Cincunri Sakia

Senin, 12 September 2022

Ukraine faces 'tough fight' even as some Russian forces retreat, says US - Financial Times

Ukraine still faces “a tough fight” after Russia gave up most of the territory it had taken near Kharkiv following a lightning counteroffensive that forced many of its retreating troops to leave the country, according to the Pentagon.

A senior military official said on Monday that the Russian military “had largely ceded their gains” around Ukraine’s second-largest city and had “withdrawn to the north and the east”, adding that “many of these forces have moved over the border into Russia”.

The Pentagon’s assessment came as US officials expressed cautious optimism about the Ukrainian counteroffensive while warning that the rapid advances had not fundamentally changed the near-term outlook on the battleground.

“This continues to be a tough fight for the Ukrainians,” the official said. “Our focus will be to continue to work closely with the Ukrainians and the international community to provide them with the support that they need as they push back on the Russian invaders.”

US secretary of state Antony Blinken said that while Ukrainian forces have made “significant progress” in their counteroffensive, particularly in the north-east, it “is too early to tell exactly where this is going”.

Speaking at a press conference in Mexico City, he said Russia continues to pour resources into the war.

“The Russians maintain very significant forces in Ukraine, as well as equipment and arms and munitions,” Blinken said. “They continue to use it indiscriminately against not just the Ukrainian armed forces but civilians and civilian infrastructure.”

Some western officials have been emboldened by Ukraine’s progress, saying that recent advances have bolstered the case for Nato countries and partners to provide it with lethal aid.

The US is aware of reports that Russian forces abandoned equipment as they retreated, “which could be indicative of Russia’s disorganised command and control”, the official added.

A senior US defence official said Washington and its allies were discussing Ukraine’s longer-term needs, such as air defences, and whether it may be appropriate to give Kyiv fighter aircraft in the “medium- to longer-term”.

Ukrainian military officials have said they have reclaimed more than 3,000 sq km of terrain in what has become Moscow’s biggest military setback since it was forced to scrap plans to conquer Kyiv and retreated from the country’s north in March.

Officials and analysts forecast that Ukraine would continue to advance but that Russia may be able to take back some territory, adding that they did not expect progress to be linear.

Karine Jean-Pierre, White House press secretary, said it was up to Ukraine to detail its progress but added it was “clear they are fighting hard to defend their country and take back territory”. The US would “continue to support their need to succeed on the battlefield”.

She added that the White House was grateful to Congress “for the bipartisan support that has made it possible to provide Ukraine with unprecedented military, humanitarian [and] financial support”.

Jean-Pierre said the US and its allies “have worked to fulfil the Ukraine request for what they need to be successful on the battlefield — and that’s what we’re going to continue to do”.

The US has committed much of the $40bn aid package for Ukraine that President Joe Biden signed in May, which was meant to last until the end of September. He has asked Congress for about $13bn more in assistance for the country, including lethal aid, and Washington is expected to announce another weapons package in the coming days.

The tentatively encouraging assessment from US officials came after the Kremlin said it would press on with its invasion of Ukraine “until all the goals that were originally set are achieved”.

The Russian defence ministry has acknowledged its troops have pulled back in the Kharkiv region, but authorities have avoided calling it a retreat.

On Monday, Ukrainian troops tried to consolidate the gains made since launching the offensive east of Kharkiv. In Izyum, a critical logistics hub where thousands of Russian troops had been stationed, Ukrainian soldiers hoisted the national flag over the central district government building in the main square.

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiP2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmZ0LmNvbS9jb250ZW50L2VlNjI3ODhhLTgxOTEtNDhlMi04N2VlLWU0NTU2MTRkNThjYdIBAA?oc=5

2022-09-12 22:13:01Z
1560875820

Russia to press on 'until all the goals' achieved in Ukraine, says Kremlin - Financial Times

Russia will push on with its invasion of Ukraine until all military goals are met, the Kremlin has said, as it responded to Kyiv’s massive counter-offensive in the east, which has reclaimed more than 3,000 sq km of terrain.

The Russian military setback is the Kremlin’s biggest since it was forced to U-turn on plans to take the Ukrainian capital and has led to a rising tide of recriminations in Moscow over who is to blame.

President Vladimir Putin is fully briefed on the relocation of Russian forces, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday. The defence ministry has acknowledged Russian troops were pulled back in the Kharkiv region, but authorities have since avoided calling it a retreat.

“The president is in constant, round-the-clock communication with the minister of defence, and with all the military commanders,” Peskov said.

