Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the discovery of the mass grave in Izyum during his nightly address Thursday, saying that an investigation is underway. A top police official for the Kharkiv region told Sky News that more than 400 bodies were discovered at the burial site.
- The International Atomic Energy Agency called on Russia to “immediately cease all actions against, and at” the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in a resolution passed by its Board of Governors on Thursday.
- The war in Ukraine is testing Russia and China’s “no limits” partnership. Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged Thursday that China had “questions and concerns” about the situation in Ukraine, in remarks before meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Uzbekistan.
- Despite startling gains by Ukrainian forces against Russia, the Biden administration anticipates months of intense fighting with wins and losses for each side.
More live updates here.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the discovery of the mass grave in Izyum during his nightly address Thursday, saying that an investigation is underway. A top police official for the Kharkiv region told Sky News that more than 400 bodies were discovered at the burial site.
- The International Atomic Energy Agency called on Russia to “immediately cease all actions against, and at” the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in a resolution passed by its Board of Governors on Thursday.
- The war in Ukraine is testing Russia and China’s “no limits” partnership. Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged Thursday that China had “questions and concerns” about the situation in Ukraine, in remarks before meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Uzbekistan.
- Despite startling gains by Ukrainian forces against Russia, the Biden administration anticipates months of intense fighting with wins and losses for each side.
More live updates here.
Analysis: As Ukraine advances, Putin backs further into a corner
The war in Ukraine may be entering a decisive new phase. The past week saw the stunning success of Ukrainian counteroffensive into the environs of the northeast city of Kharkiv, routing Russian forces across a vast stretch of territory extending as far as the Russian border. In addition to considerable casualties, Russian troops lost significant amounts of materiel, including dozens of tanks and armored vehicles. A resident of one liberated town described the Russian retreat to my colleagues as so hasty that “their pants were flying off.”
Not since the initial stages of Russia’s invasion of its neighbor — when dogged Ukrainian defenders repulsed Russian columns moving on the capital Kyiv — has there been this level of optimism surrounding Ukraine’s capacity for victory. On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky went to the retaken city of Izyum and hailed his compatriots on the front lines.
Read the full analysis here.
The war in Ukraine may be entering a decisive new phase. The past week saw the stunning success of Ukrainian counteroffensive into the environs of the northeast city of Kharkiv, routing Russian forces across a vast stretch of territory extending as far as the Russian border. In addition to considerable casualties, Russian troops lost significant amounts of materiel, including dozens of tanks and armored vehicles. A resident of one liberated town described the Russian retreat to my colleagues as so hasty that “their pants were flying off.”
Not since the initial stages of Russia’s invasion of its neighbor — when dogged Ukrainian defenders repulsed Russian columns moving on the capital Kyiv — has there been this level of optimism surrounding Ukraine’s capacity for victory. On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky went to the retaken city of Izyum and hailed his compatriots on the front lines.
Read the full analysis here.
U.S. expects months of intense fighting in Ukraine-Russia war
Despite Ukrainian forces’ startling gains in the war against Russia, the Biden administration anticipates months of intense fighting with wins and losses for each side, spurring U.S. plans for an open-ended campaign with no prospect for a negotiated end in sight.
The surprise success by Ukrainian forces in areas of the country occupied by Russian troops during the weekend generated euphoria among Ukrainians sapped by months of fighting. It also fueled hopes among many of Kyiv’s foreign backers that its scrappy military might be able to expel Russia’s larger, better-armed force.
President Volodymyr Zelensky, raising his country’s blue-and-yellow flag Wednesday over the liberated city of Izyum, promised it would be “definitely impossible to occupy our people, the Ukrainian people.”
Read the full story here.
Despite Ukrainian forces’ startling gains in the war against Russia, the Biden administration anticipates months of intense fighting with wins and losses for each side, spurring U.S. plans for an open-ended campaign with no prospect for a negotiated end in sight.
The surprise success by Ukrainian forces in areas of the country occupied by Russian troops during the weekend generated euphoria among Ukrainians sapped by months of fighting. It also fueled hopes among many of Kyiv’s foreign backers that its scrappy military might be able to expel Russia’s larger, better-armed force.
President Volodymyr Zelensky, raising his country’s blue-and-yellow flag Wednesday over the liberated city of Izyum, promised it would be “definitely impossible to occupy our people, the Ukrainian people.”
