Foreign News
Ukrainian Counterattack in Kharkiv, Donetsk gains further ground
Ukrainian fighters have recaptured more than 20 towns and villages in eastern Ukraine in the past 24 hours alone as their rapid counteroffensive continues, Kiev said.
“The liberation of localities under Russian occupation in the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions continues,” the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in a situation report.
It added that the towns of Velykyi Burluk and Dvorichna in the north of the Kharkiv region were the latest to have been abandoned by Russian troops.
Under pressure from the Ukrainian counteroffensives, Russia’s Defence Ministry announced the withdrawal of its troops from the Kharkiv region at the weekend, claiming it was part of a strategic “regrouping.
”Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had previously announced the recapture of the strategically important city of Izyum, with videos later emerging of Ukrainian soldiers raising the national flag there.
According to the general staff, Russian troops have also withdrawn from the town of Svatove in the Luhansk region, although separatist-aligned militias remain in action in the area.
“In the face of Ukrainian advances, Russia has likely ordered the withdrawal of its troops from the entirety of occupied Kharkiv Oblast west of the Oskil River,” British intelligence said in an update.
“Isolated pockets of resistance remain in this sector, but since Wednesday, Ukraine has recaptured territory at least twice the size of Greater London,” it continued.
Despite the apparent success of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov appeared to double down on Moscow’s position on Monday.
Peskov stressed that Russia would continue its “special military operation” until its goals were met, according to the Interfax news agency.
The Kremlin spokesperson was evasive, however, when asked by journalists whether Russia’s military leadership still enjoyed the confidence of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
When asked how Putin reacted to the news that Russian troops were withdrawing from the Kharkiv region, he simply said that Russia’s president would be kept informed of all military developments.
Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said Kiev must accept Moscow’s current conditions for negotiations, warning that in the future Russia would only accept Ukraine’s unconditional surrender.
The current ‘ultimatums’ are child’s play compared to what the demands will be in the future: … the total surrender of the Kiev regime to Russia’s conditions,” Medvedev wrote on his Telegram channel.
Medvedev, who was once regarded as a potential agent for change in Russia but has since shown himself as one of the invasion’s most ardent supporters, threatened Ukraine with “Judgement Day,” should it attempt to retake the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula.
The former president’s threats may have been a reaction to comments made by Zelensky in a CNN interview on Sunday, in which he said that he was not currently interested in negotiating with Russia as he saw no readiness for constructive talks among the Moscow leadership.
Zelensky said that the Russian preconditions for starting peace talks would see Ukraine being eaten up piece by piece and called Moscow’s tactics “Russian cannibalism.”
Instead, Zelensky said that Kiev intended to recapture all areas of Ukrainian territory currently occupied by Russian troops.
The Kremlin’s conditions for starting peace talks include ceding the eastern Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk, recognising Crimea as Russian territory, demilitarising Ukraine and pledging not to join NATO in the future.
Meanwhile, Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has called for the creation of a security zone around the embattled Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant in southern Ukraine.
Urging both sides in the conflict to end the shelling of the plant and the nearby area, Grossi conceded to journalists that his proposal did not go as far as full demilitarisation for the reason that “we must keep things simple.”
The radius of the proposed zone and the role of the IAEA team now stationed at the Zaporizhzhya plant had yet to be agreed, he added.
The IAEA confirmed that the shutdown of the last active reactor at the plant was now complete, but also said that the risk of nuclear disaster from shelling remained.
He stressed that the atomic material at the site would still require cooling despite the last reactor being shut down.
After Russian missile strikes knocked out power supplies in large areas of Ukraine at the weekend, Zelensky used his daily video address to call on the country’s allies to expedite their delivery of air defence systems to Ukraine, saying that “together we can overcome Russian terror.”
Russian strikes on a power plant near the city of Kharkiv left large parts of eastern Ukraine without electricity on Sunday night, Zelensky said, calling the shelling “revenge” for the Ukrainian military’s impressive advance in the Kharkiv region in the past few days. (NAN)
Foreign News
No talk of Ceasefire Deal Between Turkey, US-backed SDF in Northern Syria – Turkish Official
There is no talk of a ceasefire deal between Turkey and the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern Syria, contrary to a U.S. announcement on the issue, a Turkish defence ministry official said on Thursday.
The official was responding to comments from State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller, who said a ceasefire between Turkey and the SDF around the northern Syrian city of Manbij has been extended until the end of this week.
“As Turkey, it is out of the question for us to have talks with any terrorist organisation.
“The (U.S.) statement must be a slip of the tongue,” the defence ministry official, who was speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters.
Washington brokered an initial ceasefire between Turkey-backed Syrian rebels and the SDF forces last week after fighting that broke out earlier this month as rebel groups advanced on Damascus and overthrew Bashar al-Assad.
The SDF is an ally in the U.S. coalition against Islamic State militants.
