Category: crisis

Russia Attacks Kyiv Area for the First Time in Weeks

KYIV, Ukraine—Russian forces launched a missile attack on the Kyiv area for the first time in weeks Thursday and pounded the northern Chernihiv region as well, in what Ukraine said was revenge for standing up to the Kremlin. Ukrainian officials, meanwhile, announced a counteroffensive to take back the occupied Kherson region in the country’s south,…


Kremlin: Gazprom Is Supplying as Much Gas to Europe as Possible

MOSCOW—Russia’s Gazprom is supplying as much gas to Europe as possible, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday, adding that sanctions-driven technical issues with equipment were preventing Gazprom from exporting more. Russia delivered less gas to Europe on Wednesday in a further escalation of an energy stand-off between Moscow and the European Union that…


Ukraine Uses New Artillery to Hit Key Bridge for Russians; Russia Downplays the Impact of Attack

KYIV, Ukraine—Ukrainian artillery hit a strategic bridge essential for Moscow to supply its forces occupying Ukraine’s southern region, using a U.S.–supplied precision rocket system. The Ukrainian military struck the Antonivskyi Bridge across the Dnieper River in southern Ukraine late Tuesday, the deputy head of the Moscow-appointed administration for the Kherson region, Kirill Stremousov, said. He…


Russian Gas Cut to Europe Hits Economic Hopes, Ukraine Reports Attacks on Coastal Regions

KYIV—Russia said it will cut gas supplies to Europe from Wednesday, while missile attacks in Black Sea coastal regions raised doubts about whether Russia will stick to a deal to let Ukraine export grain. The first ships from Ukraine may set sail in days under a deal agreed on Friday, the United Nations said, despite…


Ukraine Says Russia Increased Gas Pipeline Pressure Without Prior Notice

Russian gas giant Gazprom has sharply increased pressure in the pipeline that delivers Russian gas to Europe without prior notice, the Ukrainian state pipeline operator company said on Tuesday. Such pressure spikes could lead to emergencies including pipeline ruptures, and pipeline operators are obliged to inform each other about them in advance, the Ukrainian company…


Zelenskyy Says No Ceasefire Without Recovering Land Lost to Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a ceasefire with Russia without reclaiming lost territories would only prolong the war, according to an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Friday. He warned that a ceasefire that allows Russia to keep Ukrainian territories seized since the invasion in February would only encourage an even wider conflict, giving…


Ukraine Says Russian Missiles Hit Odesa Port; Landmark Grain Deal at Risk

KYIV—Russian missiles hit the major port of Odesa in southern Ukraine on Saturday, the Ukrainian military said, dealing a blow to a deal signed on Friday to unblock grain exports from Black Sea ports. The landmark deal signed by Moscow and Kyiv on Friday is seen as crucial to curbing soaring global food prices, easing…


Russia Says It Destroyed 4 HIMARS Launchers in Ukraine

LONDON—Russia’s defense ministry said on Friday its forces had destroyed four U.S.–supplied high mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS) between July 5–20. “Four launchers and one reloading vehicle for the U.S.-made multiple launch rocket systems (HIMARS) were destroyed,” it said in a daily briefing. Reuters could not verify battlefield reports. Kyiv has hailed the arrival of…


Lavrov Says Russia’s Aims in Ukraine Now Go Beyond Donbass

LONDON—Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that Moscow’s military “tasks” in Ukraine now went beyond the eastern Donbass region, in the clearest acknowledgment yet that its war goals have expanded in the past five months. In an interview with state news agency RIA Novosti, Lavrov said geographical realities had changed since Russian and…


Russia Says Peace in Ukraine Will Be on Its Terms, Strikes Multiple Targets

KYIV—A senior Russian security official said on Tuesday that peace in Ukraine when it came would be on Moscow’s terms as Russian forces struck targets across the country with missiles even as their ground offensive stuttered. More than two weeks have passed since Russia’s last major territorial gain—capturing the eastern Ukrainian city of Lysychansk—and Ukraine’s…