9 killed in Russian aerial attacks on Ukraine ahead of G7 summit aimed at slowing Moscow’s offensive

This handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Emergency Service on Jun. 12, 2024, shows rescuers working at the site following a missile attack in Kryvyi Rig, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)
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Updated 12 June 2024
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9 killed in Russian aerial attacks on Ukraine ahead of G7 summit aimed at slowing Moscow’s offensive

  • Zelensky said the strike has again proven that “Ukraine, together with its partners, must strengthen its air defenses”
  • “Modern air defense systems are capable of providing maximum protection of people, our cities, and our positions“

KYIV: Russian forces launched new deadly attacks on Ukraine, killing at least nine people on Wednesday, a day before the leaders of countries that are some of Ukraine’s biggest backers were to discuss how to slow Moscow’s offensive.
Ukrainian authorities said that along with the nine killed, 29 others, including five children, were wounded when Russian missiles hit an apartment block in Kryvyi Rih, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s hometown.
Zelensky said the strike has again proven that “Ukraine, together with its partners, must strengthen its air defenses” — something that he has repeatedly appealed for with Ukraine’s Western partners. The United States has agreed to send another Patriot missile system, two US officials said late Tuesday.
“Modern air defense systems are capable of providing maximum protection of people, our cities, and our positions,” Zelensky said. “And we need as many of them as possible.”
Earlier Wednesday, Ukraine’s air force said it shot down more than two dozen air targets, including cruise missiles, a Kinzhal ballistic missile and Shahed drones. Several people were wounded, authorities said.
Kyiv’s outgunned and outnumbered forces are battling to hold back the bigger Russian army, which is trying to exploit Ukrainian vulnerabilities. Ukraine has been short of troops, ammunition and air defenses in recent months as the Kremlin’s forces try to cripple the national power supply and punch through the front line in eastern parts of the country.
Ukraine will need to weather the Russian onslaught through the summer, military analysts say, and in the meantime train more soldiers, build fortifications and hope that the provision of Western military aid picks up speed so that in 2025 Kyiv may be able to mount its own offensive.
Several diplomatic events over the next few days are aimed at how to help Ukraine fend off the Russian invasion or how to bring about an end to the war.
On Thursday, President Joe Biden and the other Group of Seven leaders will gather in Italy for their annual summit to discuss ways to help Ukraine, including how to divert more frozen Russian assets to Kyiv’s defense.
Separately, the Biden administration on Wednesday said it had broadened sanctions against Russia by targeting companies that help Moscow’s war effort and raising the stakes for foreign financial institutions that work with sanctioned Russian entities.
The more than 300 new sanctions are largely aimed at deterring individuals and companies in countries such as China, the United Arab Emirates and Türkiye from helping Moscow circumvent Western blocks on obtaining key technology. They also threaten foreign financial institutions with sanctions if they do business with almost any sanctioned Russian entity, underscoring the US view that the Kremlin has pivoted the Russian economy on to a war footing.
Biden and Zelensky will also sign a bilateral security agreement between the US and Ukraine on Thursday, when they meet on the G7 summit’s sidelines, the White House said.
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the agreement would not commit US troops directly to Ukraine’s defense, but that it would demonstrate the US supports the people of Ukraine and serve as a “bridge” to when Ukraine is invited to join the NATO alliance — a long-term priority of Zelensky’s that alliance members have said will first require an end to the war.
While the G7 meets in Italy, defense chiefs from the US, Europe and other nations will meet Thursday in Brussels for their monthly meeting on Ukraine’s security needs. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will host the event.
And this weekend, representatives of nearly 90 countries and organizations, half from Europe, are expected to attend a summit in Switzerland aimed at charting a path to peace between Russia and Ukraine, though Russia won’t be attending.
Both sides in Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II have been reaching out to friendly nations to help keep their armed forces supplied. The war has cost tens of thousands of lives on both sides, including more than 11,000 Ukrainian civilians, according to the United Nations.
While Ukraine has looked to Western countries, Russian President Vladimir Putin has turned to nations such as Iran and North Korea for help. Unconfirmed reports suggested Putin may soon make a third visit to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Moscow showed no signs of relenting in the war. The Kremlin said Wednesday that Putin met with Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, the chief of the military’s General Staff, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, and the commanders of Russia’s five military districts.
A readout of the Tuesday night meeting said the officials presented Putin with “plans to continue the hostilities.”
Fighting along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line has in recent months focused on the partly occupied Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, where Russian forces are trying to reach the key hilltop city of Chasiv Yar and other strategic hubs.
Last month, Russian forces also launched an offensive in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, which borders Russia. Putin said he wanted to establish a buffer zone there to prevent Ukrainian cross-border attacks. The offensive drew some Ukrainian fighters away from Donetsk.
However, Russia’s gains have been incremental and costly.
In the Kharkiv region, Russian units have become bogged down in Vovchansk, Ukraine Commander in Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said Wednesday on the Telegram messaging app.


