Russia to attempt to take Kyiv before dawn, says Ukrainian president

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Sirens rang out in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv early on Friday. (FILE/AFP)
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Updated 26 February 2022
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Russia to attempt to take Kyiv before dawn, says Ukrainian president

  • Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Thursday and Kyiv has reported dozens of casualties
  • The capital Kyiv came under attack on Friday morning, while a missile hit the airport in the city of Rivne in western Ukraine

DUBAI/LONDON/JEDDAH: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday offered talks to end the war in Ukraine, and urged the Ukrainian military to seize power and make peace.

“I appeal to the military personnel of the armed forces of Ukraine, do not allow neo-Nazis … to use your children, wives and elders as human shields,” Putin said. “Take power into your own hands, it will be easier for us to reach agreement.”

The Kremlin said it had offered talks in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, but that Ukraine had proposed Warsaw instead and there was now a “pause” in contacts.

A spokesman for President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukraine was prepared for talks with Russia, including the issue of staying neutral, a demand by Moscow before Russia invaded Ukraine early on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Russian missiles pounded Kyiv, families cowered in shelters and Ukrainian authorities told people to prepare petrol bombs to defend their capital. Moscow said it had captured the Hostomel airfield northwest of the capital, a potential staging post for an assault on Kyiv.

“Shots and explosions are ringing out in some neighborhoods. Saboteurs have already entered Kyiv,” said the city’s mayor, former world heavyweight boxing champion Vitali Klitschko. “The enemy wants to put the capital on its knees and destroy us.”

Zelenskiy said there had been heavy fighting with people killed at the entrance to the eastern cities of Chernihiv and Melitopol, as well as at Hostomel.

There were loud explosions and gunfire near the airport in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city, close to Russia’s border, and air raid sirens sounded over Lviv in the west. Authorities reported heavy fighting in the eastern city of Sumy.

Air raid sirens wailed over Kyiv for a second day, and some residents sheltered in underground metro stations. Windows were blasted out of a 10-story apartment block near the main airport. A two-meter crater showed where a shell had struck before dawn.

“How can we be living through this in our time? Putin should burn in hell along with his whole family,” said Oksana Gulenko, sweeping broken glass from her room.

The EU froze European assets held by Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, adding to a raft of sanctions imposed at an emergency summit on Thursday.

Numerous Western countries have imposed new sanctions on Russia, including blacklisting its banks and banning technology imports. But they have so far stopped short of forcing it out of the SWIFT system for international bank payments, drawing criticism from Kyiv which says there is no reason to hold back.

US officials believe Russia’s initial aim is to “decapitate” Zelenskiy’s government. Zelenskiy said he knew he was “the number one target” but vowed to stay in Kyiv.


Here is a live update of the main developments in Ukraine as they happen. (All timings are in GMT)


02:25: Russian troops have attacked a Ukrainian army base in Kyiv and the attack was repelled, according to Ukrainian military.

01:05: Russia vetoed a UN Security Council resolution on Friday demanding that Moscow immediately stop its attack on Ukraine and withdraw all troops, a defeat the United States and its supporters knew was inevitable but said would highlight Russia’s global isolation.
The vote was 11 in favor, with Russia voting no and China, India and the United Arab Emirates abstaining, which showed significant but not total opposition to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of his country’s smaller and militarily weaker neighbor. Read more.




An illuminated window of a residential building with the lighting turned off for safety reasons, in the city of Kyiv, Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. (AP)

00:36: As Russian troops enter Kyiv, citizens of other countries living in Ukraine have been trying to leave and get back home. 

• ‘You’re on your own’: African students stuck in Ukraine seek refuge or escape route. Read more.

• Parents, state governments, opposition urge Modi to ensure safe return of loved ones. Read more.

00:20: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on soldiers in Russia's war on Ukraine to "return to their barracks" Friday.
"We must never give up. We must give peace another chance," he told reporters after Moscow vetoed a UN resolution condemning its "aggression" in Ukraine.

00:05: Australia seeks to join others in imposing direct sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin and has extended its punitive financial measures to members of Russia's parliament and more oligarchs, Foreign Minister Marise Payne said on Saturday.

00:00, Saturday Feb. 25: Ukraine UN envoy says we have to persevere tonight, the fate of Ukraine is being decided right now. 

23:40: Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Saturday that Russian troops would attempt to take the capital Kyiv before dawn. 




