Latest news with #Dnipro
Times
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Times
Ukraine's corgi dog festival is fit for a Queen
The dog days of summer may not yet have arrived in Kyiv, but on a hot, humid Sunday at a beach club on the Dnipro river, canines are all that can be seen: corgis, specifically — the adorably short-legged dogs beloved of the late Queen Elizabeth, and now the people of Ukraine. Everywhere you look, there they are: jumping gleefully into the river; competing on a miniature agility course; sporting little sunhats with holes for their ears and generally spreading their furry brand of joy amid a gathering of Kyivans exhausted by the relentless night-time bombardment by missiles and drones. This is the third 'Corgy' — or 'orgy of corgis' — organised by Katernya Shekshnova, a breeder and pioneer of canine therapy. She was inspired by the comfort that her corgi puppies brought her son when the Russian invasion began. Air raids triggered compulsive behaviour in the young boy, including biting his fingers until they bled. 'They are a key that opens hearts,' Shekshnova says as her tiny charges walk alongside her, recalling Princess Diana's memorable description of the 'moving carpet' that accompanied her mother-in-law everywhere. 'Communicating with animals triggers hormones associated with happiness. And then the work can begin.' Shekshnova's corgis are regular visitors to a rehabilitation centre for soldiers and veterans, but this event is all about celebrating the breed, with a bit of fundraising on the side. Nadia has brought all four of her corgis: parents Adele and Oscar, and two of their grown-up offspring, Lo and Nicole, all sporting sunhats. 'I don't really know why I chose corgis,' she says. 'I just looked at them and fell in love.' Nadia is not yet sure whether to enter them in one of the many contests at the event. 'I'm not sure if I want to shame them,' she says with a laugh. Corgis have been commonplace in Ukraine for some time but their popularity 'exploded after the death of Queen Elizabeth ', said Maria, another visitor. The Queen's death, six months after the Russian invasion began, was deeply felt in Ukraine, as was the support offered by the royal family and Britain as a whole. Other qualities make corgis the perfect wartime companions. 'Look how calm and sweet they are,' Maria says, noting the absence of barking or growling among dogs that were strangers to one another until today. 'And,' she adds, with emphasis, 'they look like they are smiling all the time.' Kyiv's most recognisable corgi, Loyd, was well known long before the invasion, having fronted a 2019 promotional video for the capital in which he slipped away from his owners to narrate a tour of the city, mostly from a dog's ground-level perspective. The mascot is followed by 45,000 people on Facebook, while 'Corgis of Ukraine' has almost 3,000 fans. Ukraine's most famous dog of war is Patron, a Jack Russell who is the face of the country's canine mine-sniffing force. But one corgi, Elton, has been certified as a search-and-rescue dog with Antares, a volunteer group based in Pavlohrad, near the eastern city of Dnipro. Maria Romanova, Elton's owner, was only 17 when she brought him to join the team. She hoped to contribute to the war effort like her older brother, a soldier fighting on the front line. 'Until recently, we did not take young people on difficult missions,' said Larisa Borysenko, who founded Antares back in 2008 as a volunteer service to locate missing hikers. 'But the rush left us no choice, and if a 17-year-old girl can do something that millions of adults can't, then she is needed now.' The corgi festival, however, is all about fun. Let off their leashes, the corgis bound into the river, some even gamely clambering on to paddleboards for a cruise along the river. Nadia isn't sure whether to let her own four pooches take part. 'I am not sure the water is clean enough for royal dogs,' she says. Misha, a classic white and tan Pembrokeshire corgi, makes do with a paddling pool filled with plastic balls. The day wraps up with an award ceremony for obedience, agility and looks. An interloping chihuahua makes it to the final but neither organiser nor corgi partisans seem bothered. 'It's about love and joy,' Shekshnova says. 'The corgis teach us that.'
