KYIV: Russian troops destroyed or captured several Ukrainian positions near the eastern city of Pokrovsk, Kyiv’s military said on Wednesday, as Moscow bears down on the strategic logistics hub that is home to a unique Ukrainian coking mine.
After months of accelerating advances toward Pokrovsk, Moscow’s forces are now as close as 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) from the southern outskirts of the city, according to Ukraine’s DeepState, which maps the front lines using open sources.
“As a result of prolonged clashes, two of our positions were destroyed, one was lost. Currently, measures are being taken to restore positions,” Nazar Voloshyn, Ukraine’s military spokesman for the eastern front, said in televised comments.
Pokrovsk, situated about 18 kilometers (11 miles) from the boundary of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions, has for months been the area of the fiercest battles in Russia’s 33-month-old full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
In October and November, the Russian military advanced toward the city at its fastest rate since the early months of the war, analysts said. Ukraine, which has been on the back foot since its failed 2023 counteroffensive, says Russia has been sustaining some of its heaviest losses of the war to date.
Both Ukraine and Russia have their eye on the growing prospect of a push for peace talks, with US President-elect Donald Trump preparing to enter office on Jan. 20, having called for an immediate ceasefire and a swift end to the war.
Kyiv has urged its allies to get it into the strongest possible position on the battlefield before any talks do happen.
Russia, which Ukraine says has over 70,000 troops on the Pokrovsk front, has rapidly advanced toward Shevchenko, a village to Pokrovsk’s south, in recent weeks.
Its forces are currently trying to gain a foothold in the village and sending in reconnaissance and sabotage groups, Voloshyn said. Ukraine is holding them back for now, he added.
The fall of Pokrovsk, an important logistics center for the Ukrainian military in the east, would amount to the biggest military setback for Kyiv in months.
The city also hosts Ukraine’s only domestic coking coal supplier for its once-giant steel industry.
The mine, which was still operating as of Dec. 6, lies 10 km (6.2 miles) west of Pokrovsk, the far side from where Russian troops have been advancing.
Ukraine loses ground near Pokrovsk, Russian force within 3 km of strategic hub
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Ukraine loses ground near Pokrovsk, Russian force within 3 km of strategic hub
- “As a result of prolonged clashes, two of our positions were destroyed, one was lost,” Nazar Voloshyn, Ukraine’s military spokesman, said
- Kyiv has urged its allies to get it into the strongest possible position on the battlefield before any talks do happen
Chinese president calls on Western countries to support multilateralism
- Xi made no direct mention of Trump or the tariffs totaling 145 percent the US is imposing on Chinese goods, but he referred to “multiple risks and challenges” facing the world that can only be dealt with through “unity and cooperation”
BEIJING: China calls on Western countries to work to support multilateralism and open cooperation, President Xi Jinping told Spain’s visiting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Friday.
“The two sides should promote the building of a fair and reasonable global governance system, maintain world peace and security, and promote common development and prosperity,” Xi told Sanchez at the Diaoyutai State Guest House in Beijing, according to a readout of the meeting by the Xinhua News Agency.
The visit comes at a complex moment for Europe and China. The tariffs announced last week — and then paused — by US President Donald Trump could mean that the European Union pursues more trade with China, the world’s third-largest consumer market after the US and the EU.
Xi made no direct mention of Trump or the tariffs totaling 145 percent the US is imposing on Chinese goods, but he referred to “multiple risks and challenges” facing the world that can only be dealt with through “unity and cooperation.”
Sanchez is making his third trip to the country in two years as his government seeks to boost investment from the Asian giant.
He was also expected to meet with business leaders from several Chinese companies, many of which produce electric batteries or renewable energy technologies.
After meeting Xi, Sanchez said Spain favored “more balanced relations between the EU and China, of finding negotiated solutions to our differences, which we have, and of greater cooperation in common interest.”
He added: “Trade wars are not good, nobody wins. And this is clear; the world needs China and the US to talk.”
Spain’s government spokesperson Pilar Alegría said earlier this week that Sanchez’s trip “has special importance” and is an opportunity to “diversify markets” as Spain faces US tariffs.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called out Spain for its move toward China, saying on Tuesday that Spain — or any country that tries to get closer to China — would be “cutting their own throat” because Chinese manufacturers will be looking to dump goods that they cannot sell in the US.
“Expanding the trade relations that we have with other countries, including a partner as important as China, does not go against anyone,” Spain’s Agriculture Minister Luis Planas, who is accompanying Sanchez, said in Vietnam on Wednesday.
“Everyone has to defend their interests,” Planas said.
Spain — the euro zone’s fourth-largest economy and a leader in growth — has been less adversarial toward China in recent years than other EU countries.
After initially supporting EU tariffs placed last year on Chinese-made electric vehicles over concerns that they enjoy unfair advantages, Spain abstained from a vote on the proposal.
