Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 07-04-2024

Trump had said during a debate with President Joe Biden last week that if elected, he would have the conflict "settled" before he took office in January 2025.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that he took seriously US presidential candidate Donald Trump's comments that he could bring about a quick end to the fighting in Ukraine.

Trump had said during a debate with President Joe Biden last week that if elected, he would have the conflict "settled" before he took office in January 2025.

Among those charged with the training, 12 individuals hold Ukrainian citizenship and are traitors to their country, actively participating in the war on Russia’s side.

Suspilne's investigative team has released a shocking list provided by an anonymous source that identifies 151 Russian army instructors.

These “specialists” train newly mobilized Russian soldiers, but their activities are shrouded in secrecy, with no public information available and efforts to keep their roles hidden.

In 2022, Russian troops invaded Ukraine from Belarus. Today, the border's quiet, but Ukraine's continually building its defenses. And at the local level, once-friendly neighbors have broken off ties

Against a backdrop of new propaganda – with Belarus as a central theme – there remains a tense calm at the border between the Russian ally and Ukraine.

In Belarus, which is tightly controlled by dictator Alexander Lukashenko, several military leaders have, in the past few weeks, made statements alleging movement of NATO and Ukrainian troops toward the Belarusian border – breaking a virtual silence observed by Belarusian officials over the past year.

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

Keir Starmer has hailed a “new age of hope and opportunity” as millions of people prepare to vote in a general election that could deliver the biggest shake-up of British politics in a generation. The Labour leader said he was “ready for government” and that his intended cabinet would “hit the ground running” if it wins Thursday’s election. With Rishi Sunak’s closest allies appearing to concede defeat for the Conservatives, and the final opinion polls predicting an unprecedented Labour victory, Starmer said he hoped Britain was about to enter a new chapter. On the last day of a fractious six-week campaign, the Guardian was told Sunak had confided to members of his inner circle that he was fearful of losing his own seat, and a new YouGov poll predicted 16 cabinet ministers would lose their seats – potentially handing Starmer the biggest majority for any single party since 1832. Speaking at a campaign stop in Scotland, which will be one of the key battlegrounds on Thursday, Starmer told his activists they were “on the final few yards towards the start of a historic day…This is a great nation, with boundless potential. The British people deserve a government that matches their ambition. Today is the chance to begin the work of rebuilding Britain with Labour.” He promised a flurry of activity should he enter No 10, saying he would push back the parliamentary recess to get his legislative programme under way. Starmer said he had told his shadow cabinet they will not be forgiven if did not show results immediately. He said he had told them: “I don’t want you having a phone call or a meeting the day after the election that you could have had six months before the election.” - The Guardian

A reporter was reprimanded by a colleague and White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Wednesday for quipping that President Joe Biden might be able to address the media “if he’s awake.” The journalist’s crack came after Kelly O’Donnell, a political reporter for NBC News who also serves as the president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, asked Jean-Pierre about Biden’s intention to remain in the race. “You’re saying he’s absolutely running?” O’Donnell asked. After Jean-Pierre confirmed it, O’Donnell said she “would invite the president to come here and tell us that directly”—only for an off-camera voice to interject, “If he’s awake.” Pointing over her shoulder without turning around, O’Donnell said, “That’s inappropriate.” Jean-Pierre then jumped in: “As you heard from your colleague, the president of the WHCA, that’s inappropriate.” The journalist was identified by RNC Research, an X account run by Donald Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee, as James Rosen, the right-wing channel Newsmax’s chief White House correspondent.

Embattled Ukraine troops have hit the Kremlin’s forces with big losses, but a multi-pronged Russian offensive launched in early June is still grinding forward and taking more Ukrainian land.

A relentless Russian offensive in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas sector has grabbed new territory from Kyiv forces hard-pressed following massed air strikes, artillery bombardments and repeated ground assaults.

The biggest Russian gain in territory was near the coal-mining town of Toretsk, where its infantry advanced northward around three kilometers to capture the village of Yurivka following house-to-house fighting that ended on Wednesday, July 3.

