Russia claims more advances after Ukraine ground offensive

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Ukrainian residents from Vovchansk and nearby villages wait for buses amid an evacuation to Kharkiv due to Russian shelling on May 10, 2024. (REUTERS)
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Updated 11 May 2024
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Russia claims more advances after Ukraine ground offensive

  • Russia’s defense ministry said its troops had ‘liberated’ five border villages in the Kharkiv region
  • The Kharkiv region has been mostly under Ukrainian control since September 2022

UKRAINE: Russia on Saturday said it had captured six villages in Ukraine’s east after launching a surprise ground offensive that prompted mass evacuations.

The defense ministry said its troops had “liberated” five villages in the Kharkiv region near the border with Russia — Borisivka, Ogirtseve, Pletenivka, Pylna and Strilecha — “as a result of offensive actions.”

The village of Keramik in the Donetsk region was also now under Russian control, it said.

Ukrainian officials said Russian forces made small advances in the area it was pushed back from nearly two years ago, the latest in a series of gains as Ukrainian forces find themselves outgunned and outmanned.

“A total of 1,775 people have been evacuated,” Kharkiv governor Oleg Synegubov wrote on social media.

He reported Russian artillery and mortar attacks on 30 settlements over the past 24 hours.

Groups of people could be seen coming in vans and cars with as many bags as they could carry at an evacuation arrival point outside the city of Kharkiv.

Evacuees — many of them elderly — registered and received food and medical assistance in makeshift tents.

“We must disrupt Russian offensive operations and return the initiative to Ukraine,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday.

Ukrainska Pravda quoted military sources saying the Russian assault had resumed on Saturday near the village of Glyboke in Kharkiv.

The report could not be independently verified.

The Kharkiv region has been mostly under Ukrainian control since September 2022.

A senior Ukrainian military source said on Friday that Russian forces had advanced one kilometer into Ukraine and were trying to “create a buffer zone” in the Kharkiv and neighboring Sumy regions to prevent attacks on Russian territory.

Ukrainian forces have multiplied attacks inside Russia and Russian-held areas of Ukraine, particularly on energy infrastructure.

Moscow-installed authorities in the Russian-occupied Lugansk region in eastern Ukraine said four people were killed by a Ukrainian strike with US-made missiles on an oil depot in Rovenky.

Governor Leonid Pasechnik said the strike “enveloped the oil depot in fire and damaged surrounding homes.”

In Russia, two people were reported killed by Ukrainian strikes in the Belgorod and Kursk regions.

Ukrainian officials also reported a total of six civilians killed in Russian shelling in the Donetsk, Kharkiv and Kherson regions over the past day.

Officials in Kyiv had warned for weeks that Moscow might try to attack its northeastern border regions, pressing its advantage as Ukraine struggles with delays in Western aid and manpower shortages.

Ukraine’s military said it had deployed more troops and Zelensky said Ukrainian forces were using artillery and drones to thwart the Russian advance.

“Reserve units have been deployed to strengthen the defense in this area of the front,” it said.

The US-based Institute for the Study of War said on Friday that Russia had made “tactically significant gains.”

But the main aim of the operation was “drawing Ukrainian manpower and material from other critical sectors of the front in eastern Ukraine,” it said.

ISW said it did not appear to be “a large-scale sweeping offensive operation to envelop, encircle and seize Kharkiv” — Ukraine’s second biggest city.

Washington announced a new $400 million military aid package for Kyiv hours after the offensive began, and said it was confident Ukraine could repel any fresh Russian campaign.


Trump says he will call Putin on Monday to discuss the war in Ukraine

Updated 4 sec ago
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Trump says he will call Putin on Monday to discuss the war in Ukraine

Trump said the subject will be “STOPPING THE ‘BLOODBATH”

KYIV: President Donald Trump says he will speak by phone Monday with Russian leader Vladimir Putin about the war in Ukraine.

Trump said in a social media post Saturday that the subject will be “STOPPING THE ‘BLOODBATH.”

