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Ukraine-Russia war latest: British charity founder killed ‘in combat against Putin’s troops’

Peter Fouche died after getting badly injured ‘in the battlefield’ against Russian forces last week

Arpan Rai,Tom Watling
Tuesday 02 July 2024 06:28 BST
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A British charity founder who was providing military and humanitarian support in Ukraine has succumbed to his injuries while fighting in the war-hit nation, the organisation has said.

Peter Fouche died on Thursday “in the battlefield” after getting badly injured “in combat against Russian forces”, Halyna Zhuk, commercial director and co-founder of Project Konstantin, said in a video message.

His charity organisation had a team of independent volunteers that provided essential supplies such as drones and food to Ukrainian soldiers. It also evacuates the soldiers and civilians and delivers humanitarian aid to conflict zones near the front line.

This comes as the Netherlands is set to supply Ukraine with the first of 24 promised F-16 fighter jets soon, the outgoing Dutch government said. All necessary permits needed to send the jets to Ukraine have been granted, defence minister Kajsa Ollongren said.

In Kyiv, Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban is set to meet Volodymyr Zelensky as he makes his first trip to the Ukrainian capital today since Russia’s invasion of its smaller neighbour in 2022.

Ukraine says it repelled attacks near villages claimed by Russia

The Ukrainian military has claimed to have repelled Russian attacks near Novooleksandrivka and Spirne in the eastern Donetsk region a day after Russian forces claimed control of the two villages.

The eastern Pokrovsk front, which includes Novooleksandrivka, remained the site of the fiercest fighting, with 42 assaults repelled out of a total of 142 battles over the past day, the military said.

Russia maintained a military presence across the border from Ukraine‘s northern Chernihiv and Sumy regions, the military said, adding that Moscow’s forces were increasing the density of minefields in the area and also conducting sabotage activities.

That section of the border has been closely followed for any sign that Russia plans to open a new front there to pressure Ukraine‘s outnumbered defenders.

Russia launched an assault into the border areas of the northeastern region of Kharkiv in May, opening a new front in 28-month full-scale invasion.

Its forces continued assaults there on Monday, attacking near Vovchansk and Lyptsi, the military said.

Tom Watling1 July 2024 08:14

Ukraine's convicts offered release at a high price: Joining the fight against Russia

Ukraine's convicts offered release at a high price: Joining the fight against Russia

Ukraine is expanding its military recruiting to cope with battlefield shortages more than two years into fighting Russia’s full-scale invasion

Tom Watling1 July 2024 08:00

Seven injured in Russian attack on Dnipro

At least seven people have been injured in an overnight Russian attack in southeastern Ukraine, local officials have reported.

Serhiy Lysak, head of the local miltary administration, said a 15-year-old boy was among those hurt.

Tom Watling1 July 2024 07:40

Here we have some of the latest photos from Ukraine

Good morning.

Below we have some of the latest photos coming out of Ukraine.

Ukrainian service members of the 110th Colonel-General Marko Bezruchko Separate Mechanized Brigade fire an RM-70 Vampire multiple launch rocket system towards Russian troops at a position near a front line in Donetsk region,
Ukrainian service members of the 110th Colonel-General Marko Bezruchko Separate Mechanized Brigade fire an RM-70 Vampire multiple launch rocket system towards Russian troops at a position near a front line in Donetsk region, (REUTERS)
Ukrainian soldiers of the 110th Colonel-General Marko Bezruchko Separate Mechanized Brigade pictured in Donetsk Oblast
Ukrainian soldiers of the 110th Colonel-General Marko Bezruchko Separate Mechanized Brigade pictured in Donetsk Oblast (REUTERS)
A Ukrainian serviceman of the 110th Colonel-General Marko Bezruchko Separate Mechanized Brigade gets into an RM-70 Vampire multiple launch rocket system
A Ukrainian serviceman of the 110th Colonel-General Marko Bezruchko Separate Mechanized Brigade gets into an RM-70 Vampire multiple launch rocket system (REUTERS)
Tom Watling1 July 2024 07:27

Russia claims it downed 36 Ukrainian drones launched overnight

Russia’s air defence systems destroyed 36 drones that Ukraine launched at three regions bordering Ukraine, Russia’s defence ministry said this morning.

At least 18 drones were downed over the Bryansk region in Russia’s west, nine were destroyed in the Kursk region south of Bryansk and nine over the Belgorod region further south, the ministry said.

