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Indian medical students aid Kyiv hospital amid war

The same day Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed disappointment over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Russia, which he termed as a devastating blow to peace efforts…reports Asian Lite News

Indian medical students studying in Ukraine have stepped up to assist local doctors and rescue workers following a devastating attack on a children’s hospital in Kyiv, Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine expressed heartfelt gratitude, emphasising that these students, through their dedication and actions, exemplified shared values of humanity and the sanctity of life.

The incident occurred amidst heightened tensions, where the hospital, a crucial lifeline for children in the region, came under fire. Indian students, despite facing their own challenges amidst the conflict, provided crucial support, aiding medical staff in treating patients and assisting rescue operations.

“Indian students who study medicine in Ukraine helped our doctors and rescuers after Russia’s attack on a children’s hospital in Kyiv. Thank you to those who share the values of life,” said Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a post on X.

A children’s hospital in Kyiv was hit by a Russian missile strike on Monday, resulting in significant damage and causing patients and their families to flee in fear. The attack, part of a larger aerial assault on Ukrainian cities during morning rush hour, has led to the tragic death of at least 43 people, as reported by authorities on Tuesday, CNN reported.

In Austria, today PM Modi emphasised the importance of “dialogue and diplomacy” in resolving global conflicts, particularly the ongoing war in Ukraine.

“I have said earlier also that this is not the time for war,” said PM Modi addressing the India-Austria joint press statement, adding, “We won’t be able to find a solution to problems in the warfield. Wherever it is, killing of innocent people is unacceptable. India and Austria emphasize dialogue and diplomacy, and for that, we are together ready to give any support required.”

Earlier on Tuesday Prime Minister Modi during his recent bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, raised the issue of killings of children during conflicts and said it is “heart-wrenching” when innocent children die. The Prime Minister said that everyone who believes in humanity is hurt when there is a loss of lives.

The same day Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed disappointment over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Russia, which he termed as a devastating blow to peace efforts.

Zelenskyy took to social media platform X to post that on the same day 37 people, including three children, were killed and 170 others were injured due to Russia’s missile strike at the largest children’s hospital in Ukraine’s capital city Kyiv. (ANI)

ALSO READ-Modi urges diplomacy over war in Ukraine

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Spain pledges €1bn in military aid to Kyiv

Sanchez said the security agreement would cover a range of a different issues…reports Asian Lite News

Spain on Monday pledged one billion euros in military aid to Ukraine as Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a security deal in Madrid.

The deal “includes a commitment for one billion euros in military aid for 2024,” Sanchez told a joint news conference

“It will allow Ukraine to boost its capabilities including its essential air defense systems to protect its civilians, cities and infrastructure which are still suffering indiscriminate attacks as seen this weekend in Kharkiv,” he said, referring to a Russian strike on the northeastern city that killed at least 16 people.

Zelensky’s visit comes as Ukraine has been battling a Russian ground offensive in the Kharkiv region which began on May 10 in Moscow’s biggest territorial advance in 18 months.

With the Russian assault now in its third year, Ukraine has been pleading for more weapons for its outgunned and outnumbered troops, notably seeking help to address its lack of air defense systems.

According to El Pais newspaper, the deal would include new Patriot missiles and Leopard tanks. Zelensky has already signed bilateral security agreements with several countries including France, Germany and the UK.

Sanchez said the security agreement would cover a range of a different issues.

“The agreement is based on a comprehensive overview of security and covers various areas such as military, humanitarian and financial support, as well as collaboration between Spanish and Ukrainian defense industries, as well as help with reconstruction and de-mining among other things,” he said.

Zelensky appeals to Biden and Xi

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has appealed to his US counterpart Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping to participate in a planned peace summit in Switzerland in June.

“We do not want the UN Charter to be burnt down just like these books, and I hope you don’t want to either,” said Zelensky against the backdrop of a printing plant destroyed by a Russian missile attack in the northeastern city of Kharkiv.

“The efforts of the global majority are the best guarantee that all commitments will be fulfilled. Please, support the peace summit with your personal leadership and participation,” Zelensky added, addressing Biden and Xi directly in English in a video posted on the social media platform Telegram.

