Ukraine-Russia war live: Zelensky says Moscow is suffering heavy losses as Putin threatens more attacks

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Putin’s troops still being slaughtered in Avdiivka, says Zelensky

Kyiv suffers largest ever drone attack by Russia leaving five wounded

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Russia is still suffering heavy losses almost two years into Vladimir Putin’s war, Volodymyr Zelensky says, adding that the dead bodies of Russian soldiers are not being cleared up from the battlefield.

“Thousands, thousands of killed Russian soldiers, nobody even took them away,” he told The Economist, referring to fighting around the besieged eastern town of Avdiivka which he visited last week and saw Putin’s troops being slaughtered in the fighting.

The war-time president added that the notion Moscow is winning the war is only a “feeling” and not backed up by reality.

Mr Zelensky also warned the world that the Russian president is coming for them next. “Putin feels weakness like an animal, because he is an animal. He senses blood, he senses his strength. And he will eat you for dinner with all your EU, Nato, freedom, and democracy,” he said.

It comes as Putin vowed to intensify its own strikes after a series of heavy Ukrainian bombardments on Russian border regions. Kyiv and Moscow exchanged heavy attacks over New Year’s Eve and Day.

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Russia suffering heavy losses, says Zelensky

Russian forces are suffering heavy losses and the dead bodies of Russian soldiers are not being cleared up from the battlefield, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said.

He also highlighted Mr Putin and the Russian army’s failure to take a single large city of Ukraine in 2023 and instead Ukraine “managed to break through Russia’s blockade of the Black Sea”. Ukraine is now using the new route for shipping millions of tonnes of grain.

The war-time president added that the notion of Moscow winning the nearly two-year-old war is only a “feeling” and not backed up by reality.

Mr Zelensky also warned the world that the Russian president is coming for them. “Putin feels weakness like an animal, because he is an animal. He senses blood, he senses his strength. And he will eat you for dinner with all your EU, Nato, freedom, and democracy,” he said in an interview.

Arpan Rai2 January 2024 03:29

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What we can expect from the war in Ukraine in 2024

The year draws to a close with yet another bitter reminder of how the international community could have done more to assist Ukraine against Russia, but chose not to.

Threats to shipping in the Red Sea have triggered a strong and immediate international military response to protect commerce there – a galling sight for supporters of Ukraine after the international community’s refusal to do the same in the Black Sea to relieve Russia’s stranglehold on Ukrainian grain exports.

International resolve is what has set the conditions for Ukraine’s continued struggle for survival in 2024. There won’t be the same hopes for a major Ukrainian breakthrough as there were in early 2023.

Read the full article from Keir Giles here:

What we can expect from the war in Ukraine in 2024

Kyiv’s forces are likely to remain on the defensive for much of next year, writes Keir Giles. That is unless the West finally gets fully behind the idea that Putin’s war aims will only change if his hand is forced

Athena Stavrou2 January 2024 05:00

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The Independent analysis: Ukraine’s fight is increasingly in the skies

As the frontline of the war in Ukraine is mired in bloody stalemate, breaking the enemy’s morale via repeated aerial assault is becoming increasingly important.

Ukrainian officials say Moscow launched 90 drones in attacks as the new year began, after days on intensifying strikes.

In his analysis, Askold Krushelnycky writes that Vladimir Putin is likely lashing out in response to a number of high-profile successful strikes by Kyiv.

Read the full report here:

Athena Stavrou2 January 2024 04:30

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Zelensky acknowledges counteroffensive not moved as fast as imagined in 2023

President Zelensky acknowledged that Ukraine did not succeed “as the world wanted” in 2023 as he insists Russia is suffering huge losses.

In an interview with the Economist, Zelensky said: “Maybe we did not succeed (in 2023) as the world wanted. Maybe not everything is as fast as someone imagined.”

But he added that the notion that Russian forces were winning was a mere “feeling,” citing heavy Russian losses in the besieged eastern town of Avdiivka, which he visited last week.

“Thousands, thousands of killed Russian soldiers, nobody even took them away,” he told the magazine in the interview, held virtually.

