Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 03-08-2024

NATO member Turkey has been positioning itself as a potential mediator between Moscow and Kyiv since Russia launched its invasion more than two years ago.

Turkey is ready to host a peace summit between Russia and Ukraine, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday after talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in Istanbul.

NATO member Turkey has been positioning itself as a potential mediator between Moscow and Kyiv since Russia launched its invasion more than two years ago.

The latest report from Ukraine’s State Statistics Service showed an increase in salary in different industries throughout 2023, but the numbers might not reveal the full picture.

The State Statistics Service of Ukraine released a new report of the average salaries in Ukraine throughout 2023, categorized by industries, which showed a steady increase but might not be able to account for inflation and exchange rates.

According to the report, those who work in “information and communication” have the highest average salary, which grew from Hr.36,484 ($954) per month from the first quarter of 2023 to Hr.41,326 ($1,081) by the end of the year – a 23 percent increase from the year prior.

Russian troops launched a Soviet-era assault tactic on Ukrainian positions, employing substantial armor. Ukrainian paratroopers fought back using drones – destroying 12 vehicles, including four tanks.

Ukrainian paratroopers foiled a Russian assault in Novomykhailivka, Donetsk region, destroying 12 Russian armored vehicles, the 79th Separate Tavriyya Assault Brigade reported.

The brigade shared a video on Telegram, stating: “The enemy continues to forcefully test the defenses of our paratroopers, who are holding back their advance in the area of the settlement of Novomykhailivka.”

The UN expert said that the Russian army's torture of military and civilian prisoners is so widespread that it "cannot be described away as aberrant behavior or ad hoc behavior."

Russian armed forces and associated groups systematically use torture in occupied areas of Ukraine, pointing to a "deliberate policy," a United Nations expert said on Friday.

The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Alice Jill Edwards, said she had drawn that conclusion following a visit to war-torn Ukraine in September.

In the intercepted phone call, the man also says limits on ammo usage led to the Wagner revolt last summer.

In an intercepted phone call, released by Ukrainian intelligence (HUR), a Russian soldier tells a woman thought to be his wife that the Kremlin is sending disabled people and prisoners, referring to them as “garbage,” to the front line.

“All the rabble, all the garbage that was in Russia was gathered and thrown to the front,” the man said. “Disabled people, f*****g prisoners who were in prison their whole life.”

Ukraine will receive the first tranche of EUR 4.5 billion under the Ukraine Facility program in March, and the second tranche of EUR 1.5 billion will be disbursed in April.

Ukraine will receive the first tranche of the Ukraine Facility program, amounting to EUR 4.5 billion, in March. The second tranche, valued at EUR 1.5 billion, will be disbursed in April, as announced by Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice President of the European Commission, during his visit to Kyiv on Friday, March 8.

"We are finalizing the mechanism of support for Ukraine, which is called the Ukraine Facility... The first tranche of this assistance in the amount of EUR 4.5 billion will be disbursed in March, and it will be followed shortly afterwards, in April, by EUR 1.5 billion," Dombrovskis stated.

Tikhanovskaya called on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to intervene, saying that other Belarusian political prisoners had also been cut off from the outside world.

Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya said Friday she has not heard from her jailed husband for a year, describing the lack of communication as a form of torture.

She called on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to intervene, saying that other Belarusian political prisoners had also been cut off from the outside world.

The sharp increase in imports of food from Ukraine into the EU has been a controversial issue for months, and one of the main drivers of the farmers’ protests in Eastern European countries.

The European Parliament’s trade committee rejected all of the amendments backed by farming groups on the proposal to suspend import duties and quotas on agricultural products from Ukraine, paving the way for a swift adoption of the decision at the EU level.

The sharp increase in imports of food commodities from Ukraine into the EU has been a controversial issue for months, and one of the main drivers of the farmers’ protests in Eastern European countries. The proposal to extend the suspension of duties of tariffs has been pushed back on by farming groups, who have requested more extensive safeguards.