Planas insisted that Spain’s approach to China “contributes to the collective effort made by certain countries in the European Union to get out of this situation.”
While China’s investments in Spain have grown, the Iberian nation trades less with China than Germany or Italy.
“Spain’s position has changed to be more pro-China ... than the average European country,” said Alicia García-Herrero, an economist for Asia Pacific at the French investment bank Natixis and an expert on Europe’s relations with China.
The Southern European country, which generated 56 percent of its electricity last year from renewable sources, needs Chinese critical raw materials, solar panels, and green technologies — similar to other European countries transitioning from fossil fuels.
In December, Chinese electric battery company CATL announced a €4.1 billion($4.5 billion) joint venture with automaker Stellantis to build a battery factory in northern Spain. That followed deals signed last year between Spain and Chinese companies Envision and Hygreen Energy to build green hydrogen infrastructure in the country.
García-Herrero, the economist at French bank Natixis, stressed the political value of the trip for Sánchez at a time when his leftist minority coalition lacks the support needed to get much passed at home and while Europe may be looking to thaw its strained relations with China.
For Spain, the key thing is “to get a leadership position in Europe at a time when the transatlantic alliance is not only at risk but in shambles,” she said.
UN aid chief says to cut 20% of staff due to funding shortfall
- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last month announced a new initiative to improve efficiency and cut costs as the world body turns 80 this year amid a cash crisis
NEW YORK: The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs will cut 20 percent of its staff as it faces a shortfall of $58 million, UN aid chief Tom Fletcher has told staff after OCHA’s largest donor — the US — cut funding.
OCHA “currently has a workforce of around 2,600 staff in over 60 countries. The funding shortfall means we are looking to regroup to an organization of around 2,100 staff in fewer locations,” Fletcher wrote in a note.
OCHA works to mobilize aid, share information, support aid efforts, and advocate for those in need during a crisis. It relies heavily on voluntary contributions.
FASTFACT
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs mobilizes aid, shares information, supports aid efforts, and advocates for those in need during a crisis.
“The US alone has been the largest humanitarian donor for decades, and the biggest contributor to OCHA’s program budget,” Fletcher said, noting that its annual contribution of $63 million would have accounted for 20 percent of OCHA’s extrabudgetary resources in 2025.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last month announced a new initiative to improve efficiency and cut costs as the world body turns 80 this year amid a cash crisis.
Fletcher said OCHA would “focus more of our resources in the countries where we work” but would work in fewer places.
OCHA “will scale back our presence and operations in Cameroon, Colombia, Eritrea, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Gaziantep (in Turkiye) and Zimbabwe,” Fletcher said.
“As we all know, these exercises are driven by funding cuts announced by member states and not by a reduction of needs,” he said.
“Humanitarian needs are on the rise and have perhaps never been higher, driven by conflicts, climate crises, disease, and the lack of respect of international humanitarian law.”
‘Rejected migrants’ moved to detention centers in Albania
- Italy’s government of Premier Giorgia Meloni approved a decree last month that expanded the use of the Albanian fast-track asylum processing centers to include the detention of rejected asylum-seekers with deportation orders
SHENGJIN: Italian authorities on Friday transferred 40 migrants with no permission to remain in the country to Italian-run migration detention centers in Albania.
It was the first time a EU country sent rejected migrants to a nation outside the EU that is neither their own nor a country they had transited on their journey, migration experts said.
A military ship with the migrants departed the Italian port of Brindisi and arrived hours later in the Albanian port of Shengjin, about 65 km northeast of the capital, Tirana.
FASTFACT
A military ship with the migrants departed the Italian port of Brindisi and arrived hours later in the Albanian port of Shengjin, about 65 km northeast of the capital, Tirana.
The migrants were seen being transferred in buses and minivans under heavy security to an Italian-run center in Shengjin, where they will be processed before being transferred to a second center in Gjader, also run by Italian authorities.
The Italian government has not released their nationalities or further details.
Both facilities in Shengjin and Gjader were initially built to process asylum requests of people intercepted in the Mediterranean Sea by Italy.
But since their inauguration in October, Italian courts have stopped authorities from using them, and small groups of migrants sent there have returned to Italy.
Italy’s government of Premier Giorgia Meloni approved a decree last month that expanded the use of the Albanian fast-track asylum processing centers to include the detention of rejected asylum-seekers with deportation orders.
It is not clear how long the migrants may be held in Albania. They can be detained in Italy for up to 18 months pending deportation.
Meloni’s novel approach to expel the migrants echoes US President Donald Trump’s recent deportations of migrants of various nationalities to Panama.
It’s also in line with a recent EU Commission proposal that, if passed, would allow EU members to set up so-called “return hubs” abroad.
Some experts and rights groups question the transfers Migration experts say it was unclear how legal Italy’s actions were.