In contrast, he hailed the “huge result” of Ukrainian forces breaking through a Russian Black Sea blockade, enabling grain exports by way of a new route along its southern coast.

Athena Stavrou2 January 2024 03:30

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ICYMI: British combat medic found dead in Ukraine ‘devoted her life to others’, say family

A British woman who died as a combat medic in Ukraine “devoted her life to helping others”, her family say.

Katherine Mielniczuk went to the country after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 compelled to use her medical skills to help those in need, they said.

The 26-year-old, who graduated in chemistry from the University of Bristol, spent almost two years risking her life to provide medical supplies and emergency care to injured Ukrainian and foreign fighters, travelling to the most volatile stretches of the frontline, earning herself the nickname “Apache”.

Read the full report here:

Athena Stavrou2 January 2024 02:30

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Russia rounds up thousands of migrants at New Year’s Eve festivities

Russia’s police have detained thousands of migrants across the country in New Year’s Eve raids with scores of them facing deportation, Russian media reported on Monday.

About 3,000 migrants were detained in Russia’s second-largest city of St. Petersburg during checks “to prevent crime,” Russia’s RIA state news agency reported.

“As it turned out, more than 600 of the migrants have been in Russia with various violations of migration legislation,” RIA cited an unnamed law enforcement agency source as saying.

More than 100 people faced deportation, RIA added.

A crowd of drunken migrants attacked two young men demobilized from the front line, one soldier was hit with a baton,” the Committee said on the Telegram messaging app.

“It is also noted that the migrants insulted the wives of veterans of the special military operation.”

Russia calls the war it unleashed on Ukraine in February 2022 a “special military operation.”

Athena Stavrou2 January 2024 01:30

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Zelensky says Russia suffering major losses

President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the notion that Russia was winning the nearly two-year-old war was only a “feeling” and that Moscow was still suffering heavy battlefield losses.

Zelensky also said there were no real signs that Russia was interested in peace and that any indication that Russia wanted talks signified that Russia was running out of weapons and soldiers.

“I see only the steps of a terrorist country,” he told the Economist.

Zelensky also said that hitting Russian strength in Crimea was critical to reducing attacks on Ukraine as was defending cities in the east of the country.

(EPA)

Athena Stavrou2 January 2024 00:30

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Putin and Zelensky deliver contrasting New Year’s speeches

Russia’s Putin and Ukraine’s Zelensky have delivered contrasting addresses as the warring countries enter another year of conflict.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky honoured his people’s resilience in times of bloodshed in a long and lyrical New Year speech, while Russian leader Vladimir Putin stressed his country’s unity in a short and stern message that made only passing reference to the war.

“The major result of the year, its main achievement: Ukraine has become stronger,” Zelensky said in a televised address.

“No matter how many rockets the enemy launches, no matter how many shellings and attacks – vile, merciless, massive – the enemy carries out in an attempt to break Ukrainians, intimidate, knock Ukraine down, drive it underground, we will still rise,” he said, dressed in his trademark khaki outfit.

Comments by Putin provided a sharp contrast to those of Zelenskiy and also to his own speech last year, when he cast the war as a near-existential fight.

This year, he called Russia’s soldiers “our heroes,” but did not mention Ukraine by name and did not refer to the “special military operation” – his term for the war his invasion unleashed in February 2022.

“We have proven more than once that we can solve the most difficult problems and will never retreat, because there is no force that can divide us,” Putin said in a four-minute speech, dressed in a suit and a red tie against a backdrop of the Kremlin walls.

(President Volodymyr Zelensky Office)

Athena Stavrou1 January 2024 23:30

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Independent analysis: Ukraine’s fight is increasingly in the skies

As the frontline of the war in Ukraine is mired in bloody stalemate, breaking the enemy’s morale via repeated aerial assault is becoming increasingly important.

Ukrainian officials say Moscow launched 90 drones in attacks as the new year began, after days on intensifying strikes.

In his analysis, Askold Krushelnycky writes that Vladimir Putin is likely lashing out in response to a number of high-profile successful strikes by Kyiv.

Read the full report here:

Athena Stavrou1 January 2024 22:20

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