The Sun
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Sun
Ukrainian TV chef reveals her mum's heartbreaking last act before being forced out of family home by Russian invaders
MUM and Dad had a good life. Their house was by a bank of the river Dnipro in the south of Ukraine. Huge golden sunflower fields stretching as far as the eye can see, as hot as the Mediterranean, and just a 50-mile drive from the Crimean peninsula and the Black Sea. 8 8 They planted an orchard and Dad dug out a pond that he filled with carp and sturgeon. I would visit with my British husband Joe and our children at least twice a year, the last time being August 2021. There are photos of my big extended family having a barbecue on Ukraine's Independence Day, my younger son Wilfred eating a peach the size of his head, juice dripping all over his chin and belly. There is a video of my Joe laughing with my dad, brother and cousins, my father telling Ukrainian dad jokes using a mixture of broken English and expressive gestures. He is such a good actor. Just six months later he would use those acting skills again. But this time it wasn't a family comedy but a scene straight out of an apocalyptic movie. My mum and dad were escaping as Russia's full-scale invasion of my homeland reached their front door, and I ordered him to play dumb. 'If the Russians stop you,' I said, 'Pretend to be an idiot. Do not argue, do not show emotion.' The Russians drove their tanks into Kakhovka on the first day of the invasion on February 22, 2022. My parents and other locals went to protest every day in the centre of town. But eventually the invaders started shooting into the crowd. Torture chambers Then my dad received a phone call. A man with a sharp Russian accent demanded that he give up the keys to his and mum's businesses (Mum ran a small B&B in town). The Russian barked: 'We also know that your son joined the Ukrainian Territorial Army. Tell him to put down his arms, or else.' Dad — headstrong and courageous as he is — completely ignored my instructions and said something like: 'Over my dead body.' The Russian made it clear that he should be careful what he wished for. I freaked out when Mum told me this and urged them to leave. We have all seen reports that the Russians set up special 'basements' all over the occupied regions. 8 For basements, read torture chambers. I wish I was exaggerating, but I am not. People started disappearing in Ukraine's occupied areas. My own brother, Sasha, was defending Kyiv with other ex-civilians — people from all walks of life. In his regiment there was a baker, an IT guy, an actor and a builder. Sasha later told me how they were stuck on one side of the river Irpin near Kyiv, only a thousand of them or so — and on the other were 15,000 of Putin's Chechen henchmen. They were lucky, my brother told me — the weather and Russia's poor logistics organisation meant that not only did he and the others survive, but they were able to repel the attack and save the capital. Only a few months ago, Sasha admitted to me that shrapnel had grazed against his thigh. Not everyone was so lucky. At home in London, I was freaking out. Parents under occupation, brother in Irpin, and then the news about what happened in Bucha, very close to where my brother was located. Bucha was liberated, and soon it became evident just how many civilians the Russians had killed — mass graves and all manner of other horrors. I lost my mind and shouted down the phone to my mum for them to leave until they finally relented. They grabbed two suitcases — one with clothes, another with family photographs, letters and Mum's hand-stitched embroideries. They dug any valuables they had into the ground, in case they would return in the future, and they drove. But not before my mum scrubbed the whole house until it shined. It was one of the most heartbreaking things for me to hear — and for my mum to tell — how she tidied up her house before they left, imagining how a Russian woman might move into it and remark on how tidy everything was. 8 8 Ukrainians take huge pride in keeping their homes cosy and beautiful. Just like here in the UK, our home is our castle. My other family and friends followed them a day later. They had to break through 19 Russian checkpoints and witnessed craters as big as the moon's, left by artillery and missiles. Mum and Dad drove for five days through Europe, a difficult thing at the best of times, and even harder given that Dad suffers from Parkinson's tremors. They went to stay with my cousins in Berlin. But within the first two months, Dad decided he couldn't do it. 