‘This aggressive Russian action is not acceptable,’ French defense minister said
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Russian forces claimed to have made a breakthrough by capturing two settlements in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, while a spate of overnight bombing raids across Ukraine killed six people.
The Russian Defense Ministry announced the capture of Petropavlivka, a village near the disputed towns of Pokrovsk and Kurakhove, and Vremivka, further south.
However, the Ukrainian military has rejected rumors that Russian forces have entered Pokrovsk, a major shipping hub.
The popular Ukrainian blog Deep State, which documents adjustments in both sides’ positions in open source documents, showed that Petropavlivka and Vremivka fell into Russian hands.
In Kyiv, three people were killed and three others injured following a deadly nighttime attack which saw Putin’s forces launch a barrage of drones and missiles in the early morning on Saturday.
A shopping center, a shopping center, a subway station and a water pipe were broken in the attack, said the head of the city’s military administration, Timur Tkachenko.
Three more people were killed in the south of the country when Russian forces unleashed a combined attack with drones and missiles.
It comes as France accused Russia of “intimidation” after its air defenses blocked a French patrol over the Baltic Sea.
The Kyiv city army leadership said three other people were killed and three others wounded in the attack.
A fourth victim had been assumed dead but the administration said later the case has yet to be confirmed.
The known victims are two men, ages 43 and 25, and a 41-year-old woman, the government said.
The office of Ukraine’s general prosecutor said in a statement that the casualties included a security guard at a food establishment and people who were in a minibus on the street.
The burden of the confrontation between Israel and Hamas has been monstrous and tragic. While we hope that this phase will begin to end on Sunday, we have tried to summarize the value of the lives lost, the suffering of the hostages, the civilian victims and their families. – and the destruction of property, livelihoods and hope.
There is nothing complicated about our lens. It is nothing new that war is terrible, but it is worth remembering that wars cause more death and destruction than expected, and that they almost last longer than expected.
Since its founding, The Independent has strongly supported human rights, self-determination and national security. He has argued that democracies will have to be prepared to adopt military measures as a last resort to protect those principles. We support – with reservations – the air crusade against Slobodan Milosevic’s forces aimed at protecting the population of Kosovo from “ethnic cleansing”. And we opposed the US-British invasion of Iraq because we believed the charge would be too serious for the intelligence that getting rid of Saddam Hussein could provide.
Today we stand with the Ukrainian people in their courageous resistance against Vladimir Putin’s aggression, and we welcome Sir Keir Starmer’s stopover in Kyiv to express this solidarity in person. But this aid has limits: we are not willing to dedicate British troops to the defense of Ukraine, and while we believe that the Ukrainians deserve to receive long-range missiles, we are wary of anything that might give the impression that NATO members are being embroiled in a direct clash with Russian forces.
Read the full editorial here:
Editorial: The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas – just like the possibility of peace in Ukraine – requires unpalatable choices, but the prize is great
Ukraine on Saturday claimed responsibility for two attacks on oil deposits in western Russia, the latest salvo in kyiv’s air crusade against strategic targets on Russian soil.
kyiv’s General Staff said its forces attacked garage facilities in the Kaluga and Tula regions overnight. Damage is still being assessed, he said in remarks about the attack, adding that the deposits supported Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine.
Kaluga’s regional governor, Vladislav Shapsha, said on Telegram that a fire had broken out after an industrial site was hit in the city of Lyudinovo.
He later said seven drones were shot down, one of them landing in a “non-residential area. “
Tula’s regional governor, Dmitry Milyaev, said on Telegram that a fuel and lubricant tank had caught fire at a facility in the region as result of a Ukrainian drone attack.
Ukrainian forces have intensified their movements in Russia, basically opposing the army’s oil deposits and production facilities, as they fight to stop Russia’s steady advance on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine.
On Friday, a Russian missile strike on the city of Kryvyi Rih, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s hometown, killed four people and partially destroyed an educational facility, officials said.
“All those who assist the Russian state in this war must face pressure as impactful as these strikes,” Zelenskiy wrote on social media in response to Saturday’s attack.
Russia has carried out normal airstrikes on cities located very close to the front line since the start of its nearly three-year invasion of Ukraine, targeting in particular critical infrastructure.
Russian forces launched a combined drone and missile attack on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv early Saturday, killing three other people in a central district, officials said.
Explosions erupted in the pre-dawn sky as air defenses repelled the attack, which also wounded three people, according to the head of the city’s military administration, Timur Tkachenko.
A shopping mall, business centre, metro station and water pipe were also damaged, he said.
“Russian forces first introduced drones and then a ballistic missile attack,” parliamentary ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets wrote on social media. “These acts highlight the cruelty and barbarity of the enemy. »
Rescue crews trudged down a flooded street as they searched for debris. The charred remains of a van could be seen in front of the station, whose façade was marked by twisted metal and broken glass.
