KYIV: Russian troops destroyed or captured several Ukrainian positions near the eastern city of Pokrovsk, Kyiv’s military said on Wednesday, as Moscow bears down on the strategic logistics hub that is home to a unique Ukrainian coking mine.
After months of accelerating advances toward Pokrovsk, Moscow’s forces are now as close as 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) from the southern outskirts of the city, according to Ukraine’s DeepState, which maps the front lines using open sources.
“As a result of prolonged clashes, two of our positions were destroyed, one was lost. Currently, measures are being taken to restore positions,” Nazar Voloshyn, Ukraine’s military spokesman for the eastern front, said in televised comments.
Pokrovsk, situated about 18 kilometers (11 miles) from the boundary of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions, has for months been the area of the fiercest battles in Russia’s 33-month-old full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
In October and November, the Russian military advanced toward the city at its fastest rate since the early months of the war, analysts said. Ukraine, which has been on the back foot since its failed 2023 counteroffensive, says Russia has been sustaining some of its heaviest losses of the war to date.
Both Ukraine and Russia have their eye on the growing prospect of a push for peace talks, with US President-elect Donald Trump preparing to enter office on Jan. 20, having called for an immediate ceasefire and a swift end to the war.
Kyiv has urged its allies to get it into the strongest possible position on the battlefield before any talks do happen.
Russia, which Ukraine says has over 70,000 troops on the Pokrovsk front, has rapidly advanced toward Shevchenko, a village to Pokrovsk’s south, in recent weeks.
Its forces are currently trying to gain a foothold in the village and sending in reconnaissance and sabotage groups, Voloshyn said. Ukraine is holding them back for now, he added.
The fall of Pokrovsk, an important logistics center for the Ukrainian military in the east, would amount to the biggest military setback for Kyiv in months.
The city also hosts Ukraine’s only domestic coking coal supplier for its once-giant steel industry.
The mine, which was still operating as of Dec. 6, lies 10 km (6.2 miles) west of Pokrovsk, the far side from where Russian troops have been advancing.
Ukraine loses ground near Pokrovsk, Russian force within 3 km of strategic hub
https://arab.news/2c9jc
Ukraine loses ground near Pokrovsk, Russian force within 3 km of strategic hub
- “As a result of prolonged clashes, two of our positions were destroyed, one was lost,” Nazar Voloshyn, Ukraine’s military spokesman, said
- Kyiv has urged its allies to get it into the strongest possible position on the battlefield before any talks do happen
IMF says Nigeria repays $3.4 billion COVID-19 funding
“Nigeria is expected to honor some additional payments,” Ebeke added
LAGOS: Nigeria has repaid $3.4 billion in emergency funding it received from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help the country cope with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic five years ago, the global lender said on Thursday.
In April 2020, the IMF provided the financing to help Africa’s largest oil exporter cope with a collapse in crude prices, which hit its finances and tipped the economy into recession.
IMF resident representative to Nigeria Christian Ebeke said in a statement that, as of April 30, the country had “fully repaid the financial support” it received under the Fund’s Rapid Financing Instrument, a facility that provides urgent balance of payments funding to member nations.
“Nigeria is expected to honor some additional payments in the form of Special Drawing Rights charges of about $30 million annually,” Ebeke added.
The most recent data from the Debt Management Office shows that Nigeria last year spent $4.66 billion to service its foreign debt, of which $1.63 billion was to the IMF.
Greenpeace Denmark launches fake tourism ad to highlight pollution
- “We are inviting Europeans to discover the wonders of Denmark’s agricultural landscape,” Fromberg told
- Greenpeace believes that Denmark has repeatedly violated the EU Water Framework Directive
COPENHAGEN: Discover a dying sea or cycle through protected natural areas covered in asphalt? A tourism campaign by Greenpeace’s Danish branch seeks to highlight environmental pollution in the Nordic country.
“Through the campaign, which is available on social networks as well as on billboards in Brussels and Warsaw, we are inviting Europeans to discover the wonders of Denmark’s agricultural landscape,” Christian Fromberg, head of agriculture and nature at Greenpeace Denmark, told AFP Thursday.
With a tone of sarcasm Fromberg went on to describe the sights: “Here we find asphyxiated seas littered with mysterious brown sludge, car parks and golf courses that are in officially protected natural areas.”
In the Scandinavian country, which prides itself on being a leader in the combating climate change, human activities, particularly waste from agriculture, have suffocated marine ecosystems.
The equivalent of 7,500 square kilometers (2,896 square miles) of the waters around the country, or 17 percent of the surface area of mainland Denmark, has been affected by deoxygenation, leading to the disappearance of marine flora and fauna, according to the Danish Environmental Protection Agency.
