The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Ukrainian

  • ‘Ukrainian mercenaries fighting with rebels in Darfur killed’

    ‘Ukrainian mercenaries fighting with rebels in Darfur killed’

    Sudan’s army has claimed that it killed several foreign fighters, including Ukrainian mercenaries, during clashes with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the Darfur region.

    In a statement, the army’s 6th Infantry Division announced it had carried out a “special operation” in Al-Karama Square, El Fasher, which it said inflicted “heavy losses” on RSF units.

    Military sources told Russia’s Novosti news agency that among those killed were “foreign fighters, including Colombians and Ukrainians,” who were allegedly supporting the RSF.

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    The statement said the mercenaries had infiltrated parts of the city and taken positions in tall buildings used by the armed forces.

    According to the army, some of the fighters were drone engineers, while others acted as snipers.

    The military further said that RSF units attempted to cover the withdrawal of the foreign fighters’ bodies with intensified artillery shelling but failed to retrieve them.

  • Ukraine: we are open to 30-day ceasefire with Russia

    Ukraine: we are open to 30-day ceasefire with Russia

    •U.S. to immediately resume military aid to Kyiv

    The Trump administration yesterday lifted its suspension of military aid and intelligence sharing for Ukraine, and Kyiv signalled that it was open to a 30-day ceasefire in the war with Russia, pending Moscow’s agreement.

    American and Ukrainian officials made this known yesterday following their talks in Saudi Arabia.

    The administration imposed the measures a week ago to push Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to enter talks to end the war with invading Russian forces.

    Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. would present the ceasefire offer to the Kremlin.

     “We’re going to tell them this is what’s on the table. Ukraine is ready to stop shooting and start talking. And now it’ll be up to them to say yes or no,” Rubio said. “If they say no, then we’ll unfortunately know what the impediment is to peace here.”

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    National security adviser Mike Waltz added: “The Ukrainian delegation today made something very clear, that they share President Trump’s vision for peace.”

    Waltz said negotiators “got into substantive details on how this war is going to permanently end,” including long-term security guarantees.

    The announcements emerged as senior officials from Ukraine and the United States opened talks in Saudi Arabia to end Moscow’s three-year war against Kyiv. The discussions started only hours after Russia shot down over 300 Ukrainian drones. It was Ukraine’s biggest attack since the Kremlin ordered the full-scale invasion of its neighbour.

    President Donald Trump ‘s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is expected to travel later this week to Moscow, where he could meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a person familiar with the matter but not authorised to comment publicly. The person cautioned that scheduling could change.

    Earlier in the day, journalists were briefly allowed in a room where a senior Ukrainian delegation met with Rubio, who smiled at the cameras and when asked about his expectations for the meeting, gave a thumbs-up and replied, “Good.”

  • Ukrainian shelling kills five in border area

    Ukrainian shelling kills five in border area

    Five people died in Ukrainian shelling in Russia’s border region of Belgorod, officials said yesterday, while Russian forces struck a hotel in eastern Ukraine, leaving one journalist missing and two others injured.

    Twelve other people were wounded in the Russian village of Rakitone, 38 kilometers (23 miles) from the Ukrainian border, including a 16-year-old girl reported to be in critical condition, said regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov. Another man also died in a separate drone attack on the border village of Solovevka, he wrote later on social media.

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    Russian forces struck a hotel overnight in the city of Kramatorsk in the eastern Donetsk region, injuring two people and leaving one trapped under the rubble, regional Gov. Vadym Filashkin said. They were reported to be journalists from Ukraine, the U.S. and the U.K.

    Reuters news agency said yesterday that its journalist covering the war in Ukraine was missing and two other team members were hospitalized after Hotel Sapphire, where a six-person crew was staying, was hit “by an apparent missile strike” Saturday. “One of our colleagues is unaccounted for, while another two have been taken to hospital for treatment,” the agency said.

    The rest of the team has been accounted for, the news agency said.

  • Ukrainian attacks on Russian facilities push up oil prices

    Ukrainian attacks on Russian facilities push up oil prices

    Oil prices climbed about two per cent to a four-month high yesterday on lower crude exports from Iraq and Saudi Arabia and signs of stronger demand and economic growth in China and the United States

    Brent futures rose $1.55, or 1.8 per cent, to settle at $86.89 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $1.68, or 2.1per cent, to settle at $82.72.

    That pushed both benchmarks into technically overbought territory with Brent closing at its highest since October 31 and WTI closing at its highest since October 27.

    In other energy markets, U.S. gasoline futures closed at their highest since Aug. 31.

    On the supply side, Iraq, OPEC’s second-largest producer, said it would reduce crude exports to 3.3 million barrels per day (bpd) in coming months to compensate for exceeding its OPEC+ quota since January, a pledge that would cut shipments by 130,000 bpd from last month.

    In January and February, Iraq pumped significantly more oil than an output target established in January when several members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies like Russia, a group known as OPEC+, agreed to support the market.

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    In Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s largest producer, crude exports fell for a second straight month, down to 6.297 million bpd in January from 6.308 million bpd in December.

    In Russia, meanwhile, Ukrainian attacks on energy infrastructure have idled around seven per cent of refining capacity in the first quarter, according to a Reuters’ analysis.

    Market participants said refinery outages will push Russia to increase oil exports through its western ports in March by almost 200,000 bpd to around 2.15 million bpd.

    In the U.S., meanwhile, oil output from top shale-producing regions will rise in April to the highest level in four months, according to a federal energy outlook.

    In China, the world’s biggest oil importer, factory output and retail sales beat expectations in the January-February period, marking a solid start for 2024 and offering some relief to policymakers even as weakness in the property sector remains a drag on the economy and confidence.