Asked if Putin still trusted his military leadership, Peskov replied that the “special military operation” — the name Moscow gives to its invasion of Ukraine — will continue, and “will continue until all the goals that were originally set are achieved”.

On Monday, Ukrainian troops worked to consolidate gains they had made since launching the offensive east of Kharkiv. In Izyum, a key logistics hub where thousands of Russian troops had been stationed, Ukrainian soldiers hoisted the national flag over the central district government building in the main square.

Nataliya Humenyuk, spokeswoman for Ukraine’s southern operations command, said on Monday that the country’s forces in the southern Kherson region, where Ukraine initiated an earlier counter-offensive, had also liberated about 500 sq km of territory from Russia’s forces.

Towns liberated included Visokopiylya, Novovoznesenske, Bilohirka, Sukhy Stavok and Myrolyubivka, she said.

Tensions have also risen over artillery strikes at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, which Kyiv and Moscow blame on each other.

Later on Monday President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine in his nightly address suggested that the extent of retaken territory had increased again since earlier reports: “From the beginning of September through today, our soldiers have already liberated more than 6,000 sq km of Ukrainian territory — in the east and south,” he said. “The movement of our troops continues.”

In a phone call with French president Emmanuel Macron on Sunday, Putin warned of potential “catastrophic consequences” of what he claimed was Ukrainian shelling targeting the plant. Ukrainian officials say it is Russian forces that are hitting the facility as a provocation.

Macron said it was Russia that was responsible for tensions at the site and demanded the withdrawal of Moscow’s forces.

Russian media reports appeared to shift after the rapid advances, which followed weeks of stalemate.

Over the weekend, Russian state television anchors spoke of fierce fighting in the east, while pro-war reporters and bloggers wrote frank posts online about the rout.

“Well, brothers and sisters. Are you depressed? Screaming?” state TV reporter Andrey Medvedev wrote on Telegram on Saturday, as Russian troops pulled back from Izyum. “I know, I agree, it’s been a hard day. It’s very difficult, and it won’t be the last.”

Other reporters embedded with Russian troops live blogged their experience of the withdrawal — and cautioned leaders to learn some lessons from the defeat.

“The army will definitely stand up, there will be new victories,” military reporter German Kulikovsky wrote to his half a million subscribers.

“But! If conclusions are not made . . . on everything, from infantry platoon tactics, to new weapon systems . . . then it will be tough times ahead not just for me and those involved in the special military operation, but for all Russian society.”

Additional reporting by Ben Hall in London

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiP2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmZ0LmNvbS9jb250ZW50Lzk4NTE5ZThhLTU3NmYtNGUxMi1hNWUyLTE2NTJkMDVjZDlkYdIBAA?oc=5

2022-09-12 21:16:33Z
1560875820

Ukraine's defence minister warns of Russian counter-attack - Financial Times

Ukraine needs to secure the vast territory it has recaptured from possible Russian counter-attack, the country’s defence minister has warned, as he said Kyiv’s lightning offensive had gone far “better than expected”.

The attack has routed the Kremlin’s forces, led to the recapture of 3,000 sq km of Ukrainian territory and prompted an unusual admission by Russia’s defence ministry that its troops had to retreat. On Monday morning, Ukraine was also restoring power services after Russian strikes had attacked the country’s infrastructure in retaliation.

“A counter-offensive liberates territory and after that you have to control it and be ready to defend it,” defence minister Oleksii Reznikov told the Financial Times, while cautioning: “Of course, we have to be worried, this war has worried us for years.”

On Sunday night Russia lashed out against Ukraine with artillery and missile strikes launched from the Black Sea.

In Kharkiv, the night sky lit up following a strike on the country’s second-largest thermal power plant, causing a total blackout. A total blackout also hit the Donetsk region, while Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy experienced partial ones.

The Russian forces are “terrorists and remain terrorists and attack critical infrastructure. No military facilities, the goal is to deprive people of light and heat,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a tweet.

Russia’s most vocal pro-war commentators celebrated civilian areas being left without power: “Hey neighbours, what’s up with the light?” Russia Today’s editor Margarita Simonyan taunted.

However, by Monday morning Ukraine had restored power and water services to Kharkiv city while elsewhere in the region electricity services were 80 per cent recovered, according to Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the office of president Zelenskyy.

Zelenskyy later wrote on Telegram: “Do you still think that we [Russians and Ukrainians] are ‘one people’? Do you still think that you can scare us, break us? . . . We will be with gas, light, water and food . . . and WITHOUT you!”

The president also hailed the “liberation” of the three towns of Balakliia, Izyum and Kupyansk.