An Ukrainian mother conforts her child at an improvised shelter on a local high school after they entered Romania (AFP). 

23:30: Russia’s UN envoy says Russian troops are not bombing Ukrainian cities.




Vassily Nebenzia, Russia’s United Nations Ambassador and current president of the United Nations Security Council, shows a phone image as he address the UN Security Council. (AP)

19:25: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke on Friday with his Ukrainian counterpart and condemned reports of mounting civilian deaths, including those of Ukrainian children, due to attacks around Kyiv, a State Department spokesperson said.
“The Secretary also emphasized to (Ukraine) Foreign Minister Kuleba that the United States would continue to provide support to Ukraine to help it defend itself against Russian aggression,” spokesperson Ned Price said.




US State Department Spokesman Ned Price speaks during a media briefing on Friday. (Screenshot/State Dept.)

18:51: Germany will send a company of troops to Slovakia that will build part of a new NATO battlegroup to be established there, German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said.

18:35: Pope Francis in a Russian language tweet denounced the ills of conflict.
“Every war leaves our world worse than it was before. War is a failure of politics and of humanity, a shameful capitulation, a stinging defeat before the forces of evil,” he wrote in separate English and Russian tweets.

18:34: The secretary-general of the Organization for Economic Co-operation & Development (OECD) said on Friday the OECD had decided to end Russia’s process of acceding to the OECD.

18:28: The organization Of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) affirmed in a statement the keenness of Arab countries exporting natural gas, especially liquefied natural gas, to provide gas supplies to their customers to ensure the stability of global markets, in its first reaction to the ongoing Ukrainian crisis.

18:15 - UN aid chief Martin Griffiths said the organization was concerned about the huge population movement the invasion would cause, citing “hundreds of thousands of people on the move as we speak.” 

He added that even before this week's invasion, 3 million Ukrainians were already in need of humanitarian assistance due to eight years of conflict in the country.

Griffiths said that while there are no plans to relocate UN staff outside Ukraine at the moment, he was worried about the impact of Western sanctions on UN operations; adding that “north of a billion dollars” would be needed for aid in Ukraine over the next three months.




UN relief chief Martin Griffiths said there are no plans to relocate UN staff outside Ukraine for the moment. (UN/File Photo)

18:07: The European Union does not plan an imminent next package of sanctions against Russia, but is ready to supplement measures already announced subject to Russian activity and EU consensus, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.
The idea is, if it’s necessary to do more and we identify actions on the Russian side, if we have identified consensus around more measures, they will be taken,” Borrell told a news conference after a meeting of EU foreign ministers.

17:48: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called on leaders of NATO member countries to use the SWIFT international payments system to damage Russian President Vladimir Putin and members of his government.

17:46: NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that US President Joe Biden and his counterparts have agreed to send parts of the organization’s response force to help protect allies in the east.

16:39: Ukraine’s central bank transferred around $650 million to the state budget, to be used for military purposes and to cover other state needs, Russian state TASS news agency reported.

16:31: The European Broadcasting Union said no act from Russia will be permitted to take part in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.




People hide in a bomb shelter in Kyiv in the early hours of Feb. 25, 2022, as invading Russian forces pressed deep into Ukraine. (Sergei Chuzavkov/AFP)

16:15: Ukraine’s health minister accused Russian troops of firing on ambulances in the Zaporizhzhya and Chernihiv regions.

15:47: The Council of Europe said that it is suspending all representatives of Russia from participation in the pan-European rights body.
Permanent representatives of its 47 member states “agreed to suspend the Russian Federation from its rights of representation in the Council of Europe,” invoking Article 8 of its statute, the body said in a statement.

15:00: The International Olympic Committee, angry at the Russian invasion of Ukraine breaching the ‘Olympic Truce’, urged all international sports federations to cancel their forthcoming events in Russia.

14:45: France is in favor of excluding Russia from the global SWIFT interbank system but other European states have “reservations” about using such a “financial nuclear weapon,” Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said.

14:24: The EU’s foreign policy chief said he has urged China to use its influence with Moscow to respect the Ukraine’s sovereignty, adding that if the UN General Assembly fails to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine it is “the law of the jungle.”




