The Washington Post

09 October 2023 20:59

Here is the latest from Ukraine:

- Days after at least 52 people were killed by a missile strike in the Ukrainian village of Hroza, the country remains in mourning and reeling from the aftermath.

- The U.N. high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, deployed a field team to the site to speak to survivors and gather more information about the Hroza attack, spokeswoman Liz Throssell said in a statement.

- An overnight attack on the port city of Odessa hit a boardinghouse, play area and port infrastructure, Ukraine’s southern command said.

- The Netherlands will allocate about $108 million in a new support package for Ukraine, the Dutch government said Friday.

- Russia said it had foiled a Ukrainian drone attack in the Black Sea near Crimea overnight.

- Zelensky warned in his nightly address that Russia “will once again try to destroy our energy system” this winter.

More live updates here.

The Washington Post

08 October 2023 20:38

Here's the latest from Ukraine.

- Days after at least 52 people were killed by a missile strike in the Ukrainian village of Hroza, the country remains in mourning and reeling from the aftermath. Dozens of employees at a morgue in Kharkiv city sorted bodies, while workers cleared trees in the local cemetery to make way for the dead.

- Many people in the village, which was formerly occupied by Russia, speculated to The Washington Post that they thought a Russia sympathizer among them may have tipped off Moscow’s military about the event. The Post could not verify the claims. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the strike proof of Russia’s “absolute evil.”

- An overnight attack on the port city of Odessa hit a boardinghouse, play area and port infrastructure, Ukraine’s southern command said.

More live updates here.

The Washington Post

08 October 2023 13:15

Ukraine battles to shape the narrative on its grueling counteroffensive

BRUSSELS — As Ukrainian forces press ahead with their closely-watched counteroffensive, another battle is underway: the fight to control the story and influence how the world sees the war.

After much hand-wringing about slow progress and grim assessments of Ukraine’s prospects through the summer, Ukrainian and Western officials in recent weeks have focused on reshaping the narrative to manage expectations and shore up support through the winter.

Four months of brutal fighting and steep losses have not yielded the results that Kyiv and its Western backers hoped for. Despite some Ukrainian progress in breaking through dense Russian defenses, fears of a frozen conflict — and crumbling international support — loom.

Read the full story here.

The Washington Post

07 October 2023 16:46

Live updates: Netanyahu says Israel ‘at war’ after Hamas attack; air force kills nearly 200 in Gaza air strikes

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “we are at war, and we will win it” Saturday after Hamas launched an assault and took captives following the 50th anniversary of the start of the 1973 Yom Kippur war. Militants infiltrated Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip and launched more than 3,000 rockets, Israeli military leaders said.

The confrontation, which has killed at least 40 Israelis and injured at least 740, is one of the most serious in years.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has condemned violence in Israel, calling it “horrible news.” Russia’s Foreign Ministry also issued a statement expressing “most serious concern about the sharp aggravation of the situation in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.” Moscow called for a cease fire, adding there was “no solution” to be found by using force. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

More live updates here.

The Washington Post

06 October 2023 20:55

Here is the latest from Ukraine:

- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described a devastating Russian missile strike on the Ukrainian village of Hroza as proof of Russia’s “absolute evil.” He said Russian forces “couldn’t have been unaware of where they were striking.” The attack Thursday killed at least 52 people and was one of the war’s deadliest missile strikes.

- The U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine has identified 35 of those killed in the attack on Hroza, including 19 women, 15 men and an 8-year-old boy, a U.N. spokeswoman said Friday.

- A separate strike in the same region Friday killed a 10-year-old child and his grandmother, according to a local official.

- Russia has successfully tested an experimental nuclear-powered cruise missile, Putin said.

- Hand grenade fragments were found in the bodies of Wagner Group mercenary leader Yevgeniy Prigozhin and his deputies, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in remarks Thursday.

More live updates here.

