Volodymyr Zelenskiy

August 29, 2024 10:01 AM

Russia faces “difficult fight” to retake Ukraine-held area, says top US spy

Russian President Vladimir Putin will mount a counteroffensive to try to retake territory in the Kursk region captured by Ukrainian troops, but Russian forces will encounter "a difficult fight," Deputy CIA Director David Cohen said on Wednesday. Cohen told a national security industry conference that the significance of the Ukrainian incursion, which has overrun some 300 square miles (777 square km) of the Russian province, remained to be seen. Ukrainian forces crashed through Russia's western...

August 28, 2024 10:08 AM

Ukraine’s Zelenskiy to present plan to Biden to end war with Russia

Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday that the war with Russia would eventually end in dialogue, but that Kyiv had to be in a strong position and that he would present a plan to U.S. President Joe Biden and his two potential successors. The Ukrainian leader, addressing a news conference, said Kyiv's three-week-old incursion into Russia's Kursk region was part of that plan, but that it also comprised other steps on the economic and diplomatic fronts. "The main point of this ...

August 22, 2024 11:20 AM

Ukraine says it hits pontoon bridges in Russia with US-made weapons

Ukraine said on Wednesday it had destroyed Russian pontoon bridges with U.S.-made weapons to defend its incursion into Russia's Kursk region, while Moscow said its forces had halted Kyiv's advance there and gained ground in eastern Ukraine. Kyiv has announced a string of battlefield successes since it crossed unexpectedly into Kursk region on Aug. 6. Moscow has steadily inched forward in eastern Ukraine, pressuring troops worn down by 2-1/2 years of fighting. Zelenskiy said Ukraine's milita...

August 16, 2024 11:43 AM

Ukraine opens military office in occupied Kursk region, says it is still advancing

Ukraine's top commander said on Thursday Kyiv had set up a military commandant's office in the occupied part of Russia's Kursk region where he said his forces were still advancing, even as Moscow's troops stepped up its offensives in Ukraine's east. The remarks by Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi were the strongest sign yet that Kyiv's forces plan to dig in after launching a lightning cross-border assault on Russia last week that has opened a new front in the 2-1/2 year-old all-out war. "W...

August 14, 2024 11:17 AM

Ukraine advances in Russia’s Kursk region; Biden calls incursion ‘a real dilemma for Putin’

Ukraine kept pounding the Russian border region of Kursk with missiles and drones on Wednesday, as Kyiv said it had made further territorial gains in an incursion that U.S. President Joe Biden called a "real dilemma" for the Kremlin's leader. Four Ukraine-launched missiles were destroyed over Kursk and the whole region was under air raid alerts on and off most of the night, its regional acting governor said early Wednesday. Kyiv said on Tuesday it had taken control of 74 settlements in Kursk...

August 12, 2024 10:53 AM

Zelenskiy: Ukraine’s attack on Russia’s Kursk aims to ‘restore justice’

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukraine had launched an incursion into Russian territory to "restore justice" and pressure Moscow's forces, in his first acknowledgement of Kyiv's surprise offensive into the western Kursk region. Moscow's forces on Sunday were in their sixth day of intense battle against Kyiv's largest incursion into Russian territory since the start of the war, which left southwestern parts of Russia vulnerable before reinforcement started arriving. Russian authorities ...

July 12, 2024 10:45 AM

Ukraine urges NATO to lift restrictions on targeting Russia, China denounces criticism

Ukraine on Thursday urged NATO allies to lift restrictions on its use of long-range weapons against targets in Russia, saying that would be "game-changer" in its war with Moscow, while China slammed NATO criticism of its support for Russia as biased and malicious. NATO members issued a declaration in support of Ukraine at a summit in Washington on Wednesday, promising additional aid and pledging to back its "irreversible path" to NATO membership. "At this summit we are turning a corner and p...

July 12, 2024 9:59 AM

Ukraine gets USD 225 million US military aid after Biden meets Zelenskiy

The United States announced a new security package for Ukraine worth $225 million on Thursday, which includes a Patriot missile battery, additional ammunition for high-mobility artillery rocket systems and missiles, among other items. This announcement was made during a meeting between Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the NATO Summit held on July 10 in Wahington DC. This is the second Patriot system the US has promised to Ukraine. The system will be taken directly from the ...

June 19, 2024 4:46 PM

Dutchman Mark Rutte, longtime Putin critic, set to lead NATO alliance

Mark Rutte, who looks set to be NATO's next secretary-general, is a staunch ally of Ukraine and a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who honed his skills as a political dealmaker during nearly 14 years as Dutch prime minister. Rutte, 57, has been one of the driving forces behind Europe's military support for Ukraine since Russia's 2022 invasion, and says defeat on the battlefield for Moscow is vital to secure peace in Europe. His view is heavily influenced by the downing of an ...