Zelensky says China trying to undermine Ukraine peace summit
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Russian forces have broken through Ukrainian positions defending the strategically important eastern city of Chasiv Yar.
After months of bombardments, the Kremlin’s army pushed back forces from party of the city, Ukraine’s military spokesman said on national television on Thursday.
Nazar Voloshyn said: “It became impractical to hold the canal neighbourhood after the enemy entered it, because it threatened the lives and health of our servicemen and the positions of our defenders were destroyed.
“The command decided to pull back to more protected and prepared positions, but even there the enemy does not stop its active combat actions,”
Holding the city was deemed crucial for Ukraine, with the site a highly sought-after due to its strategic location and elevated position.
The Russian advancement comes after the commander of a Ukrainian brigade operating near Chasiv Yar said his forces were in need of ammunition as President Volodymyr Zelensky bemoaned the time it was taking for equipment to reach the front line.
Ukraine is now receiving Western weaponry and ammunition after assistance from Washington was halted for months by disputes in the U.S. Congress, which announced its latest $2.3 billion military aid package this week, including artillery rounds, interceptor missiles and anti-tank weapons.
Key pointsIndian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit Russia
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Russia on July 8-9 and hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin said.
The visit was first announced by Russian officials last month but the dates have not been previously disclosed.
Russia has had strong ties with India since the Cold War, and New Delhi’s importance as a key trade partner for Moscow has grown since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022.
China and India have become key buyers of Russian oil following sanctions imposed by the US and its allies that shut most Western markets for Russian exports.
Under Mr Modi’s leadership, India has avoided condemning Russia’s action in Ukraine while emphasising the need for a peaceful settlement.
Alex Ross4 July 2024 12:27
Chasiv Yar reduced to rubble
A spokesperson for Ukraine‘s military said its army has retreated from a neighborhood in the outskirts of Chasiv Yar, a town reduced to rubble under a months-long Russian assault.
Months of relentless Russian artillery strikes have devastated Chasiv Yar, with homes and municipal offices charred, and a town that once had a population of 12,000 has been left deserted. The intensity of Russian strikes on Ukraine‘s defensive line in the area of Chasiv Yar has increased over the last month, Voloshyn said. In the past week alone, Voloshyn said Russia has carried out nearly 1,300 strikes, fired nearly 130 glide bombs and made 44 ground assaults.
Chasiv Yar lies a short distance west Bakhmut, which was captured by Russia last year after a bitter 10-month battle. For months, Russian forces have focused on capturing Chasiv Yar, a town which occupies a strategic, elevated location.
Its fall would put nearby cities in jeopardy, compromise critical Ukrainian supply routes and bring Russia closer to its stated aim of seizing the entire Donetsk region.
Alex Ross4 July 2024 11:48
Alex Ross4 July 2024 11:00
More on the Russian advancement in part of Chasiv Yar
Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces had taken control of the Novyi district, which lies to the west of Siverskyi Donets-Donbas canal that runs through the eastern part of the Chasiv Yar.
“It became impractical to hold the canal neighbourhood after the enemy entered it, because it threatened the lives and health of our servicemen and the positions of our defenders were destroyed,” military spokesman Nazar Voloshyn told Ukrainian television.
“The command decided to pull back to more protected and prepared positions, but even there the enemy does not stop its active combat actions,” he said.
Russia’s forces, which launched their full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, have been slowly advancing in the Donetsk region for several weeks and tried to open a new front near the northeastern city of Kharkiv.
Alex Ross4 July 2024 10:38
‘We have to safeguard the security bottom line’ – Chinese President Xi Jinping
At the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting in Kazakhstan’s capital of Astana, attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping called on members to show solidarity in the face “the real challenges of intervention and polarization”. “In the face of the real threat of the Cold War mentality, we have to safeguard the security bottom line,” he added.
And addressing the summit, Putin emphasised the group’s focus on ensuring security of its members and noted that the SCO will form a dedicated centre that will coordinate response to various security challenges.
He added that the group’s members will also endorse a special program to fight separatism and extremism.
Besides Putin and Xi, and summit host Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, attending Thursday’s meeting are Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan, President Emomali Rakhmon of Tajikistan, President Sadyr Zhaparov of Kyrgyzstan and President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus.