'I will die from inaction and depression here, Olia. I am going back,' he told me. Mum was so broken, she did not go with him. She said she could not imagine living in Ukraine while Kakhovka was occupied, while Russians lived in her home. Planning to reunite To explain the severity of their separation, my mum and dad met at primary school. They are both 67 and they had known each other for 60 years already, and been married for 50. My dad is in Ukraine now, and Kakhovka is still occupied by the Russians. It is a ghost town and is pummelled by Russians on a regular basis (they use old Soviet launchers that are not exactly precise, so when they try to shoot at a town on the front line, it can fall anywhere). Russian FSB officers moved into my parents' beautiful home. Dad found out his factory warehouse was used to house Russian tanks, so he told Ukrainian intelligence the coordinates. When Russia invaded, mum and dad went into town every day to protest. Eventually the invaders started shooting the crowd Olia Hercules After careful reconnaissance and making sure that it was safe to do so, the Ukrainian army hit it and destroyed the tanks, along with my dad's warehouse. I am sure Dad is heartbroken about his life's work being turned into rubble, but he told me he had no regrets. He is now with his sister and nephew in another unoccupied region of Ukraine. Ukraine is now the most mined country in the world, so Dad is using his engineering skills to convert an old tractor into a driverless minesweeper. Mum is still in Berlin, but she is planning to reunite with Dad next year. She has accepted they may have lost their home forever, and started entertaining the idea to start anew in another part of Ukraine. 8 8 This is because, unlike in the 1990s after independence, Ukrainians do not want to live elsewhere. Everyone just wants to be back home. My parents want to be within their community, speaking their own language. They crave the south Ukrainian sunshine, they want to dig around in their garden, they want us to visit them there, to clink glasses and eat delicious food, and to tell silly jokes. For my youngest Wilfred, five, and my older son Sasha, 13, to run around and gorge themselves on massive peaches. It's because of this love — love of a country that people like my dad and mum worked so hard to build — that I know we will not stop fighting. As English author G.K. Chesterton said: 'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' But you don't need to be a soldier to fight. My weapon is my pen and my ability to translate our human experience to people in the UK through my cookbooks, which are full of snippets of my family history and now, hopefully, through the family memoir I have written. Rebuild and flourish It has been incredible to receive so much support, because people knew me and trusted me. Within a week of the war starting, I had been able to raise enough money to supply ballistic vests and helmets, boots and even ballistic underwear, and to get it delivered just a day before my brother and 105 people in his regiment went into battle. I will never forget this generosity of the British, the post-war spirit and the Keep Calm And Carry On philosophy which is so keenly adopted by everyone in Ukraine. War news fatigue is real — I get it. It is not easy to keep looking at the horrific news, at the distressing headlines. But with 'peace talks' looming, I hope people do not forget that what the media call 'territories' are not faceless dots on the map. They are places that still hold our homes, our memories and our people. Not everyone was able to leave like my parents did. I have plenty of friends and family who had to stay behind, to look after the 'unmovable' — the elderly or ill parents or even neighbours. People started disappearing. My brother was defending Kyiv. My father's life was threatened. Mass graves, all manner of horrors. I lost my mind and shouted down the phone for them to leave Olia Hercules If those areas are given to Russia, the war will not cease for them. Like other places that Putin grabbed over the years — Abkhazia and Ossetia in the Caucasus, East Ukraine and Crimea — they will become 'grey zones', internationally unrecognised, with no life and no future. One thing my parents and my grandparents taught me was to never give up, and to never give up hope. I will be honest, it has been very up and down. But even on the lowest day I know that Ukrainians will never relent, and will never give up the fight, and the hope that we will return, rebuild and flourish. As my late grandmother used to say: 'Always look at the roots. If the roots are strong, it doesn't matter if the wind blows off the pretty petals. 'If the roots are strong, it doesn't matter if a storm breaks the fragile stem. 'It will all grow back again.' Strong Roots: A Ukrainian Family Story Of War, Exile And Hope, by Olia Hercules, is out on Thursday. 8
The Independent
11-06-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Ukraine-Russia war latest: Two killed after Putin's forces launch massive drone strike on Kharkiv
At least two people were killed and 57 injured in a massive Russian drone attack on Kharkiv overnight, Ukrainian officials said on Wednesday. According to Kharkiv mayor Igor Terekhov, 'seventeen strikes by enemy UAVs were carried out in two districts of the city this night'. A five-storey building caught fire, with over 15 apartments burning, and several houses were struck as well. Mr Terekhov warned that people could still be trapped under the rubble. Separately, Russian forces launched a devastating five-hour drone assault on Kyiv on Tuesday in one of the largest attacks of the war on the capital so far. President Volodymyr Zelensky said Moscow 's forces fired over 315 drones at Ukraine overnight, killing seven people. 