Grenade in birthday gift kills aide to Ukraine’s top commander
KYIV — A top aide to the commander of Ukraine’s armed forces was killed Monday when a birthday gift exploded, the military leader announced.
In a message published on Telegram, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny said that his assistant, Maj. Hennadii Chastiakov, was killed under “tragic circumstances” while celebrating his birthday with relatives when “an unknown explosive device went off in one of the gifts.”
Chastiakov was “a reliable shoulder for me” since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Zaluzhny wrote. “The reasons and circumstances [surrounding his death] will be established during the pre-trial investigation,” he wrote.
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KYIV — A top aide to the commander of Ukraine’s armed forces was killed Monday when a birthday gift exploded, the military leader announced.
In a message published on Telegram, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny said that his assistant, Maj. Hennadii Chastiakov, was killed under “tragic circumstances” while celebrating his birthday with relatives when “an unknown explosive device went off in one of the gifts.”
Chastiakov was “a reliable shoulder for me” since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Zaluzhny wrote. “The reasons and circumstances [surrounding his death] will be established during the pre-trial investigation,” he wrote.
Read the full story here.
As war frustrations rise, stalemate tests Zelensky and top general Zaluzhny
KYIV — After months of heavy losses in a largely stalled counteroffensive against Russia, tension among Ukraine’s senior leaders has spilled awkwardly into the open in recent days — prompting President Volodymyr Zelensky to call for a halt to political infighting.
“Everyone should be concentrating their efforts right now on defending the country,” Zelensky said Monday in his nightly address. “Put themselves together and do not rest; do not drown in infighting or other issues.” He warned that shattered unity could have drastic consequences: “The situation is now the same as it was before — if there is no victory, there will be no country.”
Zelensky’s plea to stop any infighting came after he engaged in his own rare, public dispute with the commander of Ukraine’s armed forces, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, over whether the war has reached a World War I-style “stalemate.”
Read the full story here.
KYIV — After months of heavy losses in a largely stalled counteroffensive against Russia, tension among Ukraine’s senior leaders has spilled awkwardly into the open in recent days — prompting President Volodymyr Zelensky to call for a halt to political infighting.
“Everyone should be concentrating their efforts right now on defending the country,” Zelensky said Monday in his nightly address. “Put themselves together and do not rest; do not drown in infighting or other issues.” He warned that shattered unity could have drastic consequences: “The situation is now the same as it was before — if there is no victory, there will be no country.”
Zelensky’s plea to stop any infighting came after he engaged in his own rare, public dispute with the commander of Ukraine’s armed forces, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, over whether the war has reached a World War I-style “stalemate.”
Read the full story here.
Slovakia’s new government rejects aid for Ukraine
RIGA, Latvia — The new leftist government of Slovakia, a country neighboring Ukraine that had been one of its staunchest supporters, on Wednesday rejected a proposed package of military aid for Kyiv, fulfilling a campaign promise by Prime Minister Robert Fico to halt assistance in the war against Russia.
The blocking of the roughly $43 million aid package, which was to include rockets and ammunition, is unlikely to change Ukraine’s battlefield capabilities significantly. But the government’s decision, issued at a cabinet meeting, is a first concrete sign of growing fatigue among Kyiv’s supporters in NATO as Russia’s invasion nears the two-year mark.
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RIGA, Latvia — The new leftist government of Slovakia, a country neighboring Ukraine that had been one of its staunchest supporters, on Wednesday rejected a proposed package of military aid for Kyiv, fulfilling a campaign promise by Prime Minister Robert Fico to halt assistance in the war against Russia.
The blocking of the roughly $43 million aid package, which was to include rockets and ammunition, is unlikely to change Ukraine’s battlefield capabilities significantly. But the government’s decision, issued at a cabinet meeting, is a first concrete sign of growing fatigue among Kyiv’s supporters in NATO as Russia’s invasion nears the two-year mark.
Read the full story here.
