War

by Павло Павлович Editor’s note: the author asked that we publish his name in Ukrainian. The English version is Pavlo Pavlovych. He serves with the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Russian forces are using a mix of mines and shells to create deadly explosive traps inside Ukraine. A Ukrainian army officer, …

by Aleksander Palikot and Sam Skove, RFE/RL KHARKIV, Ukraine — Tamara Halishnikova doesn’t remember how long the attack targeting her and other residents trying to escape the Russian-occupied village of Kurylivka lasted. All she remembers are the sounds that rang out as the column of vehicles made its way along …

Russia intentionally timed a wave of strikes on Ukraine early on Oct. 10 to inflict the greatest possible civilian losses and had also targeted the country’s energy infrastructure, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said. In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the strikes were retaliation for what he called Kyiv’s “terrorist” actions, including an …

by Henry Ridgwell, VOA The war in Ukraine is likely entering a critical phase as Kyiv’s forces advance in the south and east of the country, forcing invading Russian troops to retreat. In recent days, Ukrainian troops have broken through Russian lines in the southern region of Kherson, liberating several …

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov is sending his three teenage sons – aged 14, 15, and 16 – to war in Ukraine, the strongman wrote Monday on Telegram. “The grandsons of the first president of the Chechen Republic, the Hero of Russia Akhmat-Khadzhi Kadyrov, Akhmat, Eli and Adam are aged 16, …

Even after three months of captivity that included execution threats, physical torture, solitary confinement and food deprivation, it was the ride to freedom that nearly broke Alex Drueke, a U.S. military veteran released last week with nine other prisoners who went to help Ukraine fight off Russian invaders. His hands …

Heavy fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces is under way in parts of eastern Ukraine and the northeast Kharkiv region as Moscow continues a crackdown on protests against a partial mobilization decreed by President Vladimir Putin last week. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the eastern Donetsk region remained Ukraine’s — and …

A Ukrainian counter-offensive has forced Russia out of key eastern positions they had taken months to occupy. Reportedly underpinned by Western intelligence, the push also featured wartime methods familiar to British and American forces. Former U.S. Army Major John Spencer, now Chair of Urban Warfare Studies at the Madison Policy …

At the Petergof cemetery in St. Petersburg, five fresh graves appeared this summer, away from the other graves: all of them the same, with wooden crosses, black plates with names in gold and the dates of birth and death, framed photographs behind glass with a black ribbon pulled over them. …

Russian citizens have taken to the streets of Moscow, St. Petersburg, and elsewhere to protest Vladimir Putin’s conscription order for the war in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Wednesday the partial mobilization of his country’s military reserves in a move that follows Ukrainian gains in a counteroffensive in northeastern …