WARS
Tuesday, 01 August 2023 04:27
What to know after Day 523 of Russia-Ukraine war
WESTERN PERSPECTIVE 'The Russians were waiting for us': Ukraine troops describe tougher fight than expected They rode into a kill zone. The timing was off. Many men were lost. In the end, they recaptured the ruined village of Staromaiorske, claiming Ukraine's biggest advance for weeks. Troops at the spearhead of Ukraine's counteroffensive say a battle last week along the front in the southeast proved to be tougher and bloodier than expected, with plans going awry and an enemy that was well-prepared. "The Russians were waiting for us," said a 29-year-old soldier using the call-sign Bulat, from a unit sent into…
Monday, 31 July 2023 04:36
What to know after Day 522 of Russia-Ukraine war
WESTERN PERSPECTIVE Ukraine reports fierce fighting in northeast A senior Ukrainian official reported heavy fighting in the northeast of the country on Sunday, with Kyiv's forces holding their lines and making gains in some areas. Russia's military said it had halted Ukrainian forces in the northeast. The military also said it brought down down three Ukrainian drones which had tried to strike Moscow and damaged a high-rise building reported to house government offices. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy described Sunday as "a good day, a powerful day" at the front, particularly near Bakhmut, where Ukrainian forces say they are retaking ground…
Sunday, 30 July 2023 04:32
What to know after Day 521 of Russia-Ukraine war
RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE Russia is ready for confrontation with NATO – Putin Russia is “always ready for any scenario,” President Vladimir Putin told journalists on Saturday, commenting on a potential direct confrontation between the Russian and NATO militaries. The president was answering a question about recent near-collisions involving Russian and American aircraft in Syria. “No one wants that,” the president added, pointing to the existing conflict-prevention lines that allow Russian and US officers to talk directly about “any crisis situation.” The fact that these lines still work shows that no side is interested in a conflict, he added. “If someone wants…
Saturday, 29 July 2023 04:02
What to know after Day 520 of Russia-Ukraine war
RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE Neutral status for Ukraine ‘fundamental’ to Russia – Putin Kiev becoming a member of NATO is an existential threat to Russian national security and will not be tolerated, Russian President Vladimir Putin told representatives of several African countries on Friday. In the document that ushered in Ukraine’s independence from the Soviet Union, “it is written in black and white that Ukraine is a neutral state,” Putin reminded the visiting African leaders, during the public part of their meeting in St. Petersburg. The president was referring to the 1990 declaration proclaiming Soviet Ukraine a sovereign state that would strive…
Friday, 28 July 2023 04:39
What to know after Day 519 of Russia-Ukraine war
WESTERN PERSPECTIVE Ukrainian forces press southward, say strategic village recaptured from Russians Ukrainian forces pressed their counteroffensive through the Russian-occupied southeast on Thursday, capturing the village of Staromaiorske in a campaign to drive a wedge through Russian defensive positions. The counteroffensive has focused on securing villages on the southward push and areas around the eastern city of Bakhmut, taken by Russian forces in May after months of battles. Ukrainian officials have reported slow, steady progress. Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged intensified Ukrainian attacks over the last few days, but said they had made no headway. He told Russian television that…
Thursday, 27 July 2023 04:29
What to know after Day 518 of Russia-Ukraine war
RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE Russian military repels ‘massive’ Ukrainian offensive – defense ministry Russian troops have stopped an “intensive” effort by the Ukrainian military to break their defensive lines near the village of Orekhov in Russia’s Zaporozhye Region. The village and its surroundings have been the scene of fierce fighting for weeks, as Ukraine’s floundering counteroffensive drags on. Kiev’s forces “resumed intensive offensive operations” just south of Orekhov on Wednesday morning, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that evening. Despite the Ukrainian army launching a “massive”assault with three battalions backed by tanks, Russia’s 810th Marine Brigade, and 71st Motorized Rifle…
Wednesday, 26 July 2023 04:09
What to know after Day 517 of Russia-Ukraine war
WESTERN PERSPECTIVE US military aid for Ukraine for first time includes Black Hornet spy drone The U.S. Department of Defense announced $400 million in additional security assistance for Ukraine on Tuesday, including air defense missiles, armored vehicles and small drones, as Ukraine's counteroffensive against Russia grinds on. The new aid package, which was first reported by Reuters, will include for the first time U.S. furnished Black Hornet surveillance drones made by Teledyne FLIR Defense, part of Teledyne Technologies. The Norwegian-built Hornet is being used in Ukraine through donations by the British and Norwegian governments, the company said. FLIR Unmanned Aerial…