'Every night, instead of a ceasefire, there have been massive strikes with Shaheds, cruise missiles and ballistics. Today was one of the largest strikes on Kyiv. Odesa, the Dnipro region and Chernihiv region were also targeted,' he said. Seven children among 57 injured in Kharkiv attack A nine-minute Russian drone strike on Kharkiv killed at least two people and injured 57, among them seven children, overnight, regional officials reported on Wednesday. The barrage of 17 drones ignited fires in 15 units of a five-storey apartment building and caused widespread damage across the city, which lies near the Russian border. Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov said the strikes directly hit apartment blocks, private homes, playgrounds, businesses, and public transport. 'Apartments are burning, roofs are destroyed, cars are burnt, windows are broken,' he wrote on Telegram. Emergency crews were seen rescuing residents, providing medical aid, and battling fires in the dark, according to a Reuters witness. Nine of the injured, including a two-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy, were hospitalised, regional governor Oleh Sinehubov said. The attack also damaged a city trolley bus depot and multiple residential buildings. Russia has not commented on the strikes. Kharkiv, in northeastern Ukraine, repelled a Russian ground advance early in the war but continues to face regular drone, missile, and aerial bomb attacks. Maroosha Muzaffar11 June 2025 07:00 US to cut military aid to Ukraine, Hegseth says US defence secretary Pete Hegseth has confirmed that the upcoming defence budget will reduce military aid to Ukraine, reflecting a major shift in US policy under president Donald Trump. Mr Hegseth said the administration now favours a negotiated settlement to the conflict over continued military support for Ukraine. The aid cuts come as Russia intensifies attacks on Ukrainian cities and advances towards new regions. Since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, the US has provided over $66bn in aid to Ukraine. 'It is a reduction in this budget,' Mr Hegseth told lawmakers. 'This administration takes a very different view of that conflict. We believe that a negotiated peaceful settlement is in the best interest of both parties and our nation's interests, especially with all the competing interests around the globe.' Maroosha Muzaffar11 June 2025 06:30 Cathedral described as 'the soul of all Ukraine' damaged in Russian attack A Russian attack has damaged Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, a UNESCO world heritage site and one of Ukraine 's most significant monuments, according to Ukraine's culture minister. Mykola Tochytskyi announced on Facebook that the overnight attack struck"at the very heart of our identity again". He called the 11th-century cathedral "the soul of all Ukraine" and a shrine that "survived for centuries". "Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, a shrine which survived for centuries and symbolises the birth of our statehood, was damaged," he said. He added that the blast wave damaged the cornice on the main apse of the landmark. Video from the scene showed pieces of white plaster crumbled to the ground. This is the first time since the start of the war that the cathedral has been damaged, first deputy director general of the site Vadym Kyrylenko told reporters. Cathedral described as 'soul of all Ukraine' damaged in Russian attack This is the first time since the start of the war that the cathedral has been damaged 11 June 2025 06:00 2 killed in overnight drone attacks on Kharkiv A Russian drone attack on Kharkiv overnight killed at least two people and injured 54. Mayor Igor Terekhov reported 17 strikes across two districts, causing fires in a five-storey building with over 15 apartments affected. Several houses were also hit, and there are fears people may be trapped under the rubble. Maroosha Muzaffar11 June 2025 05:18 Russia has been ready to return dead Ukrainian soldiers 'for several days' - Kremlin Russia has been ready to return the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers killed in the war 'for several days', the Kremlin has claimed. Moscow and Kyiv are still in talks on the subject, the Kremlin said On Saturday Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky said the Russian side had shown up at the agreed exchange point with the bodies of 1,212 Ukrainian dead soldiers only to find nobody from Ukraine to take them. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of "trying to play some kind of dirty political and information game" around the issue of the exchanges. The exchange was agreed during a second round of direct peace talks in Istanbul on June 2. The Kremlin said it did not yet know exactly how many bodies of Russian soldiers Ukraine was ready to hand over. Alex Croft11 June 2025 05:00 Zelensky calls on Western allies to cut price cap on Russian oil Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is urging Western allies to cut the price cap on Russian oil from $60 to $30 per barrel to increase pressure on Moscow to seek peace. This comes amid a sharp escalation in Russian attacks on Ukraine, including a major aerial assault on Kyiv. While the EU has proposed lowering the cap to $45 as part of its latest sanctions, Mr Zelensky called that a 'compromise price' and insisted that stronger economic measures are needed to curb Russia's war efforts. 