Ukraine says advance into Russia “going well”, creates strategic buffer
Kyiv, Ukraine Reuters Ukraine’s forces advanced further into Russia’s Kursk region on Wednesday as Kyiv said its gains would provide a strategic buffer zone to protect its border areas from Russian attacks. Kyiv’s surge into Russian territory last week caught Moscow by surprise. Russian forces that began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 had […]
Pope promotes ‘humanitarian corridors’ for asylum-seekers
Vatican City AP Pope Francis met Saturday with thousands of refugees and charity groups hosting them in Italy as he sought to promote legal migration routes to Europe as an alternative to smuggling operations that he said have turned the Mediterranean Sea into a “cemetery.” Francis said “humanitarian corridors,” which have operated in Italy since […]
Ukraine willing to be neutral, says Russia wants to split nation
Lviv, Ukraine Reuters Ukraine is willing to become neutral and compromise over the status of the eastern Donbass region as part of a peace deal, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday, even as another top Ukrainian official accused Russia of aiming to carve the country in two. Zelenskiy took his message directly to Russian journalists […]
Vatican tells Moscow armed attacks in Ukraine must stop
Vatican City Reuters The Vatican’s Secretary of State told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in a phone call on Tuesday that the Holy See wants armed attacks in Ukraine to stop and humanitarian corridors to be guaranteed. A Vatican statement said Cardinal Pietro Parolin also repeated the Vatican’s willingness “to do anything” to help bring […]
Russian offensive slows, says Ukraine, as residents flee bombed-out cities
Lviv/Irpin, Ukraine Reuters Russia’s offensive in Ukraine continued but at a significantly slower pace on Tuesday and a second senior Russian commander had been killed, Ukrainian military and intelligence said, as frightened residents fled bombed-out cities. In the city of Irpin, on the north-west edge of Kyiv, residents ran with their young children in strollers, […]
Updated: Russia warns on oil import ban as little progress is made at Ukraine talks
Updated: 12:30pm (AEDT)Lviv/Irpin, Ukraine Reuters A Western ban on Russian oil imports may more than double the price to $US300 a barrel and prompt the closure of the main gas pipeline to Germany, Moscow warned on Monday, as talks on Ukraine hardly advanced amid efforts to agree on civilian safe passage. Russia’s invasion, the biggest […]
Ukraine decries “immoral” stunt after Moscow says it will let civilians flee – to Russia
Lviv/Kyiv, Ukraine Reuters Russia announced new “humanitarian corridors” on Monday to transport Ukrainians trapped under its bombardment – to Russia itself and its ally Belarus, a move immediately dismissed by Kyiv as an immoral stunt. The announcement came after two days of failed ceasefires to let civilians escape the besieged city of Mariupol, where hundreds […]
Russia announces limited ceasefire in Ukraine to allow evacuations but continues broad offensive
Lviv/Kyiv. Ukraine Reuters Russia said its forces had stopped firing near two besieged Ukrainian cities on Saturday to allow safe passage to civilians fleeing fighting, but officials in one of the cities said Moscow was not fully observing the limited ceasefire. The Russian defence ministry said its units had opened humanitarian corridors near the cities […]