this.’

French president Emmanuel Macron said it showed Russia’s ‘blatant disregard for human lives, international law and the diplomatic efforts of president Donald Trump’.

The strike came two days after US envoy Steve Witkoff travelled to Russia to meet with president Vladimir Putin and push Trump’s efforts to end the war.

Sumy lies close to the Russian border and has come under increasing attack for weeks.

The local emergency service said on social media that the latest toll was that ‘32 people died , including two children’ and that ‘84 people were injured, including 10 children’.

An AFP reporter saw bodies covered in silver sheets strewn in the centre of the city, with a destroyed trolleybus. Rescuers were seen working on the rubble of a building.

One woman said she head two explosions.

‘This second blow. A lot of people were very badly injured. A lot of corpses,’ she said, struggling to speak.

It was the second Russian attack with a large civilian death toll this month. Trump has voiced anger at Moscow for ‘bombing like crazy’ in Ukraine.

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky said Moscow launched a ballistic missile on Sumy and called on the world to put pressure on Russia to end the three-year war.

He called for a ‘strong response’ from Europe and the United States, saying: ‘Talking has never stopped ballistic missiles and bombs.’

He added that the deadly attack occurred ‘on a day when people go to church: Palm Sunday, the feast of the Lord’s Entry into Jerusalem’.

Macron said the Russian attack showed what ‘everyone knows: this war was initiated by Russia alone. And today, it is clear that Russia alone chooses to continue it.’

In a statement on social media, he added: ‘Strong measures are needed to impose a ceasefire on Russia. France is working tirelessly toward this goal, alongside its partners.’

European Council chief Antonio Costa condemned the ‘criminal attack’, saying that ‘this war exists and endures only because Russia chooses so’.

Local authorities in Sumy published footage of bodies strewn on the street and people running for safety, with cars on fire and wounded civilians on the ground.

Russia has relentlessly attacked Ukraine in recent weeks, extending the violence wrought by its all-out invasion that has gone on for more than three years.

In early April, a Russian attack on the central city of Kryvyi Rig killed 18 people, including nine children.

Russia has refused a US-proposed unconditional ceasefire and been accused by Ukraine and its European allies of dragging out the war and seeking to stall efforts for peace negotiations.

Sumy has been under increasing pressure since Moscow pushed back many of Ukraine’s troops from its Kursk region inside Russia, across the border.

The eastern Ukrainian city so far has been spared the kind of fighting seen farther south, in the Donetsk region. But Kyiv for weeks has warned that Moscow could mount an offensive on Sumy.

Russia in recent weeks has claimed the capture of a village in the Sumy region, for the first time since the early days of its 2022 invasion.

Russia launched its invasion partially through the Sumy region and briefly occupied parts of it before being pushed back by Ukrainian forces.

Moscow has not yet commented on the strike.

On Sunday, it said it captured another village in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region.​