'Russia's ability to continue the war is equal to its ability to sell its oil and bypass financial barriers,' the president said. 'That is why it is necessary ... to do everything possible to keep the price of Russian oil lower than they can withstand. Each of the partners knows what price cap is needed — $30, no higher. Such a price level will mean real pressure on Russia – they should be forced to seek peace.' He added: 'Enough compromises with Russia. Every such compromise is a postponement of peace. We are asking for a real reduction in the price of Russian oil, which would bring us closer to ending the war.' 'It is vital that there is no silence in response to the Russian escalation, and it is obvious that there is an escalation,' he said. 'Russia has been steadily increasing the number of lethal weapons in strikes for months now.' Maroosha Muzaffar11 June 2025 04:30 Russian jet suspected of violating Finnish airspace, defence ministry says A Russian military aircraft allegedly violated Finland's airspace on 10 June, the country's defence ministry said in a statement. 'The investigation into the suspect's airspace breach has been launched immediately,' Finnish defence minister Antti Hakkanen said. The ministry added the 'Border Guard is investigating the case and will provide more information as the investigation progresses'. The alleged airspace violation occurred near the city of Porvoo, about 50km east of Helsinki. On 22 May, two Russian aircraft violated Finnish airspace, while the day prior, Polish fighter jets intercepted a Russian Su-24 bomber in international airspace over the Baltic Sea. Maroosha Muzaffar11 June 2025 04:05 Poland's new president says Russia is country's 'greatest threat' Poland's newly elected president Karol Nawrocki has warned that Russia is the 'biggest threat' his country faces, as he expressed a desire to meet with Hungary's Viktor Orban, who is perhaps the European leader most closely aligned with Vladimir Putin. It was not yet clear what Mr Nawrocki's policy on Ukraine would be, but he reiterated that he opposed Kyiv's plans to join the European Union. However, Poland supports Ukraine strategically, because 'the greatest threat to me, as an anti-communist, and in my opinion to the entire region, is the Russian Federation', he said. Mr Nawrocki claimed that 'Ukraine must also understand that other countries – including Poland, Hungary, and other European nations – have interests of their own.' And in his first foreign interview, given to a Hungarian magazine Mandiner, Mr Nawrocki said that Budapest is a 'very important partner for Poland', adding: 'We are facing serious tasks, such as building the Visegrad Group, which will be an important format for me, as well as strengthening Nato's eastern flank and the Bucharest Nine.' He added: 'I certainly wish to meet prime minister Viktor Orban, who is a very effective politician, as proven by his repeated election results in Hungary. And I count on good cooperation with him, just as with other countries, in the interest of the region.' Mr Orban said on Friday that Mr Nawrocki's victory was 'fantastically good', hailing the success of an ally of US president Donald Trump. Alex Croft11 June 2025 01:00 Ukraine maternity hospital hit in deadly Russian drone strikes A Ukraine maternity hospital has been hit after Russia launched a deadly wave of drones and missiles in an attack on Odesa early Tuesday morning (10 June). At least two people were killed and nine injured in the attack with the maternity hospital and residential buildings in the centre of the southern port city damaged, regional Gov. Oleh Kiper said. The fresh attacks came hours after Moscow launched almost 500 drones at Ukraine in the biggest overnight drone bombardment in the three-year war. Ukrainian and Western officials have been anticipating a Russian response to Ukraine's audacious June 1 drone attack on distant Russian air bases. Ukraine maternity hospital hit in deadly Russian drone strikes A Ukraine maternity hospital has been hit after Russia launched a deadly wave of drones and missiles in an attack on Odesa early Tuesday morning (10 June). At least two people were killed and nine injured in the attack with the maternity hospital and residential buildings in the centre of the southern port city damaged, regional Gov. Oleh Kiper said. The fresh attacks came hours after Moscow launched almost 500 drones at Ukraine in the biggest overnight drone bombardment in the three-year war. Ukrainian and Western officials have been anticipating a Russian response to Ukraine's audacious June 1 drone attack on distant Russian air bases. Alex Croft11 June 2025 00:00 Pictured: Kyiv suffers one of heaviest Russian attacks of the war
The Independent
11-06-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin's forces launch five-hour drone assault on Kyiv in one of conflict's largest attacks
