Bloodied Ukrainian troops risk losing more hard-won land in Kursk to Russia

Bloodied Ukrainian troops risk losing more hard-won land in Kursk to Russia
A medic treats an injured Ukrainian serviceman on Pokrovsk direction in Ukraine on Dec. 23, 2024. (AP)
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Updated 28 December 2024
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Bloodied Ukrainian troops risk losing more hard-won land in Kursk to Russia

Bloodied Ukrainian troops risk losing more hard-won land in Kursk to Russia
  • Battles are so intense that some Ukrainian commanders cannot evacuate the dead
  • Communication lags and poorly timed tactics have cost lives, and troops have little way to counterattack

KYIV: Five months after their shock offensive into Russia, Ukrainian troops are bloodied and demoralized by the rising risk of defeat in Kursk, a region some want to hold at all costs while others question the value of having gone in at all.
Battles are so intense that some Ukrainian commanders can’t evacuate the dead. Communication lags and poorly timed tactics have cost lives, and troops have little way to counterattack, seven front-line soldiers and commanders told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity so they could discuss sensitive operations.
Since being caught unaware by the lightning Ukrainian incursion, Russia has amassed more than 50,000 troops in the region, including some from its ally North Korea. Precise numbers are hard to obtain, but Moscow’s counterattack has killed and wounded thousands and the overstretched Ukrainians have lost more than 40 percent of the 984 square kilometers (380 square miles) of Kursk they seized in August.
Its full-scale invasion three years ago left Russia holding a fifth of Ukraine, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has hinted that he hopes controlling Kursk will help force Moscow to negotiate an end to the war. But five Ukrainian and Western officials in Kyiv who spoke on condition of anonymity to freely discuss sensitive military matters said they fear gambling on Kursk will weaken the whole 1000-kilometer front line, and Ukraine is losing precious ground in the east.
“We have, as they say, hit a hornet’s nest. We have stirred up another hot spot,” said Stepan Lutsiv, a major in the 95th Airborne Assault Brigade.
The border raid that became an occupation
Army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi has said that Ukraine launched the operation because officials thought Russia was about to launch a new attack on northeast Ukraine.
It began on Aug. 5 with an order to leave Ukraine’s Sumy region for what they thought would be a nine-day raid to stun the enemy. It became an occupation that Ukrainians welcomed as their smaller country gained leverage and embarrassed Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Gathering his men, one company commander told them: “We’re making history; the whole world will know about us because this hasn’t been done since World War II.
Privately, he was less certain.
“It seemed crazy,” he said. “I didn’t understand why.”
Shocked by success achieved largely because the Russians were caught by surprise, the Ukrainians were ordered to advance beyond the original mission to the town of Korenevo, 25 kilometers into Russia. That was one of the first places where Russian troops counterattacked.
By early November the Russians began regaining territory rapidly. Once in awe of what they accomplished, troops’ opinions are shifting as they come to terms with losses. The company commander said half of his troops are dead or wounded.
Some front-line commanders said conditions are tough, morale is low and troops are questioning command decisions, even the very purpose of occupying Kursk.
Another commander said that some orders his men have received don’t reflect reality because of delays in communication. Delays occur especially when territory is lost to Russian troops, he said.
“They don’t understand where our side is, where the enemy is, what’s under our control, and what isn’t,” he said. “They don’t understand the operational situation, we so act at our own discretion.”
One platoon commander said higher ups have repeatedly turned down his requests to change his unit’s defensive position because he knows his men can’t hold the line.
“Those people who stand until the end are ending up MIA,” he said. He said he also knows of at least 20 Ukrainian soldiers whose bodies had been abandoned over the last four months because the battles were too intense to evacuate them without more casualties.
No option to retreat as Russia doubles down
Ukrainian soldiers said they were not prepared for the aggressive Russian response in Kursk, and cannot counterattack or pull back.
“There’s no other option. We’ll fight here because if we just pull back to our borders, they won’t stop; they’ll keep advancing,” said one drone unit commander.
The AP requested comment from Ukraine’s General Staff but did not receive a response before publication.
American longer-range weapons have slowed the Russian advance and North Korean soldiers who joined the fighting last month are easy targets for drones and artillery because they lack combat discipline and often move in large groups in the open, Ukrainian troops said.
On Monday, Zelensky said 3,000 North Korean soldiers had been killed and wounded. But they appear to be learning from their mistakes, soldiers added, by becoming more adept at camouflaging near forested lines.
One clash took place last week near Vorontsovo tract, a forested area between the settlements of Kremenne and Vorontsovo.
Until last week, the area was under Ukraine’s control. This week part of it has been lost to Russian forces and Ukrainian troops fear they will reach a crucial logistics route.
Eyeing frontline losses in the eastern region known as the Donbas — where Russia is closing on a crucial supply hub — some soldiers are more vocal about whether Kursk has been worth it.
“All the military can think about now is that Donbas has simply been sold,” the platoon commander said. “At what price?”


