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Russia denies claims of Ukrainian front-line gain

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There are conflicting reports about the situation on the front line of the war between Ukraine and Russia. Pro-Russia sources, including Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary group fighting on the Russian side, claimed that regular Russian troops had abandoned positions around Bakhmut.

Russian military bloggers also reported Ukrainian advances and troop movements. However, the Kremlin denied that Ukraine had made any significant advances and stated that the situation was under control.

The Institute for the Study of War suggested that Ukrainian forces had likely made gains in the city of Bakhmut, pushing Russian troops back by approximately two kilometers. They also noted that the Russian defense ministry’s quick denial of the Ukrainian counterattacks, despite acknowledging them, indicated increased panic.

On Friday morning, the exiled mayor of Melitopol reported a large explosion in the city, which has been occupied by Russia since the start of the war. The cause of the blast is unknown. The Ukrainian air force conducted 14 strikes on Russian forces and military equipment, while also destroying nine Russian drones and attacking multiple military targets, including artillery units, an ammunition warehouse, and air defense equipment.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that it was too early to launch a counteroffensive and that they needed more time. He expressed concern about the potential loss of many lives and emphasized the need to wait.

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Ukraine war: Zelensky visits The Hague after new strikes in Ukraine

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There have been reports of explosions in several Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Odesa, a day after Russia accused Ukraine of carrying out a drone attack on the Kremlin. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is currently in the Netherlands, where he is expected to address the International Criminal Court’s investigation into alleged Russian war crimes in Ukraine.

Mr. Zelensky denied his country’s involvement in the attack on Putin, stating that they are only fighting to defend their own territory. During his visit, Mr. Zelensky is scheduled to meet with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte to discuss his request for more military support from the Netherlands.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte had previously stated that supplying fighter jets to Ukraine was not out of the question but would be a significant step. Following Russia’s accusation of a drone attack by Ukraine on the Kremlin, Russia threatened to retaliate at their discretion. In response, Ukraine reported air raids in several cities, and Russia launched strikes on Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, causing 21 fatalities.

Some commentators have suggested that the alleged drone attack on the Kremlin was staged by Russia as it is unlikely for two drones to penetrate multiple layers of air defense and detonate over the heart of the Kremlin. They believe that Russia may have orchestrated the attack to mobilize societal support and prepare for wider conflict.

However, some experts dispute this theory, stating that Russia would not want to appear vulnerable by staging an attack on the Kremlin, which may lead to questions about the efficacy of their air defenses and Putin’s protection.

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Ukraine’s Zelensky holds first war phone call with China’s Xi

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Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky announced that he had a significant and lengthy conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping over the phone, marking their first communication since the beginning of the Russian conflict. Zelensky expressed optimism that the call, coupled with the appointment of an ambassador to Beijing, will positively impact the relationship between the two nations.

China acknowledged the conversation and emphasized their commitment to peace, though they have previously maintained a neutral position regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Notably, President Xi visited Russia recently, indicating a close relationship between the two nations.

During a recent meeting, Ukrainian President Zelensky referred to Russian President Vladimir Putin as his “dear friend” and presented a 12-point peace plan, but did not promise to supply Russia with weapons. Following the meeting, Zelensky invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit Kyiv for further discussions, as they had not been in contact since the start of the war in February 2022. In a statement regarding their recent phone call, Xi emphasized China’s commitment to peace and stated that they would not take advantage of the crisis for profit or simply watch from afar.

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Ukraine conflict: President Zelensky condemns beheading video

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The Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, has urged world leaders to respond after a video emerged showing a Ukrainian soldier allegedly being beheaded by a Russian serviceman. The Ukrainian security service is investigating the incident as a “war crime”, while the Kremlin has called the video “awful” but said that its authenticity and the identity of those involved must be verified.

The graphic video, filmed on a mobile phone during the summer months, shows a man wearing a yellow armband, commonly used by Ukrainian soldiers, being beheaded by a man in military uniform wearing a white band, which is used as identification by Russian soldiers. The men can be heard speaking Russian, but it is unclear whether they are Russian soldiers or Ukrainians who speak Russian.

The graphic video shows a man with a yellow armband being beheaded by a man wearing a white band around his leg. The victim’s body armour has a trident mark, which is the state symbol of Ukraine, and also features what appears to be the Punisher symbol, a comic-book character. The location and date of the video remain unclear, as there are few visual clues to identify it.

However, it appears to have been filmed during the current conflict between Ukraine and Russia, where white and yellow armbands have been used as identification by opposing sides. The leaves in the video suggest that it may have been filmed in late spring or summer of last year. The video began circulating on Telegram after a pro-Kremlin blogger shared it with his followers.

After a pro-Kremlin blogger shared the video on Telegram, it spread to Twitter, and the authenticity of the video was called into question by the Kremlin, which said it needed to be verified. The EU foreign affairs spokeswoman emphasized that Russia must comply with international humanitarian law, and perpetrators of war crimes must be held accountable. Another video has also been circulating, showing a destroyed military vehicle and two bodies without heads or hands, which may suggest an alleged beheading. The victims appear to have been fighting on the Ukrainian side, and at least three soldiers can be seen standing over the bodies in the video.