The Ukrainian blitzkrieg — which Reznikov described as a “snowball rolling down a hill” — is the biggest setback so far for Russia since the full-scale invasion that its president Vladimir Putin ordered on February 24.

Ramzan Kadyrov, the strongman leader of Chechnya, which has supported Moscow by sending troops, criticised Russia’s military for the retreat and said if their strategy did not change, he would speak to the “leadership of the country”.

“Mistakes were made. I think they’ll draw conclusions. It might not be nice when you tell someone the truth to their face, but I like telling the truth,” he said.

The Ukrainian offensive marks a success along the northernmost of the three active front lines in the conflict and Kyiv’s forces continued to press home the advantage on Sunday. General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, commander of the armed forces, said they were just 50km from the Russian border. Photographs he posted on Telegram showed military positions that Russian troops had abandoned in such a hurry that meals were left set out on wooden tables.

“The Armed Forces of Ukraine continue to liberate territories occupied by Russia,” Zaluzhnyi wrote. “Since the beginning of September, more than 3,000 sq km have been returned.”

Oleksii Reznikov: ‘A counter-offensive liberates territory and after that you have to control it and be ready to defend it’ © Sascha Steinbach/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Russian sympathisers had also fled from occupied territories in the Luhansk region, south-east of Kharkiv, said Serhiy Hayday, the Ukrainian head of the region’s military administration.

“Massive de-occupation is on the horizon,” Hayday said on Ukrainian television on Sunday. “Maybe this [victory] will not be in a day or two, but it will happen soon . . . We can say that their morale is shattered.”

Reznikov said Ukrainian troops were tired after the six-day attack but morale was high because “it’s a sign that Russia can be defeated”.

He cautioned that Russian reinforcements could launch a counter-attack on his country’s stretched supply lines and Ukrainian forces could also be encircled by fresh Russian troops if they advanced too far.

Russia’s defence ministry acknowledged on Saturday that its forces had pulled back from the strategic city of Izyum, claiming it had decided to “regroup” and transfer them south-east to the Donetsk region

Ukrainian troops had encircled Kupyansk, north of Izyum, a road and rail hub that supplies Russia’s defences across north-eastern Ukraine. This left thousands of Russian troops cut off from supplies across a stretch of fiercely contested battleground.

The liberation of Izyum “would be the most significant Ukrainian military achievement since winning the battle of Kyiv in March”, analysts at the US-based Institute for the Study of War said.

Officials and military analysts cautioned that the offensive’s success did not mean that Ukrainian troops were about to roll back Russian forces to the border.

Reznikov said the nearly simultaneous counter-offensive around Kherson was making slower progress because it was an agricultural region “with irrigation channels” the Russians could use as defensive trenches.

Casualties there have reportedly been heavy and Ukraine’s general staff said 1,200 Chechen soldiers had been deployed to reinforce Russian positions.

Reznikov said the Chechens were being used to stop frontline troops from deserting their positions.

“The news from the ministry of defence about retreating will spread quickly,” said Dara Massicot, a Russia military expert at the Rand Corporation, a US think-tank. “Moscow should not underestimate how quickly bad news, panic and rumours can cascade along the front — especially given the force exhaustion that comes from months of fighting, a lack of reserves and rest.”

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiP2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmZ0LmNvbS9jb250ZW50Lzg0ZmYyODkzLTliMjAtNDBjOC1iNTAzLWY4ZmQxMGM5OWVjYdIBAA?oc=5

2022-09-12 08:45:52Z
1560875820

Minggu, 11 September 2022

Far-right party close to causing huge political upset in Sweden's neck-and-neck election - Sky News

The far-right Sweden Democrats appear to be close to causing a huge upset in the country's neck-and-neck election cliffhanger.

The populist anti-immigration party, which emerged from the neo-Nazi movement in the late 1980s, has increased its polling at each of the past nine elections, and on Sunday looked to have gained 21% of this year's vote, according to near-final results.

If it transpires that has happened after the full count, they will become the country's second-biggest party.

Then, a bloc of right-wing parties, including the Sweden Democrats, is expected to defeat a left-wing bloc headed by Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and form government.

However, the result was so close the election authority said it would not be known before Wednesday when some uncounted votes, including those cast abroad, have been tallied.

Exit polls at first predicted victory for the incumbent left-wing coalition, but results later suggested the right-wing bloc could narrowly win.

Currently, with 94% of votes counted, the right-wing bloc appears to hold a lead of under one percentage point over the ruling centre-left group led by Prime Minister Ms Andersson.

Sweden Democrats leader Jimmie Akesson told his supporters at an event in Stockholm he was "proud" to be on track to become the country's second-biggest party.

