Latest news with #UkrainianTroops
NHK
14 hours ago
- Politics
- NHK
Putin pressures Ukraine to accept memorandum for peace treaty
Russia's President Vladimir Putin has pressured Ukraine to promptly accept Moscow's memorandum on a potential peace treaty. Putin spoke to media representatives in St. Petersburg on Thursday. He referred to the direct negotiations with Ukraine that took place in May and June in Istanbul. Putin said: "If they don't reach an agreement, the situation may change for the worse for them. There is no need to drag it out." The two countries exchanged memorandums during the negotiations. Russia is seeking the complete withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the four regions in Ukraine's east and south that Moscow claims it annexed. Russia is also calling for Ukraine's neutrality. Ukraine has dismissed the proposals, saying Russia only repeated its previous assertions. Russia's defense ministry said on Thursday that Russian troops had "liberated" a village in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk. Russia forces have repeatedly launched large-scale drone and missile attacks on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, while trying to expand the areas under their control in Ukraine's east and south.
Russia Today
5 days ago
- Politics
- Russia Today
Russia delivers remains of over 1,200 troops to Ukraine
Moscow has handed over the bodies of another 1,200 fallen Ukrainian troops to Kiev, RT has learned. There have been several exchanges already between the two sides during the week. The transfer reportedly happened in line with agreements reached during talks in Istanbul earlier this month, sources told RT on Sunday. During the negotiations in Türkiye on June 2, delegations from Moscow and Kiev agreed to carry out a series of prisoner swaps, focusing primarily on seriously injured, ill, and younger POWs. Russia also unilaterally decided to repatriate the bodies of more than 6,000 slain Ukrainian troops on humanitarian grounds. POW swaps between the sides have taken place on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, with neither Moscow nor Kiev officially disclosing the number of prisoners they handed over and received. DETAILS TO FOLLOW
Russia Today
07-06-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Ukraine reneging on key peace deal pledge – what we know so far
Ukraine has 'unexpectedly postponed' a prisoner exchange with Russia that was among the key outcomes of negotiations held on Monday in Istanbul, Moscow's top negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, has said. He also stated that Kiev had refused to accept hundreds of bodies of its fallen the talks in Türkiye earlier this week, the two delegations agreed to exchange at least 1,000 prisoners, prioritizing those heavily wounded and those under 25. On top of that, Russia unilaterally offered to repatriate the remains of over 6,000 slain Ukrainian military personnel as a humanitarian Saturday, Medinsky said that Moscow had provided Kiev with a list of 640 heavily wounded and younger prisoners. However, 'the Ukrainian side unexpectedly postponed… the exchange of prisoners of war for an indefinite period,' the official stated, adding that the Ukrainian team 'did not even arrive at the exchange site.' According to Medinsky, Ukraine gave 'various and rather strange' pretexts for this. The official called on 'Kiev to strictly adhere to the schedule and all agreements that had been reached and to immediately begin the exchange,' stressing that the Russian team is on site and 'fully ready to work.'Russia's top negotiator revealed that Ukraine also refused to accept the bodies of its fallen troops, even though the 'first batch of frozen remains of 1,212 Ukrainian soldiers has already arrived in refrigerated trucks at the exchange area.' Russian Defense Ministry representative, Lt. Gen. Aleksandr Zorin confirmed that this was the case, noting that Moscow had four other convoys, each carrying 1,200 sets of remains, ready for transfer as well. 'We confirm our full readiness to implement the Istanbul agreements. We are prepared to transfer all bodies and proceed with the prisoner exchange as agreed,' the official a statement on Saturday, Kiev's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said that 'instead of a constructive dialogue, we are once again faced with manipulation and attempts to use sensitive humanitarian topics for informational purposes.' Ukrainian authorities further insisted that Russian allegations 'do not correspond to reality or to previous agreements – neither regarding the prisoner exchange nor the repatriation of bodies.' The headquarters claimed that Ukraine had submitted its lists of prisoners to be exchanged, but Russia presented 'alternative lists,' which were not previously agreed upon. It also suggested that while an agreement on the repatriation had indeed been reached, no date had been set, with Moscow undertaking 'unilateral steps.'On Wednesday, Medinsky announced that Russia was ready to begin the swap on June 7, 8, and 9, and that this 'would again become the largest prisoner exchange.' Following the first round of direct talks in Istanbul last month, Moscow and Kiev conducted a massive prisoner swap. Earlier this week, the Russian official also expressed readiness to accept any remains of fallen Russian troops that Ukraine may be holding. Additionally, Moscow offered during the talks to establish temporary humanitarian pauses in specific areas of the battlefield, lasting two to three days, so that both sides could gather the remains of their soldiers. Medinsky said Kiev's negotiators initially supported the idea, only for Vladimir Zelensky to publicly reject the proposal shortly thereafter. According to the Russian presidential aide, the two belligerents had agreed to establish special medical commissions to help create exchange lists for severely injured soldiers 'without the need to wait for big political decisions.' The swaps would be held regularly 'in a routine manner,' Medinsky announced at the Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told RIA Novosti that Ukraine's refusal to accept the bodies of its own dead shows that the 'Kiev regime does not care about its own citizens, either alive or dead.' Speaking to RT, Russian MP Dmitry Belik described Kiev's actions as 'beyond the pale… barbarity [and] absolutely inhumane behavior, whatever flimsy reasons Kiev is giving.' The lawmaker suggested that Ukrainian authorities could be refusing to accept the return of fallen troops to avoid paying compensation to their relatives. State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Leonid Slutsky echoed this sentiment, saying that 'such behavior is [an example] of rare cynicism,' showing total disregard for the memory of Ukraine's own fallen two rounds of talks between Russia and Ukraine, held on May 16 and June 2, respectively, were the first since the spring of 2022, when Kiev unilaterally pulled out. David Arakhamia, the head of the Ukrainian delegation at the time, later stated that the decision was made following a visit to Kiev by then-UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who he said had advised the Ukrainian government not to sign anything and 'just fight.' Johnson has rejected that account. During the latest round of talks earlier this month, Russia and Ukraine exchanged draft memorandums outlining a roadmap toward an eventual peace deal and indicated a willingness to continue direct contacts.