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Ukraine war: Heavy losses reported as battle for Bakhmut rages

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As the conflict for Bakhmut continues, reports indicate that Russia and Ukraine have suffered significant losses. Moscow has been waging a gruelling war of attrition on eastern Ukraine for months.

Russian forces have lost more than 1,100 lives in the last several days, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and many more have been gravely injured. Over the previous 24 hours, more than 220 Ukrainian service members, according to Russia, have died.

Despite having minimal strategic worth, according to analysts, Bakhmut has become a focus for Russian commanders who have found it difficult to bring any good news to the Kremlin.

By taking the city, Russia would be a little bit closer to its objective of dominating the entire Donetsk region, one of the four regions in eastern and southern Ukraine that it annexed last September after holding fraudulent referendums that were roundly denounced outside of Russia.

Russian forces are being constrained, according to Ukrainian commanders who have committed major resources to the city’s defence, and their plan is to stop Moscow from launching any more offensives in the near future.

Between 20,000 and 30,000 Russian troops have reportedly been killed or injured in and around Bakhmut, according to Western officials.

A proposed proposal that was presented to the Russian parliament on Monday proposes to raise the age range for conscription from the existing 18–27 years to 21–30 years.

According to Reuters, the conscription age would be extended to 10 or 11 years in 2024 or 2025 rather than the customary nine years. This would increase the number of men who are eligible to serve in the military.

Russia’s previous attempt to draft thousands of new recruits into the Ukraine war met with some resistance. In September the announcement of a partial military mobilisation saw long queues form at border crossings as men of draft age sought to flee the call-up.

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Ukraine war: Europe fights to maintain solidarity

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As Kyiv gets ready to commemorate the sombre and deadly one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion, Vice President Joe Biden’s unexpected trip to Ukraine on Monday is a startling demonstration of support and an intended strong message to Moscow.

The Ukrainian leadership was naturally happy to see the US president, but as a dedicated observer of Europe, one comment in particular caught my attention.

Andriy Melnyk, deputy foreign minister, praised “the presence of our vital, main partner.”

The primary threat posed by Vladimir Putin’s aggressive ambition is to European security. He has reintroduced conventional warfare to this continent on a scale not seen since World War Two as a result of his invasion of Ukraine.

The sense of calm and relative security that most of us were accustomed to has been destroyed by his acts. The potential of a nuclear assault is being addressed as a serious possibility, albeit a remote one, for the first time since the Cold War.

Yet, Europe is made up of many different parts, both inside and outside the EU.The Russian incursion has served as a stark warning to Europeans—including France’s President Macron, a vocal supporter of Europe’s “strategic autonomy”—that the region cannot rely only on itself for defence. In comparison to the US, they lack the resources, the military might, and the undivided resolve (and even there, some tiny political fractures are beginning to show).

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Ukraine billionaire Ihor Kolomoisky targeted in new anti-corruption swoop

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Ihor Kolomoisky, one of the richest individuals in the nation, is among the high-profile targets of a new wave of anti-corruption operations by the Ukrainian government. As part of the sweep, the residence of the former interior minister Arsen Avakov was also searched.

Officials in Ukraine announced that the heads of the customs agency had been sacked as part of an anti-corruption campaign. Ukraine would change during the war, according to the leader of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s party in parliament.

Ukraine is under increased pressure to fight corruption from its Western allies, particularly the EU. In 2019, Mr. Zelensky declared the battle against corruption to be one of his top goals.

This week, Kyiv will host a conference with top EU officials. Ukraine views this meeting as crucial to its efforts to join the 27-member union. Four months after Russia’s invasion, Kyiv was given EU candidate status; nonetheless, it was pushed to do more to combat corruption.

As part of the purge last week, ten prominent Ukrainian leaders, including Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of office for Mr. Zelensky, resigned.

Regional governors and a number of deputy ministers were also forced out. Mr Zelensky said at the time that any internal problems that hindered the state would be cleaned up to help Ukraine’s “rapprochement with European institutions”.

In 2014, the businessman assumed control of the larger Dnipropetrovsk area and was instrumental in providing funds for volunteer battalions in response to Russia’s initial annexation of eastern Ukraine.

However, the US imposed sanctions on him because to allegations of “serious corruption” committed while he was governor. He has said he did nothing wrong.

Mr. Kolomoisky is a successful businessman who works in the banking, energy, and media industries in Ukraine. Before endorsing the former actor’s presidential campaign, his TV network gave Mr. Zelensky his big break with the comedy series Servant of the People.

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Ukraine War: Zelensky adviser resigns over Dnipro remarks

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Oleksiy Arestovych, a presidential adviser for Ukraine, has submitted his resignation after alleging that Kiev shot down a Russian missile that struck a building in Dnipro and killed 44 people.

Mr. Arestovych expressed regret and admitted to having made a “basic error.” The original comment incited intense resentment throughout the nation, and Russian officials used it as an excuse to accuse Ukraine.