As daylight broke, they could be seen examining missile fragments and loading a body bag into a truck.
Air force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat told Ukrainian media that both missiles that had been aimed at Kyiv were destroyed, but that one of them was shot down at a low altitude, resulting in heavy damage.
There was no immediate comment from Moscow, which denied intentionally targeting civilians.
When outgoing president Joe Biden was asked if he or Donald Trump deserved credit for the Gaza ceasefire deal struck in Qatar he shot back: “Is that a joke?” It wasn’t. Trump’s claim of having secured the “EPIC” deal was comic, but his contribution was real.
Biden’s team worked in tandem with Trump’s incoming administration – and his Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff – to deliver the agreement which had taken many months to thrash out.
It was no accident that it was struck in the dying days of the Biden years, less than a week before Trump was due to move back into the White House. Israel’s prime minister knew that involving Trump would set him up to warm relations with the 47th president.
Read the full article here:
Trump heads into the White House thoroughly puffed up by his role in securing the Gaza ceasefire, writes Sam Kiley. His allies and enemies around the world will now be plotting to exploit his vanity further
Russian forces have seized the settlements of Petropavlivka and Vremivka in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, the Russian Defense Ministry announced Saturday.
It said Russian forces attacked Ukrainian army facilities with high-precision weapons in reaction to a Ukrainian attack on the Belgorod region in southern Russia with US-made ATACMS missiles.
Battlefield reports have been independently verified.
The Ukrainian General Staff said on Saturday that an oil depot in the Kaluga region of western Russia had been attacked overnight.
He said the damage caused by the attack on the facility, which he called vital to the Russian military’s logistics, is still being assessed.
Industrial sites in Russia’s Kaluga and Tula regions were set alight by Ukrainian drone strikes on Saturday, a local said.
The Russian Defense Ministry said Ukrainian drones were destroyed overnight across the country.
In the Kaluga region, a drone attack caused a fire in the city of Ljudinovo, Governor Vladislav Shapsha wrote on Telegram. Residents said on social media that the attack targeted a local oil depot.
A fire was also reported in the Tula region, where Governor Dmitry Milyaev said a fuel tank in a garage had caught fire. He warned citizens to stay away from fallen drone debris.
No casualties were reported in either case.
The estimated 12,000 North Korean soldiers fighting alongside Russian forces could be dead or wounded by mid-April, a leading war observer said.
North Korean troops have suffered around 92 casualties each day since fighting began in Russia’s Kursk border region in early December, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in early January that 3,800 North Korean troops had been killed or wounded in Kursk, where Russia is seeking to regain territory after Kyiv’s lightning offensive last August and a delayed second offensive last year.
“The entire North Korean contingent of approximately 12,000 troops that exists in Kursk Oblast could be killed or wounded in combat until mid-April 2025 if North Korean forces continue to suffer their maximum casualty rate in the long term,” the ISW said.
Read the full report:
North Korean troops have suffered thousands of casualties in Russia’s Kursk region, according to Ukrainian estimates.
The kyiv city army leadership said three more people were killed and three others wounded in the attack.
A fourth victim had been assumed dead but the administration said later the case has yet to be confirmed.
The known victims are two men, ages 43 and 25, and a 41-year-old woman, the government said.
Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office said in a statement that the victims included a security guard at a food store and others who were in a minibus on the street.
The explosion killed two and a woman.
The burden of the confrontation between Israel and Hamas has been monstrous and tragic. While we hope that this phase will begin to end on Sunday, we have attempted to summarize the value of the lives lost, the suffering of the hostages, the civilian victims and their families. – and the destruction of property, livelihoods and hope.
Our aim is nothing sophisticated. It is not news that war is terrible, but it is worth remembering that wars always bring more death and destruction in their wake than intended – and that they nearly always last longer than expected.
Since its founding, The Independent has strongly supported human rights, self-determination and national security. He has argued that democracies will have to be prepared to take military action as a last resort to protect those principles. We support – with reservations – the air crusade against Slobodan Milosevic’s forces aimed at protecting the population of Kosovo from “ethnic cleansing”. And we opposed the U. S. -British invasion of Iraq because we believed that the accusation would be too serious for the intelligence that could bring about getting rid of Saddam Hussein.
Today we stand with the Ukrainian people in their courageous resistance against Vladimir Putin’s aggression, and we welcome Sir Keir Starmer’s stopover in Kyiv to express this solidarity in person. But this aid has limits: we are not willing to dedicate British troops to the defense of Ukraine, and while we believe that the Ukrainians deserve to receive long-range missiles, we are wary of anything that might give the impression that NATO members are being embroiled in a direct clash with Russian forces.
