Ukraine rushes to reinforce east as pressure mounts in south and Russia’s Kursk Posted on 12/11/2024 A Ukrainian Emergency Service image shows smoke rising from an apartment building after a Russian strike in Kryvyi Rih. (AP pic) KYIV: Ukraine said on Monday its hard-pressed military was battling 50,000 troops in Russia’s Kursk region to its north, while also scrambling to reinforce two besieged fronts in the east and bracing to meet an infantry assault in the south. The escalating fighting along a more than 1,000km front line is stretching Ukraine’s already outnumbered troops at a critical moment after Donald Trump won the US election, raising the prospect of possible talks with Russia. Russia occupies a fifth of Ukraine and president Vladimir Putin has said he wants Kyiv to drop ambitions to join the Nato military alliance and retreat from four Ukrainian regions that he partially holds, something Kyiv says is tantamount to capitulation. Ukraine’s armed forces commander general Oleksandr Syrskyi said he travelled to the front in Russia’s Kursk region where a surprise Ukrainian incursion carved out a chunk of land in August that president Volodymyr Zelensky said could be used as a bargaining chip. “(Russian forces) are trying to dislodge our troops and advance deep into the territory we control,” he said on Telegram. Some US military analysts have questioned the rationale of the Kursk operation, which extended an already long front line, creating more strain for Kyiv. Ukraine says Russia has deployed 11,000 North Korean troops to the Kursk region and that they have already been involved in clashes, urging the West to respond robustly. Moscow neither denies nor confirms their presence. Syrskyi said the Kursk operation had drawn in crack Russian fighters and relieved pressure that would have been brought to bear on several important outposts in the east where Russia has been making gains at its fastest clip since 2022. “These tens of thousands of enemies from the best Russian shock units would have stormed our positions in the Pokrovsk, Kurakhove or Toretsk directions, which would have significantly worsened the situation at the front,” he said. Russian pressure The Ukrainian governor of Donetsk region said a dam at the Kurakhove reservoir had been damaged creating a threat to villagers living near the Vovcha river. He blamed Russian shelling. Zelensky said that Ukraine would strengthen positions on the Pokrovsk and Kurakhove fronts where Moscow has directed its offensive pressure for months. Russia has been closing in on Pokrovsk, a strategic road and rail hub that has a coal mine. The small industrial town of Kurakhove is home to a major coal-powered thermal power plant. A Ukrainian military spokesperson told Reuters that Russia was also moving trained assault groups to forward positions in the southern Zaporizhzhia region and that they were preparing to attack. The southern front has seen far less fighting since 2023 when Ukraine launched a major counteroffensive that failed to break through heavily defended and mined lands held by Russia. “(The assaults) could begin in the near future, we’re not even talking about weeks, we’re expecting it to happen any day,” said Vladyslav Voloshyn, spokesperson for the southern military sector. Although it was not clear if they would involve a single offensive push or separate assaults, intelligence assessed that Moscow’s troops planned to use armoured vehicles and a considerable number of drones, he said. “They are preparing both armoured groups and light vehicles – buggies, motorcycles – to conduct these assault operations,” he added. Russia has already carried out preliminary reconnaissance and stepped up air strikes in the south by around 30-40% in the last two-three weeks, using bombers and unguided air missiles, he added. Russia has been claiming the capture of village after village as it advances in Ukraine’s east, and has vowed to expel Ukrainian forces from its Kursk region. Reuters was not able to independently verify reports from the front. News
Final verdict on Peter Anthony’s forgery appeal postponed to January Posted on 26/11/2024 Melalap assemblyman Peter Anthony was found guilty of falsifying a letter from the office of the Universiti Malaysia Sabah deputy vice-chancellor for system maintenance contract work. (Bernama pic) PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has postponed its decision on Melalap assemblyman Peter Anthony’s final appeal against his forgery conviction, originally set… Read More
St Ignatius Church ordered to vacate car park as 2012 permission revoked Posted on 20/11/2024 Lawyer Joy Appukuttan said the church administration was concerned about traffic congestion in the area with the removal of the car park. (Joy Appukuttan pic) PETALING JAYA: The St Ignatius Church in Kelana Jaya here has been ordered again to vacate its car park after the Selangor irrigation and drainage… Read More
France’s Macron slams calls to resign as ‘political fiction’ Posted on 04/12/2024 Several prominent opposition figures and some from Emmanuel Macron’s faction have suggested resignation may be his only viable option. (EPA Images pic) RIYADH: French president Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday rejected calls to resign to break a political impasse in the country, saying such a scenario amounted to “political fiction”. “It… Read More