Since Europe struggled to provide munitions for Ukraine, President Pavel told a security conference in Munich last month that the Czech Republic could collect weaponry for Kyiv outside the continent.

The Czech Republic prime minister said Friday an international initiative to buy arms for Ukraine from outside Europe had raised enough money to buy 300,000 shells, revising down figures given by the president.

President Petr Pavel said Thursday Ukraine would get 800,000 shells within weeks as 18 donor countries had pledged funding.

The world in focus, as seen by a Canadian leading global affairs analyst, writer and speaker, in his review of international media.

President Biden used his State of the Union address on Thursday to launch a series of fiery attacks against former President Donald Trump, a competitor whom he did not mention by name but made clear was a dire threat to American democracy and stability in the world. In a televised speech to a joint session of Congress, Mr. Biden brought the energy his allies and aides had hoped he would display to warn of what could happen should Ukraine continue to lose ground to Russia. Invoking an overseas war at the top of his address was an unusual introduction to a speech that was in many ways a political argument for his re-election. “Not since President Lincoln and the Civil War have freedom and democracy been under assault at home as they are today,” Mr. Biden said, raising his voice to a shout. “What makes our moment rare is the freedom of democracy, under attack both at home and overseas.” Mr. Biden’s speech had to accomplish several goals at once, including taking credit for an economy that has outperformed expectations but whose effects many Americans say they cannot feel. In a speech that ran for an over hour, he ran through a lengthy list of issues, including immigration, abortion, prescription drug costs and the war in Gaza - NYT

Biden started his State of the Union speech with a strident demand for the House to lift its hold on his $60 billion arms package for Ukraine, which Trump opposes, portraying it as vital to continued American strength in the world. He contrasted Trump with former Republican President Ronald Reagan’s thundering call on Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down” the Berlin Wall. “My predecessor, a former Republican president, tells Putin, quote, ‘Do whatever the Hell you want,’” Biden said, drawing boos from Democrats on the House floor. “That’s a quote. A former president actually said that bowing down to a Russian leader. I think it’s outrageous, it’s dangerous and it’s unacceptable.” “We will not bow down. I will not bow down,” Biden said. “History is watching.” Biden also accused Trump of going soft on President Xi Jinping’s China, saying he had taken steps to bolster regional alliances to meet its threat and to protect US technology from being used in the country. “For all his tough talk on China, it never occurred to my predecessor to do any of that.” - CNN

An irritating Kyiv bridgehead Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told Putin was totally “wiped out” is hanging tough weeks later, and now elite Ukrainian Marines have grabbed new real estate.

A tenacious Ukrainian bridgehead across the Dnipro River Russian state-controlled media last month reported had been eliminated, looks to have just got bigger.

Russian milbloggers and patriotic websites had been livid for weeks following a Feb. 21 nationally televised briefing showing Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu telling his boss Vladimir Putin that Moscow’s forces had overrun positions held by Ukrainian marines on the left bank of Ukraine’s biggest waterway, near the city of  Kherson.

Interesting to hear Christine Lagarde argue that seizing Russian assets needs to be legal, the author writes.

That is fine but Lagarde needs to tell us all, if frozen Russian assets are not used, how is the West going to fund Ukraine.

As is, with $61 billion in US Funding stuck in Congress, and with a Trump presidency likely to pull the plug on Ukraine financing next year, the IMF EFF financing plan for Ukraine - with a $122-140 billion financing gap supposedly to be filled by the West - does not add up. Will Europe step up to guarantee to cover the US shortfall? I just cannot see that. In an age of Trump, and populism Western financing assurances mean as much as the paper that the Budapest memorandum was written on. Hard cash matters, as is the $300 billion off of immobilised Russian central bank assets in Western jurisdictions.

Ukraine introduced historic changes to its labour laws just weeks after Russia invaded to allow women to take on work previously restricted to men.

Even though Anya Karkachova grew up in the heartland of Ukraine's industrial east -- dotted by coal mines and their smoking chimneys -- she never imagined she would be working underground herself.