The British elect a new parliament today, and it seems the question is no longer whether Labour will win but how heavy the losses will be for the Tory government.

The British elect a new parliament today, and it seems the question is no longer whether Labour will win but how heavy the losses will be for the Tory government.

Polls put Keir Starmer's party around 20 percentage points ahead of the Conservatives. Commentators ponder the reasons and look ahead.

The outcome of the election will see if postwar France elects its first far-right government or enters into an era of potentially paralysing coalition politics.

The French far right National Rally (RN) is still capable of winning an absolute majority in parliament, three-time presidential candidate Marine Le Pen said on Thursday, despite denouncing electoral pacts between the centre and the left aimed at thwarting its rise to power.

With three days left until the second round of the most critical legislative elections in France's recent history, a poll projected that the RN would fall short of an absolute majority despite its success in the June 30 first round.

Recently, Carlson, a former Fox News right-wing political commentator and fired talk show host, chatted amicably with Putin in February 2024, in a fawning, softball interview.

American journalist and former Fox News talk show host Tucker Carlson announced on Wednesday, July 3, that he will soon interview Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

“It looks like we have an interview with Zelensky,” Carlson wrote on the social network X (formerly Twitter).

Ukrainian intelligence said the couple, recruited by Russian intelligence, were photographing sensitive objects under the guise of a wedding photoshoot in the port city.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) arrested a couple in the port city of Odesa who had been taking photos of sensitive objects for Russian intelligence while pretending to have a wedding photoshoot.

The unnamed suspects, a 23-year-old man from the city and his 18-year-old “bride,” were said to be spying on “locations of the border units of the maritime guard that defend the water area of ​​the port city,” information that could later help Russia adjust missile and drone strikes.

Sculptures of four children representing the founders of Kyiv have been dressed in costumes to celebrate the Fourth of July in the capital’s Poshtova Square.

Poshtova (Post Office) Square one of the Ukrainian capital’s oldest squares was created at the entrance to Kyiv’s Podil district. It was modernized in the 19th century with the opening of the post office from which it gained its name. In the 1970s it was expanded and reconstructed when a metro station opened nearby. Then in 2015 it was further modernized, and a sunken fountain was created at the center of the square which is the focus not only for the metro but also the reconstructed Church of the Nativity, the lower station of Kyiv’s funicular, and the nearby river station.

In 2017 the statues of four children were positioned in and around the fountain to represent the founders of Kyiv – Kyi, Shchek, Khoryv and on a bench nearby their sister Lybid. It is starting to become a tradition for Kyivans to dress up the statues on special days.

Reports are emerging that Russia’s sanctioned interior minister was allowed to attend a UN Chiefs of Police Summit meeting in New York as a pretext to deliver the Kremlin’s new offer of peace.

The head of Russia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs Vladimir Kolokoltsev attended the 2024 UN Chiefs of Police Summit (UNCOPS) held in New York on June 26 - 27, despite being under both US and EU sanctions.

According to the Russian political commentator SibirPost on X/Twitter, Kolokoltsev complained during the meeting of “attempts by a number of Western countries to exclude Russia from Interpol, bypassing the organization’s statutory [membership] documents.”

Nazar Voloshyn, spokesman for the Khortytsia operational group, told Kyiv Post that Ukrainian positions were destroyed, making it too dangerous to keep troops there.

Ukrainian forces have withdrawn from the Kanal micro-district in the town of Chasiv Yar, Donetsk region, Nazar Voloshyn, spokesman for the Khortytsia operational and strategic group of troops, told Kyiv Post in a phone interview.

“The positions of the Ukrainian defenders were destroyed, and keeping personnel there was a threat to the lives of our soldiers,” he said.

The country's first national ballot since Boris Johnson won a landslide for the Tories in 2019 follows Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's surprise call to hold it six months earlier than required.

Britons voted Thursday in a general election widely expected to emphatically return the opposition Labour party to power and end nearly a decade-and-a-half of Conservative rule.

The country's first national ballot since Boris Johnson won a landslide for the Tories in 2019 follows Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's surprise call to hold it six months earlier than required.