Finland celebrates 50 years since Helsinki Accords in shadow of Ukraine war

Updated 3 sec ago
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Finland celebrates 50 years since Helsinki Accords in shadow of Ukraine war

HELSINKI: Finland on Thursday hosts a conference marking 50 years since the signing of the “Helsinki Final Act” on respecting borders and territorial integrity, principles that have come under assault following the war in Ukraine.
Keynote speakers for the conference include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Zelensky had been invited to attend the conference but will give his address remotely, the Finnish foreign ministry told AFP. Guterres will also only speak via a video message.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said last week that Russia would be participating but would not be sending any high-level representatives to the meeting.
“Russia does not see the expediency of participating in the event at a high political level,” she told reporters, adding representatives would still “take part in the conversation.”
Notable guests include UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, as well as Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga, who arrived in Helsinki on Wednesday.
An opening speech is scheduled for 10:00 am (0700 GMT) by the Chairperson-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s (OSCE), Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen.
On August 1, 1975, 50 years ago, the Eastern and Western blocs signed the Helsinki Final Act in the Finnish capital.
The historic agreement between 35 states, including the Soviet Union and the United States, led to the creation of the OSCE, which today brings together 57 countries.
Among the key principles enshrined in the treaty are state sovereignty, non-use of force, and above all, the inviolability of borders.
“The participating States regard as inviolable all one another’s frontiers as well as the frontiers of all States in Europe and therefore they will refrain now and in the future from assaulting these frontiers,” the text of the treaty reads.
These commitments have been gravely challenged since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which has caused the most severe crisis in OSCE history.
Since then, Kyiv has unsuccessfully demanded that Russia be excluded from the international body.
However, in July 2024, Russian lawmakers earlier voted to suspend participation in the body’s parliamentary assembly, branding it anti-Russian and discriminatory, although the country is still listed as a member state on the organization’s official website.
While in Finland, Sybiga is also scheduled to hold bilateral talks with several Finnish officials, including Finnish President Alexander Stubb, and other high-level officials visiting the conference, according to the Ukrainian diplomacy.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry said in a statement Wednesday that “key topics” would include “synchronizing allied pressure on Moscow.”
Finland shut its 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) eastern border with Russia in mid-December 2023 after the arrival of around 1,000 migrants without visas.
Helsinki has claimed the surge was orchestrated by Russia — a charge the Kremlin has denied.

Malaysia PM says Trump to attend ASEAN summit in October

Updated 4 min 36 sec ago
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Malaysia PM says Trump to attend ASEAN summit in October

  • Apart from the United States, the three-day sit-down is also expected to be attended by top officials from China, Japan, South Korea and India

KUALA LUMPUR: US President Donald Trump has confirmed he will attend a major summit of Southeast Asian nations in October, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Thursday.
Speaking to parliament, Anwar also told MPs that a tariff deal with Washington was expected to be announced on Friday.
“I had the opportunity to speak with the President of the United States, Donald Trump. He confirmed that he will be attending the 47th ASEAN Summit in October,” Anwar said.
Scheduled from 26-28 October, the meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is expected to be one of the largest ever held by the 10-nation bloc.
Apart from the United States, the three-day sit-down is also expected to be attended by top officials from China, Japan, South Korea and India, as well as heads of state of ASEAN nations.
Trump’s attendance comes in the wake of a visit earlier in July by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who then hinted the US leader may be present.
It comes after Trump said Tuesday he did not plan to attend a G20 summit in South Africa.
Anwar told MPs that a trade tariff deal with the US, who threatened a 25 percent levy, would be announced on Friday.
“The tariff will be announced tomorrow and we pray, God willing, that it will help and not burden our country’s economy,” Anwar said.


Myanmar junta ends state of emergency in election run-up

Updated 10 min ago
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Myanmar junta ends state of emergency in election run-up

  • The military declared a state of emergency in February 2021 as it deposed the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi
  • Analysts predict Min Aung Hlaing will keep a role as either president or armed forces chief