The American president said he also then plans to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and members of NATO.

“HOPEFULLY IT WILL BE A PRODUCTIVE DAY,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social site.

Italian government tells Israel: ‘Enough with the attacks’ in Gaza

Updated 24 min 47 sec ago
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Italian government tells Israel: ‘Enough with the attacks’ in Gaza

  • “We no longer want to see the Palestinian people suffer,” Tajani said
  • “Let’s come to a ceasefire, let’s free the hostages”

ROME: Italy’s government on Saturday upped its exhortations to Israel to stop deadly military strikes in Gaza, with Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani saying: “Enough with the attacks.”

“We no longer want to see the Palestinian people suffer,” Tajani said during a trip to Sicily, in remarks relayed by his spokesman.

“Let’s come to a ceasefire, let’s free the hostages, but let’s leave people who are victims of Hamas alone,” he was cited as saying.

Israel’s military has announced it is in the “initial stages” of a new offensive in Gaza aimed at defeating Hamas.

Israel resumed its offensive in Gaza on March 18, ending a two-month truce in its war against Hamas triggered by the group’s October 2023 attack.

More than 100 people in Gaza were killed in Israeli strikes on Friday and another 10 on Saturday, according to the Gaza civil defense agency.

International condemnation has escalated over Israel’s military actions, and its blockage of humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip, where more than two million people lived before the war started.

Israel’s army said the goal of its latest offensive is to “seize control of areas within the Gaza Strip.”


Macron urges regional investment as Albania nears EU goal

Updated 59 min 6 sec ago
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Macron urges regional investment as Albania nears EU goal

  • “Here in Albania, clearly, you have the entry point in this region of Western Balkans,” Macron said
  • Albania entered talks to join the European Union in 2022

TIRANA: French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday invited foreign investors to come to “stable” Europe, including to Albania, which he sees obtaining EU entry in 2027.

Europe “is a stable and reliable place,” he told economic forum “Priority Europe,” organized by the Future Investment Initiative (FII) institute of advertising executive Richard Attias.

“And in this crazy world, don’t underestimate the strengths of such qualities,” Macron said at the Tirana event aimed at connecting European leaders and innovators with sovereign wealth funds and Middle East, Asia and US business leaders.

“Here in Albania, clearly, you have the entry point in this region of Western Balkans, but much more broadly it’s a key point in the Mediterranean place and Europe.

“And in two years to come, as now he has a clear mandate, he will join the EU,” added Macron, referring to Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama.

Albania entered talks to join the European Union in 2022 and Rama said that the process could conclude with the country joining in 2027 if all goes to plan. “That would be incredible,” said Rama in an interview with AFP.

The country of some three million is by far the most pro-EU in the Balkans. In 2024, 92 percent of those questioned in a poll said they would vote “yes” if a referendum were held on EU membership-compared to 40 percent in Serbia.

The challenges of meeting accession requirements remain sizeable, notably in terms of combating corruption.

Several ministers and several senior officials, former president Ilir Meta, and the mayor of Tirana — a close Rama associate — are currently in detention on suspicion of embezzlement.


Zelensky will attend Pope Leo’s inaugural Mass, Vatican says

Updated 17 May 2025
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Zelensky will attend Pope Leo’s inaugural Mass, Vatican says

  • Zelensky would be happy to meet other leaders on the sidelines of the inauguration
  • Rubio said he would discuss on Saturday efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine with Cardinal Matteo Zuppi

VATICAN CITY: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will attend the inaugural Mass of newly elected Pope Leo on Sunday, along with many other world leaders, the Vatican said.

The Mass in St. Peter’s Square will formally install Pope Leo, who was born in Chicago but lived for many years in Peru, as the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Roman Catholics.