Switzerland has invited around 160 countries to a peace summit on June 15-16 to discuss possible ways to achieve lasting peace in Ukraine. Russia, which invaded Ukraine more than two years ago, has not received an invitation.

According to Zelensky, Moscow is currently preparing another attack in northern Ukraine after a recent offensive near the northeastern city of Kharkiv.

Military experts say another Russian offensive in the northern Sumy region is possible. Russia’s aim could be to exploit its manpower and material superiority, overstretch the Ukrainian defence lines and thus achieve the collapse of the Ukrainian front line.

Kharkiv, which lies only 30 kilometres from the Russian border, has been one of the worst-hit cities in Moscow’s bombing campaign since its invasion of Ukraine in February, 2022.

ALSO READ-Zelensky Appeals to Biden and Xi for Peace Summit Participation

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Blinken’s Unplanned Trip to Kyiv Raises Eyebrows

This is Blinken’s fourth visit to Kyiv since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022…reports Asian Lite News

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived unannounced for a visit to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, on Tuesday.

“Blinken arrived in Ukraine today to meet with senior Ukrainian officials and highlight the United States’ enduring support for Ukraine,” US Department of State spokesman Matthew Miller said.

While in Ukraine, Blinken will meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba to “discuss battlefield updates, the impact of new US security and economic assistance, long-term security and other commitments, and ongoing work to bolster Ukraine’s economic recovery,” Miller continued.

Blinken “will emphasise America’s commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and democracy in the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression,” Miller added.

This is Blinken’s fourth visit to Kyiv since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, as Kyiv is currently facing a new offensive in the northeast of the country.

Last week, the US government announced a further package of military aid for Kyiv totalling around $400 million, including ammunition for the Patriot air defence system, additional HIMARS multiple rocket launchers with ammunition, as well as Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and artillery ammunition in 155 and 105-millimetre calibres.

At the end of April, after months of domestic political deadlock, the US Congress approved billions in aid for Ukraine, thus clearing the way for new arms deliveries. The bill provides for aid totalling almost $61 billion for Kyiv.

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Western leaders in Kyiv to show support on war anniversary

Meloni and Trudeau are expected to sign security pacts with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy during their brief stay, in line with deals recently agreed with France and Germany that are worth billions of dollars…reports Asian Lite News

Four Western leaders arrived in Kyiv on Saturday to show solidarity with Ukraine on the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, which has cost tens of thousands of lives and ravaged the country’s economy.

The prime ministers of Italy, Canada and Belgium – Giorgia Meloni, Justin Trudeau and Alexander De Croo – travelled with the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on an overnight train from neighbouring Poland.

Their presence was designed to underline the West’s commitment to helping Ukraine even as it suffers growing shortages of military supplies, impacting its performance on the battlefield where Moscow is grinding out territorial gains.

Von der Leyen wrote on the social media platform X that she was in Kyiv “to celebrate the extraordinary resistance of the Ukrainian people”. She added: “More than ever, we stand firmly by Ukraine. Financially, economically, militarily, morally. Until the country is finally free.”

Meloni and Trudeau are expected to sign security pacts with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy during their brief stay, in line with deals recently agreed with France and Germany that are worth billions of dollars.

However, $61 billion in aid promised by U.S. President Joe Biden is being blocked by Republicans in Congress, casting a long shadow over Kyiv’s hopes of pushing back the much larger, better supplied Russian military.

Biden is due to take part in a video conference call of fellow leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) major democracies on Saturday, which will be chaired by Meloni, with Zelenskiy invited to join the discussion.

Italy holds the rotating presidency of the G7 and organised the call, saying it was vital to challenge perceptions that the West had grown weary of the conflict and that Russia was winning.

When Russian tanks and infantry streamed across the border before dawn on Feb. 24, 2022, Ukraine’s 40 million people defied expectations – and the Kremlin’s best-laid plans – by holding them back and preventing a widely predicted defeat.

But as the war enters its third year, setbacks on the eastern front have left the Ukraine army looking vulnerable. Seeking to maintain Western focus on Ukraine, even as the war between Israel and Hamas dominates headlines, Zelenskiy has warned that Russia, led by President Vladimir Putin, may not stop at Ukraine’s borders if it emerges victorious.