Despite concerns raised by Biden's debate performance, where he appeared tired and lost his train of thought, his team and allies continue to defend him and his fitness for office.

U.S. President Joe Biden has reaffirmed his commitment to the 2024 presidential race despite growing calls for him to step down following a lackluster performance in last week’s debate performance.

In calls with campaign staff and meetings with Democratic lawmakers and governors on Wednesday, Biden made it clear that he has no intention of quitting, according to both Reuters and Politico.

The prospect of Donald Trump returning to the White House raises the specter of the United States gradually receding from the European security scenario. Russia’s neighbors are worried.

Despite Russia’s vicious attack on Ukraine, Eastern Europeans feel secure today. They have confidence in NATO as an organization led by the United States and thus seen in Moscow as strong. At the same time, some politicians and diplomats in Eastern Europe wonder what might happen to their countries if Donald Trump wins the presidential elections in November.

Some believe that Trump has no clear foreign policy profile. Others see Trump as a potential problem for the Kremlin due to his unpredictability. They thus speculate that he could be beneficial for Eastern Europe. For example, Trump is said to have recently stated that if he had been US President in 2022 – he would have bombed the city of Moscow in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. 

Turkish President Erdogan is also attending since his country is a "dialogue partner" with the bloc, whose full members include ex-Soviet Central Asian states, India, China, Russia and Iran.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping were set to participate Thursday in a regional summit in Central Asia bringing together numerous countries opposed to the West.

Putin and Xi regularly meet under the aegis of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) alliance, whose latest session is being held in Kazakhstan's capital city of Astana.

The summit's final declaration is anticipated to affirm Ukraine's prospective NATO membership, though specific wording is still being finalised.

Next week, NATO will present Ukraine with "concrete ways" to expedite its future membership in the alliance during a summit in Washington, a senior US State Department official announced.

The summit's final declaration is anticipated to affirm Ukraine's prospective NATO membership, though specific wording is still being finalised.

Hungarian Prime Minister and current EU Council President Viktor Orbán has visited Ukraine for the first time in more than a decade. Commentators take stock.

Hungarian Prime Minister and current EU Council President Viktor Orbán has visited Ukraine for the first time in more than a decade. In a meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky, he proposed a quick ceasefire as a basis for peace negotiations, urging the Ukrainian leader to rethink his demand that the withdrawal of Russian troops must come first. Commentators take stock.

Call for peace lacks substance

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• Ukraine is addressing its manpower challenges and is forming several new brigades, but delayed and insufficient Western weapons deliveries will likely prevent Ukraine from equipping all these new brigades. Timely and appropriate Western security assistance continues to be crucial determinant of when and at what scale Ukrainian forces can contest the battlefield initiative and conduct operationally significant counteroffensive operations in the future.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin is leveraging existing Eurasian-focused and Russian-led international organizations as the cornerstone for his new proposed alternative "Eurasian security architecture."
• Ukraine conducted a naval drone strike against Russian naval infrastructure in Novorossiysk, Krasnodar Krai on the night of July 3 and reportedly damaged energy infrastructure during an aerial drone strike on Belgorod Oblast on the night of July 1.
• Unspecified People's Republic of China (PRC) and Russian companies are reportedly working together to develop a drone similar to the Iranian-designed Shahed loitering munition for Russia to use in Ukraine.
• Russian forces recently advanced within easternmost Chasiv Yar, in the Toretsk direction, and near Avdiivka, and Ukrainian forces recently advanced within Vovchansk, near Kreminna, and southeast of Chasiv Yar.
• The Kremlin continues efforts to position Russian veterans who have fought in Ukraine in official roles in Russian domestic politics.

The rights group Viasna estimates that Belarus has more than 1,400 political prisoners - including its founder, Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski -- with thousands more having fled the country.

Reclusive Belarus on Monday freed five political prisoners in a rare amnesty by President Alexander Lukashenko, who has waged a crackdown on opponents throughout his three-decade rule.  

Lukashenko intensified that campaign when huge nationwide protests erupted after he claimed victory in a 2020 presidential election that rights groups said was fraudulent.