Kyiv - The African Mirror

Dec

2022

Russia fires scores of missiles in one of its biggest attacks on Ukraine

TOM BALMFORTH and OLENA HARMASH RUSSIA fired more than 70 missiles at Ukraine in one of its biggest attacks since the start of the war, knocking out power in the second-biggest city and forcing Kyiv to implement emergency blackouts nationwide, Ukrainian officials said. Three people were killed when an apartment block was hit in central Kryvyi Rih and another died in shelling in Kherson in the south, they said. Russian-installed officials in occupied eastern Ukraine said 12 people had died by Ukrainian shelling. In an evening video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia still had enough missiles for several…

Nov

2022

By The African Mirror

World must stand with Kyiv as Putin counts on “General Winter”, EU says

WORLD

INTERNATIONAL partners must continue to support Ukraine as the country prepares to keep up its fight against Russia's invasion during the upcoming winter months, the European Union's top diplomat said on Thursday. "The winter is coming. Putin is waiting for the 'General Winter' to come and support the Russian army," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned on the sidelines of a meeting of G7 foreign ministers in the western German town of Muenster. "Now, more than ever, we have to support Ukraine, the Ukrainian people. They are fighting, defending their country, and we have the moral duty to support…

Jul

2022

By The African Mirror

Ukrainian rockets hit Russian-held area as Kyiv readies southern counter-attack

WORLD

TOM BALMFORTH and PAVEL POLITYUK UKRAINE said it had carried out a long-range rocket strike against Russian forces and military equipment in southern Ukraine, territory it says it is planning to retake in a counter-offensive using hundreds of thousands of troops. The strike hit an ammunition dump in the town of Nova Kakhovka in the Kherson region and killed 52 Russians, Ukraine's military said. It came after Washington supplied Ukraine with advanced HIMARS mobile artillery systems which Kyiv says its forces are using with ever greater efficiency. A Russian-installed official in Kherson gave a different version of events. He said…

Apr

2022

By The African Mirror

Russia strikes Kyiv suburb, presses offensive in Mariupol ruins

WORLD

PAVEL POLITYUK RUSSIAN air raids and missile strikes hit Ukraine's capital Kyiv and other major cities as Moscow launched more long-range attacks following the sinking of its Black Sea fleet's flagship. In the besieged port of Mariupol, the scene of the war's heaviest fighting and worst humanitarian catastrophe, Russian troops pressed their advances, hoping to make up for their failure to capture Kyiv by seizing their first big prize of the war. "The situation is very difficult" in Mariupol, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told the Ukrainska Pravda news portal. "Our soldiers are blocked, the wounded are blocked. There is a humanitarian…

Apr

2022

By The African Mirror

Defiance, tears, trepidation: Ukraine’s capital awakens after Russian troops withdraw

WORLD

ELIZABETH PIPER and STEFANIIA BERN LADEN with bags, trolleys and the odd pet, Ukrainians are returning to the capital Kyiv, some tearful, others nervous about going home after Russian troops withdrew from the outskirts of their city. A week after Russian forces pulled out of villages to the north of Kyiv, leaving behind razed buildings and corpses in some of the streets, officials have warned people not to return to the capital quite yet, fearful of a renewed offensive. Yet for several of those returning on Thursday at the busy main train station in central Kyiv, the desire to see…

Apr

2022

By The African Mirror

‘War crime’ killings near Kyiv raise international outcry, as frontline shifts

WORLD

MARKO DJURICA and ABDELAZIZ BOUMZAR INTERNATIONAL outrage spread over civilian killings in northern Ukraine, where a mass grave and tied bodies of people shot at close range were found in a town taken back from Russian forces, as Moscow shifted the focus of the fighting elsewhere. The deaths in Bucha, outside Kyiv, are likely to galvanise the United States and Europe into additional sanctions against Moscow, possibly including some restrictions on the billions of dollars in energy that Europe still imports from Russia. The discoveries overshadowed peace talks between Russia and Ukraine that were due to resume on Monday against…

Apr

2022

By The African Mirror

Explainer: How could Russia’s Putin be prosecuted for war crimes in Ukraine?

WORLD

JACQUELINE THOMSEN and MIKE SCARCELLA UKRAINE has accused Russia of war crimes in the town of Bucha just outside Kyiv, with Germany, France and others expressing outrage at the images of dead civilians. The mayor of Bucha said on Saturday that 300 residents had been killed by Russian troops during a month-long occupation. Victims were seen by Reuters in a mass grave and lying in the streets. Russia's defence ministry denied the Ukrainian allegations, saying footage and photographs showing bodies in Bucha were "yet another provocation" by the Ukrainian government. Russia has previously denied targeting civilians and rejected allegations of…

Apr

2022

By The African Mirror

Ukraine forces retake areas north of Kyiv as Russians look eastward

WORLD

JAMES MACKENZIE UKRAINIAN forces were advancing into areas north of Kyiv littered with debris and destroyed Russian tanks as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused departing Russian soldiers of leaving behind mines. Ukrainian presidential adviser Okeksiy Arestovych said Ukrainian troops had retaken more than 30 towns and villages in the region since Russia announced this week it would scale down operations around the capital to focus on battles in the east. British military intelligence said Russian troops had abandoned Hostomel airport in a northwestern suburb of the capital, where there had been fighting since the first day of the invasion. In…

Apr

2022

By The African Mirror

Pope implicitly criticises Putin on invasion, considers Kyiv trip

RELIGION

PHILIP PULLELLA POPE Francis said he was considering a trip to Kyiv and implicitly criticised Russian President Vladimir Putin over the invasion of Ukraine, saying a "potentate" was fomenting conflict for nationalist interests. Francis made the comments, first to reporters on the plane taking him to Malta for a two-day visit, and then in a hard-hitting speech in the island's presidential palace that left little doubt who he was referring to. "From the east of Europe, from the land of the sunrise, the dark shadows of war have now spread. We had thought that invasions of other countries, savage street…

Mar

2022

By The African Mirror

Ukraine’s Zelenskiy tells EU: ‘Prove that you are with us’

WORLD

PHILIP BLENKINSOP and INGRID MELANDER "PROVE that you are with us," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told the European Union, a day after Kyiv officially asked to join the bloc as it battles invading Russian forces. EU lawmakers, many wearing #standwithUkraine T-shirts bearing the Ukrainian flag, others with blue-and-yellow scarves or ribbons, gave Zelenskiy a standing ovation as he addressed the European Parliament via video link. "We are fighting to be equal members of Europe," Zelenskiy said in Ukrainian in a speech translated into English by an interpreter who spoke through tears. "Do prove that you are with us. Do prove…