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Russian forces losing almost nine times more soldiers than Ukraine in Bakhmut, claims Kyiv minister
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Ukraine: Residential building in Zelensky’s hometown engulfed by flames after deadly strike
Ukraine’s soldiers are ready to fight Vladimir Putin’s “even with our bare hands” if necessary, a senior military official has said, as Kyiv claimed its counteroffensive had already liberated 100 square kilometres of territory from Russia.
Brigadier-General Oleksii Hromov that Kyiv had so far recaptured seven settlements in Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia – two of four regions in which Moscow claimed on Thursday that it planned to hold regional elections in September.
With both sides seeking to claim their enemies losses greatly outnumbered their own, Reuters reported that corpses of dead Russian soldiers were strew along roads leading into the recently recaptured Ukrainian village of Storozheve, alongside burnt-out armoured vehicles.
Other remains of the Russian troops fighting in the region were found dumped in the grass and fields nearby where they died, the news agency reported.
“Three days ago we liberated the village of Storozheve. You can see for yourselves how it was achieved. You can see the destroyed hardware. Glory to Ukraine,” a Ukrainian soldier who gave his name as Artem told the news agency.
Both Kyiv and Moscow have reported fierce fighting at points across the vast frontline, writes Bel Trew. But given Russia has had 12 months to fortify its defensive positions, Ukraine needs support to deliver its ‘decisive offensive’
Both Kyiv and Moscow have reported fierce fighting at points across the vast frontline, writes Bel Trew. But given Russia has had 12 months to fortify its defensive positions, Ukraine needs support to deliver its ‘decisive offensive’
At a meeting of Nato defence ministers in Brussels, the Nato secretary-gneral, Jems Stoltenberg, said that it is a “critical time” for the war in Ukraine as Kyiv begins its counteroffensive. The same could be said of alliance itself as it seeks eastward expansion and plots its global role.
The western military alliance that has been strengthened by the united front put in in suport of Ukraine’s fight against Russian invasion – but now finds itself facing a series of challenges sparked by that war that could fray that unity.
Our international correspondent Borzou Daragahi has more in this long read:
Turkey is holding out over giving Sweden membership, while any pathway for Kyiv to join the alliance is still to be mapped out, writes Borzou Daragahi. And the issue of what to do about China – another major player in the Ukraine crisis – is a long-term concern
Our international correspondent Bel Trew has this analysis as Ukraine’s counteroffensive gets underway:
Ukraine’s much-anticipated counteroffensive has had so much hype, it even has its own cinematic promotional trailer. The operation, full details of which remain a closely guarded secret, has been nicknamed Ukraine’s D-Day (in reference to the Second World War operation that, coincidentally, also took place in the month of June).
The Ukrainians have used the plan to successfully convince Western allies to go outside their comfort zone and send increasingly sophisticated weaponry – including the long-awaited German Leopard tanks and American Bradleys.
The Ukrainian military has, for its part, been busy, reportedly creating a dozen new armoured brigades (of around 3,500 soldiers each) for the operation. Nine of them have been trained by the West, Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said back in April. The Ukrainian interior ministry has also confirmed the formation of eight new “storm” brigades, comprising some 40,000 soldiers in total, following an aggressive recruitment campaign.
And this is because timing – along with results – is critical. Kyiv knows that the only way to counter the inevitability of world fatigue, particularly after a gruelling winter of deadlock, is to make lightning gains, or mount a successful “decisive offensive”, to use its own phrase.
In November, in the southern region of Kherson, after Russian forces dramatically withdrew from the region’s capital and across the Dnipro River, I saw that unfurl in real time. But this time, repetition is going to be hard.
Both Kyiv and Moscow have reported fierce fighting at points across the vast frontline, writes Bel Trew. But given Russia has had 12 months to fortify its defensive positions, Ukraine needs support to deliver its ‘decisive offensive’
The UN’s nuclear energy chief has visited the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia plant – and warned it was unrealistic to expect Moscow and Kyiv to sign a document on the site’s security while fighting raged nearby.
Rafael Grossi, chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), was inspecting the state of the plant following last week’s devastating breach in the Kakhovka dam downstream on the Dnipro River.
The plant uses a cooling pond to keep its six reactors from potentially disastrous overheating. While the Kakhovka reservoir was normally used to refill the pond but cannot do so now because of its falling water level following the breach, officials say. Instead, the pond, which is separated from the reservoir, can be replenished using deep underground wells, they say.
