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A British charity founder who was providing military and humanitarian support in Ukraine has succumbed to his injuries while fighting in the war-hit nation, the organisation has said.
Peter Fouche died on Thursday “in the battlefield” after getting badly injured “in combat against Russian forces”, Halyna Zhuk, commercial director and co-founder of Project Konstantin, said in a video message.
His charity organisation had a team of independent volunteers that provided essential supplies such as drones and food to Ukrainian soldiers. It also evacuates the soldiers and civilians and delivers humanitarian aid to conflict zones near the front line.
This comes as the Netherlands is set to supply Ukraine with the first of 24 promised F-16 fighter jets soon, the outgoing Dutch government said. All necessary permits needed to send the jets to Ukraine have been granted, defence minister Kajsa Ollongren said.
In Kyiv, Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban is set to meet Volodymyr Zelensky as he makes his first trip to the Ukrainian capital today since Russia’s invasion of its smaller neighbour in 2022.
Key points
- British charity founder dies in Ukraine
- Netherlands to start F-16 deliveries to Ukraine soon
- Hungary’s Orban to meet Zelensky on trip to Ukraine – report
- Ukrainian convicts join the fight against Russia
We have some photos from the frontline
Below we have some more photos from the frontline in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine.
Russia is ordering its troops to kill Ukrainian prisoners of war – why?
Russia is ordering its soldiers to kill Ukrainian prisoners of war – why?
While the true number of slain soldiers is currently not known, evidence of Moscow’s ‘take no prisoners’ policy is starting to become horrifyingly clear. Askold Krushelnycky reports
Tom Watling2 July 2024 09:00Here we have some photos from Ukraine
Below we have some more photos from Ukraine.
Orban arrives in Kyiv, sources say
Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban has arrived in Kyiv ahead of crunch talks with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, sources have reported.
Bertalan Havasi, the prime minister's press chief, confirmed their arrival from the Ukrainian capital.
The visit comes as Hungary assumes the rotating presidency of the European Union.
Tom Watling2 July 2024 08:27Zelensky and Orban pictured in Brussels ahead of Kyiv visit
As Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban reportedly arrives in Kyiv today for his first visit to the Ukrainian capital since Russia’s full-scale invasion, we remind you of the below photo from last week.
Mr Orban and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky were pictured on the sidelines of a European Union leaders’ summit in Brussels on 27 June in a heated exchange.
The details of the conversation have not been made public, but Mr Orban has consistently opposed weapons supplies to Ukraine and the country’s accession to the bloc.
During the inauguration of Argentine president Javier Milei last year, Mr Orban and Mr Zelensky were filmed in another heated exchange.
Pentagon confirms talks between Ukraine’s defence minister and US defence secretary
Ukraine’s defence minister Rustem Umerov will hold talks with US defence secretary Lloyd Austin in Washington today as the two discuss firming up military cooperation between the two countries, the Pentagon said.
“Secretary Austin and minister Umerov will discuss bilateral defence cooperation, regional security issues and ways to strengthen the defence partnership between the United States and Ukraine,” deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said at a press briefing, according to a transcript on the US Department of Defence website.
The talks come after Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky renewed his plea to Kyiv’s allies over the weekend for more weapons after a Russian air strike in Ukraine‘s Zaporizhzhia region killed seven people.
Last week, the administration said it would provide Ukraine with $150m worth of weapons and ammunition, including HAWK air defence interceptors and 155 mm artillery munitions
“The sooner the world helps us deal with the Russian combat aircraft launching these bombs, the sooner we can strike – justifiably strike – at Russian military infrastructure, military airfields, the closer we will be to peace,” Mr Zelensky said in his nightly video address over the weekend.
But after two years of Kyiv’s asking allies for F-16 fighter jets to help it fight Russian forces, the planes are yet to arrive.
The US is the largest provider of military assistance to Ukraine in the war that Russia launched against its smaller neighbour with a full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Arpan Rai2 July 2024 07:50Ukrainian air base under fire as Russia aims at F-16 arrivals
Explosions reverberated across the pre-dawn sky as Ukrainian air defences fended off a Russian attack on this small city in western Ukraine, home to an important air base and a frequent target of Moscow’s strikes.
