Zelensky hugs BBC Ukraine reporter during press conference<\/p>\n
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Russia has likely lost almost half of its best tanks during its invasion of Ukraine with Vladimir Putin\u2019s troops stepping up attacks in the country\u2019s eastern regions including Donetsk and Luhansk in a major offensive.<\/p>\n
Moscow\u2019s pre-invasion fleet of modern T-72B3 and T-72B3M main battle tanks has been hit particularly hard, with a loss rate of up to 50 per cent, an assessment from military think tank the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) suggests.<\/p>\n
The director general of the IISS, John Chipman, said that Moscow has been forced \u201cto rely on its older stored weapons\u201d thanks to production of the newer models being \u201cslow\u201d which means Russia is falling back on its Soviet-era tanks.<\/p>\n
This comes as the Russian defence ministry has claimed that its soldiers have broken through two fortified defensive lines in Ukraine\u2019s east, suggesting the invading forces are marching ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring the offensive… the Ukrainian troops randomly retreated to a distance of up to 3 km (2 miles) from the previously occupied lines,\u201d the ministry said on Telegram<\/p>\n
1676518375Russia estimated to have lost \u2018almost half\u2019 of its key battle tanksRussia has likely lost almost half of its best tanks during its invasion of Ukraine, with Vladimir Putin\u2019s troops stepping up attacks in the country\u2019s eastern regions including Donetsk and Luhansk.<\/p>\n
Moscow\u2019s pre-invasion fleet of modern T-72B3 and T-72B3M main battle tanks has been hit particularly hard, with a loss rate of up to 50 per cent, an assessment from military think tank the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) suggests.<\/p>\n
The director general of the IISS, John Chipman, said that Moscow has been forced \u201cto rely on its older stored weapons\u201d thanks to production of the newer models being \u201cslow\u201d. That means falling back on its Soviet-era tanks.<\/p>\n
Read the full story here:<\/p>\n
Arpan Rai16 February 2023 03:32<\/p>\n
1676525450Ukraine to boycott OSCE meeting in Vienna if Russia attendsUkraine has informed the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe that it won\u2019t attend the next meeting of its parliamentary assembly if sanctioned Russian lawmakers are allowed to participate.<\/p>\n
The meeting is scheduled to take place in Vienna on February 23-24, during the one-year anniversary of Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n
In a letter obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday, the head of the Ukrainian delegation to the the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Mykyta Poturaiev, wrote, \u201cWe do not find ourselves in a position to attend the winter meeting in case of Russia\u2019s participation.\u201d<\/p>\n
The letter, which was dated February 10 and addressed to Parliamentary Assembly President Margareta Cederfelt, noted that Russia\u2019s decision to invade Ukraine was widely supported by Russian politicians, including members of the Russian delegation to the OSCE.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have no doubts that the Russian delegation will use the OSCE … for justification of the aggression against my country as well as for whitewashing numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against the Ukrainian people,\u201d Poturaiev wrote.<\/p>\n
He suggested the meeting\u2019s postponement \u201cto preserve the integrity of the assembly,\u201d which is a separate body consisting of 323 parliamentarians from the OSCE\u2019s 57 member states,<\/p>\n
Sam Rkaina16 February 2023 05:30<\/p>\n
1676525120Ukraine may not get UK fighter jets for years, says Ben WallaceDefence secretary Ben Wallace has said it could be years before the UK gives any fighter jets to Ukraine as he joined a Nato security conference.<\/p>\n
The cabinet minister suggested it was likely that president Volodymyr Zelensky may even have to wait until the war with Russia was over before British aircraft was supplied.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s going to be in the next few months or even years,\u201d he told the BBC. \u201cThese are aircraft that come with not only huge sort of capability challenges. You just can\u2019t learn to fly in a week or two, it will take a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Saying a fleet of a fighter jets would involve \u201chundreds of engineers and pilots\u201d, he added: \u201cWe\u2019re not going to deploy, you know, 200 RAF personnel into Ukraine in the time of a war.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read the full story here:<\/p>\n
Arpan Rai16 February 2023 05:25<\/p>\n
1676524145Russia won\u2019t find \u2018marine\u2019 throughout country as it is losing many people \u2013 Zelensky Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Russia is losing many people from its forces and will not be able to find a \u201cmarine\u201d throughout the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe enemy is already losing so many of its people, so many of its forces, that it will soon be difficult to find, for example, a \u2018marine\u2019 throughout Russia,\u201d he said in his nightly address.<\/p>\n
He added that Ukraine\u2019s task is to \u201cmake sure that there is less and less desire there to keep Ukrainian territories under occupation\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe liberation of our land is the goal we are working on every day,\u201d Mr Zelensky said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to ensure that this spring it is truly felt that Ukraine is moving towards victory. This applies to the training of our defence forces, the supply of weapons for our country and our strategic initiative in the war,\u201d the Ukrainian president said.<\/p>\n
He added that any attempts by Russia to \u201cretake the initiative must be thwarted\u201d and that he is \u201cconfident that we will do so.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arpan Rai16 February 2023 05:09<\/p>\n
1676522489At least 6,000 Ukrainian children put through Russian re-education camps \u2013 US reportRussia has held at least 6,000 Ukrainian children \u2013 likely many more \u2013 in \u201cre-education\u201d camps, according to a US-backed report.<\/p>\n