The adviser is well-known due to his regular YouTube updates, which are viewed by millions of people. Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, has yet to respond to Mr. Arestovych’s resignation.

Mr. Arestovych initially stated that it looked that the Russian missile had fallen on the structure after being shot down by Ukrainian air defences hours after Saturday’s missile strike on an apartment building in Dnipro. The structure was allegedly struck by a Russian Kh-22 missile, which Ukraine claimed was exceedingly inaccurate and beyond its ability to shoot down.

When Mr. Arestovych made his original remarks, the Ukrainian public responded strongly, with some claiming he had strengthened the position of Russian propagandists. A petition advocating for Mr. Arestovych’s dismissal as a government official was signed by certain Ukrainian lawmakers. Later, he published a statement announcing his retirement and admitting that he had committed a “fundamental error.”

“I offer my sincere apologies to the victims and their relatives, the residents of Dnipro and everyone who was deeply hurt by my prematurely erroneous version of the reason for the Russian missile striking a residential building,” he wrote in a longer post on Telegram.

One of the war’s most well-known Ukrainian faces is Mr. Arestovych, who regularly holds debates on the conflict on his YouTube channel. His videos frequently receive more than 200,000 views, and the channel has more than 1.6 million subscribers. He speaks in Russian instead of Ukrainian, which is unusual for Ukrainian officials.

Before he offered to leave, Russian authorities had used his words to attribute the strike to Kiev.

Russian attacks “do not damage residential buildings,” according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who also claimed that “certain officials of the Ukrainian side” had come to the same conclusion.

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Volodymyr Zelensky is Time Magazine’s 2022 Person of the Year

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Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, and “the spirit of Ukraine” have been selected Time Magazine’s 2022 Person of the Year.  The honour is given to an occasion or somebody who, in the past 12 months, is thought to have had the greatest impact on world events.

Iranian demonstrators, China’s president Xi Jinping, and the US Supreme Court were among the other candidates.  The editor of the magazine referred to the choice as “the most clear-cut in recollection.”

“In a world that had come to be defined by its divisiveness, there was a coming together around this cause, around this country,” Edward Felsenthal wrote.

He added that the “spirit of Ukraine” referred to Ukrainians around the world, including many who “fought behind the scenes”. This includes people like Ievgen Klopotenko, a chef who provided thousands of free meals to Ukrainians and medic Yuliia Payevska who was captured, then released after three months in Russian captivity.

According to the magazine, Mr. Zelensky’s bravery in repelling the Russian invasion had inspired Ukrainians and earned him recognition on a global scale. The article stated that “Zelensky’s success as a wartime leader has depended on the idea that heroism is contagious.”
 
David Nott, a British trauma surgeon who travelled to Ukraine to aid those hurt in the conflict, is only one of numerous people who are featured on the magazine’s cover. The American baseball player Aaron Judge is named Time’s Entertainer of the Year, the Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh is named Time’s Icon of the Year, and the K-pop group Blackpink is named the Entertainer of the Year.

The winner from the previous year, Elon Musk, was once again selected as a finalist. His electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla rose to the position of most valuable automaker in the world in 2021.

Although it was the Man of the Year back then, the tradition started in 1927.

Other such winners include the German tyrant Adolf Hitler in 1938 and the 2007 Person of the Year, Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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Ukraine war: Fighting set to slow for winter months, says US intelligence

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US intelligence agencies predict that the combat in Ukraine will continue to wane through the upcoming winter. However, according to US head of intelligence Avril Haines, there hasn’t been any indication of Ukrainian forces’ resistance weakening.

Both sides, according to her, would endeavour to “refit, replenish, and reconstitute” for any springtime counteroffensive. The crucial energy infrastructure of Ukraine had already been attacked by Russia.

Even though Russia has lost more than half of the territory it had conquered, the war in Ukraine is already in its ninth month. The majority of the combat is presently taking place near the eastern Ukrainian cities of Bakhmut and Donetsk, Ms. Haines stated at a defence symposium in California.

She said fighting had slowed down following Russia’s withdrawal of troops from the west of the Kherson region last month.

“We’re seeing a kind of a reduced tempo already of the conflict… and we expect that’s likely to be what we see in the coming months,” she said.

She said both Ukraine and Russian militaries would be looking to prepare for any counter-offensive after the winter.

“But we actually have a fair amount of scepticism as to whether or not the Russians will be, in fact, prepared to do that,” she said.

“I think more optimistically for the Ukrainians in that time frame.”

According to Ms. Haines, US intelligence believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin is now unaware of the full extent of his military’s difficulties.

“We observe ammo shortages, morale problems, supply problems, logistics, and a host of other issues that they are dealing with.”

On the other hand, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that a price ceiling imposed on Russian oil exports by his Western partners was “weak” and that it was not “severe” enough to harm the Russian economy.

The cap, which is set to take effect on Monday, aims to prevent nations from paying more than $60 (£48) a barrel for Russian crude oil that is transported by sea.

Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, stated that although Moscow had planned for the action, it would not sell its oil under the quota.

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