Shunned

While his party has its roots in the white nationalist movement, years ago it began expelling extremists.

But despite its rebranding, voters long viewed it as unacceptable and other parties shunned it.

That has changed in recent times, and pundits say its result in this election shows just how far it has come in gaining acceptance. During the campaign, its tough policies on law and order and immigration started to draw support from the centre-right.

Mr Akesson is unlikely to become prime minister even if the right-wing bloc wins the largest number of seats. The four parties in the group will select the cabinet positions and Moderate Party leader Ulf Kristersson is the current favourite to take the role, but will have a tricky line to walk between all parties - particularly one that has polled more votes than his.

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMie2h0dHBzOi8vbmV3cy5za3kuY29tL3N0b3J5L2Zhci1yaWdodC1wYXJ0eS1jbG9zZS10by1jYXVzaW5nLWh1Z2UtcG9saXRpY2FsLXVwc2V0LWluLXN3ZWRlbnMtbmVjay1hbmQtbmVjay1lbGVjdGlvbi0xMjY5NTU1NdIBf2h0dHBzOi8vbmV3cy5za3kuY29tL3N0b3J5L2FtcC9mYXItcmlnaHQtcGFydHktY2xvc2UtdG8tY2F1c2luZy1odWdlLXBvbGl0aWNhbC11cHNldC1pbi1zd2VkZW5zLW5lY2stYW5kLW5lY2stZWxlY3Rpb24tMTI2OTU1NTU?oc=5

2022-09-12 03:10:29Z
1556889032

Swedish election result too close to call - Financial Times

A nationalist party condemned by Sweden’s centre-left government as “neo-fascists” has become the country’s second-largest, pushing the opposition rightwing into a slender lead in parliamentary elections that remain too close to call.

A preliminary result is not expected until Wednesday, but with 94 per cent of votes counted, the rightwing bloc held a lead of under one percentage point over the ruling centre-left group led by Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson.

The anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, shunned for most of the past decade, are certain to be the largest party on the right, trailing only Andersson’s Social Democrats, who have come first in every election since 1917.

“Our ambition is to sit in government,” said Jimmie Åkesson, leader of the Sweden Democrats.

The party, which has its roots in the neo-Nazi movement, was scorned by all other parties until the latest parliament, when its tough policies on law and order and immigration started to draw support from the centre-right.

An unusually harsh campaign focused on gang crime and immigration after a record number of fatal shootings in troubled suburbs pushed Sweden to the top of such statistics in Europe.

Magdalena Andersson, Sweden’s prime minister and leader of the Social Democrats — Magdalena Andersson © Kay Nietfeld/dpa

If the rightwing lead is confirmed, the four parties in the group will face a tricky task to form a coherent government owing to a wafer-thin majority and infighting.

Ulf Kristersson, leader of the mainstream centre-right Moderates, which slipped to third place for the first time since 1976, is the favourite to become prime minister, but will have to deal with an emboldened nationalist party that received more votes.

“I stand ready to do everything I can to create a new, stable and effective government for all of Sweden and all citizens,” he said early on Monday morning.

Nicholas Aylott, senior lecturer at Södertörn University, called the results “historic” for the Sweden Democrats and said it would be an “absolute body blow” for the Moderates. He added: “Stable, strong, decisive government is probably not to be expected [from the election], but not chaos either.”

The country’s politics have been tumultuous since the arrival of the Sweden Democrats in parliament in 2010. The ruling Social Democrats have been forced twice to govern with opposition rightwing budgets, while Andersson herself had to resign as prime minister last year after only seven hours in the post, before being re-elected a week later.

The Social Democrats campaigned less on issues and more on the image of Andersson, who only became prime minister in November and is by far the most popular politician in the country.

Two of the biggest recent controversies — whether Sweden should join Nato, and the country’s handling of Covid-19 — barely featured in a campaign that was instead defined by tough pledges on immigration and crime and an intense late focus on sky-high electricity prices.

Despite ruling for eight years, the Social Democrats increased their share of the vote to 30.5 per cent, up more than 2 percentage points from 2018. The Sweden Democrats were the biggest winners, increasing their share by more than 3 percentage points to 20.7 per cent, while the Moderates fell back slightly to 19.1 per cent.

The five smaller parties in parliament on the left and right will retain their status after scoring 4-7 per cent each.

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiP2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmZ0LmNvbS9jb250ZW50L2M3NTJjZGZhLTdmZDEtNDQxMy1hM2E3LWJmYjQ1OWE0MzBhMNIBAA?oc=5

2022-09-11 21:32:45Z
1556889032

Kharkiv offensive: Ukrainian army says it has tripled retaken area - BBC

This video can not be played

To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.