Yale University researchers said they had identified at least 43 camps and other facilities where Ukrainian children have been held that were part of a \u201clarge-scale systematic network\u201d operated by Moscow since its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n
The children included those with parents or clear familial guardianship, those Russia deemed orphans, others who were in the care of Ukrainian state institutions before the invasion and those whose custody was unclear or uncertain due to the war, it said.<\/p>\n
Read the full story here:<\/p>\n
Arpan Rai16 February 2023 04:41<\/p>\n
1676521850Russian and Ukrainian football teams brawl after checking into same hotelA fight broke out between Russian and Ukrainian footballers after the teams were checked into the same hotel in Turkey.<\/p>\n
Footage shows a brawl between Russian Shinnik Yaroslavl FC players and Ukrainian FC Minaj at the Royal Seginus hotel in Antalya.<\/p>\n
In a statement, FC Minaj said the fight occurred out due to \u201cthe disgraceful behavior of the football players of the Russian team towards the hotel employees.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Ukrainian side said allegations in Russian media that Minaj players forced Shinnik players to sing the Ukraine national anthem and \u201cbeat the players in the lift\u201d was a \u201cdelusion.\u201d<\/p>\n
Russian and Ukrainian football teams brawl after checking into same hotel<\/p>\n
Sam Rkaina16 February 2023 04:30<\/p>\n
1676521304Russia claims to have pushed back Ukrainian soldiers in LuhanskThe Russian defence ministry has claimed that its soldiers have broken through two fortified defensive lines in Ukraine\u2019s east.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring the offensive… the Ukrainian troops randomly retreated to a distance of up to 3 km (2 miles) from the previously occupied lines,\u201d the ministry said on Telegram.<\/p>\n
It added: \u201cEven the more fortified second line of defence of the enemy could not hold the breakthrough of the Russian military.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ministry did not give any details on the battlefield gains.<\/p>\n
Luhansk and Donetsk regions make up the Donbas, Ukraine\u2019s industrial heartland, now partially occupied by Russia which wants full control.<\/p>\n
Arpan Rai16 February 2023 04:21<\/p>\n
1676518987Russia asks US to prove it did not destroy Nord Stream \u2013 reportThe Russian embassy to the US has said that officials in Washington should try to prove that it was not behind the destruction of the Nord Stream gas pipelines connecting Moscow to western Europe, reported TASS news agency today.<\/p>\n
Moscow considers the destruction of Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines last September “an act of international terrorism” and will not allow it to be swept under the rug, the embassy said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Arpan Rai16 February 2023 03:43<\/p>\n
1676518250Russia deepens ties with ally Cuba Russia on Wednesday gave Cuba an \u201cemergency\u201d donation of 25,000 tons of wheat to combat shortages on the island, a sign of deepening ties between the two long-time allies.<\/p>\n
The Russian ambassador in Havana, Andrei Guskov, said in a brief dockside ceremony in the Cuban capital that Moscow \u201caccompanies Cuba\u2019s efforts in its development in areas such as industry, machinery, transportation and energy.\u201d<\/p>\n
The substantial donation of wheat – used to make the bread that is a basic, government-subsidised staple in Cuba – marks the latest overture between the communist-run island and Russia.<\/p>\n
Russia, hit by Western sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine, is looking to strengthen political and economic ties with other countries opposed to what it calls U.S. hegemony. Cuba has been under a U.S. economic embargo since 1962 after the Communist revolution led by Castro.<\/p>\n
Ana Teresita Gonzalez, Cuban deputy minister of foreign trade, told Reuters on the sidelines of the ceremony that the Russians had provided Cuba with food and medicine recently, part of an \u201cenduring relationship\u201d between the two countries.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Russian government and people have been by our side in difficult times since the pandemic,\u201d she said in a brief interview.<\/p>\n
Sam Rkaina16 February 2023 03:30<\/p>\n
1676517971Wagner losing up to 80% of troops in some assault units near Bakhmut – Ukrainian officialRussia\u2019s mercenary group fighting in eastern Ukraine has lost up to 80 per cent of the troops in some of its units, Ukrainian deputy defence minister Hanna Malyar said last night.<\/p>\n
The Wagner group, which has recruited many convicted prisoners to fight in Ukraine, is seeing limited evacuation of the dead and wounded by the wider Russian forces \u2013 or not at all.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a result, among the personnel of the Russian occupying forces in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine, there is a significant decrease in the level of trust in the decisions of the command regarding the conduct of hostilities,\u201d the deputy defence minister said on Telegram yesterday.<\/p>\n
She added that more and more Russian troops are learning how the commanders are \u201cinadequately assessing the situation on the battlefield, as evidenced by the intensive use of so-called \u2018death squads\u2019 – units staffed by insufficiently trained mobilised personnel, which daily suffer heavy combat and sanitary losses.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn particular, only one initial centre in the territory of the Rostov region sends about 500 hastily trained mobilised workers every week, most of whom undergo an accelerated training course from 14 to 21 days,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
When these mobilised troops get to the units, such servicemen, \u201cnot wanting to play the role of \u2018suicide squads\u2019 resort to deliberate damage to military equipment, mainly engines, which, without firing a single shot, are sent to repair bases with full ammunition,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Arpan Rai16 February 2023 03:26<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Zelensky hugs BBC Ukraine reporter during press conference For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emails Russia has likely lost almost half of its best tanks during its invasion of Ukraine with Vladimir Putin\u2019s troops stepping up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1716,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n