US Vice President JD Vance, who clashed fiercely with Zelensky in the White House in February, will lead the US delegation, which also includes Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Zelensky would be happy to meet other leaders on the sidelines of the inauguration, a top aide told Reuters this week. When he went to the Vatican for the funeral of Pope Francis on April 26, Zelensky held face-to-face talks with US President Donald Trump in St. Peter’s Basilica.

Rubio said he would discuss on Saturday efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine with Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, who served as the late Pope Francis’ envoy for the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

In remarks to reporters ahead of the meeting, the top US diplomat suggested the Vatican could be a venue to facilitate dialogue.

“I wouldn’t call it a broker, but it certainly is a place that I would think that both sides would be comfortable coming,” Rubio told reporters.

Among other leaders expected on Sunday are the presidents of Israel, Peru and Nigeria, the prime ministers of Italy, Canada and Australia, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and European Commission President Ursula Von der Layen.

Many European royals will also be present, including Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia.
Russia will be represented by Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova, the Vatican said.


Indian state honors ‘elephant whisperers’ from Oscar-winning documentary with special village

Updated 17 May 2025
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Indian state honors ‘elephant whisperers’ from Oscar-winning documentary with special village

  • In 2023, ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ became the first Indian documentary to win an Oscar
  • Indigenous communities have been integral as elephant caretakers in Asia

NEW DELHI: India’s elephant caretakers in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, whose roles were brought to global attention in an Oscar-winning documentary, were honored with a special village by the local government as part of an effort to recognize their dedication to the conservation of the mammals.

The story of a mahout couple in Tamil Nadu who devote themselves to caring for an orphaned baby elephant was central to “The Elephant Whisperers” film, which became the first Indian documentary to win an Oscar in 2023.

Since the documentary brought the role of the mahouts — a Hindi word for elephant caretakers — to the international spotlight, the Tamil Nadu government has been working to further empower and honor them.

On Tuesday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin inaugurated the Mahout Village at the state’s Theppakadu Elephant Camp. Dubbed the first of its kind, the special area comprises 44 houses for each of the mammals’ keepers and their families.

“The film ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ played an important part in building the houses for mahouts, there is no doubt about it,” Supriya Sahu, additional chief secretary for environment, climate change and forests in Tamil Nadu, told Arab News.

“We will make sure that the people, the indigenous community who take care of our elephants, are also suitably taken care of. That is the idea behind (this program). It’s a tribute to them.”

Built at a cost of about $670,000, the houses at Mahout Village use solar lights and fences, and were constructed in consultation with the mahouts. The area also comes with communal facilities, including a basketball court and a kids’ playground.

Mahouts have long been integral in wildlife conservation across many South and Southeast Asian countries.

India is home to some 30,000 Asian elephants, representing at least 60 percent of the species’ global population. Tamil Nadu itself is home to about 3,100 elephants.

With the buzz around “The Elephant Whisperers” following its Oscar win, Bomman and Bellie, the couple from the Kattunayakan tribal group who were featured in the film, had urged the government to consider building houses for the mahouts.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin interacts with mahout couple Bomman and Bellie on May 13, 2024 during the inauguration of Mahout Village at Theppakadu Elephant Camp. (M.K. Stalin/Facebook) 

“One good thing that has happened is the documentary brought attention to the indigenous people who have been taking care of elephants for generations,” Bomman told Arab News.

“The houses are really a recognition for those who have been taking care of elephants and helped in the preservation of nature.”

For C. Maari, a 52-year-old mahout, the Oscar-winning documentary helped show the possibility of human-wildlife coexistence.

“The documentary no doubt highlighted our issues and the world outside came to know that humans and animals understand each other, and can coexist together if we don’t intrude in each others’ space,” Maari told Arab News.

He is hopeful that the new housing will help his community better take care of the elephants.

“I am really happy that I got the house. Earlier, we used to live in a hut without any facilities inside the jungle. We used to struggle for basic amenities, like toilets and other facilities,” he said.

“For generations, we have been friends with elephants and we understand their needs. Both of us have been surviving together for generations and the houses are the recognition of our contribution in maintaining the animal world.”