But the 31-year-old is now one among hundreds of Ukrainian women who have taken on new roles below the surface of the war-battered country as its men fight off Russian forces on the front.

Western commentators, milbloggers and no doubt the Russian aerospace forces have been puzzled by the recent increase in effectiveness of Kyiv’s air defenses – here’s one possibility among many.

Everyone was surprised that Ukraine’s air defense shot down more than a dozen of Russia’s most modern ground attack aircraft as well as a $350 million aerial listening post at long range in just 12 days in February.

Theories abounded: Had they got hold of a new long-range air defense weapon? Were special forces on the ground carrying out close-in shoots? Was it just a statistical anomaly -they were flying many more sorties in support of the assault on Avdiivka so presenting more targets? Was there simply a breakdown in Russian airspace command and control allowing its aircraft to present a more vulnerable operational profile?

The traffickers, operating as an organized network, lured Indian nationals with promises of lucrative jobs, then deployed them to frontline bases in the Russo-Ukrainian war against their will.

India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted raids across 13 locations, detaining suspects involved in a trafficking network that sent Indian citizens to fight for the Russian army in its ongoing Ukraine invasion, AFP reported.

The CBI's statement indicated that the traffickers had been operating as an organized network, enticing Indian nationals through social media platforms like YouTube and local contacts/agents for lucrative jobs in Russia.

The events of Oct. 7 raised many questions about the status of women, the relationship between women's issues and political agendas, and most significantly, about global solidarity for female victims.

International Women's Day, which celebrates the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women, is marked across the globe with pertinent events, conferences, festivals, and performances. However, in Israel, this year International Women's Day will be commemorated but not celebrated.

The events of Oct. 7 raised many questions about the status of women, the relationship between women's issues and political agendas, and most significantly, about global solidarity for female victims.

US President Joe Biden’s annual State of the Union address signaled that the threat of a Russia “on the march” should alarm everyone – not only supporters of Ukraine.

President Joe Biden’s speech is unlikely to shift the situation in the US Congress, where aid for Ukraine has languished for months. However, Biden reminded Americans that Ukraine’s plight has global consequences and will affect Americans.

The speech began with a dramatic comparison between his situation and the predicament of January 1941, when “President Franklin Roosevelt came to this chamber to speak to the nation,” saying, “I address you at a moment unprecedented in the history of the Union.”

The Chinese delegation’s visit is part of Beijing’s “shuttle diplomacy” tour in an attempt to negotiate peace between Kyiv and Moscow, but Kyiv’s response might’ve been met with cold indifference.

A Chinese delegation, headed by Special Representative for Eurasian Affairs, Li Hui, arrived in Kyiv on March 7 before departing later the same day. He was hosted and briefed on Russia’s war in Ukraine by the Head of the Presidential Office, Andriy Yermak.

This was the latest stop in Li’s “shuttle diplomacy” visit, similar to that last year, in hopes to identify potential peaceful resolutions to what Beijing called the “Ukrainian crisis.”

At a meeting with a range of political parties, the President of France floated a scenario that could potentially lead to French troops deployed in Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron met with parliamentary parties on Thursday. During the meeting Macron said he was open to the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine, as announced by, according to French newspaper L’Independant.

Fabien Roussel, a representative of the French Communist Party, said after the meeting that “Macron referenced a scenario that could lead to intervention [of French troops]: the advancement of the front towards Odesa or Kyiv.”

Kyiv Post speaks to Ukraine's Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation, Oleksandr Bornyakov, the man who is helping Ukraine to raise a drone army and navy in the midst of a war.

The EU Commission has presented a new strategy and legislative proposal for the European defence industry.

The EU Commission has presented a new strategy and legislative proposal for the European defence industry. The plans foresee 1.5 billion euros in investments in the defence sector and require that by the end of the decade 50 percent of EU spending on weapons and ammunition is to go to manufacturers within Europe, compared to the current 20 percent. More joint EU purchases are also planned.