The Washington Post

06 October 2023 12:50

Grenade fragments found in bodies of Wagner crash victims, Putin says

Hand grenade fragments were found in the bodies of rogue Wagner boss Yevgeniy Prigozhin and two top deputies who were killed in a plane crash in August, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday. The wreckage showed no “external impact” on the aircraft, he said, in an apparent denial that the Kremlin had ordered the outspoken mercenary leader shot down.

The Embraer business jet crashed near Russia’s Tver region north of Moscow on Aug. 23, killing all 10 people on board, including Prigozhin, Wagner battlefield commander Dmitry Utkin and logistics chief Valery Chekalov. The still-unexplained crash came exactly two months after Prigozhin led his fighters in a brief mutiny against Moscow. Western officials, independent observers and some in the Russian elite believe his death was ordered by Putin.

“I know, the question is probably hanging in the air, what happened to the … company’s management,” Putin said.

Read the full story here.

The Washington Post

05 October 2023 20:54

Putin says grenade fragments found in bodies of Wagner leaders killed in plane crash

Fragments of hand grenades were found in the bodies of Wagner group mercenary leader Yevgeniy Prigozhin and other Wagner leaders — who were killed in a plane crash in August, two months after staging a short-lived mutiny against the Kremlin — according to the results of a Russian investigation, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in remarks Thursday.

Here is the latest from Ukraine:

- At least 49 civilians were killed in Russian strikes in the eastern Ukrainian region of Kharkiv on Thursday, local officials said.

- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived Thursday in Granada, Spain, to attend the European Political Community summit along with European leaders.

- Britain said it gathered intelligence suggesting Russia may be using sea mines to disrupt civilian shipping in the Black Sea to deter the export of Ukrainian grain.

More live updates here.

The Washington Post

05 October 2023 16:21

Strike in Ukraine’s northeast Kharkiv region kills at least 49

KYIV — At least 49 people were killed in Ukraine’s northeast Kharkiv region on Thursday in what appeared to be one of the war’s deadliest missile strikes, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, describing it as a “fully deliberate terrorist attack” by Russia.

Initial reports said a missile hit a grocery store and cafe in the village of Hroza, about 20 miles outside of the city of Kupyansk, which has been the focus of a fierce Russian military offensive as Ukrainian forces try to expel the occupying Russian forces elsewhere on the front.

The dead included a 6-year-old child, the Kharkiv region governor Oleh Synyehubov said, adding that six others were injured.

At the time of the attack, so many people — about 60 — were gathered in one place because they were attending a memorial service for a Ukrainian soldier who had died on the battlefield, according to Ukraine’s Interior Ministry.

Read the full story here.

The Washington Post

05 October 2023 10:38

Here is the latest from Ukraine:

- President Biden expressed concern Wednesday that tumult in Congress may impact Ukraine, speaking after the ouster of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Tuesday amid the threat of government shutdown.

- Support for continued U.S. aid to Ukraine has marginally slipped over the past year with a clear partisan split, according to a Chicago Council on Global Affairs survey reported Wednesday by the Post.

- Ukraine’s military intelligence directorate posted a video on Telegram which it said depicted Ukrainian troops landing in Crimea and inflicting fire damage.

- Russia said it shot down 31 Ukrainian drones over three provinces bordering Ukraine on Wednesday night.

- The U.K. Foreign Office warned that it had gathered intelligence suggesting Russia may be using sea mines to disrupt civilian shipping in the Black Sea to deter the export of Ukrainian grain.

More live updates here.

The Washington Post

04 October 2023 17:15

Has the war in Ukraine changed Macron? Allies would love to know.

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron is not particularly known for mea culpas. So, when he delivered a moderately repentant speech on Russia and Ukraine, ears perked up.

Since Russia invaded, Macron has drawn ire — and eye rolls — for clinging to the idea that Russian President Vladimir Putin could be talked down.

Now here he was, more than a year in, telling a crowd in Slovakia that Western Europe had failed to listen to the east on Russia and praising NATO, the alliance he once said was experiencing brain death.