Russia Today
03-06-2025
- General
- Russia Today
Russia strikes Ukrainian drone production facilities
Russian forces have launched a combined strike targeting Ukrainian drone and radar manufacturing facilities, as well as munitions depots and equipment storage sites, the Defense Ministry in Moscow said in its daily briefing on Tuesday. The list of targets also reportedly included drone storage facilities and launch sites, as well as positions of Ukrainian troops and foreign mercenaries. A total of 142 locations were hit as part of the operation, which involved both missile strikes and drone attacks, the ministry said, without specifying the exact targets. The strikes came two days after a Ukrainian attack on military airfields in five Russian regions across the country, including Siberia and the Far East. Ukrainian media have described the strikes as part of a 'historic' operation dubbed 'Spiderweb,' claiming they caused significant damage to Russian 'strategic aviation.' The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the attacks but said that three of them were successfully repelled without causing damage or casualties, while two resulted in several aircraft catching fire. The ministry did not officially confirm the loss of any aircraft. The statement came as Russian forces continued their offensive operations along the entire front line. Russian troops have maintained the initiative on the battlefield for several months. Over the past 24 hours, the Russian military took control of the village of Andreevka in Sumy Region, according to the briefing. Ukrainian forces reportedly lost over 1,500 soldiers across various parts of the front, along with around two dozen artillery pieces. In late May, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Moscow's intention to create a 'security buffer zone' along the border, following the successful repulsion of a Ukrainian incursion into Kursk Region. He first floated the idea last year, stating it was intended to protect civilians from Kiev's long-range strikes. Russia has repeatedly accused Ukraine of carrying out attacks on civilians, organizing sabotage operations, and plotting assassinations of senior officials, journalists, and public figures. Recent acts of railway sabotage in Russia's Bryansk and Kursk regions were 'terrorist attacks' planned by Ukraine to cause maximum civilian casualties, the Russian Investigative Committee said on Tuesday.
Russia Today
01-06-2025
- General
- Russia Today
Ukrainian land forces commander steps down
The commander of Ukraine's Land Forces, Mikhail Drapaty, has resigned from his post, taking responsibility for the deaths of Ukrainian troops in consecutive strikes on a military training center. At least 12 Ukrainian soldiers were killed and 60 more injured on Sunday in a Russian strike, Ukrainian broadcaster Suspilne wrote. Kiev did not reveal the exact location, but according to Suspilne sources, it could be located near the Novomoskovsky military training site in Dnepropetrovsk Region. The Russian Defense Ministry has confirmed that it struck a tent camp at the Novomoskovsky training ground on Sunday, targeting the 158th Separate Mechanized Brigade (SMB) and the 33rd SMB of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. 'I have decided to submit a report on my resignation from the post of Commander of the Land Forces of the AFU,' Drapaty wrote in a social media statement on Saturday. 'This is a conscious step dictated by my personal sense of responsibility for the tragedy at the 239th training ground, as a result of which our soldiers died,' he said. 'We have no right to live in a system that does not learn. If we do not draw conclusions, do not change our attitude to service, do not admit our mistakes, we are doomed,' Drapaty wrote, adding that he has opened an investigation into the circumstances at the training ground. In March, the Russian Defense Ministry reported it had struck the facility with an Iskander-M missile, killing up to 150 Ukrainian service members and 30 foreign military instructors. In the wake of the attack, Drapaty railed against 'outdated procedures' and negligence within AFU ranks. Corruption has been a rampant and long-running issue for Ukraine's defense sector, affecting everything from munitions and food supply lines to embezzlement of funds meant for defensive fortifications. Last month, the Security Service of Ukraine reported it had arrested several military officials involved with a corruption scheme that supplied Kiev's armed forces with some 120,000 defective mortar shells.