Ukraine's military says its forces have retaken over 3,000 sq km (1,158 sq miles) during a rapid counter-offensive in eastern Ukraine.

The remarkable advance, if confirmed, means Kyiv's forces have tripled their stated gains in little over 48 hours.

On Thursday evening, President Zelensky put the figure at 1,000 sq km, and then 2,000 sq km on Saturday evening.

The BBC cannot verify the Ukrainian figures, and journalists have been denied access to the frontlines.

On Saturday, the eastern counter-attack saw Ukrainian troops enter the vital Russian-held supply towns of Izyum and Kupiansk.

But UK defence officials have warned that fighting has continued outside those towns. And officials in Kyiv said Ukrainian forces were still fighting to gain control of a number of settlements around Izyum.

Russia's defence ministry confirmed its forces' retreat from Izyum itself and Kupiansk, which it said would allow its forces "to regroup" in territory held by Moscow-backed separatists.

The Russian ministry also confirmed the withdrawal of troops from a third key town, Balaklyia, in order to "bolster efforts" on the Donetsk front. Ukrainian forces entered the town on Friday.

At the same time, the head of the Russia-installed administration in the Kharkiv region recommended that its people evacuate to Russia "to save lives".

Shock and joy in Ukraine's liberated villages

Unverified footage on social media appeared to show long queues of traffic building up at border crossings. The governor of the Belgorod border region in Russia, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said "thousands" of people had crossed into the country.

Mr Gladkov said on Saturday that mobile catering, heating, and medical assistance would be available to people fleeing the Ukrainian advance.

Meanwhile, Gen Valerii Zaluzhnyi, commander of Ukraine's military, said his forces had advanced to within 50km (31 miles) of the Russian border.

The pace of the counter-attack has caught the Russians off guard, and Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov - a staunch supporter of President Vladimir Putin - appeared to question the Russian retreat.

In a message posted to Telegram, Mr Kadyrov said if there was not a change in Russian fortunes, he would be forced to question the country's leadership to explain the situation.

But Russians still hold around a fifth of the country, and few imagine a swift end to the war. And Mr Kadyrov himself insisted "Russia will win" and "Nato weapons" would be "crushed".

In an interview with the Financial Times, Ukraine's defence minister Oleksii Reznikov hailed his troops, but warned of the potential for a Russian counter-attack.

"A counter-offensive liberates territory and after that you have to control it and be ready to defend it," Mr Reznikov said. "Of course, we have to be worried, this war has worried us for years."

The Ukrainian advances - if held - would be the most significant frontline changes since Russia withdrew from areas around Kyiv in April.

Kupiansk served as Russia's main eastern supply hub and the loss of Izyum - which Moscow spent over a month trying to take at the beginning of the war - would be seen as a major humiliation for President Vladimir Putin.

According to one military expert, the advance marks the first time since World War Two that whole Russian units have been lost.

The gains will also be seen as a sign that Ukraine's army has the capacity to retake occupied territory - crucial as Kyiv continues to ask hard-pressed Western allies for military support.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said the latest developments showed its forces could end the war faster with more Western weapons.

Ukraine launched its counter-offensive in the east earlier this week, while international attention was focused on an anticipated advance near the southern city of Kherson.

Analysts believe Russia redirected some of its most seasoned troops to defend the city.

But as well as gaining ground in the east, Ukraine is also making gains in the south, an official said.

Nataliya Gumenyuk, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian army's southern command, said they had advanced "between two and several dozens of kilometres" along that front.

But Russian forces fighting on the southern front are said to have dug into defensive positions, and Ukraine's troops have faced heavy resistance since the offensive began.

And in Kharkiv itself, one person was killed and several homes damaged on Saturday as Russian rocket fire hit the city, according to local officials.

Elsewhere, Ukraine's energy regulator, Energoatom, says the last reactor at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been shut down, and is not generating electricity.

The reactor had been generating energy for the plant itself for three days - it was shut down when external power was restored.

The Ukrainian operator said that to prevent an emergency, it was essential that shelling of the power lines connecting the station to the national grid be halted.

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiLmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jb20vbmV3cy93b3JsZC1ldXJvcGUtNjI4Njc1NjDSATJodHRwczovL3d3dy5iYmMuY29tL25ld3Mvd29ybGQtZXVyb3BlLTYyODY3NTYwLmFtcA?oc=5

2022-09-11 14:27:47Z
1560875820