“The campaign is a cry for help to the European Union to enforce the environmental regulations systematically violated by the Danish government,” Fromberg said.
Greenpeace believes that Denmark, which takes over the presidency of the European Union in July, has repeatedly violated the EU Water Framework Directive, which requires member states to implement measures to ensure healthy aquatic ecosystems.
“The current government will not take the necessary measures to revitalize our seas and protect our environment,” Fromberg said.
At the same time, a broad majority of Danish politicians have agreed to introduce a carbon tax on livestock farming by 2030.
Denmark has also committed to make agriculture greener, aiming to reduce nitrogen emissions by 13,780 tons a year by 2027.
Russia and Ukraine report attacks despite Moscow-declared truce as Kyiv ratifies minerals deal
- Russian bombs meanwhile struck northeast Ukraine in the opening hours of Moscow’s unilateral ceasefire
- Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha accused Russia of violating its own ceasefire 734 times between midnight and midday Thursday
KYIV: Russia and Ukraine both reported attacks on their forces on the first day of a 72-hour ceasefire called by Russian President Vladimir Putin, while Ukraine’s parliament unanimously approved a landmark minerals deal with the US.
The ratification is a key step in setting the deal in motion. It would allow Washington access to Ukraine’s largely untapped minerals, deepen strategic ties and create a joint investment fund with the US for the reconstruction of Ukraine.
Parliament approved the agreement with 338 members voting in favor out of the required 226 votes, Ukrainian lawmaker Yaroslav Zheleznyak wrote on his Telegram account. No lawmaker voted against it or abstained.
“This document is not merely a legal construct, it is the foundation of a new model of interaction with a key strategic partner,” Ukrainian Economy Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko wrote on X.
Russian bombs meanwhile struck northeast Ukraine in the opening hours of Moscow’s unilateral ceasefire, killing at least one civilian, Ukrainian officials said. Artillery assaults took place across the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, although with less intensity than in the previous 24 hours, officials said.
The ceasefire coincides with Russia’s biggest secular holiday, the 80th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany. Kyiv has pressed for a longer-term ceasefire.
Putin on Thursday welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping in the Kremlin. Xi, who Putin earlier described as “our main guest” at Friday’s Victory Day festivities, arrived in Russia on Wednesday for a four-day visit.
Both sides list attacks since the Moscow-declared truce
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha accused Russia of violating its own ceasefire 734 times between midnight and midday Thursday. He called the ceasefire a “farce” on the social media platform X.
He said Russia carried out 63 assault operations along the front line, 23 of which were still ongoing as of midday. Ukraine “responds appropriately” and is actively sharing information about the attacks with the U.S, the European Union and others. “We will not let Putin fool anyone when he does not even keep his own word,” Sybiha said.
Russian attacks also took place near Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region on Thursday morning, a press officer of Ukraine’s 24th Mechanized Brigade, Oleh Petrasiuk, told The Associated Press via phone.
One person died and two were wounded when Russian forces dropped guided air bombs on residential areas near the border in the northeast Sumy region, the regional prosecutor’s office said.
Large-scale missile and drone attacks, which have been a near-daily occurrence in Ukraine in recent weeks, were not recorded since 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Ukraine’s air force said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had previously cast doubt on the ceasefire, calling it “manipulation” as US-led peace efforts stalled. “For some reason, everyone is supposed to wait until May 8 before ceasing fire — just to provide Putin with silence for his parade,” Zelensky said.
In March, the United States proposed a 30-day truce in the war, which Ukraine accepted, but the Kremlin has held out for ceasefire terms more to its liking.
Russia’s Defense Ministry meanwhile accused Ukrainian forces of attacking its positions and said its forces would continue to “mirror” Ukraine’s actions during the Kremlin’s ceasefire.
The regions of Belgorod, Lipetsk, Orenburg, Ryazan and Tambov came under a drone threat alert overnight, but there were no reports of any drones being shot down or intercepted. Russia’s civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia also briefly imposed restrictions on flights to and from the airport in Nizhny Novgorod.
Putin praises relations with Xi
In welcoming Xi, Putin said that “the brotherhood of arms between our peoples, which developed during the harsh war years, is one of the fundamental foundations of modern Russian-Chinese relations of comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation.”
He added that Moscow and Beijing were developing ties “for the benefit of the peoples of both countries and not against anyone.”
Xi, in turn, said that “history and reality have fully proved that the continuous development and deepening of China-Russia relations is a necessity for the friendship between the two peoples from generation to generation.” He also called for safeguarding “international fairness and justice.”
