11:57
Ukraine claims to have survived a new attack on Avdiivka
The Ukrainian army announced today that it had repelled a new Russian attack on the city of Avdiivka, an industrial city in the east of the country that has come under heavy Russian attacks in recent weeks. She assured that she had inflicted “numerous losses” on the enemy. “The enemy has renewed its attacks and is not giving up its attempts to encircle Avdiivka,” the Ukrainian Army General Staff said in its morning report on Facebook. “Our soldiers are holding the defensive lines,” he continued, confirming that the Russian army had destroyed or destroyed about 900 men and 150 armored vehicles in the area in 24 hours.
10:40
The IOC “strongly rejects” Vladimir Putin’s allegations of discrimination.
Restrictions on Russian athletes’ participation in the 2024 Paris Olympics have angered the Russian president, who has accused the IOC of “ethnic discrimination.” In a letter to AFP, an International Olympic Committee spokesman responded:
We firmly reject the accusation that these measures amount to “ethnic discrimination”.
09:34
Russian-American journalist Alsou Kurmasheva in the Russian justice system
A Russian court said today it is considering a request for pretrial detention by Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, who was arrested this week and became the second American reporter jailed in Russia, AFP reports. Since the Kremlin began its attack on Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has launched a sweeping crackdown on independent media, NGOs, journalists, lawyers and political opponents.
While many Russian activists and reporters have fled their country for fear of arrest, many others – famous and anonymous – have been imprisoned. The Sovetsky Court in Kazan, Tatarstan, told the press that Alsu Kurmasheva, a journalist for the American media Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, was being prosecuted for violating her obligation To as a “foreign agent” and that investigators therefore his Registration would have applied for detention.
08:32
Vladimir Putin visits the headquarters of his operation in Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the Russian army’s headquarters for operations in Ukraine in Rostov-on-Don on Thursday, the Kremlin said today. During this trip, the Russian president met with the chief of staff and commander of military operations in Ukraine Valéri Gerasimov, who, according to the same source, presented him with a report on the status of the Russian offensive. This meeting comes as Ukraine announced on Tuesday that it had successfully deployed for the first time ATACMS missiles with a range of up to 165 km, supplied to it by the United States in the strictest secrecy.
08:13
Vladimir Putin traveled to Rostov, to the military headquarters of the operation
Vladimir Putin visited the Russian army headquarters in Rostov-on-Don, the Kremlin said. The Russian president “on the way back from Perm visited the headquarters of the Russian Armed Forces in Rostov-on-Don,” in the Urals, where he spent the entire day on Thursday, a Kremlin press release said. During this trip, he met with Chief of Staff and Commander of Military Operations in Ukraine Valery Gerasimov, who presented him with a report on the status of the Russian offensive.
This meeting comes as Ukraine announced on Tuesday that it had successfully deployed for the first time ATACMS missiles with a range of up to 165 km – which the United States had supplied to it in great secrecy. For his part, Vladimir Putin estimated on Wednesday that these deliveries would have no impact on the course of the conflict and would only prolong Ukraine’s “agony.” Rostov-on-Don is located near Ukraine and has become an operations center for Russian forces in Ukraine.
The Russian President and the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, October 20, 2023. — © GAVRIIL GRIGOROV/KREMLIN / POOL / keystone-sda.ch
04:23
The US will be safe “for generations” if it helps Ukraine, says Joe Biden
Hamas and Russian President Vladimir Putin “both want to completely wipe out a neighboring democracy,” US President Joe Biden said in an address to the nation. He calls for “urgent” funding of aid to Israel and Ukraine, “essential partners.” The United States of America would be safer “for generations” if it helped these two countries at war, the American president emphasized in this speech broadcast from the Oval Office of the White House. By linking Israel’s defense to Ukraine’s, he hopes he will be able to find the consensus he has been lacking in Congress to fund additional military aid to Kiev.
A few hours before his speech, the American president spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, who had already thanked him on the phone for the “vital support” from the USA. Although Joe Biden’s Republican opponents are hesitant about military aid to Ukraine, they are the first to call for massive support for Israel, a strong stance on immigration and a firm stance against China.
According to a source close to the discussions, the White House plans to ask Congress for a whopping $100 billion for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and the migration crisis at the border with Mexico. Joe Biden, whose country has spent tens of billions on Ukraine, must overcome not only the fatigue of some elected officials but also the fatigue of American public opinion in the face of an ongoing conflict.