Russian forces launched a devastating five-hour drone assault on Kyiv on Tuesday in one of the largest attacks on the capital of the war so far. President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Moscow 's forces fired over 315 drones at Ukraine overnight, killing a total of seven people. Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitschko said four people were injured in the attack on the capital, which sparked fires across the city. In a statement posted on Telegram, Mr Zelensky said: 'Every night, instead of a ceasefire, there have been massive strikes with Shaheds, cruise missiles and ballistics. Today was one of the largest strikes on Kyiv. Odesa, the Dnipro region and Chernihiv region were also targeted.' The attacks came a day after Moscow launched almost 500 drones at Ukraine in the biggest overnight drone bombardment in the three-year war. Kyiv had been on June 1 that hit Russian aircraft. Poland's new president says Russia is country's 'greatest threat' Poland's newly elected president Karol Nawrocki has warned that Russia is the 'biggest threat' his country faces, as he expressed a desire to meet with Hungary's Viktor Orban, who is perhaps the European leader most closely aligned with Vladimir Putin. It was not yet clear what Mr Nawrocki's policy on Ukraine would be, but he reiterated that he opposed Kyiv's plans to join the European Union. However, Poland supports Ukraine strategically, because 'the greatest threat to me, as an anti-communist, and in my opinion to the entire region, is the Russian Federation', he said. Mr Nawrocki claimed that 'Ukraine must also understand that other countries – including Poland, Hungary, and other European nations – have interests of their own.' And in his first foreign interview, given to a Hungarian magazine Mandiner, Mr Nawrocki said that Budapest is a 'very important partner for Poland', adding: 'We are facing serious tasks, such as building the Visegrad Group, which will be an important format for me, as well as strengthening Nato's eastern flank and the Bucharest Nine.' He added: 'I certainly wish to meet prime minister Viktor Orban, who is a very effective politician, as proven by his repeated election results in Hungary. And I count on good cooperation with him, just as with other countries, in the interest of the region.' Mr Orban said on Friday that Mr Nawrocki's victory was 'fantastically good', hailing the success of an ally of US president Donald Trump. Alex Croft11 June 2025 01:00 Ukraine maternity hospital hit in deadly Russian drone strikes A Ukraine maternity hospital has been hit after Russia launched a deadly wave of drones and missiles in an attack on Odesa early Tuesday morning (10 June). At least two people were killed and nine injured in the attack with the maternity hospital and residential buildings in the centre of the southern port city damaged, regional Gov. Oleh Kiper said. The fresh attacks came hours after Moscow launched almost 500 drones at Ukraine in the biggest overnight drone bombardment in the three-year war. Ukrainian and Western officials have been anticipating a Russian response to Ukraine's audacious June 1 drone attack on distant Russian air bases. Ukraine maternity hospital hit in deadly Russian drone strikes A Ukraine maternity hospital has been hit after Russia launched a deadly wave of drones and missiles in an attack on Odesa early Tuesday morning (10 June). At least two people were killed and nine injured in the attack with the maternity hospital and residential buildings in the centre of the southern port city damaged, regional Gov. Oleh Kiper said. The fresh attacks came hours after Moscow launched almost 500 drones at Ukraine in the biggest overnight drone bombardment in the three-year war. Ukrainian and Western officials have been anticipating a Russian response to Ukraine's audacious June 1 drone attack on distant Russian air bases. Alex Croft11 June 2025 00:00 Pictured: Kyiv suffers one of heaviest Russian attacks of the war Alex Croft10 June 2025 23:02 Ukraine's path to Nato membership 'irreversible', says Rutte Political commitment to Ukraine's future in Nato will not change even if it is not explicitly mentioned in a communique published following a summit in the Hague, Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte said on Monday. "The irreversible path of Ukraine into NATO is there, and it is my assumption that it is still there after the summit," Mr Rutte said at Chatham House in London, according to The Kyiv Independent. "Whether it is again in the communique or not, I think that's not relevant, because all the language we previously agreed on is there — until we decide it is no longer there." The Nato summit will take place from June 24-25, and Mr Rutte said the following communique may exclude Russia and Ukraine. Alex Croft10 June 2025 22:02 Watch: Mark Rutte issues Nato defence warning: 'You better learn to speak Russian' Alex Croft10 June 2025 21:01 Analysis | Why Nato is calling for Cold War levels of defence spending Our world affairs editor Sam Kiley writes: Nato chief Mark Rutte has called for a 400 per cent boost to air and missile capabilities and his demand to raise defence spending across the alliance to 5 per cent has raised the voices of doom to a scream. A return to Cold War levels of defence spending is not, however an hysterical plea from a lackey of the military-industrial complex. It is a sad acknowledgement that the peace dividend that came with the collapse of the Soviet Union has been squandered by the West in a pointless war in Afghanistan and a criminal conflict in Iraq which expanded the lists of peoples with a good reason to hate democracy. But there were plenty around already. Vladimir Putin is one of them, Xi Jinping is another – Donald Trump is rushing to their ranks. Autocracy is on the rise around the world while democracies have been consumed by complacency. 