Tuesday, 25 July 2023 04:30
What to know after Day 516 of Russia-Ukraine war
WESTERN PERSPECTIVE Russia talks of retaliation after 'Ukrainian drone strike' near Moscow army HQ Russia spoke of taking harsh retaliatory measures against Ukraine after two drones damaged buildings in Moscow early on Monday, including one close to the Defence Ministry's headquarters, in what it called a brazen act of terror. Nobody was hurt in the attack, of which a senior Ukrainian official said there would be more, but one drone struck close to the Moscow building where the Russian military holds briefings on what it calls its "special military operation", a symbolic blow which underscored the reach of such drones.…
Monday, 24 July 2023 03:24
What to know after Day 515 of Russia-Ukraine war
RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE Zelensky reveals cause of counteroffensive failure Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky attributed the delay and lackluster results of his military’s much-hyped counteroffensive to insufficient weapons and training from Kiev’s Western allies in an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria on Sunday. “We did have plans to start [the counteroffensive] in spring. But we didn’t, because, frankly, we had not enough munitions and armaments and not enough brigades properly trained in these weapons,” Zelensky explained, adding that holding the training outside Ukraine further contributed to the delays. It was this delay, he said, that allowed Russia to “mine all our lands…
Monday, 24 July 2023 03:22
Sudan war enters 100th day as mediation attempts fail
Clashes flared in parts of Sudan on the 100th day of the war on Sunday as mediation attempts by regional and international powers failed to find a path out of an increasingly intractable conflict. The fighting broke out on April 15 as the army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) vied for power. Since then, more than 3 million people have been uprooted, including more than 700,000 who have fled to neighbouring countries. Some 1,136 people have been killed, according to the health ministry, though officials believe the number is higher. Neither the army nor the RSF has been able…
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Sunday, 23 July 2023 04:18
What to know after Day 514 of Russia-Ukraine war
WESTERN PERSPECTIVE Drone attack on ammunition depot in Crimea prompts evacuation, bridge closure A drone attack on an ammunition depot in Crimea prompted authorities to evacuate a 5-km (3-mile) radius and briefly suspend road traffic on the bridge linking the peninsula to Russia, the region's Moscow-installed governor said on Saturday. Ukraine said its army had destroyed an oil depot and Russian army warehouses in what it called the "temporarily occupied" district of Oktiabrske in central Crimea. The attack caused an ammunition depot to explode, said Russian-installed governor Sergei Aksyonov, adding there was no reported damage or casualties. Footage shared by…
Saturday, 22 July 2023 04:38
What to know after Day 513 of Russia-Ukraine war
RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE Ukraine losing ‘significant’ forces – White House White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has claimed that it was too early to make a call on the results of Ukraine’s counteroffensive operations, insisting that despite losing a “significant” amount of forces, Kiev still has “substantial” reserves to throw into battle. When asked whether “the real counteroffensive is yet to come” at the Aspen Security Forum in Washington, DC on Friday, Sullivan insisted that the counteroffensive began “the day the first Ukrainian put their life on the line.” “There have already been significant amounts of casualties and deaths of…
Friday, 21 July 2023 04:46
What to know after Day 512 of Russia-Ukraine war
WESTERN PERSPECTIVE Russia bombs Ukraine ports, threatens ships, as Kyiv deploys cluster munitions Russia jolted world grain markets with an escalation in the Black Sea, mounting a third straight night of air strikes on Ukrainian ports and issuing a threat against Ukraine-bound vessels to which Kyiv responded in kind. At least 27 civilians were reported hurt in the air strikes on the ports, which set buildings ablaze and damaged China's consulate in Odesa. The United States said Russia's warning to ships indicated Moscow might attack vessels at sea following Moscow's withdrawal on Monday from a U.N.-brokered deal to let Ukraine…
Thursday, 20 July 2023 03:43
What to know after Day 511 of Russia-Ukraine war
WESTERN PERSPECTIVE Russia warns ships in Black Sea, Ukraine to create temporary grains export route Russia warned that ships sailing to Ukraine's Black Sea ports from Thursday will be seen as potential military targets, days after its withdrawal from a safe-passage deal that threatens to worsen global food supplies. Ukraine said on Wednesday it was establishing a temporary shipping route via Romania, one of the neighbouring Black Sea countries. "Its goal is to facilitate the unblocking of international shipping in the north-western part of the Black Sea," Vasyl Shkurakov, Ukraine's acting minister for communities, territories and infrastructure development, said in…