Putin dismisses such claims as nonsense. He casts the war as a wider struggle with the United States, which the Kremlin elite says aims to cleave Russia apart. The West sees the invasion as an unjustified act of aggression that must be repelled.

There will be events across Ukraine on Saturday to mark the anniversary, including a commemoration service for those who died in Bucha, north of Kyiv – scene of some of the worst alleged war crimes of the conflict.

Ukraine’s prosecutor general said on Friday it had launched investigations into more than 122,000 suspected war crimes cases in the last two years. Russia denies carrying them out.

The initial shock of the invasion gradually morphed into familiarity and then fatigue, as the world watched initial Russian gains and a stunning Ukrainian counteroffensive in late 2022 slow into grinding, attritional trench warfare.

In scenes reminiscent of the battlefields of World War One, soldiers under heavy artillery fire are dying in their thousands, sometimes for a few kilometres of land. Both sides have developed huge and increasingly sophisticated fleets of air, sea and land drones for surveillance and attack, an unprecedented use of unmanned vehicles that could point the way to future conflicts.

Russia, with a much bigger population to replenish the army’s ranks and a larger military budget, might favour a drawn-out war, although the costs have been huge for Moscow as it seeks to navigate sanctions and a growing reliance on China.

Ukraine’s position is more precarious. Villages, towns and cities have been razed, troops are exhausted, ammunition is running low and Russian missiles and drones rain down almost daily.

Russia this month registered its biggest victory in nine months, capturing the eastern town of Avdiivka and ending months of deadly urban combat. yet Zelenskiy remained defiant ahead of the anniversary.

“I am convinced that victory awaits us,” he told diplomats in Kyiv this week in an emotional address. “In particular, thanks to unity and your support.” Tens of thousands of troops have been killed on both sides and tens of thousands more wounded, while thousands of Ukrainian civilians have perished.

The scale of devastation in Ukraine is staggering. A recent World Bank study said that rebuilding Ukraine’s economy could cost nearly $500 billion. Two million housing units have been damaged or destroyed, and nearly 6 million people have fled abroad.

In addition to raising money and arms to continue the war, Zelenskiy is pushing legislation through parliament allowing Ukraine to mobilise up to half a million more troops – a target some economists say could paralyse the economy.

Russia’s finances have proved resilient so far to unprecedented sanctions. While natural gas exports have slumped, shipments of oil have held up, thanks largely to Indian and Chinese buying.

Russia’s GDP expanded 3.6% in 2023, although some Russia-based economists warned that this was driven by a leap in defence spending and that stagnation or recession loom.

That will not jeopardise Putin’s victory in elections in March, which he is set to win by a landslide amid broad support for his performance and for the war, described by the Kremlin as a “special military operation”.

In the last two years, authorities have cracked down hard on any form of dissent over the conflict. On Feb. 16, Putin’s most formidable domestic opponent, Alexei Navalny, died in an Arctic penal colony where he was serving a 30-year sentence.

On Friday, Putin addressed troops fighting in Ukraine as Russia marked Defender of the Fatherland Day, hailing them as heroes battling for “truth and justice.”

He laid a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier at the foot of the Kremlin wall to honour those who have died in battle.

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Toll in deadliest Russian strike on Kyiv rises to 32

Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko had said on Saturday that the December 29 strike was “the largest in terms of civilian casualties.”…reports Asian Lite News

A December 29 missile strike killed 32 people in Kyiv, authorities said Thursday, raising the toll of the deadliest attack on the Ukrainian capital since the war began.

Russia has in recent days intensified aerial attacks against Ukraine, which says it has enough munition to withstand a few powerful assaults but would soon need more aid.

“The total number of dead as a result of the enemy missile attack on December 29 is 32 people,” said the head of the Kyiv military administration Sergiy Popko. Thirty people were wounded, he added.

All the 32 killed were in a warehouse, Ukrainian authorities said. Russia says it only targets military infrastructure.

Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko had said on Saturday that the December 29 strike was “the largest in terms of civilian casualties.”

Russia had on that day launched 158 missiles and drones over Ukraine, the air force said, in an attempt to overwhelm air defences.

The attack killed at least 55 people and wounded 170. Ukraine has retaliated and the Russian border region of Belgorod faced a wave of attacks over the weekend, with 25 people killed — an unprecedented toll since the beginning of the offensive almost two years ago.