The question of where Macron and France stand on Ukraine will loom large this week as European leaders gather in Spain to discuss how to bring Ukraine and other countries closer in the months and years ahead.

Read the full story here.

The Washington Post

04 October 2023 11:16

Here is the latest from Ukraine:

- Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was ousted from his role as House speaker on Tuesday, a move that left the chamber without a leader and has propelled Congress into a period of unpredictability and paralysis. (Here's how it happened and what's next).

- His removal comes at a time when Republican support for further U.S. aid to Ukraine has been wavering and potentially signals a shift on future assistance.

- Biden warned that a lapse in U.S. funding for Ukraine “could make all the difference on the battlefield” during a call with allies and partners on Tuesday.

- Ukraine says its troops have made advances in the south, a target region in their counteroffensive against Russian occupation.

- Western allies are running low on ammunition to give to Ukraine, senior military leaders warned in a push for increased defense spending in Europe.

More live updates here.

The Washington Post

03 October 2023 09:38

Here is the latest from Ukraine:

- Foreign ministers of several European Union nations gathered in Kyiv on Monday in a meeting that E.U. foreign policy chief Josep Borrell lauded as “historic.”

- The event culminated in Borrell’s proposing up to 5 billion euros, or about $5.2 billion, in additional aid to Ukraine. It also marked the first time E.U. foreign ministers gathered outside of E.U. territory and in a country at war.

- The city of Kharkiv is planning to build Ukraine’s first underground school to protect against missile threats, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said.

- Poland delivered its first batch of refurbished Leopard tanks to Ukraine, the Polish Armaments Group (PGZ) announced on Monday.

More live updates here.

The Washington Post

02 October 2023 15:39

Ukraine hits Russia’s Kursk region repeatedly with airstrikes

A Ukrainian drone strike on an electrical substation briefly left 5,000 people without electricity in Russia’s Kursk region, an area where authorities reported strikes and shelling nearly every day during the past week.

The governor of the Kursk region, Roman Starovoyt, said Friday that a Ukrainian drone dropped explosives on the substation in the village of Belaya, cutting off power to nearby areas, including a hospital that had to operate on a diesel power generator for some time. The power was restored Friday evening, according to Starovoyt.

“Today our region was massively attacked by Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, our air defense shot down 10 UAVs,” Starovoyt said in a Telegram message. “Thanks to all our military and concerned citizens who reported on incoming drones.”

Read the full story here.

The Washington Post

01 October 2023 19:40

Kyiv downplays lack of Ukraine aid in new U.S. spending bill

KYIV — Ukrainian officials are insisting that aid to their country is not in jeopardy, despite concerns over a new U.S. spending bill that excluded some $20 billion in assistance for Kyiv.

“There are funds,” Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, wrote on Facebook after the vote Saturday in Congress to approve the measure and avoid a government shutdown.

“The government will work, so there is no threat to the supply of previously approved weapons and equipment,” she said, adding that “there is time, there are resources and, most importantly, there is bipartisan and bicameral support for Ukraine.”

Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko also said Sunday that support for Ukraine “remains intact” across the administration and both houses of Congress.

Read the full story here.

The Washington Post

30 September 2023 21:31

Here is the latest from Ukraine:

- Aid for Ukraine has become a key issue as the United States hurtles toward a government shutdown.

- Supporters of Ukraine say failure to pass the aid will encourage Russian President Vladimir Putin and likely lead European allies to pare back their support for the war.

- The Romanian Army’s radar system detected “a possible unauthorized” breach of the country’s airspace after registering “groups of drones heading toward Ukrainian territory” near the border as Russia conducted “a new series of attacks on some targets in Ukraine,” Romania’s defense ministry said.

- Russian strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure on the banks of the River Danube have renewed concerns of a potential escalation in recent weeks.

More live updates here.

The Washington Post

09 October 2023 16:05

Ukrainian village where missile killed 52 starts to bury its dead

HROZA, Ukraine — The husband and wife were placed in identical coffins, each covered in green velvet and then draped in blue and gold cloth.

