RUSSIAN AIRSTRIKE

Exhaustion, dwindling reserves and a commander who disappeared: How Ukraine lost Avdiivka to Russia

Within a week, Ukraine had lost Avdiivka, the city in the Donetsk region that it had been defending since long before Russia's full-scale invasion. Nearly surrounded and vastly outnumbered, the Ukrainians made the decision to withdraw and avoid the same kind of deadly siege soldiers experienced in the port city of Mariupol's Azovstal steel mill, where thousands were taken captive or killed.

Russia says a plane with Ukrainian POWs crashes, killing all aboard, and accuses Kyiv of downing it

A Russian military transport plane crashed near Ukraine, with Moscow alleging it was shot down by Kyiv. Russia claims all 74 aboard, including 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war, died. The video showed the plane crashing in a snowy area, but the cause remains unconfirmed. The Ukrainian president calls for an international investigation, while tensions escalate amid conflicting accusations. The incident adds to the complex narrative of the 700-day war, marked by information challenges and ongoing geopolitical dynamics.

Global upheaval marks start of 2024 amid conflicts and natural disasters

The onset of 2024 saw global celebrations overshadowed by crises: airstrikes in Gaza, Ukraine's conflict escalation, Japan's devastating earthquake. Gaza's rocket launch towards Israel led to retaliatory strikes, worsening the humanitarian crisis. Ukraine faced Russian drone threats, heightening tensions. Japan's 7.6 magnitude quake triggered tsunami alerts. Amid New Year's festivities worldwide, incidents marred revelry. Pope Francis prayed for global conflict victims. Upcoming elections in key nations, including the US, highlight a year fraught with geopolitical, environmental, and political uncertainties.

A year of war: 2023 sees worst-ever Israel-Hamas combat as Russian attacks on Ukraine grind on

The world in 2023 witnessed harrowing scenes: a bloodied boy rescued from Gaza's rubble, an elderly Israeli hostage taken by Hamas, and a grieving girl beside her brother's grave near Kyiv, Ukraine. The year spotlighted global conflicts—from Israel-Hamas to Russia's war on Ukraine—revealing complexities and dangers. African coups, drug wars in Latin America, and unrest in Myanmar and Afghanistan added to the volatile landscape. Despite cease-fires, Yemen's conflict persists, while nuclear tensions simmer in India, Pakistan, North Korea, and Iran.

Airstrikes hit Gaza as Israel says it doesn't plan to control life there after destroying Hamas

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s comments to lawmakers were the first time a top Israeli official discussed its long-term plans for Gaza. Gallant said Israel expected a three-phase war, starting with airstrikes and ground maneuvers. It anticipates then defeating pockets of resistance, and finally, ceasing Israel's “responsibility for life in the Gaza Strip.”

6 killed in Russian attacks on Ukraine as Kyiv continues drone counterstrikes

Six people were killed in Russian attacks on Ukraine in the past 24 hours, with two people killed and three injured in the Kherson area. Two guided bombs hit key infrastructure in Kherson city, causing a partial blackout and disrupting the water supply. In the Donetsk area, two more people died, and a 57-year-old man and a 54-year-old woman were killed by an airstrike in the Kharkiv region.

Russia strikes Odesa, damaging port, grain infrastructure and abandoned hotel

A Russian drone and missile strike near Odesa in Ukraine has caused damage to port infrastructure, a grain silo, and an abandoned hotel. One person was injured in the attack. Ukrainian officials reported that four civilians were killed and 13 others were wounded in attacks on Ukraine over the past day. Russia has been targeting port and grain storage facilities in Odesa, destroying critical infrastructure for storage and shipping.

Russian missiles hit residential building in eastern Ukraine; 8 killed, 31 wounded

A Russian missile attack on Pokrovsk in the Donetsk area of eastern Ukraine has killed eight people and injured 31 others. The targeted residential structures included a hotel and apartment complex. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of attempting to destroy eastern Ukraine.

Russian air strikes kills nine, injures dozens in Syria's Idlib

According to the CNN, Russian military flights over the country have shown marked aggression in the past few months. In April, Russian pilots attempted to "dogfight" US jets over Syria, the US said. In military aviation, dogfighting is engaging in aerial combat, often at relatively close ranges.

Who is Yevgeny Prigozhin? Russian mercenary chief and founder of Wagner Group, whose forces are marching towards Moscow

Yevgeny Prigozhin, a billionaire with close ties to Putin, gained international attention leading the Wagner Group in Ukraine. He defied military leadership, accused them of incompetence, and led a private army of former prisoners. Prigozhin faced allegations of election interference and had a reputation as "Putin's Chef."

