Russia Ukraine struggle: Kyiv fires US ATACMS missiles for first time

A farm employee died on Tuesday in Ukraine‘s eastern Kharkiv region after his tractor hit a mine while ploughing a field, the Ukrainian emergency service said on Wednesday.

Liberated after the Russian occupation, the region is heavily mined and farmers risk their lives trying to work in fields that have not yet been cleared of the explosive devices.

“We ask everyone to be as careful as possible and always remember the high mine danger in the de-occupied territories,” the emergency service said on the Telegram messaging app.

It published a photo of a burnt tractor with a torn-off wheel and damaged plough standing in a field near the explosion site.

Ukrainian authorities earlier this year said that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had created the world’s largest minefield spanning an space of 250,000 sq. kilometres (96,525 sq. miles).

Russia has hit out on the US for its determination to ship long-range missiles to Ukraine for the primary time, claiming the transfer will increase the dangers of a direct battle between Nato and Moscow.

Western backers of Ukraine have been reluctant to offer long-range munitions since Vladimir Putin launched his invasion in February final 12 months, fearing that their use in opposition to targets inside Russia would signify an escalation of the battle.

But Ukraine has repeatedly argued that it wants long-range missiles and different extra highly effective gear like fighter jets to be able to defend itself in opposition to assaults launched from navy services deep inside Russia.

President Joe Biden could think about a supplemental request of about $100 billion that would come with defence help for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, a number of sources aware of the request informed Reuters on Tuesday.

Biden has been broadly anticipated to ask Congress to move a supplemental spending invoice inside days, as Washington responds to the lethal Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas militants whereas seeking to proceed to help Ukraine because it grapples with a Russian invasion.

U.S. Senate leaders had mentioned earlier on Tuesday they anticipated Biden to ship them a request by the top of this week for billions of {dollars} in help for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan and for safety on the U.S. border.

Two of the sources mentioned the request was for a full 12 months of funding, explaining the massive measurement.

A congressional supply aware of the request mentioned Israel had requested for $10 billion, because it responds to an attack on its residents by the Iran-backed militant group Hamas. Israel already receives $3.8 billion per 12 months from the United States, below a 10-year settlement that started in 2016.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has spoken of building stronger ties with South Africa after a “lengthy and fruitful” cellphone name with President Ramaphosa.

He posted on X to say: “I welcome South Africa’s participation in the Peace Formula talks and thank President Ramaphosa for confirming further engagement in their next rounds.

“We both agreed on the importance of continued Ukrainian food exports for global and Africa’s food security and the functioning of Ukraine’s Black Sea export corridor.

“I invited South Africa to our second ‘Grain From Ukraine’ summit. We also discussed the developments in the Middle East and their implications for regional and global security, as well as ways to evacuate South African citizens.”

The European Commission has already supplied greater than €50 million to the Ukraine Energy Support Fund, established to help the Ukrainian power system amidst Russia’s assaults on essential infrastructure.

The transfer was introduced by Kadri Simson, a European Commissioner, following a gathering of the Council of the European Union on power points, as reported by European Pravda.

“The Commission has already earmarked over 50 million euros to the Ukraine Energy Support Fund and I encouraged the Member States to continue their donations, too,” Simson mentioned.

She added that the European Union will do all the things potential to make sure that this winter, “effects of any Russian attacks targeting Ukraine’s energy and civilian infrastructure will be minimised”.

Ukraine on Tuesday claimed to have carried out one of the harmful assaults on Russian air property for the reason that starting of the struggle, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky saying the assault used longer-range ballistic missiles donated by the United States.

Zelensky’s announcement got here hours after a US official revealed that the longer-range ballistic missiles hunted for months by Kyiv and promised by President Joe Biden had been delivered quietly and are in battlefield use.

Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces claimed it destroyed 9 Russian helicopters at two airfields in Russia-occupied areas in a nighttime attack on targets in jap and southern Ukraine.

It additionally hit navy gear, an air-defense system, ammunition warehouses and runways, a press release mentioned. Dozens of Russian navy personnel had been injured within the attack codenamed Operation Dragonfly, it mentioned.

The US has delivered all of the beforehand pledged 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, US Army Europe and Africa Command’s spokesperson Martin O’Donnell informed the Voice of America.

The Ukrainian troopers who educated on Abrams with US troops in Germany have additionally returned to Ukraine, together with ammunition and spare tank elements, in accordance with O’Donnell.

“We have lived up to our end of the bargain. From this point forward, it is up to them (Ukraine) to determine when and where they will deliver this capability,” the US navy official mentioned, as cited by the Voice of America.

The destruction of the Kakhovka Dam in southeastern Ukraine in June prompted $14 billion price of harm and losses, a Tuesday report by the Ukrainian authorities and the United Nations mentioned.

Ukraine accused Russia of blowing up the dam, which crosses the Dnipro River, flooding the encircling space with landmine-contaminated water and leaving areas upstream with out water.

Moscow has denied duty.

“The stark figures speak for themselves. The destruction of the Kakhovka Dam has resulted in a staggering loss and damage,” mentioned Christophoros Politis, the United Nations Development Program’s deputy resident consultant in Ukraine, at a presentation in Kyiv.

Russia mentioned it want now not obey U.N. Security Council restrictions on giving missile know-how to its ally Iran as soon as they expire on Wednesday, with out saying whether or not it now deliberate to help Tehran’s missile growth.

“Supplies to and from Iran of products falling under the Missile Technology Control Regime no longer require prior approval by the U.N. Security Council,” Russia’s international ministry mentioned in a press release on Tuesday.

The restrictions had been outlined in Resolution 2231 of 2015 endorsing a deal by which Britain, China, the European Union, France, Germany, Russia and the U.S. eliminated sanctions in opposition to Iran in return for Tehran curbing its nuclear programme.

In 2018, then-President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the deal, generally known as the JCPOA, leaving unilateral U.S. sanctions in place, and Iran subsequently accelerated its nuclear programme, which it says is solely peaceable.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday rejected feedback by U.S. President Joe Biden, saying in an interview in Beijing that Moscow’s pursuits couldn’t be suppressed, and that U.S. politicians ought to study to respect others.

Putin was responding to feedback by U.S. President Joe Biden in an interview with CBS News, the place he mentioned: “Imagine what happens if we, in fact, unite all of Europe and Putin is finally put down where he cannot cause the kind of trouble he’s been causing”.

In a short interview aired on state tv throughout a summit within the Chinese capital, Putin mentioned: “This is not about me personally. This is about the interests of the country. And it is impossible to suppress the interests of Russia. They have to be taken into account.”

Putin mentioned that each Biden, with whom he has had an antagonistic relationship for the reason that U.S. president took workplace in 2021, and the broader American political elite wanted to study to “respect” Russia.

He mentioned: “This applies not only to President Biden, but also to the U.S. political elites as a whole. You must learn to respect others, and then there will be no need to suppress anyone.”