Ukraine

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Mothers burying their sons, children burying their fathers. As the war in Ukraine enters its second year, men and women have been dying in droves on the front lines, fighting off Russia’s invasion of their country.

For them, the fight is over. They paid the ultimate price. But it is their parents, their children, their siblings and their spouses who will carry the pain of war, the tears of the nation.

KYIV, April 3 (Reuters) - Ukraine scorned Russian claims to have captured the eastern city of Bakhmut on Monday, saying its foes had raised a victory flag over "some kind of toilet" while combat was raging.

The battle for Bakhmut, a mining city and logistics hub, has been one of the bloodiest of the conflict, now in its second year, with many casualties on both sides and the city largely destroyed by bombardments.

KYIV, April 1 (Reuters) - Russia, whose leader is accused of war crimes, assumed charge of the United Nations Security Council on Saturday causing fury in Ukraine, with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy calling it an absurd and destructive move.

The last time Russia held the rotating presidency of the body responsible for maintaining peace and combating acts of international aggression was in February 2022 when Moscow troops launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A top Ukrainian official on Sunday outlined a series of steps the government in Kyiv would take after the country reclaims control of Crimea, including dismantling the strategic bridge that links the seized Black Sea peninsula to Russia.

Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, published the plan as Ukraine’s military prepares for a spring counteroffensive in hopes of making new, decisive gains after more than 13 months of war to end Russia’s full-scale invasion.

KYIV, April 1 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Saturday said it was absurd Russia had assumed the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council, adding this showed the institution's "total bankruptcy".

On Saturday Russia took over the presidency of the U.N.'s top security body, which rotates every month. The last time Moscow held the post was in February 2022, when its troops launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — In a bitter dispute over a famed Orthodox monastery, Ukraine’s top security agency notified a leading Orthodox priest there on Saturday that he was suspected of justifying Russia’s aggression, a criminal offense,

Metropolitan Pavel, the abbot of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastery, Ukraine’s most revered Orthodox site, has resisted the authorities’ order to vacate the complex. Earlier in the week, he cursed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, threatening him with damnation.

BUCHA, Ukraine (AP) — The cratered roads have been repaved and the damaged houses are gradually being repaired. But the scenes that emerged from this town near Kyiv a year ago, after it was retaken from Russian forces, have indelibly linked its name to the savagery of war.

On the northwestern fringes of the Ukrainian capital, Bucha had been occupied by Russian troops for about a month, taken as they swept toward Kyiv at the start of the invasion of Ukraine that began in late February 2022. When they withdrew, they left behind scenes of horror.

KYIV, March 30 (Reuters) - Ukraine said on Thursday Russian forces had made some gains inside the eastern battlefield city of Bakhmut, but at a heavy price in lives lost that has blunted Moscow's offensive as Ukraine prepares a counterstrike of its own.

In a potential escalation of Moscow's diplomatic feud with Washington, Russia's FSB security service arrested an American reporter for The Wall Street Journal, Evan Gershkovich, on suspicion of spying for the United States.

ENERGODAR, March 29. /TASS/: Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi arrived at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant on Wedenesday, a TASS correspondent reported.

This is Grossi’s second visit to the plant located in the city of Energodar in the Zaporozhye Region.

The IAEA delegation consists of 11 people, including Grossi himself and three inspectors who have come on rotation. They are accompanied by seven people: representatives of the UN Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS).

KYIV, March 29 (Reuters) - Ukraine struck a railway depot and knocked out power in the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol, deep behind the front line, on Wednesday amid growing talk from Kyiv of a counterassault against Russian forces worn out by a failed winter offensive.

Unverified images on the internet showed explosions lighting up the night sky with streaks of contrails in Melitopol, base of the occupation administration in Zaporizhzhia, one of five Ukrainian provinces Russia claims to have annexed.