Demonstrators hold placards and chant as they take part in a rally staged in front of the Downing Street gates, in central London, on Feb. 25, 2022 to protest against Russia's invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)

14:03: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged more support for Ukraine as a matter of “the greatest urgency” in a meeting with a group that includes the Baltic states, a spokesperson for his office said.
“The leaders agreed that more sanctions were needed, including focusing on (Russian) President Putin’s inner circle, building on the measures that had already been agreed,” a Downing Street spokesperson said after the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) meeting.

13:50: Luxembourg’s Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn expects an EU meeting in Brussels on Friday to reach an agreement over asset freezes targeting Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

13:30 - With Russian forces in neighbouring Syria, Washington its unswerving ally and about a million citizens with ties to the former Soviet Union, Israel is seeking a delicate balance in the Ukraine crisis.

For residents of Bat Yam, just south of Tel Aviv and home to many Jews with roots in Russia and Ukraine, the Russian invasion launched Thursday triggered shock and concern for relatives.

“I didn't expect it, when I got the message from my parents (in Ukraine),” said Natalia Kogan.

“People are stressed,” added the 57-year-old, who works at a supermarket catering for people from the former USSR

12:35: Formula One cancels the 2022 Russian Grand Prix, saying it was “impossible” to do so after the country launched an invasion on Ukraine. Read the story in full

12:14: Pope Francis went to the Russian Embassy to “express his concern about the war,” an extraordinary, hands-on papal gesture that came on the same day the Vatican announced he was canceling other upcoming events because of an “acute” flareup of knee pain. See the story here.

10:30: The Kremlin says UEFA’s decision to strip Russia’s second city Saint Petersburg of hosting the Champions League final is a “shame.” See the story here

10:22: The Kremlin says Russia will retaliate against Western sanctions imposed since the invasion.

The news comes as the EU prepares more sanctions against Russia.

10:02: UN condemns the more than 1,800 arrests of anti-war protesters in Russia.

10:00: Saint Petersburg is stripped of hosting this season’s Champions League final after Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine. Read the story here.

(FILE/AFP)

09:58: Loud blasts heard in east Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.

09:15: Gunfire heard near government district in Ukrainian capital city of Kyiv.

08:57: 82 Ukrainian soldiers surrender in the Black Sea region: Al Arabiya reports citing the Russian Defense Ministry.

08:38: Russia bans British airlines from entering its airspace, including transit flights.

08:21: The Russian defense ministry says it shot down 5 Ukrainian fighterjets and 5 drones.

08:04: Russia’s defense ministry says it will deploy paratroopers to guard Chernobyl power plant, which it took control of on Thursday.

08:03: Russia’s defense ministry says it has destroyed 118 Ukrainian military sites.

07:40: Ukraine army says it is fighting Russian forces outside the capital city

07:13: Federated States of Micronesia breaks ties with Russia over Ukraine war.

07:10: UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace says Russian army has failed to deliver on day 1, adding that it had taken any of its major objectives.

And he said it was estimated that Russia had lost over 450 military personnel. Read the story here

UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace. (File/AFP)

06:24: Ukrainian President Zelensky says in a tweet that hjs country needs “effective international assistance.”

06:18: Ukrainian President Zelensky hails his people for their ‘heroism’ in face of Russian advance and urges Russians to protest against #Ukraine war.

He says Russia will have to talk ‘sooner or later.’

05:42: Ukrainian President Zelenskiy says the new sanctions have not convinced Russia to stop its invasion.

05:19: Ukrainian President Zelenskiy says Russia resumed its missile strikes at 4 a.m. local time on Friday.

He added that the Russian strikes were fired on both military and civilian targets.

And he said Russian troops had been stopped from advancing.

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04:47: Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba slams what he described as the ‘horrific’ Russian rocket strikes on Kyiv.

04:29: Ukraine’s Central Bank bans operations with Russian ruble, Belarusian ruble

03:38: A Russian missile strike hit a Ukrainian border post in the southeastern region of Zaporizhzhya, killing several guards and wounding others, the border guard service said on Friday.

The region has no land border with Russia.

03:30: Sirens rang out in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv early on Friday, a Reuters witness said.
Kyiv has reported dozens of casualties and hundreds of wounded.
The capital Kyiv came under attack on Friday morning, while a missile hit the airport in the city of Rivne in western Ukraine, its mayor said.

03:30: Ukraine says the number of downed Russian fighter planes has reached 16.

03:25: A Ukrainian fighter plane crashes into a residential building in Kyiv, erupting in a ball of flames: the Ukrainian interior ministry said.