North Korea performs cruise missile tests, days after vowing to respond to US threats

North Korea performs cruise missile tests, days after vowing to respond to US threats
Updated 56 min 45 sec ago
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North Korea performs cruise missile tests, days after vowing to respond to US threats

North Korea performs cruise missile tests, days after vowing to respond to US threats
  • Kim Jong Un oversaw the missile tests off the country’s west coast Wednesday
  • They were North Korea’s fourth missile launch event this year

SEOUL: North Korea said Friday it had test-fired strategic cruise missiles to demonstrate its nuclear counter-attack capability, days after it vowed to respond to what it called escalating US-led hostilities since the start of the Trump administration.
The official Korean Central News Agency said leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the missile tests off the country’s west coast Wednesday. They were the North’s fourth missile launch event this year and the second of President Donald Trump’s second term.
The launches were designed to inform “the enemies, who are seriously violating our security environment and fostering and escalating the confrontation environment,” of the North Korean military’s counterattack capability and the readiness of its nuclear operations, KCNA said.
Kim expressed satisfaction over the results of the drills and said the military must be fully ready to use its nuclear weapons, the report said.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement later Friday that it had detected and tracked the North Korean launches. It said the South Korean military maintains readiness to repel any potential provocation by North Korea based on the solid South Korea-US military alliance.
Since his Jan. 20 inauguration, Trump has boasted of his summitry with Kim during his first term and said he would reach out to Kim again. North Korea hasn’t directly responded to Trump’s overture as it continues its typical aggressive rhetoric against the US and weapons testing activities.
Many experts say Kim, now preoccupied with his support of Russia’s war against Ukraine with supply of weapons and troops, won’t likely embrace Trump’s outreach anytime soon. They say Kim could reconsider if he doubts he’ll maintain North Korea’s current solid cooperation with Russia after the war ends.
Last Saturday, North Korea’s Defense Ministry alleged the US and its allies were ramping up more serious military provocations targeting North Korea since Trump took power. It cited the recent US-South Korean aerial exercise involving a US B-1B bomber and other reported activities involving US military assets. A Defense Ministry statement said North Korea will counter the strategic threat of the US with strategic means.
Kim and Trump met three times from 2018-19 to discuss the fate of North Korea’s nuclear program, but their diplomacy derailed due to disputes over US-led sanctions on the North. Kim has since sharply increased the pace of weapons tests to expand and modernize his nuclear arsenal. Having a bigger nuclear arsenal now, experts say Kim would think he could win greater US concessions if he revives diplomacy with Trump.


US condemns Uyghur deportations from Thailand to China

US condemns Uyghur deportations from Thailand to China
Updated 28 February 2025
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US condemns Uyghur deportations from Thailand to China

US condemns Uyghur deportations from Thailand to China

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday strongly condemned ally Thailand for deporting dozens of Uyghurs back to China, where he said the mostly Muslim minority faced “genocide.”
“We condemn in the strongest possible terms Thailand’s forced return of at least 40 Uyghurs to China, where they lack due process rights and where Uyghurs have faced persecution, forced labor and torture,” Rubio said in a statement.


Italian Jews call for end to ‘ethnic cleansing’ in Palestinian territories

Italian Jews call for end to ‘ethnic cleansing’ in Palestinian territories
Updated 28 February 2025
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Italian Jews call for end to ‘ethnic cleansing’ in Palestinian territories