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Blinken lands in Kyiv

It is his third visit to Kyiv since the start of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. …reports Asian Lite News

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday arrived in Kyiv. He is scheduled to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, from whom he can expect a firsthand report of Ukraine’s efforts to regain the region around Bakhmut, reported CNN. 

It is his third visit to Kyiv since the start of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. After a brief visit to the US Embassy, Blinken visited a military cemetery, where he laid a wreath in honour of Ukraine’s fallen soldiers.

Sharing a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Blinken stated, “Returned to Kyiv today to meet with our Ukrainian partners to discuss their ongoing counteroffensive, future assistance and reconstruction efforts, and above all, to reinforce the unwavering US commitment to Ukraine.”

Blinken’s visit comes as Ukraine’s counteroffensive enters its fourth month, with both political and military leaders in Kyiv speaking about recent gains, particularly in the south of the country. Blinken last visited Ukraine in September last year, CNN reported.

A senior official of the US State Department travelling with Blinken said that the visit by the US Secretary of State’s visit to Kyiv is an opportunity for the US and Ukraine to align ahead of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) later this month, CNN reported.

US Department of State official said, “The Ukrainians have an important mission in New York to continue to explain – to their allies and partners around the world – what’s going on and their continued need for support. And it’s important for us to continue to lead that global effort to support them,” the official said, according to CNN.

“Having a chance to consult and align before we get to New York is very, very important, the official further said. The official further said that they want to hear how Ukraine intends to push forward in the coming weeks. The official added that the US sees Ukraine making “some impressive advances in the south in particular, but also in the east in recent days and weeks,” CNN reported.

Notably, the US has been providing military and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine ever since its conflict began with Russia. On August 29, US Secretary of State Antony Blinekn announced military assistance for Ukraine.

“Today we are announcing the next package of military assistance to aid Ukraine as it defends its territory and protects its people. This package contains important capabilities to help Ukraine on the battlefield,” Blinken said.

“It includes AIM-9M missiles for air defense, munitions for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, 155mm and 105mm artillery ammunition, mine-clearing equipment, Javelin and other anti-armor systems and rockets, over 3 million rounds of small arms ammunition, ambulances, demolition munitions for obstacle clearing, as well as spare parts, services, training, and transportation,” he added. (ANI)

ALSO READ: New attacks on Ukraine very close to NATO-member Romania’s border

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Kyiv takes down Soviet-era signs

This comes in the midst of a conflict when the country has struggled to define its cultural identity in the face of Russian aggression…reports Asian Lite News

Ukraine has taken down Soviet-era signs from a hilltop monument in Kyiv and replaced the hammer-and-sickle symbol with a trident coat of arms, CNN reported.

Kyiv this week changed the Soviet hammer and sickle sign to a trident, the Ukrainian coat of arms, on the shield of the Motherland Monument, which dominates the skyline of the capital.

“We believe that this change will be the beginning of a new stage in the revival of our culture and identity, the final rejection of Soviet and Russian symbols and narratives,” the Ukrainian culture ministry said. The week-long operation to dismantle the Russian insignia was finished on August 6, according to the ministry.

This comes in the midst of a conflict when the country has struggled to define its cultural identity in the face of Russian aggression, CNN reported.

The monument, a 102-meter-tall monolith that dominates its surroundings, is made of steel. The woman clutching the sword and the shield bearing the Soviet hammer and sickle was shown in the 1979-built monument.

It was emphasised on Sunday by the Russian Foreign Ministry that “mother cannot be renamed,” as per CNN.

Using the Russian spelling of Kiev, Maria Zakharova, the ministry’s spokeswoman, wrote on Telegram, “In Kyiv, a trident was installed atop the monument Motherland.” As part of its pre-war attempts to do away with outdated Soviet designations and forge a stronger sense of national identity, the Ukrainian government launched a push to change the name of the city from Russian Kiev to Ukrainian Kyiv.

“This is the whole essence of the Kiev regime and the cyborgs led by it. Mother cannot be renamed. She is one. And the only thing you can do with it is to love. And they don’t know how.”

A major driving force behind the war has continued to be Putin’s goal to undercut Ukrainian national identity and autonomy, according to CNN.