Russian missile strike turned Ukrainian medal ceremony into a bloodbath
Members of Ukraine’s 128th Mountain Assault Brigade gathered Friday morning for a medal ceremony near the front line in the southeastern region of Zaporizhzhia — continuing a military tradition dating back to Soviet times, which Ukrainian officials had sustained to prop up morale among exhausted troops.
“The Soviet era came back,” said one member of the 128th Brigade, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “It resembled scenes from Russian propaganda films about World War II, where soldiers stand in rows, looking all glamorous.”
But instead of celebrating the fighters’ bravery and service, the award ceremony turned into a bloodbath. A Russian missile strike killed at least 19 soldiers in attendance, including several high-ranking officers and some of the brigade’s best warriors. Many had removed their helmets for the proceedings and suffered head injuries. Dozens of others were wounded.
Read the full story here.
Members of Ukraine’s 128th Mountain Assault Brigade gathered Friday morning for a medal ceremony near the front line in the southeastern region of Zaporizhzhia — continuing a military tradition dating back to Soviet times, which Ukrainian officials had sustained to prop up morale among exhausted troops.
“The Soviet era came back,” said one member of the 128th Brigade, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “It resembled scenes from Russian propaganda films about World War II, where soldiers stand in rows, looking all glamorous.”
But instead of celebrating the fighters’ bravery and service, the award ceremony turned into a bloodbath. A Russian missile strike killed at least 19 soldiers in attendance, including several high-ranking officers and some of the brigade’s best warriors. Many had removed their helmets for the proceedings and suffered head injuries. Dozens of others were wounded.
Read the full story here.
Ukrainian military officer coordinated Nord Stream pipeline attack
A senior Ukrainian military officer with deep ties to the country’s intelligence services played a central role in the bombing of the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline last year, according to officials in Ukraine and elsewhere in Europe, as well as other people knowledgeable about the details of the covert operation.
The officer’s role provides the most direct evidence to date tying Ukraine’s military and security leadership to a controversial act of sabotage that has spawned multiple criminal investigations and that U.S. and Western officials have called a dangerous attack on Europe’s energy infrastructure.
Read the full story here.
A senior Ukrainian military officer with deep ties to the country’s intelligence services played a central role in the bombing of the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline last year, according to officials in Ukraine and elsewhere in Europe, as well as other people knowledgeable about the details of the covert operation.
The officer’s role provides the most direct evidence to date tying Ukraine’s military and security leadership to a controversial act of sabotage that has spawned multiple criminal investigations and that U.S. and Western officials have called a dangerous attack on Europe’s energy infrastructure.
Read the full story here.
Amid competing U.S. security priorities, Ukraine could get left behind
Ukraine is running out of money and time, its proponents say. But congressional interest in financing its fight against invading Russian forces has dipped lower than ever, and rising competition from other national security priorities — including Israel and the U.S. southern border — could sound the death knell for continued American aid for its embattled European ally.
Both Democrats and Republicans have alluded to this possibility in recent days, as Congress hurtles toward a government shutdown and stands virtually no chance of attaching Ukraine aid to any measure aimed at preventing that. The Pentagon, meanwhile, has warned that its provisions for Kyiv are getting “smaller and smaller.”
Read the full story here.
Ukraine is running out of money and time, its proponents say. But congressional interest in financing its fight against invading Russian forces has dipped lower than ever, and rising competition from other national security priorities — including Israel and the U.S. southern border — could sound the death knell for continued American aid for its embattled European ally.
Both Democrats and Republicans have alluded to this possibility in recent days, as Congress hurtles toward a government shutdown and stands virtually no chance of attaching Ukraine aid to any measure aimed at preventing that. The Pentagon, meanwhile, has warned that its provisions for Kyiv are getting “smaller and smaller.”
Read the full story here.
Putin, eyeing reelection, signs law to allow voting in occupied Ukraine
RIGA, Latvia — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday cleared the way to hold Russia’s presidential election in occupied Ukrainian territory in March — part of a highly managed process to keep him in office until at least 2030, even as Russia’s war has forced Ukraine to delay its own national elections because the country is living under martial law with millions of citizens displaced.