'Wishful thinking will not keep us safe,' said Rutte, who called for Nato to become a 'stronger, fairer and more lethal alliance'. Alex Croft10 June 2025 20:00 Ukraine shares footage of marine 'coastal assault' training Slovak leader Robert Fico is seeking to install "a dam against progressivism" by declaring that Slovakia's legal precedence on "national identity" issues, such as family and gender. Critics of populist Prime Minister Fico, including some legal experts, fear the amendment will threaten Slovakia's commitments to European Union laws and international treaties. Mr Fico has taken an increasingly anti-liberal stance in rights issues, building on his pro-Russian and pro-Hungarian international policy position. He has promoted closer relations with Russia and China and criticised sanctions on Moscow and the EU's military aid for Ukraine. The amendment states that only male and female will be recognised as genders, and that school curriculums must respect the constitution, including its cultural and ethical positions. It will also tighten adoption rules. "The Slovak Republic maintains sovereignty above all in issues of national identity," the amendments say, in particular on cultural and ethical issues. Alex Croft10 June 2025 18:00 EU commission proposes 18th Russia sanctions package The EU Commission has proposed an 18th sanctions package against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, president Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday. Aimed at Moscow's energy revenues, banks and military industry, the sanctions will see transactions with Russia's Nord Stream gas pipelines banned, as well as banks who engage in sanctions circumvention. "Russia's goal is not peace, it is to impose the rule of might ... strength is the only language that Russia will understand," Ms von der Leyen told a news conference. The Commission has proposed lowering the Group of Seven nations (G7) price cap on Russian crude oil to $45 a barrel from $60 barrel in a bid to cut Russia's energy revenues. It also lists more vessels that make up Russia's shadow fleet and oil trading companies. Alex Croft10 June 2025 17:28
Al Jazeera
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Ukraine urges ‘action' from allies as Russian attacks mount
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on Western allies to take 'concrete action' after Russia unleashed another barrage of drone and missile strikes. The strikes launched early on Tuesday hit targets across the country, including Kyiv. It was the latest in a series of large-scale bombardments by Russian forces and spurred Zelenskyy to try once again to note to United States President Donald Trump that Moscow is not interested in a ceasefire. Two people were killed and nine injured in the southern port city of Odesa, where a maternity hospital and residential buildings were struck. Four people were injured in the attack on Kyiv – one of the largest on the Ukrainian capital so far – while the Dnipro and Chernihiv regions were also targeted, Ukrainian officials said. 'Russian missile and Shahed strikes drown out the efforts of the United States and others around the world to force Russia into peace,' Zelenskyy said in a social media post.'It is vital that the response to this and other similar Russian attacks is not silence from the world, but concrete action,' he said. 'Action from America, which has the power to force Russia into peace. Action from Europe, which has no alternative but to be strong. Action from others around the world who called for diplomacy and an end to the war – and whom Russia has ignored.' Russia used 315 drones and seven missiles, two of them North Korean-made, in the latest wave of attacks, he said. An attack the previous night was reported as the biggest overnight drone bombardment of the more than three-year war. The increased bombardment comes after Ukraine knocked out a large number of planes in Russia's strategic bomber fleet in an audacious operation this month codenamed Spiderweb. Russian President Vladimir Putin promised revenge shortly before the intensified wave of air strikes began. Zelenskyy's plea for action from the US comes as Trump appears to have stepped back somewhat from his push to broker a ceasefire. While Russia and Ukraine have met for negotiations and have continued to exchange prisoners, there has been no pullback on the battlefield. Zelenskyy and Ukraine's European allies have been seeking to persuade the US president, who has often appeared to side with Putin in discussing the conditions surrounding a potential truce, that the Russian leader is not serious about finding a peaceful solution to the conflict, which began with Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The Ukrainian president continues to try to persuade Trump that the US must press Russia into taking ceasefire efforts seriously. 'There must be strong pressure for the sake of peace,' Zelenskyy said.