Meghan Benton of the Migration Policy Institute said the move likely will be challenged in court.
Speaking from Toulouse, France, Benton said other EU countries are interested in doing the same, including the Netherlands with Uganda.
Francesco Ferri, a migration expert with ActionAid, who was among a group of nongovernmental organizations and Italian lawmakers visiting Albania to follow the migrant transfer, said Italian authorities have failed to clarify what happens to the migrants once they’re in Albania. He said there is no legislation in Italian law, EU law, or the Albania-Italy agreement that would allow rejected asylum-seekers to be deported directly from Albania, making the purpose of the transfer unclear.
“For us, it is unacceptable,” Ferri said.
The Albanian centers opened in October, but they remained substantially inactive due to legal hurdles and broad opposition from human rights associations, which believe they violate international laws and put migrants’ rights at risk.
The November 2023 agreement between Italy and Albania— worth nearly 800 million euros over five years — allows up to 3,000 migrants the Italian coast guard intercepted in international waters each month to be sheltered in Albania and vetted for possible asylum in Italy or repatriation.
Italy has agreed to welcome those migrants who are granted asylum, while those whose applications are rejected face deportation directly from Albania.
The first three groups of 73 migrants transferred there in October, November, and January spent only a few hours in Albania.
They were returned to Italy after Italian magistrates refused to validate their detention in a non-EU country.
So far this year, 11,438 migrants landed on Italian shores, less than the 16,090 who arrived in the same period last year.
According to the Italian Interior Ministry, most arrived from Bangladesh, followed by Syria, Tunisia, and Egypt. Irregular border crossings were 31 percent lower across the EU, according to figures released by the EU’s Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex.
Spike in wounded as fighting intensifies in parts of Somalia
- Military operations continue in Bari in Puntland, while confrontations often occur in Sool and Sanaag regions in the north, the organization said
MOGADISHU: Hospitals in parts of Somalia are struggling with rising numbers of wounded after a sharp increase in fighting since the beginning of the year, the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Friday.
Recent attacks, including a roadside blast narrowly missing the president’s convoy last month, are heightening fears of a resurgence by terrorists, despite gains by the Somali government and international partners.
After 15 years of fighting federal troops, Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabab had been forced onto the defensive in 2022 and 2023 by Somali forces backed by Africa Union-led peacekeepers.
“Several regions of Somalia have seen a sharp escalation of hostilities, and hospitals near active front lines are struggling to meet a surge in needs,” the ICRC said in a statement.
“We have seen a significant increase of weapon-wounded patients treated in the medical facilities we support since the beginning of the year.” In Mogadishu, Madina Hospital supported by the ICRC, has admitted 203 wounded — a 26-percent increase from the previous three months.
The ICRC said the Middle and Lower Shabelle regions in the south had seen a significant increase in fighting since March, with displacements and civilian casualties.
Military operations continue in Bari in Puntland, while confrontations often occur in Sool and Sanaag regions in the north, the organization said.
The surge in fighting across Somalia has also forced more than 100,000 to flee their homes, the ICRC said.
Earlier this month, Al-Shabab militants fired multiple rockets near Mogadishu’s airport, disrupting international flights.
The group has seized key locations in Middle and Lower Shabelle, coastal regions on either side of the capital.
A bomb blast narrowly missed the convoy of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on March 18, showing the group once again poses a significant threat to the capital.
Thousands of children subject to sexual violence in eastern Congo, UNICEF says
GENEVA: Children including toddlers represent more than a third of victims in nearly 10,000 cases of rape and other forms of sexual violence committed in eastern Congo in the first two months of the year, the UN children’s agency said on Friday.
M23 rebels seized parts of eastern Congo earlier this year as part of a rapid offensive that left thousands dead, including children, and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes.
UNICEF spokesperson James Elder told a Geneva press briefing that the rapes and other forms of sexual violence were being used as “a weapon of war” and were taking place once every 30 minutes on average, with toddlers also among the victims.
FASTFACT
UNICEF spokesperson James Elder says that the rapes and other forms of sexual violence are being used as ‘a weapon of war’ and are taking place once every 30 minutes on average, with toddlers also among the victims.
“We are not talking about isolated incidents; we are talking about a systemic crisis,” he said, citing a database collected by organizations on the ground working on sexual violence, which showed that between 35-45 percent of the total were under-18s.
“It is a weapon of war and a deliberate tactic of terror.”
Elder, who spoke via video link from Goma, said that funding shortages were affecting the ability to treat survivors of sexual attacks. In a hospital he visited this week 127 rape survivors had no access to medical kits which can prevent an HIV infection in the immediate aftermath.
“The gaps in funding are life-threatening,” he said.
Elder did not elaborate on the reasons for the funding shortages in Congo, although deep cuts by top donors in the US to foreign aid have hit humanitarian programs elsewhere.