Mr Grossi, who was delayed by a day over safety fears and had to pass through a Russian checkpoint to reach the plant, which is located near the military frontline, was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying the situation at the site was “serious” but that the level of cooling water was sufficient.
He also said that IAEA inspectors would remain at the site.
“We have a political agreement which was formulated at the [UN] Security Council. Reaching a written agreement would be unrealistic at this stage because, as we know, there are no peace or ceasefire negotiations between the parties,” TASS news agency quoted him as saying.
Rafael Grossi (pictured) visited the Zaporizhzhia plant and its surrounding area
A Russian anti-war activist has died in a detention centre after he alleged being tortured with beatings and electric shocks there, his lawyer said.
Irina Gak, a lawyer for 40-year-old Anatoly Berezikov, said the dead body of her client, who had been due to be released from the facility in Rostov-on-Don on Thursday, had been taken to a morgue the previous day.
In a video, filmed on Wednesday and showing Ms Gak standing outside the detention centre where Berezikov had been held as an ambulance that she said was there to collect his body drove in, she said that Berezikov had complained of beatings and of being given electric shocks and had told her he feared for his life.
OVD-Info, a human rights monitoring group, cited an unnamed official in the detention centre as telling it that Berezikov had killed himself in his cell.
According to Gak, Berezikov was arrested after he posted leaflets around the city advertising a Ukrainian government project called “I Want to Live,” which helps Russian soldiers voluntarily surrender.
Ukraine is making steady progress in the early day of its counteroffensive against Vladimir Putin’s forces, but the cost is likely to be high in what is proving to be a difficult, bloody battle, Washington’s top general has warned.
“Ukraine has begun their attack and they are making steady progress. This is a very difficult fight. It’s a very violent fight, and it will likely take a considerable amount of time at a high cost,” General Mark Milley, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at Nato’s Brussels headquarters.
Mr Milley praised the leadership, skill and morale of Ukrainian forces, and contrasted that with Russia, saying: “Their leadership is not necessarily coherent, their troops’ morale is not high, and they’re sitting in defensive positions and many of them don’t even know why they’re there.”
Moscow has warned that Russian-Canadian relations are on the “verge of being severed”, as its foreign ministry summoned a Canadian diplomat in protest over the confiscation of an Antonov plane in Toronto.
Last weekend, as premier Justin Trudeau visited Kyiv and announced a huge new military aid package for Ukraine, Canada ordered the seizure of the Russian-registered cargo plane at Toronto’s airport, its first such asset seizure aimed at putting pressure on Moscow over the Ukraine invasion.
Russia told the deputy head of Canada’s embassy in Moscow that it viewed the plane seizure as “cynical theft”, according to a foreign ministry statement.
The statement went on to claim that Ottawa’s “Russophobic policy will entail the most serious repercussions for Russian-Canadian relations, which are on the verge of being severed through the fault of the Trudeau administration”.
Canada’s foreign ministry did not immediately comment.
In a historic address to Switzerland’s parliament, Volodymyr Zelensky has once again urged the nation to allow the re-export of weapons to Ukraine – insisting that the move would be vital in defeating Russia’s invasion.
Neutral Switzerland has a long-standing policy of barring any country that buys its arms from re-exporting them to parties in a conflict, and imposed an embargo on Swiss munitions being sent to either Russia or Ukraine last November.
“I know there is a discussion in Switzerland about the exportation of war materiel to protect and defend Ukraine. That would be vital,” the Ukrainian president said in a video address to both houses of the Swiss parliament. “We need weapons so we can restore peace in Ukraine.”
Wearing a plain black T-shirt with the word “Ukraine” printed across his chest, Mr Zelensky thanked Switzerland for adopting EU sanctions over the invasion, but warned that they must go further.
“It is very important to show solidarity because these sanctions will help us to end aggression,” he said, adding: “We have to strengthen the sanctions.”
Ukraine will get a further 14 Leopard-2 battle tanks worth a total of more than €100m from Western partners, financed by Denmark and the Netherlands, German media has reported, citing Nato sources.
The vehicles will be supplied and refurbished by the Rheinmetall group, according the business daily Handelsblatt.
Contracts for the new delivery have already been signed and the German government was involved as it has to agree to the export of vehicles, it added.
Delivery of the battle tanks is to take place by the end of January, it reported.
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