As rain fell on the small crowd gathered in the cemetery, Mykola and Tetiana Androsovych were gently lowered into graves side-by-side, becoming the first victims of Thursday’s deadly missile strike on a funeral reception in northeastern Ukraine to be buried.

The attack killed at least 52 people, around one-sixth the population of this village that holds no apparent strategic value in the war and is 30 miles from the front line city of Kupyansk. At least one of the dead was a young boy.

On Friday, emergency workers started clearing space from a wooded area beside the village’s cemetery to make room for all the newly dead. By Saturday, more than 20 empty graves sat waiting.

Read the full story here.

The Washington Post

08 October 2023 15:19

As partners in Ukraine’s fight for survival, two generals forged a bond

KYIV — Shortly after Russia invaded, Ukraine’s top military officer addressed his country’s struggle for survival with Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: Ukraine had only a handful of functional aircraft, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny said, and urgently needed Western help.

By the end of the conversation, Zaluzhny said, he felt “like I was talking to myself.” He cut off communication entirely with Milley for a week. Chats with his most important international counterpart had been happening every other day.

“Frankly speaking, due to my youth and stupidity, I admit that it was my mistake,” Zaluzhny, who is 50, said in an interview with The Washington Post. “It was actually a disaster.”

The moment was a setback in the crucial — and complicated — relationship between the two military commanders, who ultimately grew personally close as they worked together in Ukraine’s existential fight.

Read the full story here.

The Washington Post

07 October 2023 21:06

Here is the latest from Ukraine:

- Days after at least 52 people were killed by a missile strike in the Ukrainian village of Hroza, the country remains in mourning and reeling from the aftermath.

- Dozens of employees at a morgue in Kharkiv city sorted bodies, while workers cleared trees in the local cemetery to make way for the dead.

- Post reporters at the scene in Hroza, Kharkiv region, witnessed the body of only one person wearing a uniform and morgue workers said they saw no evidence of multiple military personnel among the dead — despite Russia’s claims that it attacks only military targets.

- The U.N. high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, deployed a field team to the site to speak to survivors and gather more information about the Hroza attack, spokeswoman Liz Throssell said in a statement.

More live updates here.

The Washington Post

07 October 2023 09:41

Here is the latest from Ukraine:

- Post reporters at the scene witnessed the body of only one person wearing a uniform and morgue workers said they saw no evidence of multiple military personnel among the dead — despite Russia’s claims that it attacks only military targets.

- The U.N. high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, deployed a field team to the site to speak to survivors and gather more information about the attack, spokeswoman Liz Throssell said in a statement.

- Zelensky warned in his nightly address that Russia “will once again try to destroy our energy system” this winter.

- Russian envoy Mikhail Ulyanov said that Russia plans to revoke its ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty with the United States, in a post on social media Friday.

- Ukraine has reportedly advanced in Western Zaporizhzhia, the Washington-based think-tank Institute for the Study of War said in an analysis Friday.

More live updates here.

The Washington Post

06 October 2023 16:13

Russian missile attack in Kharkiv region overwhelmingly killed civilians

KHARKIV, Ukraine — A Russian missile strike that killed 52 people in an eastern Ukrainian village on Thursday appears to have overwhelmingly hit civilians — contradicting Russian President Vladimir Putin and other Moscow officials who claim Russian forces only attack military targets.

On Friday, the morgue in Kharkiv, the regional capital, looked like the scene of a massacre as dozens of employees sifted through the bodies. On Friday afternoon, they announced they had found the body of a boy, Ivan, believed to be 6 years old, who appears to be the only child killed in the attack.

Washington Post reporters on scene saw only one body wearing a military uniform.

Morgue workers said they had seen no evidence of multiple military personnel among the dead and that most victims appeared to be older but in many cases, they were difficult to identify because of the severity of the wounds.

Read the full story here.

