Latest news with #VolodymyrZelenskyy
India Today
11 hours ago
- Politics
- India Today
Zelenskyy appoints Hennadiy Shapovalov as new ground forces chief
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has named Hennadiy Shapovalov as the new commander of Ukraine's land forces, following the resignation of Mykhailo Drapatyi after a deadly Russian attack on a military training site in the appointment was confirmed Thursday through a presidential decree. He previously served as a liaison officer at a NATO coordination center in Germany and held the position of commander within Ukraine's Operational Command his nightly address, Zelenskiy emphasized the importance of Shapovalov's NATO experience, saying it would be vital in implementing reforms within Ukraine's armed forces. "All this useful experience of this coordination and all the real combat experience of our soldiers must be applied now within Ukraine's land forces," he stated. "Changes are needed and this is an imperative." Former commander Drapatyi, who stepped down earlier this month in the wake of the Russian strike, has been reassigned to lead Ukraine's joint forces command as part of a broader restructuring within the inputs from ReutersMust Watch
Dubai Eye
16 hours ago
- Politics
- Dubai Eye
Ukraine and Russia exchange POWs in latest swap
Ukraine and Russia exchanged prisoners of war on Thursday, officials from both countries said, the latest round of swaps under an agreement struck in Istanbul. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted images of the freed Ukrainian troops, smiling and draped in the national flag, most of whom had been held captive since the early months of Russia's February 2022 invasion, he said. Our people are returning home from Russian captivity. These are warriors of the Armed Forces, the National Guard, and the State Border Guard Service. Most of them had been held captive since 2022. They are defenders of Ukraine who fought in the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk,… — Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) June 19, 2025 The Ukrainian POWs exchanged on Thursday were sick or injured, according to Kyiv's coordinating council for POWs. The Russian POWs would also be sent for treatment and rehabilitation, Moscow's defence ministry said. Neither Ukraine nor Russia, whose talks on ending the war have yielded few results besides the exchange of prisoners or remains, provided an exact figure of how many POWs had been exchanged.
Al-Ahram Weekly
17 hours ago
- Politics
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Russia, Ukraine say new POW exchange completed - War in Ukraine
Russia and Ukraine said Thursday that they had completed another exchange of captured soldiers, part of a deal reached earlier in June at peace talks in Istanbul. During the talks, the first direct negotiations between the sides in three years, both countries agreed to free more than 1,000 prisoners of war from each side, all wounded, ill, or under 25 years old. But neither side said how many soldiers had been freed in Thursday's exchange, the latest in several swaps since the June 2 talks. "Our people are returning home from Russian captivity," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media. The Ukrainian government agency overseeing the exchanges said it involved "seriously ill and wounded" soldiers. Russia's defence ministry confirmed the exchange, posting pictures of soldiers draped in Russian flags cheering and waving. Zelenskyy posted similar photos of freed Ukrainian soldiers, crying, smiling, and calling loved ones after being swapped. In Istanbul, Moscow, and Kyiv also reached a deal was reached to repatriate more than 6,000 dead Ukrainian soldiers, with several stages of the handover carried out in recent weeks. Ukraine has accused Russia of deliberately complicating the identification of the corpses. Ukrainian Interior Minister Igor Klymenko on Thursday repeated the accusation and said on social media that Moscow had mixed "the bodies of Russian soldiers with those of Ukrainians." Klymenko gave the identity of one of the Russian soldiers, saying his body had been handed over "dressed in a uniform of the Russian armed forces. He had a Russian passport, a military ID card, and a military certificate." Moscow has rejected Ukrainian calls for an unconditional ceasefire at the talks, demanding instead that Kyiv cede more territory and renounce Western military support as a precondition for peace. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Euronews
a day ago
- Politics
- Euronews
Ukraine's parliament passes dual citizenship bill to motivate returns
In an attempt to motivate people to come back home, Ukraine is allowing multiple citizenship for the first time ever in the country's history, the parliament in Kyiv, Verhovna Rada, decided in a bill passed on Wednesday. The president must now sign the law before it enters into force, which is expected to be a formality, given that Volodymyr Zelenskyy himself submitted the bill last summer. Oleksiy Chernyshov, Ukraine's vice prime minister and minister for national unity, says it is a crucial step to motivate the Ukrainians to come back home — not only those who left after Russia's all-out war in 2022, but also those who had to leave Ukraine when Russia first invaded in 2014. The number of Ukrainians currently abroad is very close to the number of those living in Ukraine: approximately 32 million Ukrainians reside in their home country, while up to 25 million Ukrainians are abroad. With this move, Kyiv wants to "unite Ukrainians throughout the globe," Chernyshov told Euronews. 