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KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – The Ukrainian village of Ocheretyne has been battered by fighting, drone footage obtained by The Associated Press shows. The village has been a target for Russian forces in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. Russian troops have been advancing in the area, pounding Kyiv’s depleted, ammunition-deprived forces with artillery, drones and bombs. Ukraine’s military has acknowledged the Russians have gained a “foothold” in Ocheretyne, which had a population of about 3,000 before the war, but says that fighting continues.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal called on the House to approve further funding for his nation, arguing it is needed to support Ukraine’s war losses and guarantee a win against Russia. “We hope that this week, [the] House will support one of the drafts, no matter for us which one. We need support for yesterday, not for today or tomorrow, for yesterday,” Shmyhal said Thursday during an interview with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell. INTERNATIONAL Ukrainian PM stresses urgency of aid: ‘We need support for yesterday, not today’ BY MIRANDA NAZZARO - 04/18/24 3:39 PM ET SHARE POST Video Player is loading....

In a sobering assessment reported by Politico, senior Ukrainian military officials have voiced grave concerns over the potential for the country's frontlines to collapse in the ongoing conflict with Russia.These officers, who served under former Commander-in-Chief General Valerij Zaluzjnyj, paint a grim picture of the situation, highlighting Russia's superior manpower and the effective use of new glide bombs as likely to lead to significant breakthroughs and the crumbling of Ukrainian defenses.According to these officials, Ukraine is at a severe disadvantage, lacking both the technological solutions and the sheer volume of resources needed to counter the Russian military's might."There's nothing that...

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Ukraine has sunk or disabled a third of all Russian warships in the Black Sea in just over two years of war, the navy spokesman said Tuesday, a heavy blow to Moscow’s military capability. Ukraine’s Navy spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk told The Associated Press that the latest strike on Saturday night hit the Russian amphibious landing ship Kostiantyn Olshansky that was resting in dock in Sevastopol in Russia-occupied Crimea. The ship was part of the Ukrainian navy before Russia captured it while annexing the Black Sea peninsula in 2014. Pletenchuk has previously announced that two other landing...

Polish farmers brought the border with Ukraine to a complete standstill with their tractors on Tuesday as they protested the “uncontrolled” flows of cheap produce from their war-torn neighbour, which they claim has severely undermined their ability to remain in business. In a significant blow to recently installed globalist Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who has vowed to be the most “pro-Ukrainian politician in Europe,” farmers from his country riled Kyiv once again by shutting down the border crossings at Lublin and Podkarpackie with hundreds of tractors, completely blocking off large transport trucks from coming in and out of the country...

Ukraine’s soldiers have been reduced to rationing ammo and checking daily for any updates from US lawmakers over whether Congress may cough up more aid, a Democratic senator claimed Sunday. “Ukrainians on the front lines are rationing bullets! More people are dying, more territory is being taken by Putin, because Republicans are afraid of what they call ‘procedural violence’ – ‘a motion to vacate’ or a ‘discharge petition,'” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) posted on X, referring to the congressional chaos over proposed legislation that includes billions of dollars in additional funding for Ukraine. “Suck it up and pass the bill,”...

Ukraine will change its citizenship law to allow foreign volunteer fighters to become Ukrainians, as well as “all ethnic Ukrainians” around the world to get passports, no matter how many generations different, the President has said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced a raft of new laws he had submitted to the national parliament (Verkhovna Rada) on Monday in a speech marking the Ukrainian Day of National Unity, an annual celebration of the short-lived 1917-era Ukrainian People’s Republic. Among the announcements are a serious liberalisation of Ukrainian citizenship law, allowing dual citizens for the first time and opening up passports to...

Ukrainian intelligence agencies blocked former President Petro Poroshenko from leaving the country to meet with Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán over an alleged Kremlin plot to diminish Western support for Ukraine’s war effort against Russia. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) announced on Saturday that it was behind the decision from the Verkhovna Rada parliament in Kyiv to block a planned trip to Budapest by Petro Poroshenko, who served as the president of Ukraine for five years after coming to power on the heels of a Western-backed coup against his predecessor Viktor Yanukovych over his decision to reject EU demands of...

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is reportedly planning to appear with Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S. at a Monday event in Kentucky as part of his push to reportedly go “all out” on securing $61.4 billion of American taxpayer aid for Ukraine. Politico’s Burgess Everett reported that McConnell will appear with Ambassador Oksana Markarova at the University of Louisville to “again publicly commit the United States to Kyiv’s defense against Russia,” as part of his push. McConnell’s support for Ukraine pits him against some in his own caucus, as well as House Republicans who are refusing to send another...

OUTSIDE KYIV, UKRAINE — Ukrainian pilots are honing their skills in virtual F-16 fighter jet cockpits as they anxiously await approval to travel abroad for training. A Ukrainian pilot gave a demonstration to a reporter from The Hill in an exclusive visit to a secret facility this month, where the cockpit simulation was displayed on large computer monitors for a small audience. Andrii, a Su-27 fighter pilot who goes by the call sign ‘Sabre,’ sat in a mock jet seat with a joystick, pedals under his feet, and a throttle to the left. The action takes place in a virtual...

