Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab , opens new tab Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts. , opens new tabScreen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks. © 2025 Reuters. All rights reserved Ukraine — Ethnic Russian residents in this eastern province who cheered on a rebel drive a year ago to separate from Ukraine are now suffering buyers' remorse While local governance such as schools and law enforcement continue to function many ties to the outside world have been broken since fighting erupted between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian security forces The Ukrainian government in the capital of Kiev cut off the banking system here and instituted travel restrictions between separatist-held areas and the rest of the country and residents in separatist-held areas have difficulty leaving Residents who once had comfortable lives now live in poverty and geographic seclusion prompting some to change their minds about separating from Ukraine a grounds cleaner at the Victory Cultural Center in downtown Amvrosiivka about 50 miles southeast of the rebel stronghold of Donetsk and close to the Russian border Lapteva said she hasn't received a salary in months Like other women waiting in the cold for handouts of baby food and diapers Lapteva said the new rebel government has provided no help at all: "The new authorities promise but don't do anything," she said When residents ask the Russian-backed People's Republic of Donetsk for aid the authorities say they've not received official requests from her town When residents call the Akhmetov Foundation aid workers say the Ukrainian military won't let convoys go through While government services are mostly restored in Donetsk separatist authorities in outlying areas provide almost no assistance to medical clinics old age homes and other social service institutions which provides baby food and diapers to the mothers in Amvrosiivka and other aid in the region "Supplies that rebel forces have they give to the armed groups and almost nothing is left over for civilians," Shibalov said "What's good: They never interfere with anybody providing services" to those in need a man in military fatigues yells at the proprietor about the high price of food and storms out The man was injured in fighting with Ukrainian troops and spent weeks in the hospital "Now he's out and surprised at the prices," he says Ocean used to be a restaurant but turned into a soup kitchen for students and the needy after paying customers dried up Her supplies are provided by the Russia-based aid group the Cossack Union "It's more difficult than before because many sons and husbands are in the (separatist) army and we worry about them," Lavrinovich said She then lowered her voice as she added in Russian the dominant language here: "I speak Ukrainian and love my country — I think I'm Ukrainian — and I really worry all this will destroy the country." Not everyone at the Ocean shared her feelings "Ukraine is an invention," said Valerie Lejenine a construction worker with a handgun under his black blazer who's been digging graves for the region's fallen fighters "We want to live in our own independent state and then see where we should go Residents in Donetsk who haven't fled say garbage collection continues and crime appears to be down since before the war That's half the number of officers that would have been at the circle before the war but there is only half as much traffic because so many people and jobs are gone The walkway from street level to the mall's underground passage is empty of the usual panhandlers The air is cleaner because there's so much less traffic and many of the city's industrial plants are idle At the Porochovsky district of Donetsk's public school system the war has led to a drop in student enrollment from 6,625 last year to 5,989 because some parents fear it is unsafe to attend school and others left the district teachers must correspond with absent students through the Internet Donetsk authorities have ordered educators to continue organizing academic competitions humanitarian aid and meals for students like before and they have made changes in the history and language curriculums Russian-language instruction from two hours a week to three matching the number of hours devoted to the Ukrainian language now put more emphasis on the region's relationship to Russia the history of World War II and the Soviet Union's role in liberating the region from Nazi occupation "New textbooks were delivered to all the schools two months ago," Malina said Asked if her schools still prepare students as well for future jobs Malina took a breath and said the question should be posed to parents said the district has "no evidence" the children are unhappy or stressed a class of 11th-graders provided a different impression when asked how the war has affected their lives It's hard to think about because my brother was killed," she said Then her eyes welled with tears and she looked away A classmate put her hand on Koznztsova's forearm "Half of our class has left to Ukraine or to Russia," Inna Dychenio said A question about what country the school resides in was met with confused silence — until a boy named Anton Chernyaev spoke up: "The People's Republic of Donetsk." A group of investigative journalists who specialise in image analysis say they have proved a series of key artillery strikes on Ukrainian forces in summer 2014 came from inside Russia. We focus on two attacks to show how the Bellingcat team examined satellite imagery and social media videos to support their theory Your browser does not support JavaScript, or it is disabled．