02:40 Explosions heard in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.

02:31: New US sanctions hit Russian banks, elites; EU list cover financial, energy and transport sectors. Read here.

01:45: French President Emmanuel Macron said the Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to bring us back to age of empires and confrontations.

He held a “frank, direct and quick” phone call with the Russian leader on Thursday to ask him to stop military operations because the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had asked him to.

The French president said there was duplicity on the part of the Russian president, but said it was important to keep the path open for dialogue with Putin. 

Speaking at an emergency EU summit in Brussels, Macron said that the bloc was more than just a market of consumers and needed to be a power with energy and defense sovereignty.  

France’s President Emmanuel Macron arriving for an emergency European Union summit. (AFP)

01:40: The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen says steps agreed by EU leaders in reaction to the Russian invasion of Ukraine include financial sanctions, targeting 70% of the Russian banking market and key state owned companies, including in defense. She said the EU will hold the Kremlin accountable. 

01:00: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says he has discussed the situation in Ukraie with  the UAE foreign minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan.

00:29: Prime Minister Morrison said that Australia will impose further sanctions on Russian individuals.

He also said that its is unacceptable that china is easing trade restrictions with Russia at this time.

00:24, Friday Feb. 25: US Treasury added five more Russian banks to the sanctions list including country's the two largest, both majority owned by the government, although each faced penalties with differing severity.

— with input from agencies


13 killed as Russia pummels Ukraine with biggest ever drone attack

Updated 25 May 2025
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13 killed as Russia pummels Ukraine with biggest ever drone attack

  • Ukraine’s emergency services described a night of “terror” amid a second straight night of massive Russian air strikes, including on the capital Kyiv

KYIV, Ukraine: Russia launched a record number of drones against Ukraine, killing 13 people across the country, officials said Sunday, even as Kyiv and Moscow completed their biggest prisoner exchange since the start of the war.
Ukraine’s emergency services described a night of “terror” amid a second straight night of massive Russian air strikes, including on the capital Kyiv.
The attacks came as the two countries completed their biggest prisoner swap since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, with 1,000 captured soldiers and civilian prisoners sent back by each side.
Those killed in the latest Russian strikes included two children, aged eight and 12, and a 17-year-old, killed in the northwestern region of Zhytomyr, officials said.
Their school named the dead children as Roman, Tamara and Stanislav in a post on Facebook, saying: “Their memory will always be with us. We will never forgive.”
“Without truly strong pressure on the Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media.
“The silence of America, the silence of others around the world only encourages Putin,” he said, adding: “Sanctions will certainly help.”
The European Union’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, called for “the strongest international pressure on Russia to stop this war.”
“Last night’s attacks again show Russia bent on more suffering and the annihilation of Ukraine. Devastating to see children among innocent victims harmed and killed,” she said on social media.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul also denounced the attacks. “Putin does not want peace, he wants to carry on the war and we shouldn’t allow him to do this,” he said.
“For this reason we will approve further sanctions at a European level.”
The strikes came after Russia launched 14 ballistic missiles and 250 drones overnight Friday to Saturday, which wounded 15 people, according to Ukrainian officials.
Ukraine’s military said on Sunday it had shot down a total of 45 Russian missiles and 266 attack drones overnight.
Air force spokesman Yuriy Ignat said 298 drones were launched, adding that this was “the highest number ever.”
Four people were also reported dead in Ukraine’s western Khmelnytskyi region, four in the Kyiv region.
Two people died in the Mykolaiv region. On Sunday evening Vitaliy Kim, governor of the southern region, said the body of a second person had been recovered from the rubble.
Emergency services said 16 people were injured in the Kyiv region, including three children, in the “massive night attack.”
“We saw the whole street was on fire,” a 65-year-old retired woman, Tetiana Iankovska, told AFP in Markhalivka village just southwest of Kyiv.
Russia said its strikes were aimed at Ukraine’s “military-industrial complex” and that it had brought down 110 Ukrainian drones.
Flights at Moscow airports suffered temporary closures due to Ukrainian drone activity but no injuries were reported, officials said.
Russia also said it had exchanged another 303 Ukrainian prisoners of war for the same number of Russian soldiers held by Kyiv — the last phase of a swap agreed during talks in Istanbul on May 16.
Russia and Ukraine had over three days “carried out the exchange of 1,000 people for 1,000 people,” the defense ministry said.
Zelensky confirmed the swap was complete.
Both sides received 390 people in the first stage on Friday and 307 on Saturday.
US President Donald Trump on Friday congratulated the two countries for the swap.
“This could lead to something big,” he wrote on social media.
Trump’s efforts to broker a ceasefire in Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II have so far been unsuccessful, despite his pledge to rapidly end the fighting.
An AFP reporter saw some of the formerly captive Ukrainian soldiers arrive at a hospital in the northern Chernigiv region, emaciated but smiling and waving to crowds.
“It’s simply crazy. Crazy feelings,” 31-year-old Konstantin Steblev, a soldier, told AFP Friday as he stepped back onto Ukrainian soil after three years in captivity.
One former captive, 58-year-old Viktor Syvak, told AFP was overcome by the emotional homecoming.
Captured in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, he had been held for 37 months and 12 days. “It’s impossible to describe. I can’t put it into words. It’s very joyful,” he said of the release.