Italian Jews call for end to ‘ethnic cleansing’ in Palestinian territories

ROME: More than 200 Italian Jews have signed an appeal against “ethnic cleansing” in the Palestinian territories, provoking strong media reaction and dividing the country’s Jewish community.
Writers, academics, philosophers and journalists were among the 220 signatories of the text, which was published in daily newspapers La Repubblica and Il Manifesto.
It claimed that US President Donald Trump “wants to expel Palestinians from Gaza. Meanwhile in the West Bank the violence of the Israeli government and settlers continues.”
“Italian Jews say no to ethnic cleansing. Italy must not be an accomplice,” they added.
The call aims to “bring out a clear and strong Jewish voice of disapproval,” said the Jewish Antiracist Laboratory, a group of young Jewish-origin Italians which is behind the petition.
The organization said it was “opposed to the annexation of Palestinian territories by Israel and all forms of anti-Semitism.”
The head of the Jewish community in Rome, Victor Fadlun, criticized what he said was a “dishonorable” initiative at a time when Israel was holding the funerals of three former hostages.
Shiri, Kfir and Ariel Bibas were kidnapped in Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel and were killed in captivity in Gaza.
Fadlum’s predecessor, Riccardo Pacifici, said the petition risked “stirring up anti-Jewish hatred,” according to comments published in Il Corriere della Sera.
One of the newspaper’s journalists, Federico Fubini, signed the appeal and wrote on X that he was “against ethnic cleansing in Gaza and oppression in the West Bank.”
Both were “very close to my heart,” he added. “But in no way does this endorse Hamas, obviously, nor the many forms of explicit, insidious and hypocritical anti-Semitism that we see everywhere, including in Italy.”


Ethiopia, Somalia reaffirm ties after diplomatic row

Ethiopia, Somalia reaffirm ties after diplomatic row
Updated 27 February 2025
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Ethiopia, Somalia reaffirm ties after diplomatic row

Ethiopia, Somalia reaffirm ties after diplomatic row

MOGADISHU: Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed visited Somalia on Thursday and met with its President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud to reinforce their fragile reconciliation after a row over ties to a separatist region.
They discussed topics “including peace and security, economy, diplomacy and potential to build joint infrastructure,” Ahmed said in a message on X afterwards.
The Somali government said in a statement ahead of the meeting that they would also discuss “the fight against terrorism in the region.”
Residents reported mortar attacks in areas near Mogadishu airport shortly after the visiting delegation passed through it en route to the presidential palace.
It was unclear whether the attacks were linked to Abiy’s arrival.
Security officials at the airport said Abiy’s delegation safely left the airport without incident.
Somalia’s security situation is highly volatile, with the Islamist Al-Shabab group maintaining a presence in the country.
“Two rounds of mortar shells landed in Bulohubey neighborhood. An elderly woman was wounded after the shell exploded close to her house,” local resident Abdiraham Hassan told AFP.
A member of Ethiopia’s delegation told AFP they had not been aware of any mortar attacks.
Tension between the two countries mounted last year after Ethiopia struck a deal with the Somali breakaway region of Somaliland to gain access to the sea.
But they announced a full restoration of diplomatic ties in January following a deal mediated by Turkiye.
The two countries said in a joint statement that Thursday’s visit “reinforces the normalization of bilateral nations.”
Abiy said in his post after the meeting: “Regional thinking and collaboration are essential, and we are ready to work with Somalia to make this a reality.”
A source in the Somali presidential palace told AFP on Wednesday, on condition of anonymity, that Abiy’s visit was “part of a broader effort to complete and implement the Ankara agreement,” referring to the deal struck in the Turkish capital in December.
Somaliland said its January 2024 deal with Ethiopia would have led to Addis Ababa recognizing its independence — though that was never confirmed — in exchange for a long-desired naval base for the land-locked nation.
Mogadishu was furious over the deal and withdrew its ambassador from Ethiopia.
Following the rapprochement, the fate of Ethiopia’s deal with Somaliland remains uncertain.


8 killed in Philippine fire that gutted a residential building in less than an hour

8 killed in Philippine fire that gutted a residential building in less than an hour
Updated 27 February 2025
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8 killed in Philippine fire that gutted a residential building in less than an hour

8 killed in Philippine fire that gutted a residential building in less than an hour

MANILA: Eight people were killed in a nighttime fire in the Philippine capital region that gutted a three-story residential building early Thursday in less than an hour, officials said.

The fire, which also injured at least one resident, broke out after midnight in the building, which was mostly made of wood, as people slept in San Isidro Galas village in suburban Quezon city, officials said.

An investigation was underway to determine the cause of the fire.

Two of the dead were found on the ground floor and six others were recovered on the second floor, where the fire apparently started, senior fire officer Rolando Valeña told The Associated Press, citing witnesses.

The blaze happened just two days before the Philippines marks fire-prevention month in March, when the government launches an annual campaign to raise awareness about fire hazards ahead of the onset of the scorching summer season.

Many deadly fires in the Philippines have been blamed on poor enforcement of safety regulations, overcrowding and faulty building designs.

A 1996 disco fire in Quezon city killed 162 people, mostly students celebrating the end of the school year, in one of the deadliest nightclub fires in the world in recent decades. 

They were unable to escape because the emergency exit was blocked by a new building next door.