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Russia could encircle the war-ravaged city of Bakhmut in Ukraine's Donetsk region by March or April, according to a new assessment by Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the Wagner Group, which has been leading an offensive alongside Russian troops against the city since July. In video interviews with Russian media published late on February 15, Prigozhin, who has been sidelined by the Kremlin in recent weeks, appeared to shift expectations on the potential capture of Bakhmut. Prigozhin blasted Russia's "monstrous military bureaucracy" for its failure to seize the city before the end of last year, and warned that Russia should not...

'At the operational-tactical level, we did not think that within a year we would not be able to liberate the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. 'We did not think that there would be such heavy losses, although I then said there would be tens of thousands of dead on both sides. 'But everything turned out to be much worse.' Some estimates say the losses on both sides are now over 200,000, and rising fast. Russia alone is estimated to have lost as many as 140,000 since February last year. 'It was not expected that there would be such destruction: in fact,...

Ukraine has reported that more than 1,000 Russian troops were killed on Monday alone as the war between the neighboring countries approaches its first anniversary. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said in a Telegram post that 1,030 Russian personnel were killed in fighting, raising the total throughout the conflict to just more than 133,000. Ukrainian forces also destroyed 14 tanks and 28 armored personnel vehicles, officials said. Reuters reported that the number of Russian soldiers killed made Monday the deadliest 24 hours of the war for Russia so far, but it could not independently verify Ukraine’s claims. It also reported that...

Nearly one year into the war between Russia and Ukraine, Americans’ support for Ukraine holds steady. A stable 65% of U.S. adults prefer that the United States support Ukraine in reclaiming its territory, even if that results in a prolonged conflict. Meanwhile, 31% continue to say they would rather see the U.S. work to end the war quickly, even if this allows Russia to keep its territory. These data are from a Gallup web survey conducted Jan. 3-22, while the Russia-Ukraine conflict was at a relative stalemate and negotiations were underway among the U.S., Germany and other Western allies, who...

DNIPRO, Ukraine—Russia is regrouping its forces in eastern Ukraine and launching offensives along five lines of attack, Ukraine’s armed forces said on Saturday as officials in Kyiv and Western capitals continue to warn of a major Russian push to gain territory. The main focus of Russia’s offensive remains the besieged city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, which it is seeking to surround and capture. The Ukrainian military said it had repelled multiple attacks, inflicting significant losses for the Russians.

Footage from a fierce ongoing battle around Vuhledar, southwest of Donetsk, shows Russian soldiers retreating after their five vehicles were hit by Ukrainian artillery. The Russian troops were forced to run away and leave their wounded crawling behind them after being struck by airburst ammunition. -snip- Russia is said to be planning a 'new pre-emptive strike' in Ukraine according to satellite photos which show Putin's forces building up fortifications. The new offensive will reportedly take place ahead of the first anniversary of their invasion on February 24.

Donald Trump says he would build an “impenetrable dome” to protect the US from nuclear missile attacks as he also claimed he could end the Russian invasion of Ukraine “within 24 hours.” The one-term president released a video saying that foreign powers were now openly “using the nuclear word all the time” because “they have no respect for our leadership.” Mr Trump added that “it is a word you are never allowed to use” and insisted it had never been said when he was in the White House. ... The video came a day after Mr Trump took to Truth...

Russian President Vladimir Putin will call up hundreds of thousands of additional troops to continue trying to invade Ukraine this month — a move that will be done quietly. The muted mobilization was reported by Russian independent outlet Volya last week, citing sources in the Russian military’s General Staff. “The Ministry of Defense needs to recruit about 700,000 more people for the war by February,” the outlet reported, adding, “[O]fficials, politicians and generals will publicly assert that there is no mobilization.”

PORTLAND, Maine -- The U.S. would risk enabling the spread of extremism in Europe if it stopped providing support to Ukraine in its war with Russia, Maine's independent senator said Monday in the wake of meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Sens. Angus King of Maine and Jack Reed of Rhode Island, who sit on the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services, traveled to Kyiv last week to meet with Zelenskyy. King said he came back more certain that U.S. aid to Ukraine is vital. Ukraine is slated to receive $44.9 billion in U.S. aid as part of the recent...

Ukraine’s deputy military intelligence chief, Vadym Skibitsky, claimed Friday that Moscow was considering calling up an additional 500,000 troops ahead of planned offensive operations in the spring and summer, The Guardian reported. If confirmed, the mobilization would risk a repeat of the unrest caused by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attempt to press 300,000 Russians into service this fall.