French authorities blame sabotage for second power blackout

Updated 25 May 2025
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French authorities blame sabotage for second power blackout

  • Prosecutors said they had opened an investigation and were looking into a claim Sunday by two anarchist groups of “responsibility for the attack on electrical installations on the Cote d’Azur”

NICE, France: French authorities on Sunday blamed sabotage and ordered heightened security after a fire at an electricity sub-station in Nice caused the second major power blackout in two days along the Riviera.
The latest fire cut power to about 45,000 homes in western Nice for several hours, authorities said. Nice airport was briefly without electricity, the city’s deputy mayor Gael Nofri told AFP.
A similar arson attack on a power substation on Saturday partially disrupted the final day of the Cannes film festival, forcing organizers to use backup generators to keep the event going.
Prosecutors said they had opened an investigation and were looking into a claim Sunday by two anarchist groups of “responsibility for the attack on electrical installations on the Cote d’Azur.” The claim was posted on an alternative website.
“I vigorously condemn these criminal acts hitting our country,” Nice mayor Christian Estrosi said on X.
“We are making images from our monitoring center available to investigators and will strengthen the city’s network at strategic electrical sites in coming days,” he added.
“Until the perpetrators of these acts have been arrested, we will not ease up our attention anywhere,” Estrosi told reporters.
Nice’s chief prosecutor Damien Martinelli said studies had been carried out “to clarify the damage and the methods used to carry out the act” and that police were investigating “arson by an organized group.”
Police said that tire marks had been found near the Nice transformer and someone had broken into a room in the building.
An arson attack at a power substation and a bid to cut the legs of an electricity pylon near Cannes cut power to 160,000 homes in the region for five hours on Saturday.
The cut knocked out traffic lights and bank machines in Cannes, as well as threatening the finale to the film festival.
The festival “switched to an alternative electricity power supply” to keep the closing ceremony and award events going.
Firefighters battled for five hours to put out the flames at the sub-station, officials said.
In the attack on the high-voltage pylon, three of its four legs had been damaged, said prosecutors.
 

 


More sanctions against Russia needed, deep concern about Gaza: German minister

Updated 25 May 2025
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More sanctions against Russia needed, deep concern about Gaza: German minister

  • “Germany has a clear position: no expulsions (of the Palestinian population) from the Gaza Strip, an end to hunger
  • Russian forces launched a barrage of 367 drones and missiles at Ukrainian cities overnight, including at the capital Kyiv, in the largest aerial attack of the war so far, killing at least 12 people and injuring dozens more, officials said

BERLIN: Russia’s latest wave of attacks on Ukraine should be answered with additional Western sanctions, Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul told public broadcaster ARD on Sunday.
“(Russian President Vladimir) Putin is not interested in peace, he wants to continue this war, and we must not allow this, which is why the European Union will agree additional sanctions,” he said in a live interview on ARD’s Bericht aus Berlin.
Russian forces launched a barrage of 367 drones and missiles at Ukrainian cities overnight, including at the capital Kyiv, in the largest aerial attack of the war so far, killing at least 12 people and injuring dozens more, officials said.
Wadephul added that the United States was also able to launch new sanctions packages, and he hoped that the weight of the measures would get Putin to the negotiating table, to avoid what he called potentially severe consequences for Russia’s economy and energy sectors.
Moving on to Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, Wadephul said Germany was deeply concerned about the “unbearable” human suffering, where he said he was in touch with Israeli, Middle Eastern and European peers, to seek to broker solutions.
“Germany has a clear position: no expulsions (of the Palestinian population) from the Gaza Strip, an end to hunger. And the Strip as well as the West Bank belong to the Palestinians, on the way to a two-state solution,” he said.
Israeli military strikes killed at least 23 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Sunday, including a local journalist and a senior rescue service official, local health authorities said.