Hours after the assault, the tidy streets of Starokostiantyniv had returned to a semblance of normality.
But the 27 June attack was a stark reminder of the challenges Kyiv faces as it rebuilds its depleted air force and deploys the first US-designed F-16s - fighter aircraft that Russia will be determined to ground or destroy.
The first planes are expected to arrive this month, and Ukraine hopes they will boost forces struggling to repel a Russian onslaught along the front line, which includes devastating glide bombs that F-16s could potentially disrupt.
Officials have not revealed where the F-16s will be based, but Moscow said after the strike on Starokostiantyniv last Thursday that it had targeted airfields it believed would house them.
The air base has come under frequent attack since the first days of Russia’s February 2022 invasion, including from drones and hypersonic missiles.
Residents of this historic military outpost of around 30,000 people, nicknamed Starkon, in Ukraine‘s Khmelnytskyi region have learned to adjust to the constant danger.
“In short, it’s ‘fun’ to live here,” said city official and local culture expert Vasyl Muliar with a wry smile, speaking after the recent attack.
A Ukrainian air force spokesman said the strikes presented “certain difficulties”, but would not undermine the delivery of F-16s or their use in battle.
Officials are tight-lipped about details of attacks on objects such a military bases and critical infrastructure.
Military analysts said the Russians were probably targeting air base infrastructure such as runways and storage facilities to make getting F-16s airborne more difficult, and, when they arrive, the Western jets themselves.
The Ukrainian military, which is low on air-defence ammunition, is also likely to be forced to move the prized planes around airfields, said Justin Bronk, of the Royal United Services Institute.
“Any ground-based air defence coverage can be saturated if the Russians care enough to fire enough missiles at one target,” he said.
Arpan Rai2 July 2024 07:30Hungary PM Orban arrived in Kyiv for talks with Zelensky
Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban arrived in Kyiv this morning for talks with Volodymyr Zelensky, Orban’s press chief said.
Orban and Zelensky are going to discuss the chance to create peace and current issues of Hungarian-Ukrainian bilateral relations, Bertalan Havasi said.
Arpan Rai2 July 2024 07:09Troops look for weak spots as Russia sets the stage for another push in Ukraine
Russian troops are forging through Ukraine‘s outgunned and undermanned defenses in a relentless onslaught, prompting the West to push for new weapons and strategies to shore up Kyiv.
That, in turn, has brought new threats by President Vladimir Putin to retaliate against the West — either directly or indirectly.
The moves by the West to blunt the offensive and the potential Kremlin response could lead to a dangerous escalation as the war drags through its third year — one that further raises the peril of a direct confrontation between Russia and NATO.
Russia took advantage of its edge in firepower amid delays in U.S. aid to scale up attacks in several areas along the 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front. Relatively small units are probing Ukrainian defenses for weak spots, potentially setting the stage for a more ambitious push.
Troops look for weak spots as Russia sets the stage for another push in Ukraine
Russia has made incremental but steady advances in the Donetsk region
Arpan Rai2 July 2024 07:05Russia is ordering its troops to kill Ukrainian prisoners of war – why?
Russian commanders are ordering their forces to kill surrendering Ukrainian soldiers in a plan to “terrify” droves of Russian troops into not giving themselves up.
Many newly conscripted and poorly trained Russian soldiers realise their lives are being squandered in human-wave attacks, according to Ukrainian officials.
Petro Yatsenko, a spokesperson for Kyiv’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, says orders to kill Ukrainians who could be taken prisoner come from the “highest level” – the Kremlin. The instructions are designed to “terrify” their own soldiers, he adds.
The department has representatives from various Ukrainian ministries, with the country’s military intelligence agency playing a key role.
Askold Krushelnycky reports:
Russia is ordering its soldiers to kill Ukrainian prisoners of war – why?
While the true number of slain soldiers is currently not known, evidence of Moscow’s ‘take no prisoners’ policy is starting to become horrifyingly clear. Askold Krushelnycky reports
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