Dear Ukrainians! This year began on February 24. Without prefaces and preludes. Sharply. Early. At 4 o'clock. It was dark. It was loud. It was hard for many and scary for some. 311 days have passed. It can still be dark, loud, and complicated for us. But we will definitely never be afraid again. And we'll never be ashamed. It was our year. Year of Ukraine. Year of Ukrainians. We woke up on February 24. Into another life. Being another people. Another Ukrainians. The first missiles finally destroyed the labyrinth of illusions. We saw who was who. What friends and...

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping vowed Friday to deepen their bilateral cooperation against the backdrop of Moscow’s 10-month war in Ukraine, which weathered another night of drone and rocket attacks following a large-scale missile bombardment. Putin and Xi made no direct mention of Ukraine in their opening remarks by videoconference, which were broadcast publicly, before going into private talks. But they hailed strengthening ties between Moscow and Beijing amid what they called “geopolitical tensions” and a “difficult international situation,” with Putin expressing his wish to extend military collaboration. “In the face of...

Russia launched 16 "kamikaze" drones into Ukraine overnight, Kyiv's military said on Friday, a day after Moscow fired dozens of missiles in its latest barrage against Ukrainian critical infrastructure....An administrative building in the city was partially destroyed, according to Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv's military administration, who also said there was no information about any casualties.Russia has launched numerous waves of drone and missile strikes against Ukraine since mid-October, heavily damaging its energy infrastructure and forcing planned and emergency power outages.

As the cracks in Russia's war on Ukraine deepen, Russian oligarchs sanctioned by the West are now saying Russian President Vladimir Putin tricked them into appearing to support his invasion of Ukraine, according to an extensive investigation published Saturday by The New York Times. Many of Putin's top advisors didn't know the full extent of his plans to invade Ukraine on February 24 until they were already underway, according to The Times. Senior aides at the Kremlin were trying to read his body language, telling some that Putin had "this warlike twinkle in his eyes," the paper reported. "If everyone...

​China’s foreign minister signaled in a speech Sunday that Beijing would bolster its ties with Russia in the coming year, while defending the communist country’s impartiality on the war in Ukraine. ​ Wang Yi​, ​speaking by video to a conference in the Chinese capital, ​said China would ​​“deepen strategic mutual trust and mutually beneficial cooperation” with Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday he was “100 percent” confident that his forces would destroy the Pentagon’s most advanced air defence system that US President Joe Biden has promised to send to Ukraine. “Of course we will destroy it, 100 percent!” Putin said, referring to the Patriot missile battery in extracts of an interview aired on Russian television.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Thursday took great exception to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky telling the U.S. Congress that Iran is supplying Russia with combat drones for use against Zelensky’s people. Iran leveled unspecified threats against Zelensky if he continues making the allegations. “Mr. Zelensky had better know that Iran’s strategic patience over such unfounded accusations is not endless,” railed Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani.

After nearly 10 months of war, but referring to the brutal invasion of Ukraine instead as “a special military operation,” Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday finally called it a “war” for the first time, setting off an uproar among antiwar Russians who have been prosecuted for merely challenging the Kremlin-approved euphemism. “Our goal is not to spin this flywheel of a military conflict, but, on the contrary, to end this war,” Putin said during a televised news conference following a government meeting on Thursday. “This is what we are striving for.” ...Putin has alternately said that he is seeking...

Out on the frontline, near the eastern Ukrainian city of Lyman, on 8 November at 15.10, a Russian serviceman called Andrey decided to ignore the orders of his superiors and call his mother with an unauthorised mobile phone. “No one feeds us anything, mum,” he complained. “Our supply is s**t, to be honest. We draw water from puddles, then we strain it and drink it.” Russian forces had been on the back foot in the Donetsk oblast for weeks. Lyman, taken by the Russians in May, was liberated by Ukrainian forces in October. Two days before Andrey made his afternoon...

The UK, the biggest supporter of Ukraine after the US is reconsidering its support for Ukraine. The same country which has given unwavering support to Ukraine till today is backing off from Ukraine. And, this step is being taken by Rishi Sunak. Let’s find out the crux of the move.According to BBC Newsnight, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has requested a data-driven assessment of the war’s development in Ukraine.Critics say that it makes little sense why is UK sending its military weapons to Ukraine when the war directly doesn’t concern it. According to information provided to BBC Newsnight, Volodymyr Zelensky, the...