Putin, who has been Russia’s paramount leader since Dec. 31, 1999, is expected to formally announce in coming weeks that he will run for a fifth term as president. (He also served one term as prime minister from 2008 to 2012.) Putin is certain to win, given a rigged electoral system in which anti-regime opposition figures have been jailed or forced to flee the country to avoid arrest.
Read the full story here.
RIGA, Latvia — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday cleared the way to hold Russia’s presidential election in occupied Ukrainian territory in March — part of a highly managed process to keep him in office until at least 2030, even as Russia’s war has forced Ukraine to delay its own national elections because the country is living under martial law with millions of citizens displaced.
Putin, who has been Russia’s paramount leader since Dec. 31, 1999, is expected to formally announce in coming weeks that he will run for a fifth term as president. (He also served one term as prime minister from 2008 to 2012.) Putin is certain to win, given a rigged electoral system in which anti-regime opposition figures have been jailed or forced to flee the country to avoid arrest.
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Ukrainian lawmaker with ties to Giuliani arrested on treason charges
KYIV — Ukrainian law enforcement officials on Tuesday jailed Oleksandr Dubinsky, a member of parliament who four years ago helped Rudy Giuliani in his failed attempts to dig up dirt on Joe Biden on behalf of then-president Donald Trump.
Dubinsky is accused of treason for allegedly working to help Russia in its war against Ukraine. His arrest restores a spotlight on the efforts by Trump and his associates to gain political advantage by discrediting Biden and his son, Hunter Biden. Trump, despite facing numerous legal prosecutions, is the overwhelming Republican favorite to challenge Biden in next year’s election.
Authorities from the Security Service of Ukraine, or SBU, and the State Bureau of Investigations informed Dubinsky on Monday that a criminal case had been opened against him on charges of state treason, the agencies said in statements posted on the Telegram messaging platform.
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KYIV — Ukrainian law enforcement officials on Tuesday jailed Oleksandr Dubinsky, a member of parliament who four years ago helped Rudy Giuliani in his failed attempts to dig up dirt on Joe Biden on behalf of then-president Donald Trump.
Dubinsky is accused of treason for allegedly working to help Russia in its war against Ukraine. His arrest restores a spotlight on the efforts by Trump and his associates to gain political advantage by discrediting Biden and his son, Hunter Biden. Trump, despite facing numerous legal prosecutions, is the overwhelming Republican favorite to challenge Biden in next year’s election.
Authorities from the Security Service of Ukraine, or SBU, and the State Bureau of Investigations informed Dubinsky on Monday that a criminal case had been opened against him on charges of state treason, the agencies said in statements posted on the Telegram messaging platform.
Read the full story here.
Ukraine liberated Kherson city. A year later, Russian bombs still rain down.
Oleksandr Andrienko lay in a hospital ward in Kherson, his face pale and exhausted, blood still seeping from the bandage around the stump of what had been his lower left leg.
Andrienko is one of scores of civilians who have been maimed or killed in recent months as Russia has continued to relentlessly bombard the southern city of Kherson and the surrounding region — an area that it once occupied and that Russian President Vladimir Putin, defying reality and international law, still insists is now part of Russia, a year after Ukraine pushed his troops back across the river.
Ukrainian forces in recent weeks have stepped up their dangerous river crossings, aiming to establish new positions and push Russian lines on the east bank back even farther. Moscow, meanwhile, seems to have given up on the idea of winning popular support for reoccupation.
Read the full story here.
Oleksandr Andrienko lay in a hospital ward in Kherson, his face pale and exhausted, blood still seeping from the bandage around the stump of what had been his lower left leg.
Andrienko is one of scores of civilians who have been maimed or killed in recent months as Russia has continued to relentlessly bombard the southern city of Kherson and the surrounding region — an area that it once occupied and that Russian President Vladimir Putin, defying reality and international law, still insists is now part of Russia, a year after Ukraine pushed his troops back across the river.
Ukrainian forces in recent weeks have stepped up their dangerous river crossings, aiming to establish new positions and push Russian lines on the east bank back even farther. Moscow, meanwhile, seems to have given up on the idea of winning popular support for reoccupation.
Read the full story here.