Russian defense chief wants wartime missile output doubled

The Russian Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, has told Tactical Missiles Corporation to double its missile output to help counteract a possible Ukrainian counteroffensive, as both sides in the war face an ammunition crunch. There has been much analysis surrounding an apparent decrease in the number of missile barrages launched against Ukraine by Russia since the start of the conflict, as experts try to decide whether Russia’s supply of high-precision ammunition is running low. The US recently assessed that Russia has suffered 100,000 casualties in Ukraine since December.

Russian President Vladimir Putin visits occupied city of Mariupol

Putin traveled to Crimea, a short distance southwest of Mariupol, to mark the ninth anniversary of the Black Sea peninsula's annexation from Ukraine. Mariupol became a worldwide symbol of defiance after outgunned and outmanned Ukrainian forces held out in a steel mill there for nearly three months before Moscow finally took control of it in May.

Ukraine reports more Russian drone attacks

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that 40 drones "headed for Kyiv" overnight, according to air defense forces, and all of them were destroyed. Klitschko said 22 drones were destroyed over Kyiv, three in the outlying Kyiv region and 15 over neighboring provinces.

As Ukraine readies for second year at war, prospect of stalemate looms

Over the past six months, Ukrainian forces have slowed Russia's advance in the Donbas in the east, reclaimed a large swath of land in the northeast, and gained control of Kherson, a major southern city. But the wins came with a heavy cost: thousands of Ukrainian soldiers killed and the expenditure of immense amounts of ammunition, in particular artillery rounds. In fact, throughout much of the year, Ukraine fired far more rounds of artillery in a week than the United States could produce in a month.

In multiple airstrikes, Ukrainian forces target Russian military barracks, kill many soldiers in occupied areas

Russian army took a significant blow as the Ukrainian forces launched a series of airstrikes and destroyed several military barracks in the occupied cities.

Russian airstrikes reported in cities across Ukraine

The barrage of strikes came as air raid alerts were issued across Ukraine. They followed what have been days of euphoria in Ukraine after one of its biggest military successes so far of the nearly nine-month Russian invasion - the retaking last week of the southern city of Kherson.

Ukraine warns of Russian ''brutality'' in eastern region

In the Donetsk city of Bakhmut, some 15,000 remaining residents were living under daily shelling and without water or power, according to local media. The city has been under attack for months, but the bombardment picked up after Russian forces experienced setbacks during Ukrainian counteroffensives in the Kharkiv and Kherson regions. In Kharkiv, officials are working to identify bodies found in mass graves after the Russians withdrew, Dmytro Chubenko, a spokesperson for the regional prosecutor's office, said in an interview with local media.

Russia confirms 'high-precision' strike on Kyiv during UN visit

"High-precision, long-range air-based weapons of the Russian Aerospace Forces have destroyed the production buildings of the Artyom missile and space enterprise in Kyiv," the ministry said in its daily briefing on the conflict in Ukraine.

Watch: Damaged buildings in Chernihiv after Russian shelling and airstrikes, rescuers clear the rubble

Moscow accuses Kyiv of airstrike in Russia in new snag for peace talks

Peace talks between Ukrainian and Russian officials resumed via video video, but Moscow warned that the helicopter attack on a fuel depot in the town of Belgorod would hamper negotiations. After over a month of a military campaign that has reduced parts of Ukraine to rubble, Moscow said in peace talks earlier this week it would scale back attacks on the capital Kyiv and the city of Chernigiv.

300 dead in airstrike on theatre in Mariupol, say officials

Soon after the airstrike, Ludmyla Denisova, the Ukrainian Parliament's human rights commissioner, said more than 1,300 people had been sheltering in the building.

Hundreds feared trapped in Ukraine theatre hit by airstrike

A photo released by Mariupol's city council showed an entire section of the large, 3-story theater had collapsed after the strike Wednesday evening. Several hundred people had taken refuge in the building's basement, seeking safety amid Russia's 3-week, strangulating siege of the strategic Azov Sea port city.

Russian airstrike at NATO's doorstep raises fears of expanded war

The military base that was hit, which is called the International Peacekeeping and Security Center, has been a hub for Western military troops to train Ukrainian forces since 2015. Troops from the United States, Britain, Canada, Poland, Sweden and Denmark, among others, have trained 35,000 Ukrainians there under a project called “Operation Unifier.”