International

Battle for Donbas region has begun, says Volodymyr Zelensky

Published

3 years ago

April 19, 2022

Ukrainian President Volodmyr Zelensky has said the “Battle for the Donbas” region has begun as Russian forces launched a fresh offensive in the east of the country.

In a video address on Monday evening, Mr Zelensky warned that Vladimir Putin’s troops had “long prepared” to attack the region after failing to take Kyiv.

“No matter how many Russian troops are driven there, we will fight. We will defend ourselves. We will do it every day,” he said, adding that a “significant part” of Mr Putin’s army was now concentrated on the new offensive.

Earlier this month, Moscow claimed it would refocus its military efforts in the eastern region after fierce Ukrainian resistance thwarted the Russian army’s advance. However, Mr Putin’s forces launched fresh strikes on the western city of Lviv and Kyiv over the weekend despite the pledge.

“This morning, along almost the entire front line of the (eastern) Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv regions, the occupiers attempted to break through our defences,” Ukraine’s Security Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov said in televised comments on Monday.

In a post on Facebook, the Ukrainian armed forces command said that Russia’s main military force was concentrating on taking control of the entirety of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions that make up the swathe of land known as the Donbas.

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“The second phase of the war has begun… Believe in our army, it is very strong,” the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Russia has been bulking up its army in the east of Ukraine with troops withdrawn from Ukraine’s north and neighbouring ally Belarus, a close ally of the Kremlin.

Elsewhere, at least seven people were reported dead after Russian missiles struck Lviv on Monday, which lies close to the Polish border.

A three-year-old boy was among those injured, according to regional officials.

Regional governor Maksym Kozytskyy said the Russian attack had hit three military infrastructure facilities and an auto shop. A hotel sheltering refugees fleeing the conflict was also badly damaged, Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said.

A few thousand Ukrainian troops continued to fight Mr Putin’s forces in the besieged southern city of Mariupol as of Tuesday evening – defying a Russian warning to surrender or face “elimination”. Ukrainian officials say that 21,000 people have been killed in the city after weeks of intense Russian shelling.

In other developments, two British fighters who were captured by Russian forces were seen on state TV demanding an exchange for Putin ally Viktor Medvedchuk.

Shaun Pinner, 48, and Aiden Aslin were taken captive by Russian troops last week while defending Mariupol. It was unclear how freely the two men were able to talk and they spoke after being prompted by an unidentified man.

Evening Standard

Related Topics:battle Donbas Russian Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelensky

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International

US announces new visa requirements for Nigerian applicants

Published

8 hours ago

April 11, 2025

Trends Admin

US announces new visa requirements for Nigerian applicants

The U.S Mission in Nigeria has listed new requirements for visa applications at its Abuja and Lagos embassies starting from April 22, 2025.

The Mission announced the new requirements in a short statement published on its X handle on titled Important update for Visa Applicants.

Read the new requirements for applicants for U.S visa from Nigeria below

Visa Interviews: Starting April 22, 2025, all visa applicants in Abuja and Lagos must bring a DS-160 visa application form with a confirmation/barcode number (starting with AA and followed by 00 – two zeroes) that matches the one used to make their appointment online. You also must make your appointment in the location you selected when filling out your DS-160.

Matching Barcode Numbers: If the confirmation/barcode number on your DS-160 form does not match the one you used to book your appointment, you will not be allowed to enter the Consular Section or attend your visa interview.

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Double-Check Your Information: At least two weeks before your interview, please double-check that the barcode number on your DS-160 form matches the one you used to schedule your appointment. You cannot reuse a DS-160 from a previous application.

Correcting DS-160 Barcode: If your DS-160 barcode is incorrect, you must log into your AVITS account at at least 10 days before your appointment to create a support ticket requesting correction of your barcode number.

Rescheduling Appointments: If you are turned away from your appointment because your barcode numbers do not match, once you correct the problem, you will need to book a new appointment to proceed with your visa application. You may book a new appointment by logging into your AVITS account at If your visa fee has expired, you may have to pay a new fee before booking.

US announces new visa requirements for Nigerian applicants

International

EU approves 1st retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports

Published

2 days ago

April 9, 2025

Trends Admin

U.S President Donald Trump

EU approves 1st retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports

EU member states on Wednesday approved initial retaliatory tariffs of 10 per cent to 25 per cent on U.S. imports, which the European Commission says will be implemented next week.

This includes special levies on items such as jeans and motorcycles from the United States, while U.S.-made whiskey and other alcoholic beverages were removed from the commission’s proposed list.

Further counter-tariffs are due to be imposed in mid-May and at the end of the year, affecting products including beef, poultry and citrus fruits such as oranges or grapefruit.

Additional tariffs on nuts and soybeans are planned for early December.

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The tariffs approved on Wednesday are in response to the U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminium imports imposed about a month ago.

According to EU calculations, the U.S. measures affect exports worth 26 billion euros (28.8 billion U.S. dollars).

The measures being imposed by Brussels target goods worth approximately 21 billion euros, according to EU sources.

The EU has stressed its preference for negotiations rather than escalating the trade dispute.

Work is still under way on a further package of measures in response to the tariffs on cars and almost all other EU exports to the U.S. more recently announced by President Donald Trump.

Trump’s tariff policy aims to correct alleged trade imbalances and shift production to the United States, while partially offsetting tax cuts promised during his election campaign.

EU approves 1st retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports
dpa/NAN

International

Israeli strikes kill 20 in fresh attack on Gaza

Published

2 days ago

April 9, 2025

Trends Admin

Israeli strikes kill 20 in fresh attack on Gaza

Gaza’s civil defence agency said an Israeli strike on a residential building in the Shujaiya area of Gaza City killed at least 20 people on Wednesday, as the military said they were looking into the attack.

The agency’s spokesman, Mahmud Bassal told AFP the strike resulted in “20 martyrs and more than 40 injured” and the search for bodies in the rubble was ongoing.

Israel resumed intense strikes on the Gaza Strip on March 18, ending a two-month ceasefire with Hamas. Efforts to restore the truce have so far failed.

The health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said on Wednesday that at least 1,482 Palestinians have been killed in the renewed Israeli operations, taking the overall death toll since the start of the war to 50,846.

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Hamas’s October 2023 attack that triggered the war resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Hossam Badran, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, told AFP on Tuesday that it was “necessary to reach a ceasefire” in Gaza.

He added that “communication with the mediators is still ongoing” but that “so far, there are no new proposals”.

Badran said Hamas “is open to all ideas that would lead to a ceasefire and stop the genocide enacted against our Palestinian people”.

US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that new negotiations were in the works aimed at getting more hostages released from captivity in Gaza.

Of the 251 hostages seized during Hamas’s attack on Israel, 58 are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.