A sensible investment for the future

On March 8, International Women’s Day, we remember some of their representatives from Ukraine who amazed with their beauty, brains, resilience, creativity and sex appeal.

Paris was one of the world’s leading centers of cultural and intellectual life for much of the modern period. But did you know that among the women that became muses, lovers or wives of some of the greatest artists and intellectuals of their day associated with the French capital, several of the leading femme fatales were from Ukraine. They have even been immortalized in their works.

Women, like flowers, can symbolize not only beauty, but also fertility, growth and development, both personally and professionally, and can flourish and enrich the lives around them.

Women play a crucial role in the life of any society: they invariably provide inspiration and motivation, contributing to all areas of social life. On International Women's Day, the women of the Kyiv Post's team named the Ukrainian women who inspire and motivate them the most.

As the Turkish presidency stated on Thursday, the focus of the discussion will be on Russia’s war against Ukraine, including efforts to establish a secure corridor in the Black Sea.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul this Friday, March 8, to discuss the ongoing war with Russia and issues concerning Black Sea navigation, according to an announcement from the Turkish presidency.

The meeting will take place at the Dolmabahce Palace, with a press conference scheduled for 7:00 p.m. local time.

Russia and Ukraine also said they downed dozens of drones overnight, as both sides keep trying to strike targets deep behind the stretched frontlines.

A late-night Russian strike on the northeastern Ukrainian region of Kharkiv killed two people, the region's governor said Friday, as both Moscow and Kyiv reported a wave of overnight aerial attacks.

Kharkiv Governor Oleg Synegubov said Russia launched a "series of shelling" attacks on the town of Kupyansk, close to the frontlines, late on Thursday night.

While Ukraine has been trying hard to get China on board its peace formula, the latest European tour of the Chinese diplomat is unlikely to yield any immediate results.

China has sent its Special Representative for Eurasian Affairs Li Hui on a “shuttle diplomacy” tour, visiting Russia, Belgium, Poland, Ukraine, Germany and France.

This is not Li’s first diplomatic visit to resolve what China has called the “Ukraine crisis,” but a revival of efforts, with Russia’s full-scale invasion entering its third year raising questions as to the true intention behind Beijing’s latest move.

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• Lithuanian intelligence assessed that Russia has the capability to continue sustaining the current tempo of its war in Ukraine and will likely have the capability to gradually expand its military capabilities in the near term.
• Lithuanian intelligence also assessed that Russia is unlikely to abandon its long-term objectives of subjugating Ukraine even if Russian fails to achieve these objectives through military means.
• Lithuanian intelligence assessed that Russia is preparing for confrontation with NATO in the long term while also waging its war in Ukraine.
• Sweden formally joined NATO on March 7, becoming the 32nd member of the alliance.
• The governor of the pro-Russian Moldovan autonomous region Gagauzia, Yevgenia Gutsul, met with Russian Presidential Administration Deputy Head Sergei Kiriyenko in Russia on March 7 as Moldovan authorities announced that a criminal case against Gutsul will soon go to court.
• Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi reiterated Chinese calls for peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine on March 7; Russia will likely continue to use such calls to promote long-standing information operations aimed at prompting Western concessions.
• The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) announced on March 7 that it neutralized an Islamic State (IS) terrorist cell that had been preparing an attack on synagogues in Moscow.
• Russian forces recently made confirmed advances near Kupyansk and Donetsk City amid continued positional engagements along the entire line of contact on March 7.
• Russian intelligence services likely continue to source and operate sanctioned precision machine tools and dual-use components to produce Russian military equipment.

In the introduction to his annual State of the Union speech, American president takes on threats to democracy in Europe, and at home in the US

US President Joe Biden vowed Thursday he will not “bow down” to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, fiercely criticizing rival Donald Trump in his State of the Union address.

From the very first moments of his annual address, Biden lashed out at his predecessor and presumed Republican rival in November elections and urged the divided Congress to approve stalled military aid to Ukraine.