Please check the site policy for more information Asia & World World KYIV--Russia reinforced its fighting force Tuesday with an annual fall draft of 120,000 men and doubled the number of civilians it’s trying to evacuate in anticipation of a major Ukrainian push to recapture the strategically vital southern port city of Kherson Russian military officials have assured that conscripts to be called up over the next two months will not be sent to fight in Ukraine three other Ukrainian areas that Russia recently illegally annexed or to Crimea which the Kremlin made part of Russia in 2014 the U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War said the Russian Defense Ministry “is attempting to deceive the Russian population into believing that autumn conscripts will not be sent to fight in Ukraine This year’s fall draft was delayed because of an extraordinary partial mobilization of 300,000 reservists that President Vladimir Putin ordered Sept 21 specifically to bolster his Ukraine invasion force While Russian officials have declared the partial mobilization complete critics have warned it could resume after military enlistment offices are freed up from processing fall conscripts Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Tuesday that 87,000 of 300,000 reservists have been deployed for combat in Ukraine and that 3,000 military instructors with fighting experience in the country are training them Reports suggest that many of the mobilized reservists are inexperienced were told to procure basic items such as medical kits and flak jackets themselves and did not receive proper training before deployment tens of thousands of men fled Russia to avoid serving in the military Some of the fresh troops have reportedly been sent to Kherson on Tuesday reported relocating 70,000 residents and they expanded an evacuation area to people living within 15 kilometers of the Dnieper River said the relocation of an additional 70,000 residents from the expanded evacuation zone would be completed this week and claimed it was ordered because Kyiv “is preparing a massive missile strike on the Kakhovka hydroelectric station” to flood Kherson Ukraine’s military on Tuesday described the new evacuations as “forced displacement,” and the Russian-installed government of the Kherson regional district where the Kakhovka hydroelectric station and associated dam and reservoir are located announced it would undertake a “forced evacuation” on Sunday The Ukrainian military said the Kherson regional administration had been relocated to Skadovsk 100 kilometers south of the city of Kherson In addition to the Kremlin’s military draft it moved on another front to bolster its forces Authorities in Belarus on Tuesday approved the creation of two joint troop training centers with Moscow on the territory of the east European country its long-standing and economically dependent ally as a springboard to send troops and missiles into Ukraine Kyiv fears the Belarusian army could be drawn directly into the war concerns about radiation figured in two developments Experts from the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog agency inspected two Ukrainian sites that Russia identified as involved in its unfounded claims that Ukrainian authorities planned to set off radioactive “dirty bombs” in their own invaded country International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi said the inspections for evidence of “dirty bombs” would be completed soon Security Council members last week that Ukraine’s nuclear research facility and mining company “received direct orders from (President Volodymyr) Zelenskyy’s regime to develop such a dirty bomb.” Western nations have called Moscow’s repeated claim “transparently false.” Ukrainian authorities dismissed it as an attempt to distract attention from alleged Russian plans to detonate a dirty bomb as a way to justify an escalation of hostilities A second radiation concern involves fighting near Europe’s largest nuclear power plant The IAEA has stationed monitors at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant where a radiation leak could have catastrophic consequences The Ukrainian president’s office said Tuesday that cities and towns around the plant experienced more heavy shelling a city which faces the plant from across the wide Dnieper River Russian strikes targeting eight regions of southeastern Ukraine killed at least four civilians and wounded four in 24 hours Russian shelling hit 14 towns and villages in the eastern Donetsk region Monday and Tuesday damaging a power line and taking down mobile communications in some areas Donetsk is one of four regions Moscow illegally annexed last month and continues to see fierce clashes as Russian forces press their grinding attack on the cities of Bakhmut and Avdiivka A woman was killed after Russian rockets hit apartment buildings and a school in the southern city of Mykolayiv Ukraine was still grappling with the consequences of Monday’s massive barrage of Russian strikes Zelenskyy announced Tuesday night that water supply had been restored nationwide and that for the majority of the population although he said planned blackouts are still possible to protect the system in nine regions subway service was suspended again on Tuesday ships loaded with grain continued to depart Ukraine on Tuesday despite Russia’s suspension of its participation in a U.N.