Ukraine-Russia war latest: Kyiv troops retreat from key eastern town as Moscow conducts nuclear drills
Kyiv’s troops ‘cannot hold what is ruined’, says battalion commander
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Ukraine has pulled back its soldiers from the outskirts of eastern Chasiv Yar town where they are losing territory to Russian forces.
Oleh Shyriaiev, commander of the 255th assault battalion, which has been fighting in the area for six months, claimed the Russians burned every building not destroyed by shelling after capturing the neighbourhood.
“I regret that we are gradually losing territory,” he said, speaking by phone from Chasiv Yar, but added, “we cannot hold what is ruined”.
He said Russia is using scorched-earth tactics in an attempt to destroy anything that could be used as a military position in an attempt to force the Ukranian troops to retreat from the strategic town.
Chasiv Yar is a short distance west of Bakhmut, which was captured by Russia last year after a bitter 10-month battle. The intensity of the Russian strikes on Ukraine’s defensive line in the area has increased over the past month, Kyiv said.
As the war in Ukraine grinds on, Russia’s defence ministry said its forces were carrying out drills involving mobile nuclear missile launchers, the Interfax news agency reported this morning.
Russian forces launch recruitment drive in Africa to fight war in Ukraine
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Russia is conducting a new recruitment drive for fighters in Africa for its war in Ukraine after suffering heavy casualties on the ground in lethal combat, according to Western intelligence officials.
The enrolment campaign has intensified following the rapid spread of Moscow’s influence on the continent, boosted by the overthrow of pro-Western governments in several countries by military regimes and the subsequent withdrawal of US and European forces.
Mercenaries formerly with the Wagner Group – which was disbanded after the failed coup attempt by its Russian leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was subsequently killed along with his senior hierarchy in an air crash – are training young men, some from tribal militias, for battle in Europe.
Putin’s forces launch recruitment drive in Africa to fight war in Ukraine
Moscow is turning to a new mercenary group, Africa Corps, to train paid fighters from across the continent to fight its war in Ukraine
Ukraine’s foreign ministry criticises Orban’s visit to Moscow
Ukraine‘s foreign ministry said on Friday that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s visit to Moscow to discuss peace following his trip to Kyiv earlier this week was not coordinated with Ukraine.
“We remind you that for our state, the principle of ‘no agreements on Ukraine without Ukraine‘ remains unshakable and call on all states to observe it strictly,” the ministry said in a statement.
Olena Zelenska falls victim to deepfake video claiming she bought a Bugatti
Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska is the latest victim of deepfake after an online video falsely claimed that she had purchased a rare Bugatti sports car worth €4.5m (£3.8m).
The video, suspected to be from Russian propaganda sources, claimed Ms Zelenska was given a closed presentation to buy a Bugatti Tourbillon for the use of the Ukrainian delegation during her visit to Paris for D-Day commemorations in June last week.
“This is a fake and another attempt by Russians to discredit the family of the President of Ukraine,” said Ukrainian fact-checking unit Centre for Countering Disinformation (CCD), under the national security and defence council.
Olena Zelenska falls victim to deepfake video claiming she bought a Bugatti
Zelenska’s deepfake pushed by ‘Russian propagandists before Nato summit to discredit Ukraine’s top leadership’, says Kyiv agency
A precious moment in time of war: Flowers for a wife and daughter coming home to Ukraine
On his way to the Kyiv train station to greet his wife and daughter returning from Poland to Ukraine, Oleksander Tryfonov made a stop.
He bought two red roses from one of a half-dozen flower shops lining a dimly lit underpass — something beautiful for the two most precious people in his life.
“I haven’t seen them for two years,” Tryfonov, a burly 45-year-old driver said of his family. “Flowers are important for women.”
Flowers have always been linked with Ukraine’s culture, but since Russia’s 2022 invasion, their significance has only grown, with blooms becoming a symbol of both resistance and hope.
A precious moment in time of war: Flowers for a wife and daughter coming home to Ukraine
Flowers have always been linked with Ukraine’s culture but since Russia’s 2022 invasion, their significance has only grown
Ukraine’s forces pull back from part of key eastern town of Chasiv Yar
Ukraine’s troops had pulled back from part of the strategically important town of Chasiv Yar in the eastern Donetsk region – having faced a months-long Russian assault.