Read the full story here.
On war, Putin says Russia will ‘do our best to stop this as soon as possible’
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday said that Russia would strive to stop the war in Ukraine “as soon as possible” but then blamed Ukraine for refusing to negotiate, though Putin ordered the invasion and his troops are still occupying a large swatch of Ukrainian territory.
Putin’s remarks came during an appearance with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, where they are attending a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
Russia has suffered steep military setbacks in recent days as a Ukrainian counteroffensive pushed Russian occupying troops out of the northeastern Kharkiv region.
Read more here.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday said that Russia would strive to stop the war in Ukraine “as soon as possible” but then blamed Ukraine for refusing to negotiate, though Putin ordered the invasion and his troops are still occupying a large swatch of Ukrainian territory.
Putin’s remarks came during an appearance with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, where they are attending a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
Russia has suffered steep military setbacks in recent days as a Ukrainian counteroffensive pushed Russian occupying troops out of the northeastern Kharkiv region.
Read more here.
For Putin and Xi, Ukraine war creates wrinkle in ‘no limits’ friendship
Vladimir Putin is waging a reckless war in an uncertain bid to recreate a superpower of the past. Xi Jinping is cautiously, carefully steering China to its certain destiny as a superpower of the future.
As the two presidents met in Uzbekistan on Thursday on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, the subtle undertones of the meeting revealed as much about this, and other key differences between the two strongman leaders and their respective nations, as it did about the commonalities that bind them in their self-declared “no-limits” friendship.
Read more here.
Vladimir Putin is waging a reckless war in an uncertain bid to recreate a superpower of the past. Xi Jinping is cautiously, carefully steering China to its certain destiny as a superpower of the future.
As the two presidents met in Uzbekistan on Thursday on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, the subtle undertones of the meeting revealed as much about this, and other key differences between the two strongman leaders and their respective nations, as it did about the commonalities that bind them in their self-declared “no-limits” friendship.
Read more here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- Ukrainian authorities and United Nations monitors are investigating a mass burial site in the eastern city of Izyum.
- The bodies discovered in Izyum will be handed over to experts for identification, Ukraine’s commissioner for missing persons said in a statement on Telegram on Friday, adding that the number of dead may exceed those killed in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha at the beginning of the war.
- Reports of graves in Izyum are “horrifying” and “repugnant,” White House spokesman John Kirby said Friday.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that he would strive to stop the war “as soon as possible” — but then blamed Ukraine for refusing to negotiate.
- The U.N. nuclear watchdog urged Russia to “immediately cease all actions” at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.
More live updates here.
- Ukrainian authorities and United Nations monitors are investigating a mass burial site in the eastern city of Izyum.
- The bodies discovered in Izyum will be handed over to experts for identification, Ukraine’s commissioner for missing persons said in a statement on Telegram on Friday, adding that the number of dead may exceed those killed in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha at the beginning of the war.
- Reports of graves in Izyum are “horrifying” and “repugnant,” White House spokesman John Kirby said Friday.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that he would strive to stop the war “as soon as possible” — but then blamed Ukraine for refusing to negotiate.
- The U.N. nuclear watchdog urged Russia to “immediately cease all actions” at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.
More live updates here.
The letters left behind by demoralized Russian soldiers as they fled
IZYUM, Ukraine — About 10 days before Ukrainian forces retook the city of Izyum last weekend, Russian troops stationed here were so demoralized that they drafted letters begging their superiors to dismiss them from their roles.
The 10 handwritten letters, dated Aug. 30, were left behind in a two-story residential house where Russians were squatting and later found by Ukrainian soldiers who provided the letters to The Washington Post for review.
They paint a portrait of dejected troops desperate for rest and concerned about their health and morale after months of fighting.
Read the full story here.
IZYUM, Ukraine — About 10 days before Ukrainian forces retook the city of Izyum last weekend, Russian troops stationed here were so demoralized that they drafted letters begging their superiors to dismiss them from their roles.
The 10 handwritten letters, dated Aug. 30, were left behind in a two-story residential house where Russians were squatting and later found by Ukrainian soldiers who provided the letters to The Washington Post for review.
They paint a portrait of dejected troops desperate for rest and concerned about their health and morale after months of fighting.
Read the full story here.
What is the Wagner Group, the Russian mercenary entity in Ukraine?