Putin claimed Ukraine had no right to exist as a sovereign nation when the Kremlin began its invasion in February 2022, referring to the eastern region as “ancient Russian lands.”

Over the past year, shelling from Moscow has destroyed key architectural landmarks in Ukraine, most recently in the mediaeval city centre of Odesa, which UNESCO designated a World Heritage Site in response to the prospect of an invasion by Russia.

Recently, Kyiv has seen significant development. The 816-meter-long Moscow Bridge, which spans the Dnieper River, was renamed the Northern Bridge in 2018, CNN reported. (ANI)

ALSO READ: Russian missiles hit residential building in eastern Ukraine

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Yoon makes surprise visit to Ukraine in show of support

Yoon and first lady Kim Keon Hee arrived in Ukraine following a three-day official visit to Poland, reports Asian Lite News

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol made an unannounced visit to Ukraine on Saturday, sending a strong signal of support for the war-torn nation, his office said.

Yoon and first lady Kim Keon Hee arrived in Ukraine following a three-day official visit to Poland, according to senior presidential secretary for press affairs Kim Eun-hye.

He met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky later in the day to discuss areas where South Korea can provide additional aid, reports Yonhap News Agency.

Earlier Saturday, Yoon visited the site of mass killings in Bucha, near Kyiv, before visiting Irpin, a civilian residential area that has been subject to large-scale missile attacks, the press secretary said.

He was also scheduled to lay a wreath at the Wall of Remembrance of the Fallen for Ukraine in Kyiv.

Further details are yet to be disclosed.

Yoon has shown strong support for Ukraine in line with his campaign for freedom, human rights and the rule of law in solidarity with like-minded nations.

South Korea has provided humanitarian assistance to Ukraine in its protracted war with Russia but denied the country’s requests for lethal weapons.

This will be the second Yoon-Zelensky meeting after one held on the sidelines of a G7 Summit in Hiroshima, Japan, in May.

At the time, Yoon promised additional non-lethal aid, including demining equipment and ambulances.

Yoon’s visit to Ukraine came at the end of a two-leg trip that earlier took him to Lithuania for the NATO Summit and then to Poland for an official visit.

ALSO READ: Turkey preparing to host Putin in August

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Kyiv deploys forces along Ukraine-Belarus border

Addressing St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Putin said that the rest of the nuclear weapons should be delivered by the end of the summer…reports Asian Lite News

The Ukrainian army has deployed significant forces along the Belarus border, the Russian Foreign Ministry said and also claimed that Kyiv has periodically tried to test the defence capability of the Union State, TASS reported.

“The information that we have and that has been repeatedly voiced in the statements of officials indicates that the Ukrainian army has indeed deployed significant forces along the Belarusian-Ukrainian border, periodically trying to probe the defence capability of the Union State in one way or another,” Head of the second department of the CIS countries at the Russian Foreign Ministry Alexey Polishchuk said in an interview with TASS. The diplomat recalled that under these conditions, since October 2022, additional units of the joint Regional Group of Forces have been deployed in Belarus, as per TASS.

Polishchuk stressed that their task is to serve as a deterrent from invading the territory of the Union State and to minimize the risks of infiltration by sabotage and reconnaissance groups.

“We proceed from the fact that the Russian and Belarusian means available in the area are sufficient to repel aggression from the territory of Ukraine or neighbouring NATO countries,” Polischuk stressed.

“We hope that the Kyiv regime and their Western curators will have the common sense not to undertake military adventures, the consequences of which for them may be very serious,” he added.

Meanwhile, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has confirmed that Moscow has sent its first batch of nuclear weapons to Belarus, The Hill reported.

Addressing St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Putin said that the rest of the nuclear weapons should be delivered by the end of the summer.

Russia moves forward with the plan as part of the plan to deploy tactical nuclear bombs in the country bordering Ukraine. “This is a deterrence measure [against] all those who think about Russia and its strategic defeat,” he said in response to a question about the use of nuclear weapons in war, according to The Hill.

Last month, Russia and Belarus signed an agreement to formalise the deployment of tactical nuclear missiles in the latter’s country.