-brokered deal to deliver critical food supplies to countries facing hunger said three ships carrying 84,490 metric tons of corn wheat and sunflower meal left through a humanitarian sea corridor Russia hits power stations after Ukraine counteroffensive Ukraine warns of ‘nuclear terrorism’ after strike near plant Russia agree on need for evacuation corridors as war rages Attack on Ukrainian nuclear plant triggers worldwide alarm Ukrainian troops surrendering at Mariupol registered as POWs Information on the latest cherry blossom conditions Please right click to use your browser’s translation function.) A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II In-house News and Messages No reproduction or republication without written permission Russian troops fighting on the side of separatists in Ukraine are advancing in the southeast region of the country Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko said on Thursday The United Nations Security Council is holding an emergency meeting Thursday afternoon in New York on the escalation in Ukraine at the request of Lithaunia a NATO state which shares a border with Russia.  "There's an invasion of Russian troops into the east of Ukraine," Dainus Baublys the minister counselor for Lithuania's UN mission "Up to 1,000 Russian troops invaded yesterday .. they continue pounding Ukrainian forces across the border with their artillery and they are deploying more artillery pieces along the border." The new front opened in Amvrosiivka and Starobeshevo opens a pathway to Crimea, which Russia annexed with special forces troops in March The fear is that Russia is attempting to create a land link between Russia and the strategic peninsula Russian troops are leading a separatist counteroffensive in the east bringing in tanks and using artillery from inside Ukrainian territory A Russian-backed rebel leader said that at least 3,000 to 4,000 Russian troops were fighting inside Ukraine "Current servicemen are also fighting in our ranks as they came to us to struggle for our freedom instead of their vacations," prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Alexander Zakharchenko told Russian media "This is characteristic only for Russians." Reports from the ground describe an escalating ground war "This is what happened: They crossed the border Aleksei Panko said after telling The New York Times on Wednesday that about 60 armored vehicles crossed the border near the town of Novoazovsk. "This is now a war with Russia." "Ukrainian troops were ordered to pull out to save their lives By late afternoon both Russian convoys had entered the town Ukraine is now fortifying nearby Mariupol to the west," Ukraine's national security and defense council said in a statement artillery and multiple rocket launchers have been insufficient to defeat Ukraine's armed forces so now an increasing number of Russian troops are intervening directly in the fighting on Ukrainian territory," Pyatt wrote on Twitter "Russia has also sent its newest air defense systems including the SA-22 into eastern Ukraine and is now directly involved in the fighting." Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has called for an emergency U.N Security Council meeting to deal with the issue of Russian troops in Ukraine although Russia sits on the council and could veto any proposal that arose "And along with the antiaircraft systems operated by separatists or Russian forces inside Ukraine the artillery has the potential to alter the balance of power in the struggle for control of eastern Ukraine." State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Wednesday that Russia’s "incursions" in Ukraine indicated "a Russian-directed counter-offensive is likely underway," which she said was of "deep concern" to the U.S She accused Russia of "sending its young men into Ukraine but not telling them or their parents where they are going or what they are doing."  "These are not steps you take when you are operating in a transparent manner," Psaki said "We are also concerned about the Russian government’s unwillingness to tell the truth even as its soldiers are found 30 miles inside Ukraine.” they were polite military men wearing green They're definitely not from around here," one man told Reuters The "green men" are a reminder of the Russian special forces that were used to annex the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea.  The Times noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin who was in Belarus this week for talks with Ukrainian and European leaders may be "calculating that Moscow could intervene in eastern Ukraine with conventional Russian forces without risking further Western economic sanctions." "Vladimir Putin has purposely started a war in Europe. It is impossible to hide from the fact," Yatsenyuk said. Since March 2015, has taken direct part in criminal activity in the territory of Ukraine. Position and place of service before he was seconded to participate in the armed aggression of Russia against Ukraine: the deputy commander of the detachment of the 25th separate Special Forces regiment (military unit 05525, Stavropol) of the 49th Army (Stavropol) of the Southern Military District of the Russian Armed Forces. In April 2015, the units of the Special Forces of the 25th separate Special Forces regiment, participated in hostilities in the temporarily occupied territories of the East of Ukraine and was stationed in Amvrosiivka. Date and place of birth: born on 17.08.1984, in the town of Aksai, Rostov oblast, Russia. Education: Novosybirsk Higher Command School (2007). A satellite image allegedly shows Russian military units moving in a convoy with self-propelled artillery in