Putin and Xi have met over 40 times and developed strong personal ties that bolstered the countries’ “strategic partnership” as both face tensions with the West.
China has offered robust diplomatic support to Moscow after its 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine and has emerged as a top market for Russian oil and gas, helping fill the Kremlin’s war coffers. Russia has relied on China as the main source of machinery and electronics to keep its military machine running after Western sanctions curtailed high-tech supplies.
King Charles leads UK service to mark end of WWII
- Eighty years ago on May 8, 1945, central London was thronged with huge crowds celebrating the end of the war
- In a radio address to the nation Churchill announced that the day would be “Victory in Europe Day”
LONDON: King Charles III on Thursday joined veterans and other members of the royal family at London’s Westminster Abbey for a service to mark 80 years since the end of World War II.
Arriving at the abbey, Charles and his eldest son Prince William laid wreaths at the church’s tomb of the unknown warrior.
The King’s message on the wreath read simply: “We will never forget” and was signed Charles R.
William’s message, which was signed “William” and “Catherine,” added: “For those who made the ultimate sacrifice during the Second World War. We will remember them.”
This year’s commemorations have had an extra poignancy due to the great age of the dwindling numbers of surviving veterans.
War-time prime minister Winston Churchill’s 10-year-old great-great-grandson Alexander lit a candle of peace during the service, which was preceded by a nationwide two-minute silence.
“It feels really amazing that I can represent my family and also the younger generation to know and remember everyone involved in World War II,” the younger Churchill said.
Other younger members of the congregation handed out white roses to veterans.
Charles, who is undergoing treatment for an unspecified cancer, was also accompanied by Queen Camilla, William’s wife Princess Catherine, also known as Kate, and other senior members of the royal family.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer and other politicians and dignitaries also attended.
Eighty years ago on May 8, 1945, central London was thronged with huge crowds celebrating the end of the war.
In a radio address to the nation Churchill announced that the day would be “Victory in Europe Day.”
He added: “We may allow ourselves a brief period of rejoicing,” despite the conflict with Japan not yet having ended.
Later that day the crowds even included the late Queen Elizabeth II, then a 19-year-old princess, and her younger sister Margaret, who were allowed to leave Buckingham Palace and join the jubilant crowds incognito.
The Westminster Abbey service featured a rendition of the favorite 1940s song “The White Cliffs of Dover,” readings of wartime letters to loved ones, and an excerpt of Churchill’s 1945 victory speech.
Before leaving, Charles and other members of the royal family spent time chatting to veterans and their families, some of whom are now over 100 years of age.
Kate and Camilla then led other royals in laying flowers at the Innocent Victims’ Memorial in tribute to all victims of war and oppression.
This year’s anniversary events will be the last major commemoration for which “anyone will still be alive who actually served in the Second World War,” monarchy specialist Robert Hazell of University College London told AFP earlier.
The four-day celebration which began on Monday was set to wrap up later Thursday with a concert at London’s Horse Guards Parade, with pubs allowed to stay open two hours later than usual.
Cardinals vote in the Vatican for a second day to elect a new pope
- The 133 cardinals had resumed voting in the morning
- The cardinals have been sworn to secrecy in the centuries-old ritual
VATICAN CITY: Black smoke again billowed out of the Sistine Chapel on Thursday, the second day of the conclave, indicating that no new pontiff has been chosen after the second or third ballots. There are still two more votes possible later in the day.
The 133 cardinals had resumed voting in the morning, after spending the night sequestered at the Vatican residences. On Wednesday evening, black smoke poured out of the Sistine Chapel chimney indicating no pope was elected on the first ballot of the conclave.
The cardinals have been sworn to secrecy in the centuries-old ritual to elect a new leader of the 1.4 billion-member Catholic Church. To become pope, a cardinal needs a two-thirds majority, or 89 votes. This conclave is the most geographically diverse conclave in the faith’s 2,000-year history.
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the dean of the College of Cardinals, expressed hope that a new pope would be elected within hours, according to reports in major Italian newspapers.
“I hope that when I return to Rome this evening, I’ll find the white smoke already rising,” he said, speaking from the city of Pompei on Thursday.
Re is 91 years old, which makes him too old to participate in the conclave of 133 cardinals who are electing the next pope and who all have to be under 80.
However, he has been prominent and delivered a Mass on Wednesday before the cardinals began their conclave.
As the Mass ended he was caught on a hot mic saying to Cardinal Pietro Parolin, viewed as a favorite for the papacy: “auguri doppi” (“double best wishes”)