Count Peter Schweizer among the “doubters” of the Biden administration’s choice of former Commerce Secretary and major Democratic donor Penny Pritzker to lead U.S. efforts to channel private sector reconstruction assistance to Ukraine. Pritzker, the heir to the Hyatt Hotels fortune and a real estate mogul herself, was corrupt and self-dealing during her commerce department tenure under President Barack Obama, which Schweizer documented in a 12-page chapter of his book, Secret Empires. “You really wonder who’s going to benefit from all this,” Schweizer said of the aid money headed to Ukraine. “Yet, here comes Penny Pritzker… She has no moral...

Ukraine's First Lady, Olena Zelenska, received the 2023 Clinton Global Citizen Award from Hillary and Bill Clinton during her visit to New York, where the 78th session of the UN General Assembly is taking place, her official Instagram page announced on Sept. 20. The 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, and his wife, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, honored Zelenska with the Clinton Global Citizen Award, established in 2007. The award is given to individuals whose vision and leadership inspire societies around the world and demonstrates that significant change can be achieved through collaboration. Zelenska noted...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky headed to Staten Island University Hospital on Monday to visit his country’s wounded soldiers after he landed in the Big Apple for this week’s United Nations General Assembly.Zelensky thanked Ukrainian fighters receiving treatment at the hospital and even helped one soldier out of his wheelchair and to his feet as the two took a photo together.

An opposition MP has been arrested and detained on suspicion of treason in Ukraine, with the nation’s security service claiming to have collected evidence of him spreading Russian propaganda. Nestor Shufrych, a member of the Opposition Platform — For Life party that was banned by President Volodymyr Zelensky through martial law measures last March following the Russian invasion, is facing 15 years in prison on suspicion of high treason. He is alleged to have spread the “Kremlin’s false narratives that the Ukrainian state is ‘an artificial entity’, that Ukraine and Russia ‘have one history’, and that Ukrainians and Russians are...

Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska is warning of the world growing complacent as her country presses on in its fight against Russian invaders. Zelenska sat down for an interview with ABC News and said she was concerned global attention is turning away from Ukraine. “We see that sometimes people become reluctant,” Zelenska said. “People talk about ‘Ukraine fatigue.’ This is talk of our existence. We can’t stop fighting for ourselves.” “So my message is: Please don’t stop to help us fight,” she continued. Asked whether she feels the world’s focus is drifting elsewhere, Zelenska said, “I’m afraid of it, but...

Ukrainian troops admitted that the Russians have put up a tougher fight than expected as they continue pushing into enemy-controlled territory. Troops at the vanguard of Ukraine’s long-planned counteroffensive in the southeast region of the country said that a fierce battle last week revealed that the Russian troops are better prepared than originally anticipated. “The Russians were waiting for us,” a 29-year-old soldier using the call-sign Bulat told Reuters in the Southern Donetsk Province. “They fired anti-tank weapons and grenade launchers at us. My vehicle drove over an anti-tank mine, but everything was ok, the vehicle took the hit, and...

Ukrainian forces pressed their counteroffensive through the Russian-occupied southeast on Thursday, capturing the village of Staromaiorske in a campaign to drive a wedge through Russian defensive positions. The counteroffensive has focused on securing villages on the southward push and areas around the eastern city of Bakhmut, taken by Russian forces in May after months of battles. Ukrainian officials have reported slow, steady progress. Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged intensified Ukrainian attacks over the last few days, but said they had made no headway.

A Ukrainian veteran who lost his leg in the war was booted from a flight as he sobbed asking for help getting home from Israel. A viral video published on TikTok Saturday shows the veteran, who has not been publicly identified, standing with crutches at the front of the plane, speaking with crew members before the Wizz Air flight was set to take off from Tel Aviv to Warsaw, Poland. According to the uploader, @mbbddk, the flight crew for the Hungary-based airline said the man could not take his seat because of his prosthesis. The veteran desperately tried to explain...

U2 is releasing a merchandise collection — with items featuring an illustration of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky drawn by Bono — to raise money to buy ambulances in Ukraine. The limited-edition collection announced Thursday includes $90 “Freedom and Fear” hoodies, $45 t-shirts and a $50 lithograph of Zelensky created by the U2 frontman and “Beautiful Day” singer. The Zelensky illustration — with the words “The choice is between freedom and fear” written above his head — first appeared on the June cover of The Atlantic.

Ukrainian troops are refining their tactics and undertaking “major offensive operations” in Kyiv’s counteroffensive against Moscow, according to a new intelligence update from the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense. “In recent days, Ukrainian forces have re-set and have again been undertaking major offensive operations on three main axes in southern and eastern Ukraine,” the British officials said in their assessment of the conflict.