Chasiv Yar is a short distance west of Bakhmut, which was captured by Russia last year after a bitter 10-month battle. For months, Russian forces have focused on capturing Chasiv Yar, a town which occupies an elevated location. Its fall would put nearby cities in jeopardy and compromise critical Ukrainian supply routes.
The Ukrainian army retreated from a northeastern neighborhood in the town, Nazar Voloshyn, the spokesperson for the Khortytsia ground forces formation, told The Associated Press in a written message Thursday.
Ukraine’s defensive positions in the town were “destroyed,” he said, adding that there was a threat of serious casualties if troops remained in the area and that Russia did not leave “a single intact building.”
Putin tells Orban he is ready to discuss 'nuances' of Ukraine conflict
Russian President Vladimir Putin told Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Friday that he was ready to discuss the “nuances” of peace proposals to end the conflict in Ukraine.
Putin, who received Orban in the Kremlin, said he was ready to hear the Hungarian leader’s position on Ukraine and to get a readout from Orban on the views of other European partners.
“I hope we will have an opportunity to exchange views on building bilateral relations in this difficult situation and, of course, to talk about the prospects for the development of the biggest European crisis, I mean in the Ukrainian direction,” Putin told Orban.
Putin, who noted that Hungary currently held the European Union’s rotating presidency, made the comments ahead of Kremlin talks between the two leaders.
US citizen Robert Woodland convicted of drug-related charges by a Moscow court
Robert Woodland, a Russia-born U.S. citizen, was convicted of drug-related charges by a Moscow court and sentenced to 12 1/2 years in prison on Thursday, court officials and his lawyers said.
He was found guilty of attempted trafficking of large amounts of illegal drugs as part of an organized group, according to an online statement released by court officials. His lawyers told reporters after the verdict was delivered Thursday that they will appeal the ruling because Woodland’s guilt hasn’t been proven.
Lawyer Stanislav Kshevitsky also said that Woodland has been suffering from unspecified mental health issues. He didn’t provide any details, but said that the court didn’t take those issues into account.
US citizen Robert Woodland convicted of drug-related charges by a Moscow court
Robert Woodland, a Russia-born U.S. citizen, has been convicted of drug-related charges by a Moscow court and sentenced to 12 1/2 years in prison
Orban: ‘Hungary will slowly become the last European country that can talk to everyone’
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who arrived in Moscow on Friday, told Russian President Vladimir Putin that he wants to discuss issues which are important for Europe.
“Hungary will slowly become the last European country that can talk to everyone,” Orban said in a live feed of their meeting on Russian site Ria Novosti.
Putin and Orban to discuss Ukraine at Moscow talks
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban will discuss the conflict in Ukraine at talks in Moscow on Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state TV reporter Pavel Zarubin.
Orban arrived in Moscow earlier on Friday, days after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, and said on X that he was on the second stop of what he called “the peace mission.”
In a post on X earlier today, Orban said: “You cannot make peace from a comfortable armchair in Brussels”.
He added that “we cannot sit back and wait for the war to miraculously end”.
Hungary's Orban arrives in Moscow to meet Putin
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban arrived in Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, drawing rebukes from fellow EU leaders and a warning that he did not speak for the European Union.
Hungary assumed the six-month rotating presidency of the bloc on Monday. Five days in and Orban has visited Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv and formed the “Patriots for Europe” alliance with other right-wing nationalists.
Now, he has chosen to go to Moscow on a “peace mission”, days before a NATO summit.
“With such a meeting the Hungarian presidency ends before it has really begun,” one EU diplomat said.
“Hungary does not seem to have understood its role... The scepticism of EU member states was unfortunately justified – it’s all about promoting Budapest’s interests.”
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Orban in Moscow was “not representing the EU in any form”. Finland Prime Minister Petteri Orpo described news of the visit as disturbing.
“His visit would show disregard for the duties of the EU Presidency and undermines interests of the European Union,” he said in a tweet on Thursday.
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