The Washington Post

06 October 2023 10:24

Here is the latest from Ukraine:

- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the Russian attack on the village of Hroza that killed 51 people as proof that Russia was “absolute evil.” The attack, which struck a grocery store and a cafe, was one of the war’s deadliest missile strikes.

- In Washington, President Biden is preparing a “major speech” on Ukraine, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. The remarks come after Biden acknowledged concern that disarray in Congress could impede future U.S. aid to Ukraine.

- Hand grenade fragments were found in the bodies of Wagner Group mercenary leader Yevgeniy Prigozhin and his deputies, who died in a plane crash in August, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday.

- Slovakia’s outgoing government will not provide additional weapons to Ukraine, said Ludovit Odor, the country’s prime minister.

More live updates here.

The Washington Post

05 October 2023 17:15

Ukrainian journalist missing in Russian-occupied territory

Victoria Roshchyna, a Ukrainian freelance journalist, has been missing since she went on a reporting trip to Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine two months ago, raising concerns among family, colleagues and advocates that Russia could be holding her captive.

Roshchyna was last heard from on Aug. 3, according to the International Women’s Media Foundation, which said in a statement that it was “extremely concerned for her safety.”

Elisa Lees Muñoz, the IWMF’s executive director, said in a phone interview that Roshchyna’s colleagues — other journalists covering the war — have expressed growing concern about the disappearance.

“That they went public with this is really indicative of their desperation,” she said, as drawing attention to such a case can sometimes be “considered a provocation” by the missing person’s captors.

Read the full story here.

The Washington Post

05 October 2023 13:20

In Ukraine, explosive DIY drones give an intimate view of killing

ZAPORIZHZHIA REGION, Ukraine — The unblinking eye of the Ukrainian surveillance drone spotted attractive prey: eight Russian soldiers entering a fortified, well-camouflaged dugout.

Inside a darkened trench a few miles away, Ukrainian soldiers of the 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade’s strike drone company got to work. A pilot tightened the plastic blades of his hand-built machine, strapped a fuel bomb to its belly and lifted off.

Through a pair of goggles, the operator, call sign Sapsan, piloted the drone across the scarred battlefield in southern Ukraine, gliding the craft toward his target.

Such first-person view, or FPV, drones — fast, highly-maneuverable, and relatively cheap craft flown by an operator wearing a headset receiving the drone’s video feed in real time — are now the predominant attack drone in Ukraine.

Read the full story here.

The Washington Post

04 October 2023 21:58

Here is the latest from Ukraine:

- The United States said Wednesday that it transferred 1.1 million rounds of ammunition that it seized from Iran to the Ukrainian military.

- President Biden warned that a lapse in U.S. funding for Ukraine “could make all the difference on the battlefield” during a call with allies and partners on Tuesday, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told journalists.

- Without additional funding, the Pentagon has access to just a few months of support for Ukraine, Kirby said Tuesday.

- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he is “convinced” that U.S. and European support for his country will continue.

More live updates here.

The Washington Post

04 October 2023 13:27

Analysis: E.U. diplomats rally in Kyiv as cracks grow in West’s support

A delegation of top European foreign ministers was in Kyiv on Monday in a show of solidarity with an embattled government. E.U. foreign policy chief Josep Borrell billed their arrival in the Ukrainian capital as part of a “historic meeting” with a candidate for membership of the European Union. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock declared that the future of Ukraine would be within the bloc and hailed the continent’s “community of freedom, which will stretch from Lisbon to Luhansk.”

Ukraine’s present is far less rosy, with its province in Luhansk among the territories under Russian control and occupation. A slow going Ukrainian counteroffensive is battering against Russian fortifications across a vast front line spanning the country’s south and east. Casualties are mounting, while concerns grow over the flow of vital foreign aid that Ukraine needs to sustain its resistance to Russia’s invasion.

Read the full analysis here.

The Washington Post

03 October 2023 21:15

Here is the latest from Ukraine:

- Foreign ministers of several European Union nations gathered in Kyiv in a meeting that the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, lauded as “historic.”

