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.
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.
Hungarian government plane lands in Moscow, flight-tracking website shows
A plane used by the Hungarian government landed in Moscow on Friday, flight-tracking website Flightaware.com showed, following media reports that Prime Minister Viktor Orban is scheduled to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin later in the day.
Hungary’s government did not reply to emailed questions about who is on the plane, and Reuters could not verify whether Hungary’s prime minister is on board.
Russia‘s Defence Ministry said on Friday it was conducting drills involving Yars mobile nuclear missile launchers, less than a month after it held tactical nuclear weapons deployment exercises alongside ally Belarus.
The ministry said Yars missile launcher crews in at least two different regions were set to move over 100 kilometres (62 miles) and practice camouflage and deployment.
It published a video showing a mobile launcher manoeuvering along forest roads and taking up position before troops covered it in camouflage netting.
“Similar exercises will be held by other missile units in the near future,” the defence ministry said.
In June, Russia conducted tactical nuclear weapons drills with Belarus after what Moscow said were threats from Western powers.
Vladimir Putin said then that Moscow had no need to use nuclear weapons to secure victory in Ukraine, but added that he did not rule out changes to the country’s nuclear doctrine.
Lord Coe says Ukraine trip reaffirmed his Russian and Belarusian athletes stance
World Athletics president Lord Coe revealed a trip to Ukraine reaffirmed his stance that the governing body remains right to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from its competitions.
Coe, who also met with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, praised the resilience of athletes he met at the country’s national championships, which also served as trials for this summer’s Paris Olympics.
Lord Coe says Ukraine trip reaffirmed his Russian and Belarusian athletes stance
Coe praised the resilience of athletes he met at the country’s national championships, which also served as trials for this summer’s Paris Olympics.
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