the area of Krasnodon Link copiedShareShare articleNATO has released satellite images which it says show Russian combat forces Well over 1,000 Russian troops are operating inside Ukraine marking a significant escalation of Moscow's military involvement in the country "Over the past two weeks we have noted a significant escalation in both the level and sophistication of Russia's military interference in Ukraine," Dutch Brigadier-General Nico Tak head of NATO's crisis management centre told reporters at NATO's military headquarters near Mons "We assess well over 1,000 Russian troops are now operating inside Ukraine," he said referring to Russia's actions as "incursions" rather than an invasion "They are supporting separatists (and) fighting with them." NATO estimates Russia also has about 20,000 troops close to the Ukrainian border "We have also detected large quantities of advanced weapons tanks and armoured personnel carriers being transferred to separatist forces in eastern Ukraine," he said But the Russian ambassador to the European Union "NATO has never produced a single piece of evidence That is not the first time this is happening," Mr Chizhov said Ukraine accused Russia on Thursday of bringing troops into the south-east of the country in support of pro-Moscow separatist rebels NATO ambassadors will hold an emergency meeting with their Ukrainian counterpart in Brussels on Friday at Kiev's request to discuss the situation NATO ambassadors will also meet separately on Friday US president Barack Obama said the images released by NATO make it "plain for the world to see" that Russian forces are destabilising the situation in eastern Ukraine "The violence is encouraged by Russia they are funded by Russia," he told a press conference at the White House "This comes as Ukrainian forces are making progress against the separatists and the major sanctions we have imposed with our European and international partners Russia is already more isolated than at any time since the end of the cold war." See how the Russian and Ukrainian militaries compare in size and capability The US leader nevertheless said that Washington was "not taking military action to solve the Ukrainian problem" "It is not on the cards for us to see a military confrontation between Russia and the United States in this region," he said The UN Security Council has held an emergency meeting to discuss the deteriorating situation in Ukraine and NATO's revelations said it was clear Russia had joined the separatists in fighting Ukrainian government forces but Russia has to stop lying and has to stop fuelling this conflict we see Russia's actions for what they are a deliberate effort to support and now fight alongside illegal separatists in another sovereign country." told the meeting the Kiev's policies in eastern Ukraine had inflamed tensions and questioned its cooperation with an investigation into the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 Australia's acting ambassador to the UN, Michael Bliss, told the meeting Moscow must "immediately withdraw its military equipment and personnel from Ukrainian territory" "These latest developments indicate a new and even more dangerous escalation of the crisis which appears to be moving to a wider area of Ukraine and drawing in the southern land route to Crimea," Mr Bliss told the meeting This is the only effective way to prevent troops and equipment entering Ukraine and key to a ceasefire." A United Nations report this week said more than 2,200 people have been killed not including the 298 who died when a Malaysian airliner was shot down over rebel-held territory in July showed Russian military units moving in convoy with self-propelled artillery in the area of Krasnodon inside territory controlled by Russian separatists showed Russian self-propelled artillery units set up in firing positions near Krasnodon supported by logistical vehicles likely to have been carrying extra ammunition and supplies "This is highly sophisticated equipment which requires a well-trained crew It's extremely unlikely these sorts of units are manned by separatists," Brigadier-General Tak said Europe correspondent Philip Williams spoke with ABC News 24 about the situation in Ukraine Allegedly there is a column of about 100 vehicles armoured personnel carriers and other military vehicles They allegedly opened a new front and there has certainly been rebel activity at the very least in areas that we haven't seen before and this is down south in the south-eastern corner of Ukraine and near the Sea of Azov The alleged possible goal in the immediate term is Mariupol It is confronting for the Ukrainians because they had the rebels bottled up in Luhansk and Donetsk and other places in between that there are direct Russian troops involving Russian vehicles there is no equivocation about that in their minds and the president has said "There is an invasion of Russian forces has taken place" There are calls by the Ukrainian Government for the UN Security Council to meet a sense of crisis but I must say it is limited in one sense that this is not a full scale invasion by Russian troops This is a limited invasion by Russian troops if it is what it is said to be If the Russians were seriously invading the whole of Ukraine He said the escalation of Russian military operations in recent weeks was directly linked to the success of Ukrainian government operations against pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine including "the loss of territory by the separatists the loss of weapons and the loss of manpower" Russia had carried out