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Ukraine forces claims Andriivka, near the now-symbolic city of Bakhmut, as it looks to push Russia back in both the south and east of the country
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Russia’s war in Ukraine
Ukraine has claimed fresh success in its counteroffensive against Vladimir Putin’s forces, with the recapture of another village – a liberation that the army says is “key to success in all further directions”.
The announcement by the General Staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said that Russian forces had faced “significant losses” in the battle.
Kyiv’s forces are seeking to reclaim land occupied by Moscow across multiple areas of southern and eastern Ukraine. The village of Andriivka is about 6 miles (10 kilometres) south of the Russia-occupied town of Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk region. Bakhmut is one of Ukraine’s key targets, with Russia having occupied it after some of the bloodiest fighting of Moscow’s 18-month invasion
Meanwhile, Britain’s most senior military officer said Ukraine had taken the initiative over Russia with its offensive, even if gains are gradual. Sir Tony Radakin said: “In the north they are holding and fixing Russian forces there and in the south they are making progress between 10 and 20km”.
His comments came as Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky hailed Ukraine’s destruction of a Russian air defence system in the annexed Crimea peninsula.
Ukraine’s recapture of Andriivka is “strategically important” for its wider war effort, a military analyst has said.
Professor Michael Clarke, defence and security analyst and former director-general of the Royal United Services Institute, said the gain could help Ukraine get at Russia’s reserve lines.
He told Sky News: “If they can get south of Bakhmut, then they can get into open country into Russia’s reserve lines.”
Andriivka lies around 13km (8 miles) south of Bakhmut, which was the site of a long and bloody battle over many months.
The Wagner Group, which has now left Ukraine, claimed it had taken Bakhmut in May.
Professor added that getting south of the key frontline city means troops could “maybe turn south into Donetsk and try to really get behind Donetsk itself”.
“[Andriivka] doesn’t look much but it is strategically quite important. You can see it’s like a First World War battlefield. They’ve really struggled for it.”
Ukrainian business magnate Ihor Kolomoisky has been served with notice of a third set of allegations following his detention on suspicion of fraud and money laundering, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said on Friday.
The new allegations against one of Ukraine’s richest men were first reported on Thursday by Serhiy Leshchenko, a former investigative journalist and parliamentarian who now works as an adviser in President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office.
The SBU, acting with Ukraine’s Economic Security Bureau and the prosecutor general’s office, said Kolomoisky was suspected of receiving 5.8 billion hryvnias from an alleged scheme to embezzle funds from a bank he founded and was a shareholder of.
The sum, currently worth $157 million, was the equivalent of more than $700 million at the time, the SBU said.
Kolomoisky is suspected of having set up an organised group, which comprised employees of the bank, to obtain the funds from 2013 to 2014, it said.
Reuters could not immediately reach Kolomoisky or his lawyers for comment on the new allegations. Kolomoisky has in the past denied any wrongdoing.
Igor Kolomoisky
Ukraine’s attack on Moscow’s Black Sea fleet was planned with the help of a Russian serviceman, it has been claimed.
A spokesperson for ATESH, a Ukrainian-Crimean Tatar movement, told the Kyiv Post one of its members in the naval fleet obtained details of the location and possible missions of the Rostov submarine, which suffered “catastrophic damage” in the attack.
“We managed to attract one of the military members of the Russian Black Sea Fleet,” the spokesperson said. “He got up-to-date information about the placement and probable combat missions of the Rostov-on-Don submarine.”
Picture shows scene of Ukrainian attack on black sea fleet in Sevastapol
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin convened at a rocket launch facility in the Russian Far East on Wednesday in their first summit in four years. After visiting the Vostochny Cosmodrome, Putin decided to show Kim his armoured Aurus limousine, inviting him to take a seat inside. Their meeting location shows that Putin is ready to share Russian rocket and space technology with Pyongyang in exchange for access to North Korea’s arms stockpiles for the war in Ukraine. The talks between the two leaders were expected to focus on expanding military cooperation amid their intensifying confrontations with the West.
Putin’s apparent willingness to get arms from North Korea shows his regime is “ in quite a desperate mode,” the US has said.
The Pentagon said North Korea providing Russia with weapons would only prolong the war in Ukraine.
Deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said the US had not seen a formal agreement from Russia or North Korea but “it’s something that we’re certainly monitoring and would expect”.
Sabrina Singh
Volodymyr Zelenksy has given state awards to tank soliders for their service in the war against Russia.
The Ukraine president said he was “honoured” to present the awards as he congratulated the troops for their “heroic bravery”.
“Awards for our tank soldiers. I am honored to present them today,” he said.
“When we congratulate our heroic tank troops and thank them, we thank them precisely for the fact that they return freedom, life, faith to our people in victory to Ukraine and make our forces stronger.”
The supreme commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is presented with state awards to the tankers of Mykolaiv marines
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un stopped in a far eastern Russian city Friday to see a factory that builds the country’s most advanced fighter jets on his extended trip that hints at his interest in sophisticated weaponry, as the U.S. and others warned Moscow and Pyongyang against making banned weapons transfer deals.
Kim’s visits to Russian weapons and technology sites and meetings with President Vladimir Putin have raised speculation he will supply ammunition to Russia for its war efforts in Ukraine in exchange for receiving advanced weapons or technology from Russia as the two nations deepen their ties while both are increasingly isolated and sanctioned in separate confrontations with the West.
Full report:
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has stopped in a far eastern Russian city to see a factory that builds the country’s most advanced fighter jets on his extended trip that hints at his interest in sophisticated weaponry
A Belgian government official said on Friday it expects the Group of Seven countries to announce an indirect ban on Russian diamonds in the next 2-3 weeks.
The ban would come into effect in January.
A number of Western countries – including the UK and EU – have place sanctions on the Russian state and Russian oligarch since the war started in February last year.
Last week the UK announced that it was sanctioning a Russian cyber gang accused of targeting hospitals and other critical infrastructure
Some 11 members of the gang were sanctioned in total.
Ukraine hailed the recapture of a village near the key battlefield of Bakhmut as it paid tribute to soldiers killed in the fighting.
In a Telegram post, the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade said the win was the result of a “lightning operation” and paid tribute to those who died in the fighting.
“The capture and holding of Andriivka is our way to a breakthrough on the right flank from Bakhmut, and the key to the success of all further offensives,” the statement said.
“We pay a high price for the results of these battles. And the blood of each of our fighters will be repaid only with blood.”
This drone image on Wednesday Sept. 6, 2023, shows houses destroyed during the fighting between Russia and Ukraine near Andriivka
The president of Poland Andrzej Duda is scheduled to meet Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky next week, he has said.
The two leaders will hold talks in New York, where the United Nations General Assembly is taking place, Duda’s office said in a tweet.
“In a few days, in New York, I have an appointment with the President of Ukraine @ZelenskyyUa,” he said.
“We will, among others: talk about grain. Ukraine must understand our position – my task is to take care of our Polish interests.”
Earlier this week Ukraine warned it could seek international arbitration over restrictions on its grain exports after Poland said it would continue to block domestic imports of Ukrainian grain even if Brussels lifts a ban.
Restrictions imposed by the European Union in May allowed Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia to ban domestic sales of Ukrainian wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seeds, while permitting transit of such cargoes for export elsewhere.
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