Alex Ross4 July 2024 10:00
Vladimir Putin attends security summit set up to counter Western alliances
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday attended the summit of a security grouping created by Moscow and Beijing to counter Western alliances.
Putin and Xi joined the leaders of other countries that are members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization at its annual meeting in Kazakhstan’s capital of Astana.
The grouping was established in 2001 by China, Russia and four ex-Soviet Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to promote regional security and economic cooperation.
It was later joined by India, Pakistan and Iran. Russia’s western neighbor and ally, Belarus, joined the SCO on Thursday.Observer states and dialogue partners include Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Alex Ross4 July 2024 09:14
Ukrainian forces pull back
Ukrainian forces have pulled back from a part of Chasiv Yar in the eastern Donetsk region, the military’s spokesman said on national television on Thursday.
“It became impractical to hold the canal neighbourhood after the enemy entered it, because it threatened the lives and health of our servicemen and the positions of our defenders were destroyed,” Nazar Voloshyn said.
“The command decided to pull back to more protected and prepared positions, but even there the enemy does not stop its active combat actions,” he added.
Alex Ross4 July 2024 08:44
Turkey’s Erdogan offers to help end Russia-Ukraine war
Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan told Russia’s Vladimir Putin that Ankara could help end the Ukraine-Russia war, an offer Putin’s spokesperson rejected and said Erdogan could not play the role of an intermediary in the 28-month-old conflict.
Erdogan, speaking to Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Kazakhstan, said he believed a fair peace suiting both sides was possible, the Turkish presidency said.
But Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, ruled out any role as a go-between for the Turkish leader.
“No, it’s not possible,” said Peskov, when asked by a Russian television interviewer whether Erdogan could assume such a role, according to the Russian Tass news agency. The news agency’s account did not explain why the Kremlin was opposed to Erdogan’s participation.
The Turkish presidency said the two leaders also discussed the war in Gaza and ways to end the conflict in Syria.
Arpan Rai4 July 2024 08:20
A precious moment in time of war: Flowers for a wife and daughter coming home to Ukraine
On his way to the Kyiv train station to greet his wife and daughter returning from Poland to Ukraine, Oleksander Tryfonov made a stop.
He bought two red roses from one of a half-dozen flower shops lining a dimly lit underpass — something beautiful for the two most precious people in his life.
“I haven’t seen them for two years,” Tryfonov, a burly 45-year-old driver said of his family. “Flowers are important for women.”
Flowers have always been linked with Ukraine’s culture, but since Russia’s 2022 invasion, their significance has only grown, with blooms becoming a symbol of both resistance and hope.
Despite hardships brought by war — or perhaps because of them — Ukrainians take every chance they can to fill Kyiv and other cities with flowers from the country’s vast rural heartland, anxious to reconnect with and rediscover their roots.
Arpan Rai4 July 2024 08:00
Ukraine reports heavy fighting as Russia claims to control Chasiv Yar city
The frontline situation in Ukraine’s Chasiv Yar is “critically difficult”, Ukrainian press officer Ivan Petrechak said last evening amid Russian reports of mounting aerial attacks.
“We see no letup in the amount of shelling. The enemy is using artillery, multiple rocket systems,” Mr Petrechak, press officer for Ukraine’s 24th brigade defending the town, said. “The situation remains tense. But the 24th brigade is holding its positions.”
Russian forces, he said, were sticking to known tactics – moving infantry into forested areas and then dispersing to attack Ukrainian positions in small groups. Advancing soldiers were covered by shelling and attack drones.
The popular Ukrainian war blog DeepState reported earlier in the day that Russian forces had “completely erased” Novyi district. A Ukrainian military official said last week that Russian troops had been pushed out of an area by the canal.
Russian forces have been slowly pushing their way across parts of eastern Ukraine since the capture of the key city of Avdiivka in February.
Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had taken control of a district in the key Ukrainian town of Chasiv Yar, while Ukraine said the area was engulfed by intense fighting.
Chasiv Yar stands on high ground 20km (12 miles) to the west of Bakhmut, a town Russian forces seized a year ago. It had been levelled by months of fierce battles.
Both sides see Chasiv Yar as a strategic site which Russia could use as a potential staging point to move westward through Donetsk region toward the cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.
Arpan Rai4 July 2024 07:13
Source link : https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/russia-ukraine-war-putin-nato-dnipro-attack-latest-news-b2573703.html
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Publish date : 2024-07-04 07:37:32
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