The Defence ministers of Russia and Belarus, Sergey Shoigu and Viktor Khrenin, respectively signed the documents defining the procedures for storing Russian nuclear weapons at a special facility on Belarusian territory, the Belarusian Defense Ministry reported. (ANI)

ALSO READ-Russia launches largest drone attack on Kyiv

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Russia launches largest drone attack on Kyiv

Ukraine officials said that a wave of Russian drone attacks on the capital Kyiv left one person dead and sparked fires around the city, CNN reported on Sunday…reports Asian Lite News

Russia has launched its largest drone attack of the conflict yet on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv. The attack left one dead, CNN reported.

Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said a 41-year-old man died following the attacks while falling drone debris at a gas station injured a 35-year-old woman. Kyiv has been targeted several times this month but despite this, fatalities are rare.

Klitschko on Telegram said, falling drone debris also sparked fires in buildings across the capital.

Following the barrage, Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed Ukrainian air defences as “heroes.”

“You look up to destroy enemy missiles, aircraft, helicopters, and drones. Every time you shoot down enemy drones and missiles, lives are saved,” the president said.

According to CNN, as well as trying to intimidate Kyiv residents, Moscow may be using drone strikes to force Kyiv to expend valuable munitions shooting them down as well as get a sense of where air defences are.

Shahed drones cost roughly 20 times less than a missile and so for Russia are a cheap way to inflict damage.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin, on Sunday ordered border security to ensure ‘fast’ Russian military and civilian movement into Ukrainian regions that are now under the control of Moscow, TASS, a Russian News Agency reported.

in his address on the occasion of Border Guards Day, Putin said, “Securing the border in close proximity to the field of operations is a separate and very important task. At the same time, it is vitally important to ensure fast movement of both military and civil vehicles and cargo, including food, humanitarian aid, and construction materials on their way to new constituent entities of the Russian Federation – the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics, and the Zaporizhia and Kherson regions.” Putin also noted the necessity of close cooperation between border guards and other units of the Federal Security Service, the Armed Forces and the National Guard of the Russian Federation, as well as regional government bodies, reported TASS.

“I have great confidence in you, your professionalism and bravery, and know that you will do everything in your power to securely protect our Motherland’s borders from any threat,” Putin emphasized.

Meanwhile, Ukraine officials said that a wave of Russian drone attacks on the capital Kyiv left one person dead and sparked fires around the city, CNN reported on Sunday.

Kyiv’s Mayor Vitali Klitshko said Ukrainian air defence forces had “already intercepted more than 20 UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles)” heading toward the capital and warned that “a new wave of drones is on its way.”

The Ukrainian Air Force said later that 54 Iranian Shahed drones had been launched by Russia overnight and that 52 of them had been destroyed by Ukrainian forces, as per the report in CNN.

“The enemy launched another overnight attack on military facilities and critical infrastructure in the country’s central regions, specifically Kyiv Oblast. Near the zone Air Command ‘Center’, most of the attack drones were destroyed!” the air force said in a Twitter post.

A 41-year-old man died in the city’s Solomyanskyi district following the attacks, while falling drone debris at a gas station injured a 35-year-old woman, Mayor Klitshko said.

Falling drone debris also sparked fires in buildings across the capital, the mayor said on Telegram, reported CNN. (ANI)

Russia to expel hundreds of German workers

Several hundred German civil servants and local employees of German institutions working and living in Russia will have to leave the country or lose their jobs in the next few days on orders from the Kremlin, which is drastically reducing Germany’s presence in the country.

The decision from the Russian Foreign Ministry means that from 1 June, there will be a tougher limit on the number of people Germany can send to Russia or employ there, whether in its Russian embassy or in institutions active in the fields of culture and education.

The information was revealed on Saturday by the German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung, which described the move as a “diplomatic declaration of war by Moscow” on Berlin.

The move will affect several hundred people. Among them are not just embassy and consulate officials, but employees of the Goethe cultural institute in the country, the German school, kindergartens and teachers working in Russian schools.

Both Germans and local Russian employees are affected, the ministry told AFP, without giving precise figures. While Germans will have to leave the country by 1 June, the Russians affected should not have to do so, but they will lose their jobs nonetheless.

The German Foreign Ministry described the Russian sanction as “a unilateral, unjustified and incomprehensible decision”.

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