- Russia has no plans to mobilize more troops in Ukraine, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Tuesday.

- At least two people were killed and seven others were injured in attacks on the region of Kherson, its governor, Oleksandr Prokudin, said on Telegram Tuesday.

- The city of Kharkiv is planning to build Ukraine’s first underground school to protect against missile threats, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on Telegram.

- Germany said it provided Ukraine with thousands of additional rounds of ammunition and several vehicles.

- Poland delivered its first batch of refurbished Leopard tanks to Ukraine, the Polish Armaments Group (PGZ) announced on social media.

- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke with the foreign ministers about Ukraine’s hope to join the European Union.

More live updates here.

The Washington Post

02 October 2023 21:18

Here is the latest from Ukraine:

- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky promised to continue fighting the Russian invasion “for as long as it takes” after the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives blocked new aid for Ukraine amid opposition by some hard-right members.

- President Biden sought to reassure Ukrainians, saying he hoped Republicans would “keep their word” after a funding bill that averted a U.S. government shutdown over the weekend did not include more aid for Kyiv.

- Zelensky spoke with European foreign ministers in Kyiv about Ukraine’s hopes to join the E.U.

- Another challenge to Western unity on Ukraine policy may come from Slovakia after pro-Russian populist Robert Fico and his party won the country’s parliamentary elections over the weekend.

- Bulgaria will ban cars with Russian number plates from entering the country starting Monday, its border police head told national television.

More live updates here.

The Washington Post

01 October 2023 22:04

Here's the latest from Ukraine:

- President Biden sought to reassure Ukrainians on Sunday that the United States would not abandon its support for the war-torn nation after a funding bill that averted a government shutdown this weekend did not include anticipated aid. “We cannot under any circumstance allow America’s support for Ukraine to be interrupted,” Biden said in a news conference Sunday afternoon.

- McCarthy said he’ll support sending Ukrainian troops “the weapons that they need,” though a potential challenge to his leadership could further complicate plans for the aid.

- Ukraine’s envoy to Washington expressed optimism that funding guarantees for Kyiv would be secured. There is time, there are resources, and there is bipartisan support for Ukraine in Washington, Ambassador Oksana Markarova said in a Facebook post.

More live updates here.

The Washington Post

01 October 2023 10:16

Here is the latest from Ukraine:

- House Republicans on Saturday pushed through a short-term bill to fund the government and avert a shutdown, and in the process excluded aid to Ukraine.

- A bipartisan group of Senate leadership members pledged to work in coming weeks on legislation that further funds Ukraine’s war effort.

- Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) also said that the Senate would pursue a funding package for Ukraine “in very short order,” and that it may pass it as a stand-alone bill or as part of a larger funding package for the Defense Department.

- Supporters of Ukraine had said that any failure to include aid would encourage Russian President Vladimir Putin and possibly lead European allies to pare back their support for the war.

- Slovakia’s parliamentary election has the potential to complicate the Western response to Ukraine.

- The Romanian army’s radar system detected “a possible unauthorized” breach of the country’s airspace, Romania’s Defense Ministry said.

More live updates here.

The Washington Post

30 September 2023 17:47

Russia failed to keep peace in Nagorno-Karabakh, pivoting away from Armenia

RIGA, Latvia — With virtually the entire population of Armenians feeling from Nagorno-Karabakh, refugees are voicing rage over the loss of their homeland and accusing Russia of betrayal after peacekeepers sent by Moscow failed to protect them.

The lightning military operation by Azerbaijan to seize back the disputed mountainous region made a mockery of President Vladimir Putin’s 2020 guarantee that Russian peacekeepers would protect the region’s population, maintain a cease-fire, and assure access on the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, through the Lachin Corridor.

Russia failed on all three counts.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has warned that the entire Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh, roughly 120,000 people, will leave and he accused Azerbaijan of “ethnic cleansing.”

Read the full story here.