Ukraine and Russia exchanged a brand new group of captured troopers on Thursday, the newest in a sequence of prisoner swaps agreed at peace talks in Istanbul earlier this month. Neither facet stated what number of prisoners had been launched within the newest trade. The bulk had been held captive for greater than three years, in keeping with Ukraine’s coordination headquarters for the therapy of prisoners of struggle. Lots of them had been taken prisoner in Mariupol, a Ukrainian port metropolis that fell to Russian forces in 2022 after a virtually three-month siege, it stated. Russian officers stated its troopers had been transferred to Belarus and had been receiving “psychological and medical care”.
The EU’s 27 leaders on Thursday agreed to increase sanctions on Russia for an additional six months, resolving fears that Kremlin-friendly Hungary would let the measures lapse, officers stated. The choice at a summit in Brussels implies that the EU’s sweeping sanctions over the struggle in Ukraine, together with the freezing of greater than 200bn euros ($234bn) in Russian central financial institution belongings, will stay in pressure till a minimum of early 2026. However whereas the EU made certain its current measures will stay in place, it did not get clearance on a brand new bundle of sanctions because of a blockage by Slovakia.
The leaders additionally stated the bloc “stays steadfast in its assist for Ukraine’s path in direction of EU membership.” That message got here a day after Nato leaders kept away from placing a reference to Ukraine’s hopes of becoming a member of the navy organisation of their summit assertion, due largely to US resistance. In a video message despatched to EU leaders, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged them to ship “a transparent political message – that Ukraine is firmly on the European path and that Europe stands by its guarantees.”
The White Home has really helpful terminating US funding for practically two dozen applications that conduct struggle crimes and accountability work globally, together with on alleged Russian atrocities in Ukraine, in keeping with two US sources aware of the matter and inner authorities paperwork reviewed by Reuters. The advice from the Workplace of Administration and Price range, which has not been beforehand reported, is just not the ultimate determination to finish the applications because it provides the state division the choice to enchantment.
Polish overseas minister Radoslaw Sikorski stated Thursday {that a} new arms race might result in the autumn of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “regime”, identical to it toppled the Soviet Union. The Nato member’s prime diplomat spoke after the western defence alliance agreed to massively ramp up defence spending, seen as very important to counter the menace from Russia. “Putin ought to perceive that he’s on the trail of [Soviet leader Leonid] Brezhnev. He himself as soon as stated that the Soviet Union collapsed as a result of it spent an excessive amount of on armament, and now he’s doing precisely the identical factor,” Sikorski stated in an interview with AFP, the Polish information company PAP and German company DPA.
Ukrainian forces have halted Russia’s current advance into the northern Sumy area and have stabilized the frontline close to the border with Russia, Ukraine’s prime navy commander stated on Thursday. Col Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander in chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, stated that Ukrainian successes in Sumy have prevented Russia from deploying about 50,000 Russian troops, together with elite airborne and marine brigades, to different areas of the frontline.
Russian troops have taken management of a village in japanese Ukraine which is near a lithium deposit after fierce resistance from Ukrainian forces, a Russian-backed official stated on Thursday. The village of Shevchenko is positioned in Donetsk. The Russian defence ministry introduced earlier on Thursday that Shevchenko had been taken together with one other settlement referred to as Novoserhiivka.
The worldwide chemical weapons watchdog stated Thursday that it had discovered a banned teargas in seven samples submitted by Ukraine, which has accused Russia of utilizing the riot management agent on the frontline. It was the third time the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has confirmed using CS fuel in areas the place combating is going down in Ukraine.