a new incursion near Novoazovsk in south-eastern Ukraine "This effectively creates a second front for the Ukrainian forces This is an extremely effective way to take pressure off the separatists," he said The Russian move put Ukrainian armed forces in a dire situation because from south-eastern Ukraine Russian forces could either move to link up with Donetsk area or move further west towards Crimea "From a strategic perspective it is clear that Russia is not willing to accept a defeat of the separatists So it will most likely do anything that it takes to prevent such a defeat," Brigadier-General Tak said "I suspect they (Russian forces) will do no more than absolutely necessary at this point to show their hand," he said "The next thing we will see is Russia is going to try and freeze this conflict It is going to try and prolong the conflict making it difficult for Ukraine to sustain that operation making sure that they don't have to sell a defeat at home and trying to broker some kind of deal with Kiev something that will allow them enduring influence in eastern Ukraine." Asked about the likelihood of Russian troops creating a "land bridge" from Russia to Crimea via Mariupol Brigadier-General Tak said: "It is obviously something that we are watching quite closely." Creating a land bridge to Crimea would require a lot more Russian resources but it was not impossible He said there was clear evidence that there had been military contact between Ukrainian and Russian forces Pictures of graves in north-western Russia that had appeared in the media suggested Russia had taken casualties Despite NATO's concern over the situation in Ukraine US dominated alliance has said repeatedly it has no intention of intervening militarily in Ukraine It has reinforced the security of NATO allies in the region and will discuss further steps at a summit in Wales next week NATO released images allegedly showing Russian self-propelled artillery units set up in firing positions Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko has condemned Russia for what he says are Russian troop movements into the south-east of Ukraine Mr Poroshenko cancelled an official trip to Turkey and convened an urgent meeting of his security advisers to deal with what he called the rapidly deteriorating situation in the embattled Donetsk region "I have made a decision to cancel my working visit to the Republic of Turkey due to sharp aggravation of the situation in Donetsk region particularly in Amvrosiivka and Starobeshevo as Russian troops were actually brought into Ukraine," Mr Poroshenko said in a statement The offensive by Ukrainian forces has reduced the rebels' stronghold on the region Earlier this week, Mr Poroshenko promised to work on an urgent ceasefire plan to defuse his country's separatist conflict following late-night talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin. The first negotiations between the two leaders since June were described by Mr Putin as positive, but he said it was not for Russia to get into the details of truce terms between the Kiev government and rebels. "We didn't substantively discuss that, and we, Russia, can't substantively discuss conditions of a ceasefire, of agreements between Kiev, Donetsk and Luhansk," Mr Putin said. "That's not our business. It's up to Ukraine itself. "We can only contribute to create a situation of trust for a possible, and in my view, extremely necessary negotiation process." The United States also warned it was considering new sanctions against Russia over its involvement in the latest fighting in Ukraine. "We have additional tools and sanctions that we can certainly choose to put in place," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. "A military solution is not what we think is the appropriate approach so we are taking every tool that we can to see if we can reach a solution here through diplomatic means," she added. AEST = Australian Eastern Standard Time which is 10 hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) Ukraine has claimed that its forces have captured 10 Russian soldiers in an eastern region where Ukrainian troops are fighting pro-Russia separatists. The Facebook page for the anti-rebel operation - which includes the military the national guard and Interior Ministry forces – said the soldiers are from a Russian paratrooper division and were captured yesterday in the area of Amvrosiivka near the Russian border in the Donetsk region The posting did not give details of how the capture took place It contained videos of five men it said were among the captives one of whom said the soldiers had been told they were being mobilised to take part in military exercises Russian news agencies quoted an unnamed source in the Russian Defence Ministry as saying the soldiers were patrolling the border area and probably crossed the border inadvertently Russia reportedly has tens of thousands of troops positioned in areas near the Ukrainian border leading to persistent concerns that Russia could be preparing an invasion Ukraine said 10 tanks and two armoured vehicles belonging to the Russian military crossed into south-eastern Ukraine bearing the flags of the rebel Donetsk People’s Republic Ukraine also claimed that Russia fired artillery in the direction of the city of Novoazovsk in the far south-east Russia consistently denies allegations from Kiev and Western countries that it is supporting or directing the rebels and that it fires artillery into Ukraine From as little as €1 a week with our digital introductory offer Already a subscriber? Sign in more courts articles