Category: Ukraine

• Kiev

Around 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since Russia's full-scale invasion began two years ago, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

"F-16. Breakthrough agreement ... Thank you, the Netherlands," Zelensky wrote in a Telegram post on Sunday after meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte at a Dutch military base in Eindhoven, Xinhua news agency reported.

"But all of this is secondary. In some places, there are mines, in some places there are technical difficulties, in some places we have been waiting for long. Or there are other complications. We can be discussing it for a long time," Zelensky said.

In a post on Telegram, Andriy Yermak, head of the Office of the President, said on Monday: "Today, 22 more Ukrainian soldiers were returned home from captivity. Among them are two officers, privates and non-commissioned officers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The attacks, using Iranian-supplied drones, follow Russia’s withdrawal this month from the Black Sea deal that allowed Ukraine to export its grain and threats by both Moscow and Kiev to target civilian carriers visiting ports, The Guardian reported.

In the south, where Ukrainian forces have attempted to break through Russian lines, the General Staff said a Russian effort to regain lost positions in the area of Novodarivka had also failed.

For a third consecutive night, Kiev has has been struck by Russian airstrikes, setting several buildings ablaze. According to the Ukrainian capital's military administration, three buildings were on fire as a result of the latest air assault on Monday night, reports the BBC.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged visiting European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to launch talks on the war-torn nation's membership in the European Union (EU).

Several details have emerged of US President Joe Biden's secret trip to Kiev, including the banning of phones during the 10-hour long train journey from Warsaw to the Ukrainian capital, a media report revealed.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected Russia's "trivial" Christmas ceasefire offer, saying it was a cover for Moscow to stop Ukrainian advances in the eastern Donbas region and bring in more conscripts and equipment.

More than 73,000 people have been evacuated from the conflict-affected eastern and southern regions of Ukraine in August, Ukraine's Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories said.

"In recent days Mansour worked to carry out an anti-tank missile and rocket attack at Israel and was responsible for the planning of a terror attack in Israel along the border with Gaza which was thwarted by the IDF," the statement from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.

Ukraine's state nuclear agency Enerhoatom has warned against an increasing risk of fire and radiation due to the shelling of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant.

"Today, the first three Gepards officially arrived. These are anti-aircraft systems, for which we have received tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition," Ukrayinska Pravda quoted the Minister as saying on Monday.

Speaking at a media briefing aired on the Ukrainian Infrastructure Ministry's Facebook page, Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on Monday that the movement of ships from the Black Sea ports is due to start by the end of the current week.

She also announced that a platform called "Children of War" will be launched on August 1 which will provide information and statistics about all the Ukrainian children affected by the the war, and the data will be collected and updated daily.

"On 15 July, the Russians killed seven civilians in Donetsk Oblast: 2 in Krasnohorivka, 1 in Sloviansk, 1 in Avdiivka, 1 in Zakitne, 1 in Hirnyk, and 1 in Ostrivske. Another 14 civilians sustained injuries," Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Donetsk Oblast Military Administration, posted on Telegram.

The death toll in Russian strikes in Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia has mounted to 23. At least 23 people have died and 115 others appealed for help, Ukrainska Pravda reported. Around 64 civilians have been hospitalised with injuries, including two children.

A serviceman of the Ukrainian Armed forces, a former police officer and three civilians were liberated from Russian captivity, said a message from Ukrainian Chief Intelligence Directorate on Tuesday.

The Head of the Donetsk Oblast Military Administration said that State Emergency Service rescue workers had cleared away nearly 70 per cent of debris as of 6:30 a.m. on July 12. Rescue operations are continuing, Ukrainska Pravda reported.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksy called the missile strike on a shopping mall in the city of Kremenchuk that killed 16 people, as one of the "most brazen terrorist acts in European history".

The Russian President felt "a sharp sickness, weakness and dizziness", while getting up from his desk following a recent video conference with advisers and military leaders, Telegram channel General SVR reported.

During a presentation to United24, the Kiev-based platform launched on May 5, the President said: "The Russian army is extremely brutal. It is trying not only to kill as many people as possible, but to destroy all life-sustaining infrastructure.

According to Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, who also heads Moscow's delegation, said although discussions continued on political and military aspects, it however remained difficult and was too early to talk about something positive.

Amidst the prevailing tension, the Indian students stranded in Ukraine are left with no choice but to queue up outside the Indian Embassy in Kiev seeking the authorities' help as they ran out of food and money.