It is spearheaded by the YPG, a group that Ankara sees as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants who have fought the Turkish state for 40 years.
Turkey regards the PKK, YPG and SDF as terrorist groups. The U.S. and Turkey’s Western allies list the PKK as terrorist, but not the YPG and the SDF.
When asked if Ankara was considering another ground operation into northern Syria, the official said that Turkey still sees a threat to its borders from north Syria.
“Our preparations and precautions as part of the fight against terrorism will continue until the PKK/YPG lays down its arms and its foreign fighters leave Syria,” the official said.
Since 2016, Turkey has mounted four military operations in northern Syria, citing national security threats.
Turkey believes that forces of the Syrian National Army paramilitary group which it backs will “liberate” YPG-controlled areas in northern Syria, the official said, signalling that Turkey does not plan an imminent operation into the region by its military.
The SDF have close ties with Western countries including the U.S. and France. Recently, France said the political transition in Syria needed to ensure that the SDF was represented. (Reuters/NAN)
Foreign News
President Yoon Banned from Leaving South Korea
The South Korean Government ordered an overseas travel ban on President Yoon Suk Yeol.The South Korean news agency Yonhap reported on Monday that the travel ban is due to the ongoing investigation into Yoon, which involves suspicion of high treason.Yoon unexpectedly imposed martial law on his country last Tuesday night, but hours later, after massive political resistance, he repealed the order.
On Saturday evening, a motion by the opposition to impeach the president in parliament failed. However, public pressure against the 63-year-old continues. (dpa/NAN)Foreign News
Israel Threatens to Expand War if Hezbollah Truce Collapses
Israel threatened on Tuesday to return to war in Lebanon if its truce with Hezbollah collapses and said this time its attacks would go deeper and target the Lebanese state itself, after the deadliest day since the ceasefire was agreed last week.
In its strongest threat since the truce was agreed to end 14 months of war with Hezbollah, Israel said it would hold Lebanon responsible for failing to disarm militants who violated the truce.
“If we return to war we will act strongly, we will go deeper, and the most important thing they need to know: that there will be no longer be an exemption for the state of Lebanon,” Defence Minister Israel Katz said.
“If until now we separated the state of Lebanon from Hezbollah… it will no longer be (like this),” he said during a visit to the northern border area.
Despite last week’s truce, Israeli forces have continued strikes in southern Lebanon against what they say are Hezbollah fighters ignoring the agreement to halt attacks and withdraw beyond the Litani River, about 30 km (18 miles) from the frontier.
On Monday, Hezbollah shelled an Israeli military post, while Lebanese authorities said at least 12 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon.
Katz called the Hezbollah attack “the first test” and described Israel’s strikes as a strong response.
The Beirut government must “authorise the Lebanese army to enforce their part, to keep Hezbollah away beyond the Litani, and to dismantle all the infrastructure,” Katz said.
“If they don’t do it and this whole agreement collapses then the reality will be very clear.”
Top Lebanese officials urged Washington and Paris to press Israel to uphold the ceasefire, after dozens of military operations on Lebanese soil that Beirut has deemed violations, two senior Lebanese political sources told Reuters on Tuesday.
The sources said caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, a close Hezbollah ally who negotiated the deal on behalf of Lebanon, spoke to officials at the White House and French presidency late on Monday.
Mikati, quoted by the Lebanese news agency, said that diplomatic communications had intensified since Monday to stop Israeli violations of the ceasefire.
He also said a recruitment drive was under way by the Lebanese army to strengthen its presence in the south.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Matt Miller told reporters on Monday that the ceasefire “is holding” and that the U.S. had “anticipated that there might be violations”.
Neither the French presidency nor the foreign ministry were immediately available to comment.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot spoke to his Israeli counterpart Gideon Saar on Monday, saying both sides should adhere to the ceasefire.
The truce came into effect on Nov. 27 and prohibits Israel from conducting offensive military operations in Lebanon, while requiring Lebanon to prevent armed groups including Hezbollah from launching attacks on Israel.
It gives Israeli troops 60 days to withdraw from south Lebanon.
A mission chaired by the United States is tasked with monitoring, verifying, and helping enforce the truce, but it has yet to begin work.
Berri on Monday called on the mission to “urgently” ensure Israel halts its breaches, saying Beirut had logged at least 54 Israeli violations of the ceasefire so far.
Israel has said its continued activity in Lebanon is aimed at enforcing the ceasefire.
Lebanon’s Mikati met in Beirut on Monday with U.S. General Jasper Jeffers, who will chair the monitoring committee.
Two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that France’s representative to the committee, General Guillaume Ponchin, would arrive in Beirut on Wednesday and that the committee would hold its first meeting on Thursday.
“There is an urgency to finalise the mechanism, otherwise it will be too late,” the source said, referring to Israel’s gradual intensification of strikes even with the truce in place. (Reuters/NAN)
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