'There are Ukrainians who stepped into the citizenship of other countries and we want to keep their Ukrainian identity, to give this opportunity to them. Within the current setup, there was only one choice of Ukrainian passport so now our citizens have the solution,' he explained. The Ukrainian government now needs to draft a list of countries whose citizens will be eligible for dual Ukrainian citizenship. Deputy Foreign Minister Serhii Kyslytsia said the law does not apply to Russian citizens or citizens of countries that do not recognise Ukraine's territorial integrity. Chernyshov told Euronews that Kyiv expects a third of those who left Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion in early 2022 to come back once the "the peace solution is reached," while the rest are likely to "monitor the situation and see whether it makes sense to come back." 'The answer lies in the framework of economic development and further reforms of our country that would definitely pave the way for future development and creation of new jobs, new opportunities, new business developments. And we are very, very dedicated to it," Chernyshov explained. 'I think they bring a lot of value to countries of the European Union right now. I heard it from many ministers of European Union countries, they value a lot the Ukrainian presence. That is why we will also have to compete among the labour markets and to provide better conditions:" What makes Ukraine optimistic about the return of its people is the past experience when the Ukrainians rushed to go back after Russian troops were pushed out of the Kyiv region and Kherson city, but also the fact that they were forced to leave their homes, rather than being willing to do so. 'Ukrainians came to Europe because of the full-scale aggression. They were not planning to do that. They feel, of course, in a way, homesick, and it's well understood," Chernyshov said. The bill also establishes new grounds for losing citizenship, including receiving a Russian passport or serving in the Russian military. Multiple citizenship will be recognised for foreigners from the listed countries who apply for Ukrainian citizenship, or if Ukrainian citizens apply for citizenship in these countries. It will also be recognised for Ukrainian spouses of foreign citizens and other specific cases. Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered to help mediate an end to the conflict between Israel and Iran, even as Moscow steps up its war against Ukraine. Speaking to international news agency editors in St Petersburg on Wednesday, Putin suggested that Moscow could help negotiate a settlement allowing Tehran to pursue a peaceful nuclear programme while assuaging Israeli security concerns. Putin said it was a "delicate issue" but believed that "a solution could be found". The Russian leader said he had shared Moscow's proposal with Iran, Israel and the US. "We are not imposing anything on anyone; we are simply talking about how we see a possible way out of the situation. But the decision, of course, is up to the political leadership of all these countries, primarily Iran and Israel," he said. Israel hit a critical Iranian nuclear site and Iranian missiles struck an Israeli hospital on Thursday, the seventh day of a conflict that started with a surprise wave of Israeli airstrikes targeting military sites, senior officers and nuclear scientists in Iran. The Israeli air campaign against its rival has killed several Iranian military commanders and hundreds of civilians, while Iran's strikes in response have killed at least two dozen civilians in Israel. Asked how Russia would react if Israel were to kill Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Putin refused to answer, saying he did not "want to discuss such a possibility". Khamenei has rejected US calls for surrender in the face of Israeli strikes and warned that any military involvement by Washington would cause "irreparable damage". US President Donald Trump said earlier this week that the US knew where Khamenei was "hiding" but that "we are not going to take him out ... at least not for now". Russia has maintained a balancing act in the Middle East for decades, staying on good terms with Israel even as it developed strong economic and military ties with Iran, a policy that could allow Moscow to play power broker in the region. Yet the Kremlin signed a strategic partnership agreement with Tehran in January, while its relationship with Israel has been tested by the wars in Gaza and Ukraine. After the Israel-Iran conflict broke out last Friday, Russia has urged Israel to show restraint in its campaign against Iran and condemned its attacks against its rival as "violations of the UN charter and international law" — the same contraventions the international community has repeatedly said Moscow has been committing in Ukraine. Asked on Wednesday at the St Petersburg meeting about Russia denouncing Israel's strikes on Iran while Ukrainian civilians are being killed in attacks by Moscow, Putin responded that Russia was targeting the country's arms factories. However, widespread damage to residential buildings and other civilian targets in Ukraine has been documented during the conflict, including this week. On Wednesday, Ukrainian emergency workers pulled more bodies from the rubble of a nine-story Kyiv apartment building demolished by a Russian attack earlier this week, raising the death toll from the strike on the capital to 28. Russia's intensified attacks against Ukraine in recent weeks have been condemned by several international organisations — including the OSCE and the Council of Europe — as violations of international humanitarian law. Two rounds of direct peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv failed to make progress on ending Russia's war, now in its fourth year.
Toronto Star
a day ago
- Politics
- Toronto Star
Zelenskyy calls for more pressure on Russia after deadly Kyiv missile strike
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday said a Russian missile strike on a nine-story Kyiv apartment building was a sign that more pressure must be applied on Moscow to agree to a ceasefire, as Moscow intensifies attacks in the three-year war. The drone and missile attack on Kyiv early on Tuesday, the deadliest assault on the capital this year, killed 28 people across the city and injured 142 more, Kyiv Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said on Thursday.