Mercenaries working for a Kremlin-linked network of private security contractors have taken up arms in Ukraine on Russia’s behalf, U.S. and British officials say, and appear to also be recruiting from inside Russian prisons.
The network, known as the Wagner Group, first worked in Ukraine in 2014 during Russia’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula. Since then, its fighters have turned up on battlefields from Syria to Mali.
In Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, about 1,000 Wagner mercenaries have been concentrated largely in the country’s east, where Pentagon officials say Russia has refocused its war effort after failing to capture the capital, Kyiv.
Germany’s foreign intelligence service claimed in April to have intercepted communications that could link the Wagner Group to indiscriminate killings of Ukrainian civilians.
Read the full story here.
Mercenaries working for a Kremlin-linked network of private security contractors have taken up arms in Ukraine on Russia’s behalf, U.S. and British officials say, and appear to also be recruiting from inside Russian prisons.
The network, known as the Wagner Group, first worked in Ukraine in 2014 during Russia’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula. Since then, its fighters have turned up on battlefields from Syria to Mali.
In Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, about 1,000 Wagner mercenaries have been concentrated largely in the country’s east, where Pentagon officials say Russia has refocused its war effort after failing to capture the capital, Kyiv.
Germany’s foreign intelligence service claimed in April to have intercepted communications that could link the Wagner Group to indiscriminate killings of Ukrainian civilians.
Read the full story here.
Torture, killings, abductions: Russian retreat from Izyum reveals horrors
Russian forces terrorized residents throughout their six-month occupation of Izyum, a strategic hub in northeast Ukraine, with witnesses and victims this week recounting the torture, killings and forced disappearances that soldiers carried out. And as they bore witness, the Ukrainian officials now back in control of the city worked to unearth evidence of those potential war crimes.
Investigators on Friday started to exhume the bodies of more than 400 civilians buried in a makeshift cemetery and as many as 17 Ukrainian soldiers buried in a mass grave at the same site. The area, located in a forest just outside Izyum, had been used as a Russian military position.
Read the full story here.
Russian forces terrorized residents throughout their six-month occupation of Izyum, a strategic hub in northeast Ukraine, with witnesses and victims this week recounting the torture, killings and forced disappearances that soldiers carried out. And as they bore witness, the Ukrainian officials now back in control of the city worked to unearth evidence of those potential war crimes.
Investigators on Friday started to exhume the bodies of more than 400 civilians buried in a makeshift cemetery and as many as 17 Ukrainian soldiers buried in a mass grave at the same site. The area, located in a forest just outside Izyum, had been used as a Russian military position.
Read the full story here.
Ukrainian strikes into Russia’s border towns compound Putin’s troubles
After a successful Ukrainian counteroffensive in the northeast of the country, the messy war that Russian President Vladimir Putin started is now being fought directly on his doorstep, with artillery strikes hitting military targets in Russia and Russian officials in cities and towns along the border ordering hasty evacuations.
On Saturday, a new round of strikes hit the Belgorod region in Western Russia, killing at least one person and wounding two.
On Friday, Ukraine reportedly struck the base of the Russian 3rd Motorized Rifle Division near Valuyki, just nine miles north of the Russia—Ukraine border. Russian officials did not acknowledge that a military target was hit but said one civilian died, and the local electrical grid experienced a temporary disruption.
Russia blamed the attacks on Ukraine, but Kyiv did not claim responsibility for striking targets in Russian territory.
Read the full story here.
After a successful Ukrainian counteroffensive in the northeast of the country, the messy war that Russian President Vladimir Putin started is now being fought directly on his doorstep, with artillery strikes hitting military targets in Russia and Russian officials in cities and towns along the border ordering hasty evacuations.
On Saturday, a new round of strikes hit the Belgorod region in Western Russia, killing at least one person and wounding two.
On Friday, Ukraine reportedly struck the base of the Russian 3rd Motorized Rifle Division near Valuyki, just nine miles north of the Russia—Ukraine border. Russian officials did not acknowledge that a military target was hit but said one civilian died, and the local electrical grid experienced a temporary disruption.
Russia blamed the attacks on Ukraine, but Kyiv did not claim responsibility for striking targets in Russian territory.
Read the full story here.