Jailed for 7 years, pacifist artist to Russian court: ‘I’m freer than you’
RIGA, Latvia — Alexandra Skochilenko, a pacifist Russian artist and musician with no prior history of political activism, was sentenced to seven years in prison by a St. Petersburg court on Thursday, for a trivial antiwar protest: covering five supermarket price tags in March of last year with stickers giving information about Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Skochilenko, wearing one of her trademark bright hippie shirts with a red heart emblazoned on the front, fixed her eyes on Judge Oksana Demyasheva and told her: “Everyone sees and knows that you are not judging a terrorist. You are not judging an extremist. You are not even judging a political activist. You are judging a pacifist.”
The judge prohibited video coverage of Skochilenko’s final statement before pronouncing a guilty verdict on the charge of spreading “fake news” about the military.
Read the full story here.
RIGA, Latvia — Alexandra Skochilenko, a pacifist Russian artist and musician with no prior history of political activism, was sentenced to seven years in prison by a St. Petersburg court on Thursday, for a trivial antiwar protest: covering five supermarket price tags in March of last year with stickers giving information about Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Skochilenko, wearing one of her trademark bright hippie shirts with a red heart emblazoned on the front, fixed her eyes on Judge Oksana Demyasheva and told her: “Everyone sees and knows that you are not judging a terrorist. You are not judging an extremist. You are not even judging a political activist. You are judging a pacifist.”
The judge prohibited video coverage of Skochilenko’s final statement before pronouncing a guilty verdict on the charge of spreading “fake news” about the military.
Read the full story here.
Cops in the trenches: Ukrainian police key to fight against Russia
DONETSK REGION, Ukraine — Some of the riskiest battles in Ukraine are being fought not by soldiers but by cops.
In many recent operations on the eastern front — including the liberation of a key village near Bakhmut — police officers boldly advanced on occupying Russian forces, attacking with grenades and gunfire.
Ukrainian police have long been reviled as corrupt and ineffective, and citizens united against them during the Maidan revolution of 2013-14, which led to a sweeping overhaul and rebranding.
Now, Russia’s war has carved out new and unexpected roles for the Ukrainian police, moving some officers from squad cars into trenches.
Read the full story here.
DONETSK REGION, Ukraine — Some of the riskiest battles in Ukraine are being fought not by soldiers but by cops.
In many recent operations on the eastern front — including the liberation of a key village near Bakhmut — police officers boldly advanced on occupying Russian forces, attacking with grenades and gunfire.
Ukrainian police have long been reviled as corrupt and ineffective, and citizens united against them during the Maidan revolution of 2013-14, which led to a sweeping overhaul and rebranding.
Now, Russia’s war has carved out new and unexpected roles for the Ukrainian police, moving some officers from squad cars into trenches.
Read the full story here.
Russia frees killers from prison to go to war and kill in Ukraine
Vladislav Kanyus, a young man from Kemerovo in southwestern Siberia, brutally killed his ex-girlfriend Vera Pekhteleva, torturing, suffocating and stabbing her for hours.
He was sentenced in July 2022 to 17 years after a high-profile trial that reignited a national conversation in Russia about the lack of protections against domestic violence and law enforcement indifference to such cases. But then Pekhteleva’s bereaved mother, Oksana, received a photo of Kanyus — not in prison but in a military uniform surrounded by other Russian soldiers.
Her daughter’s murderer was pardoned by President Vladimir Putin in exchange for taking up arms in Ukraine.
Read the full story here.
Vladislav Kanyus, a young man from Kemerovo in southwestern Siberia, brutally killed his ex-girlfriend Vera Pekhteleva, torturing, suffocating and stabbing her for hours.
He was sentenced in July 2022 to 17 years after a high-profile trial that reignited a national conversation in Russia about the lack of protections against domestic violence and law enforcement indifference to such cases. But then Pekhteleva’s bereaved mother, Oksana, received a photo of Kanyus — not in prison but in a military uniform surrounded by other Russian soldiers.
Her daughter’s murderer was pardoned by President Vladimir Putin in exchange for taking up arms in Ukraine.
Read the full story here.