Governors of the Bryansk and Kursk region said on Telegram that there were no injuries or extensive damage as a result of the attacks. Russian officials often do not disclose the full extent of damage inflicted by Ukrainian attacks.

While Kyiv doesn’t typically comment on these strikes, it maintains that attacks on Russia’s military, transport and energy infrastructure are in response to Moscow’s continuous attacks on Ukraine’s territory since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Arpan Rai1 July 2024 07:10

Ukrainians held prisoner for years in Russia return to Kyiv

Ten Ukrainians who had been held prisoner for years were released from Russian captivity Friday with the mediation of the Vatican, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

Part of the group arrived overnight by helicopter at Kyiv International Airport, which has been closed since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine. It was the first time in over two years the airport received passengers. The rest of the group arrived by bus.

Some of the released civilians had been captured before Russia’s invasion. It’s a rare occasion when people detained after 2014, when Russia illegally annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, were released.

Read the full article here:

Ukrainians held prisoner for years in Russia return to Kyiv

Ten Ukrainians held prisoner for years have been released from Russian captivity with the Vatican's mediation

Holly Evans1 July 2024 07:00

Ukraine says Russian missile attack on Dnipro injures seven

A Russian ballistic missile attack on Ukraine’s city of Dnipro injured seven people, including a 15-year-old boy, and damaged scores of residential buildings, Serhiy Lisak, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region said this morning.

One of the injured was hospitalised, Lisak said on Telegram.

He added that Russia’s drone and artillery attack on the Nikopol district of the Dnipropetrovsk region, which lies in Ukraine’s southeast, late on Sunday damaged five residential buildings, power and gas lines and other infrastructure.

Arpan Rai1 July 2024 06:37

The Russian glide bombs changing the face of the war in Ukraine

Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had dropped more than 800 glide bombs in Ukraine in the past week alone as drone footage from Ukraine’s military released yesterday showed what appears to be bodies in a civilian area in the embattled eastern town of Toretsk, which has come under heavy Russian bombardment in recent days.

Glide bombs are heavy Soviet-era bombs fitted with precision guidance systems and launched from aircraft flying out of range of air defenses. The bombs weigh more than a ton and blast targets to smithereens, leaving a huge crater.

These winged explosives weighing up to 1,500 kilograms – and nicknamed the ‘building destroyer’ – have had a devastating impact wherever they have been used, writes Tom Watling. Kyiv is battling them as best it can but needs Western allies to step up and provide more weapons, air defences and ammunition.

The Russian glide bombs changing the face of the war in Ukraine

Winged explosives weighing up to 1,500 kilograms – and nicknamed the ‘building destroyer’ – have had a devastating impact wherever they have been used, writes Tom Watling. Kyiv is battling them as best it can but needs Western allies to step up and provide more weapons, air defences and ammunition

Arpan Rai1 July 2024 05:57

Infant injured as Russia attacks Ukraine’s two largest cities, Kyiv and Kharkiv

Russian forces attacked Ukraine’s two largest cities on Sunday, with missile fragments falling on a suburban Kyiv apartment building and a guided bomb killing one person in Kharkiv.

In Kyiv’s Obolon suburb, the local military administration said falling fragments from a Russian missile started a fire and damaged balconies on a 14-storey apartment building yesterday.

Emergency services, writing on Telegram, said five women were treated for stress, and mayor Vitali Klitschko said 10 residents had been evacuated.

Emergency services posted a picture online showing at least four blackened balconies.

The head of the military administration of Kyiv region said missile fragments had also fallen outside the capital, causing injuries and damage, though no details were provided.

Russian forces were prevented from advancing on Kyiv in the early weeks of the February 2022 invasion and were redeployed along the 1,000km (600-mile) front line in the east.

Attacks on Kyiv are less frequent than other cities, although the capital endured a series of assaults in March. Kharkiv has come under regular attack, but military analysts say the frequency has dipped since the United States authorised Ukrainian use of its weapons on certain Russian targets.

In Kharkiv, which never fell into Russian hands in the early stages of the war, a guided bomb started a fire and killed a delivery service driver outside a depot yesterday.

Regional governor Oleh Synehubov said nine people were injured, including an 8-month-old infant. Pictures posted online showed the depot and trucks outside it badly damaged.

More than 28 months into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Russian forces maintain regular attacks on Ukrainian cities as well as on energy infrastructure.

Arpan Rai1 July 2024 04:59

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