Beloved dancer’s death on Ukraine battlefield underscores cost of war
The recent Ukrainian counteroffensive against Russian forces has been hailed as a stunning success, offering a jolt of optimism in a grueling nearly seven-month-old war. But the battlefield death earlier this week of beloved Ukrainian ballet star Oleksandr Shapoval, a father of two remembered as “a pure and bright soul,” crystallizes the dreadful cost of the nation’s military victories.
Shapoval’s case is particularly poignant, because after a 28-year career onstage, and with no military training, he volunteered in April to help defend his country.
As a member of the National Opera of Ukraine, he had danced the part of gallant romantics and dashing adventurers, and he’d earned the prestigious title Honored Artist of Ukraine. Shapoval retired in 2021 and was teaching at the Kyiv State Choreographic College when the Russians invaded in February.
Read the full story here.
The recent Ukrainian counteroffensive against Russian forces has been hailed as a stunning success, offering a jolt of optimism in a grueling nearly seven-month-old war. But the battlefield death earlier this week of beloved Ukrainian ballet star Oleksandr Shapoval, a father of two remembered as “a pure and bright soul,” crystallizes the dreadful cost of the nation’s military victories.
Shapoval’s case is particularly poignant, because after a 28-year career onstage, and with no military training, he volunteered in April to help defend his country.
As a member of the National Opera of Ukraine, he had danced the part of gallant romantics and dashing adventurers, and he’d earned the prestigious title Honored Artist of Ukraine. Shapoval retired in 2021 and was teaching at the Kyiv State Choreographic College when the Russians invaded in February.
Read the full story here.
U.S. limits export of fentanyl to Russia, calling it a potential weapon
The United States on Thursday strictly limited the export of fentanyl and related chemicals to Russia, saying that they “may be useful” as chemical weapons to support Russia’s “military aggression.”
The Commerce Department said sales to Russia of the powerful opiate will now require a U.S. government license. The rule also applies to exports to Belarus, whose leadership supports Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Fentanyl is widely known in the United States as an illicit street drug that has caused thousands of overdose deaths in recent years. But it also has legal uses as a prescription painkiller. It is a synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Read the full story here.
The United States on Thursday strictly limited the export of fentanyl and related chemicals to Russia, saying that they “may be useful” as chemical weapons to support Russia’s “military aggression.”
The Commerce Department said sales to Russia of the powerful opiate will now require a U.S. government license. The rule also applies to exports to Belarus, whose leadership supports Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Fentanyl is widely known in the United States as an illicit street drug that has caused thousands of overdose deaths in recent years. But it also has legal uses as a prescription painkiller. It is a synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Read the full story here.
‘Look, these are our boys’: Ukrainian troops drive Russian tanks on new front line
KUPIANSK, Ukraine — The front line is now a river, the Oskil, that runs through the middle of the eastern Ukrainian town of Kupiansk. On one side are the charging Ukrainian forces who have pushed their Russian enemies almost entirely out of the northeastern Kharkiv region during a sweeping counteroffensive this month.
From her bedroom window, Liza Udovik, 26, has a view of the other side, to where the Russians have retreated. The sound of outgoing fire from the Ukrainians rocked her apartment these past few days, when the Ukrainian military moved into Kupiansk and the town became a battleground. Russian tanks and armored vehicles still patrol the streets, but it’s the Ukrainians driving them, using the Russians’ own abandoned weapons against them.
Read the full story here.
KUPIANSK, Ukraine — The front line is now a river, the Oskil, that runs through the middle of the eastern Ukrainian town of Kupiansk. On one side are the charging Ukrainian forces who have pushed their Russian enemies almost entirely out of the northeastern Kharkiv region during a sweeping counteroffensive this month.
From her bedroom window, Liza Udovik, 26, has a view of the other side, to where the Russians have retreated. The sound of outgoing fire from the Ukrainians rocked her apartment these past few days, when the Ukrainian military moved into Kupiansk and the town became a battleground. Russian tanks and armored vehicles still patrol the streets, but it’s the Ukrainians driving them, using the Russians’ own abandoned weapons against them.
Read the full story here.
How the St. Javelin meme raised a million dollars for Ukraine
Saint Javelin doesn’t grace the stained-glass windows of any church. Her halo is a shade of yellow closer to that of sunflowers and wheat than the golden orb on a traditionally canonized saint. Instead of an infant, she tenderly cradles a Javelin — an American-made, handheld antitank missile.