YANGON: Myanmar’s junta ended the country’s state of emergency on Thursday, ramping up preparations for a December election being boycotted by opposition groups and criticized by international monitors.
The military declared a state of emergency in February 2021 as it deposed the civilian government of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking a many-sided civil war which has claimed thousands of lives.
The order gave junta chief Min Aung Hlaing supreme power over the legislature, executive and judiciary — but he has recently touted elections as an off-ramp to the conflict.
Opposition groups including ex-lawmakers ousted in the coup have pledged to snub the poll, which a UN expert last month dismissed as “a fraud” designed to legitimize the military’s continuing rule.
“The state of emergency is abolished today in order for the country to hold elections on the path to a multi-party democracy,” junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun said in a voice message shared with reporters.
“Elections will be held within six months,” he added.
Analysts predict Min Aung Hlaing will keep a role as either president or armed forces chief following the election and consolidate power in that office, thereby extending his tenure as de facto ruler.
“We have already passed the first chapter,” Min Aung Hlaing said in a speech in Naypyidaw reported in state newspaper The Global New Light of Myanmar on Thursday.
“Now, we are starting the second chapter,” he told members of the junta’s administration council at what the newspaper called an “honorary ceremony” for its members.
“The upcoming election will be held this December, and efforts will be made to enable all eligible voters to cast their ballots,” the newspaper reported, paraphrasing another part of his speech.

No exact date for the poll has yet been announced by the junta, but political parties are being registered while training sessions on electronic voting machines have already taken place.
On Wednesday, the military government said it enacted a new law dictating prison sentences up to 10 years for speech or protests aiming to “destroy a part of the electoral process.”
But a census held last year as preparation for the election estimated it failed to collect data from 19 million of the country’s 51 million people, provisional results said.
The results cited “significant security constraints” as one reason for the shortfall — giving a sign of how limited the reach of the election may be amid the civil war.
Analysts have predicted rebels will stage offensives around the election as a sign of their opposition.
But this month the junta begun offering cash rewards to those willing to lay down their arms and “return to the legal fold” ahead of the vote.


Russia hits Kyiv with missile and drone attack, killing 6 and injuring 52

Updated 20 min 33 sec ago
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Russia hits Kyiv with missile and drone attack, killing 6 and injuring 52

  • A large part of a nine-story residential building collapsed after it was struck, Tkachenko added
  • Rescue teams were at the scene to rescue people trapped under the rubble. Western leaders have accused Putin of dragging his feet in US-led peace efforts in an attempt to capture more Ukrainian land

KYIV: Russia attacked Ukraine’s capital with missiles and drones overnight, killing at least six people including a 6-year-old boy, Ukrainian authorities said Thursday.
Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said at least 52 other people were injured in the attacks, and that the number was likely to rise.
A large part of a nine-story residential building collapsed after it was struck, Tkachenko added. Rescue teams were at the scene to rescue people trapped under the rubble.
“Missile strike. Directly on a residential building. People are under the rubble. All services are on site,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on his official Telegram.
Images from the scene showed plumes of smoke emanating from a partially damaged building and debris strewn on the ground.
At least 27 locations across Kyiv were hit by the attack, Tkachenko said, with the heaviest damage seen in the Solomianskyi and Sviatoshynskyi districts.
US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he’s giving Russian President Vladimir Putin a shorter deadline — Aug. 8 — for peace efforts to make progress or Washington will impose punitive sanctions and tariffs.
Western leaders have accused Putin of dragging his feet in US-led peace efforts in an attempt to capture more Ukrainian land.


South Korean court issues arrest warrant for ex-president Yoon again

Updated 27 min 29 sec ago
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South Korean court issues arrest warrant for ex-president Yoon again

  • Yoon plunged South Korea into a political crisis when he sought to subvert civilian rule on December 3, sending troops to prevent lawmakers voting down his declaration of martial law

SEOUL: A South Korean court on Thursday issued a fresh arrest warrant for former president Yoon Suk Yeol, enabling prosecutors to forcibly bring him in for questioning after he refused to appear at his summons multiple times.
The special counsel investigating Yoon and his wife, former first lady Kim Keon Hee, said in a statement that “an arrest warrant has been issued today for former president Yoon Suk Yeol.”
Yoon plunged South Korea into a political crisis when he sought to subvert civilian rule on December 3, sending troops to parliament in a bid to prevent lawmakers voting down his declaration of martial law.
He became the first sitting president in the country to be taken into custody when he was detained in January after resisting arrest for weeks, using his presidential security detail to thwart investigators.
He was released on procedural grounds in March while his insurrection trial continued, but was detained again early July over concerns he might destroy evidence related to the case.
Prosecutors investigating allegations of parliamentary election tampering summoned Yoon for questioning — but he failed to appear, with his lawyers citing health issues.
On Wednesday, they filed a renewed request for a detention warrant.
Now that the warrant has been issued, prosecutors are authorized to enter Yoon’s current detention facility and compel him to appear for questioning.
Legal troubles are also mounting for Yoon and his wife in cases unrelated to his martial law attempt.
Prosecutors are investigating allegations that a shaman, Jeon Seong-bae, received a diamond necklace and a luxury designer handbag from a senior official of the Unification Church and passed them on to Kim.