Read the full editorial here:
Ukraine on Saturday claimed responsibility for two attacks on oil deposits in western Russia, the latest salvo in kyiv’s air crusade against strategic targets on Russian soil.
The kyiv General Staff said its forces attacked garage services in the Kaluga and Tula regions overnight. Damage is still being assessed, he said in remarks about the attack, adding that the deposits supported Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine.
Kaluga’s regional governor, Vladislav Shapsha, said on Telegram that a fire had broken out after an industrial site was hit in the city of Lyudinovo.
He later said seven drones were shot down, one of them in a “non-residential area. “
Tula regional governor Dmitry Milyaev said on Telegram that a fuel and lubricant tank caught fire at a facility in the region following a Ukrainian drone strike.
Ukrainian forces have intensified their movements in Russia, basically opposing the army’s oil deposits and production facilities, as they fight to stop Russia’s steady advance on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine.
On Friday, a Russian missile strike on the town of Kryvy Rih, owned by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, killed four more people and partially destroyed an educational center, officials said.
“Everyone who is helping the Russian state in this war will have to face tensions as harsh as those attacks,” Zelenskiy wrote on social media in reaction to Saturday’s attack.
Russia has carried out normal airstrikes on cities located very close to the front line since the start of its nearly three-year invasion of Ukraine, targeting in particular critical infrastructure.
Russian forces unleashed a combined drone and missile strike on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv early on Saturday, killing three people in a central district, officials said.
Explosions erupted in the sky before dawn as air defenses repelled the attack, which also wounded three people, according to the head of the city’s military administration, Timur Tkachenko.
A shopping mall, business centre, metro station and water pipe were also damaged, he said.
“Russian forces first introduced drones and then ballistic missile strikes,” parliamentary ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets wrote on social media. “These acts underscore the cruelty and barbarity of the enemy. “
Rescue teams in Kyiv early Saturday
Rescuers trudged through a flooded street as they searched for debris. The charred remains of a van could be seen outside the station, its façade marred by twisted steel and broken windows.
At dawn, they can be seen simply examining missile fragments and loading a framed bag onto a truck.
Air force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat told Ukrainian media that the two missiles aimed at kyiv had been destroyed, but one of them had been shot down at low altitude, causing serious damage.
There was no immediate comment from Moscow, which denied intentionally targeting civilians.
When outgoing President Joe Biden asked whether he or Donald Trump deserved to be singled out for the ceasefire agreement reached in Gaza, Qatar, he responded: “Is this a joke? This is not the case. Trump’s claim that there was got the “EPIC” deal Comedian, but his contrition is real.
Biden’s team worked closely with the new Trump administration – and its Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff – to reach an agreement that had taken several months to finalize.
It is no coincidence that he attacked in the last days of the Biden era, less than a week before Trump’s return to the White House. The Israeli prime minister knew that Trump’s involvement would allow him to improve relations with the 47th president.
Read the full article here:
Russian forces have seized the settlements of Petropavlivka and Vremivka in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, the Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday.
He said Russian forces targeted Ukrainian army facilities with high-precision weapons in reaction to a Ukrainian attack on Russia’s southern Belgorod region with U. S. -made ATACMS missiles.
Battlefield reports have been independently verified. n
The Ukrainian General Staff said on Saturday that they had attacked an oil depot in the Kaluga region of western Russia overnight.
It said damage from the attack on the facility, which it described as important for Russian military logistics, was still being assessed.
Industrial sites in Russia’s Kaluga and Tula regions were set alight by Ukrainian drone strikes on Saturday, a local said.
The Russian Defense Ministry said Ukrainian drones were destroyed overnight across the country.
In the Kaluga region, a drone strike sparked a fire in the town of Lyudinovo, Gov. Vladislav Shapsha wrote on Telegram. Residents said on social media that the attack had targeted a local oil depot.
A fire was also reported in the Tula region, where Governor Dmitry Milyaev said a fuel tank in a garage had caught fire. He warned citizens to stay away from fallen drone debris.
No victims were reported in the case.
The roughly 12,000 North Korean troops fighting alongside Russian forces could be dead or wounded by mid-April, a leading war watcher said.
North Korean troops have suffered around 92 casualties each day since fighting began in Russia’s Kursk border region in early December, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said in early January that 3,800 North Korean soldiers had been killed or wounded in Kursk, where Russia is trying to reclaim territory following Kyiv’s lightning offensive last August and a second push late last year.
“The entire North Korean contingent of about 12,000 men that exists in Kursk Oblast could be killed or wounded in action until mid-April 2025 if North Korean forces continue to suffer in the long term from their current casualty rate,” the ISW said.
Read the full report:
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