The Mary knockoff might not be a church-sanctioned saint, but in just a few months, she’s developed a following with devotion that rivals that of any high-holiday worshiper. More impressively, she’s raised over 1 million dollars for the Ukrainian resistance against the Russian invasion.
The business is the brainchild of Christian Borys, a former journalist based in Canada, who spent years covering conflict in Ukraine and beyond. A portion of the profits is used to support Ukraine. Borys helped create the image as it’s known now — one that’s now on countless laptops, T-shirts, flags, murals, and even tattoos around the world.
Read the full story here.
Saint Javelin doesn’t grace the stained-glass windows of any church. Her halo is a shade of yellow closer to that of sunflowers and wheat than the golden orb on a traditionally canonized saint. Instead of an infant, she tenderly cradles a Javelin — an American-made, handheld antitank missile.
The Mary knockoff might not be a church-sanctioned saint, but in just a few months, she’s developed a following with devotion that rivals that of any high-holiday worshiper. More impressively, she’s raised over 1 million dollars for the Ukrainian resistance against the Russian invasion.
The business is the brainchild of Christian Borys, a former journalist based in Canada, who spent years covering conflict in Ukraine and beyond. A portion of the profits is used to support Ukraine. Borys helped create the image as it’s known now — one that’s now on countless laptops, T-shirts, flags, murals, and even tattoos around the world.
Read the full story here.
Kyiv alleges ‘terrorism’ after Russian strike near second nuclear plant
Ukrainian officials accused Russia of “nuclear terrorism” on Monday after a rocket reportedly hit just hundreds of yards from the reactors at Ukraine’s second-largest nuclear power plant, disabling three high-voltage electricity lines and a hydropower unit, and blowing out windows.
Energoatom, the Ukrainian national nuclear power company, said that a “powerful explosion occurred” roughly 300 yards from the reactors of the Southern Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant, which is located near the city of Yuzhnoukrainsk, just after midnight on Monday, sending shock waves that damaged buildings and shattered more than 100 windows.
Details of the rocket strike, which Energoatom reported on its Telegram channel, could not be independently verified. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted a short video in his own Telegram channel of what appeared to be footage of the strike taken from a closed-circuit camera.
Read the full story here.
Ukrainian officials accused Russia of “nuclear terrorism” on Monday after a rocket reportedly hit just hundreds of yards from the reactors at Ukraine’s second-largest nuclear power plant, disabling three high-voltage electricity lines and a hydropower unit, and blowing out windows.
Energoatom, the Ukrainian national nuclear power company, said that a “powerful explosion occurred” roughly 300 yards from the reactors of the Southern Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant, which is located near the city of Yuzhnoukrainsk, just after midnight on Monday, sending shock waves that damaged buildings and shattered more than 100 windows.
Details of the rocket strike, which Energoatom reported on its Telegram channel, could not be independently verified. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted a short video in his own Telegram channel of what appeared to be footage of the strike taken from a closed-circuit camera.
Read the full story here.
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Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- There was shelling about 300 meters from reactors at the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant on Monday, according to Ukraine’s national nuclear operator Energoatom. One hydropower unit was shut down, but the agency said all three of the Mykolaiv-area plant’s power units are still operating.
- Ukrainian forces have been striking military targets in Russia, hastening evacuations of Russian citizens from cities and towns along the border.
- A power line at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant was disconnected over the weekend, the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement Monday. The cause was not clear, said the IAEA.
- Ukrainian authorities have begun exhuming bodies from a mass gravesite, which was discovered in Izyum after a Russian retreat following a six-month occupation of the city. Most of the 146 people exhumed so far were civilians, said Oleh Synyehubov, the regional governor of Kharkiv.
More live updates here.
- There was shelling about 300 meters from reactors at the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant on Monday, according to Ukraine’s national nuclear operator Energoatom. One hydropower unit was shut down, but the agency said all three of the Mykolaiv-area plant’s power units are still operating.
- Ukrainian forces have been striking military targets in Russia, hastening evacuations of Russian citizens from cities and towns along the border.
- A power line at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant was disconnected over the weekend, the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement Monday. The cause was not clear, said the IAEA.
- Ukrainian authorities have begun exhuming bodies from a mass gravesite, which was discovered in Izyum after a Russian retreat following a six-month occupation of the city. Most of the 146 people exhumed so far were civilians, said Oleh Synyehubov, the regional governor of Kharkiv.
More live updates here.