 


US military spent $6 billion in the past 3 years to recruit and retain troops

Updated 25 May 2025
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US military spent $6 billion in the past 3 years to recruit and retain troops

WASHINGTON: The US military spent more than $6 billion over the past three years to recruit and retain service members, in what has been a growing campaign to counter enlistment shortfalls.

The financial incentives to reenlist in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines increased dramatically from 2022 through last year, with the Navy vastly outspending the others, according to funding totals provided by the services. The overall amount of recruiting bonuses also rose steadily, fueled by significant jumps in spending by the Army and Marine Corps.

The military services have routinely poured money into recruiting and retention bonuses over the years. But the totals spiked as Pentagon leaders tried to reverse falling enlistment numbers, particularly as COVID-19 restrictions locked down public events, fairs and school visits that recruiters relied on to meet with young people. Coupled with an array of new programs, an increased number of recruiters and adjustments to enlistment requirements, the additional incentives have helped the services bounce back from the shortfalls. All but the Navy met their recruiting targets last year and all are expected to do so this year.

Officials have tied them more directly to the widespread overhauls that the services have done, including the increased financial incentives.

The Army, the military’s largest service, spent more on recruiting bonuses in 2022 and 2024 than the other services. But it was significantly outspent by the Navy in 2023, when the sea service was struggling to overcome a large enlistment shortfall.

As a result, even though the Navy is a smaller service, it spent more overall in the three years than the Army did.

The Navy also has spent considerably more than the others to entice sailors to reenlist, doling out retention bonuses to roughly 70,000 service members for each of the past three years. That total is more than double the number of troops the Army gave retention bonuses to each year, even though the Army is a much larger service.

“Navy is dedicated to retaining our most capable sailors; retention is a critical component of achieving our end-strength goals,” Adm. James Kilby, the vice chief of naval operations, told a Senate Armed Services subcommittee in March.

He said reenlistment for enlisted sailors “remains healthy,” but officers are a challenge in specific jobs, including aviation, explosive ordnance disposal, surface and submarine warfare, health professionals and naval special operations. He added that the Navy has struggled to fill all of its at-sea jobs and is using financial incentives as one way to combat the problem.

The Army has seen the greatest recruiting struggles over the past decade, and by using a range of new programs and policies, has had one of the largest comebacks. The Navy has had the most trouble more recently, and took a number of steps to expand those eligible for service and spend more in bonuses.

While the Army spends hundreds of millions each year to recruit troops, it also has relied on an array of new programs and policies to woo young people. A key driver of the Army’s rebound has been its decision to create the Future Soldier Prep Course, at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, in August 2022.

That program gives lower-performing recruits up to 90 days of academic or fitness instruction to help them meet military standards and move on to basic training. It has resulted in thousands of enlistments.


Council of Europe defends court against criticism over expulsions

Updated 25 May 2025
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Council of Europe defends court against criticism over expulsions

ROME: The Council of Europe has defended the independence of the European Court of Human Rights, after nine member states said its interpretation of rights obligations prevented them from expelling migrants who commit crimes.

In a joint letter made public, leaders of Denmark, Italy, Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland called for a “new and open-minded conversation” about how the court interprets the European Convention on Human Rights.

“Their concern centers on rulings in the field of migration,” Council of Europe Secretary-General Alain Berset said in a statement. “These are complex challenges, and democracies must always remain open to reflection through the appropriate institutional avenues.”

However, Berset stressed that the European Court of Human Rights “is not an external body” but the legal arm of the Council of Europe, and is “bound by a Convention that all 46 members have freely signed and ratified.”

“It exists to protect the rights and values they committed to defend,” he said. “Upholding the independence and impartiality of the Court is our bedrock.”

He warned against politicizing the court.

The nine European leaders said the court’s interpretation of the convention in cases concerning the expulsion of “criminal foreign nationals” has protected the “wrong people” and placed too many limits on deciding who can be expelled.

The Council of Europe is not an EU institution and was set up in the wake of the Second World War to promote peace and democracy.