City Donetsk Financial News

The fate of a devastated salt-mining town in eastern Ukraine hangs in the balance this week in one of the bloodiest battles of Russia's invasion.

On 24 February 2022, Russian forces crossed into Ukraine with the objective of demilitarizing the country and deterring Kyiv from joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Russian strategic planners expected a Ukrainian collapse within a fortnight. Four years on, Moscow has yet to achieve its core wartime objectives of gaining complete control over the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The year has started badly for Vladimir Putin. As of Sunday, the war in Ukraine has lasted as long as the Great Patriotic War, as Moscow refers to the Soviet involvement in World War II: 1,418 days.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. When a self-described patriotic, middle-aged Russian soldier was released from a prisoner-of-war camp in Ukraine earlier this year, he called his family to tell them he was alive, free and back on Russian soil. As the phone was passed around, he told them he might be back in time for his son’s birthday in a few weeks’ time.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The U.S. pledged to protect Ukraine from any future Russian attack, U.S.

Targeting the centre of the town, around 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the front line in the Donetsk region, the barrage killed 11 people and wounded 40 others, including six children, according to Ukrainian emergency services. «It was apocalyptic,» said Iryna Kostenko, 59, her hand bandaged with blood-stained cloth.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. A combative White House meeting has presented Ukraine with the prospect of fighting Russia without the support of its primary military backer through the first three years of the war. Now, the question is whether Europe has the firepower—and the political will—to help Ukraine hold off the Russians.

MAGA star Donald Trump wants to Make America Greater Again. In sq kms, that is. We all know of the US annexing nearly 13 lakh sq km of Mexican territory after winning the war with Mexico in 1848; buying 76,800 sq km in present day southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico — the area known as Gadsden Purchase — from Mexico in 1854; buying Alaska from Russia in 1867; annexing independent Hawaii in 1898; procuring 117 sq km of Guantanamo Bay to set up a US detention camp in 1903, which the Cuban communist government has considered illegal since it came to power in 1959. There's, of course, the United States of America itself, carved out of lands not 'owned' by anyone when it was occupied by Native Americans, then turned into a British colony, and ultimately an independent nation state in 1776 according to Westphalian sovereignty norms invented in 17th century Europe. But less well known is America's territorial losses. The Panama Canal Zone, which it acquired in 1904 from private and public Panamanian owners, was returned to Panama in 1979, formally ceding its control in 1999. In Oceania, Japan-occupied Marshall Islands, which the US occupied after WW2, got its independence in 1979. The same 'transition' model was followed with Federated States of Micronesia and Palau, both of which officially gained independence from US 'trusteeship' in 1990 and 1994, respectively.

Defence Ministry said on Wednesday its forces had taken control of the settlement of Nova Illinka, close to the embattled Donetsk region town of Kurakhove in eastern Ukraine. Ukraine's military made no mention of Nova Illinka in its daily dispatches. The town lies on the opposite bank of a reservoir from Kurakhove, one of the focal points of a steady advance through Donetsk region by Russian forces. But Deep State, a popular Ukrainian blog tracking the movements of the armed forces, said more than a week ago that Nova Illinka had fallen into Russian hands.

Ukraine at their fastest rate since the early days of the 2022 invasion while they have already captured approximately 235 square kilometers (91 square miles) in just the past week, reported Reuters. This actually marks a record for the year 2024, with eminent analysts noting that Russian troops have taken control of near about 600 square kilometers (232 square miles) throughout the month of November. According to Reuters, the front line which had been largely static for two years is now seeing renewed activity, specifically in the Donetsk region where Russian forces are pushing towards key towns such as Kurakhove and Pokrovsk. The situation is becoming increasingly precarious while reports are claiming that North Korean troops are being deployed to support the Russian operations. Reuters asserted that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has indicated that Russia's main objectives include occupying the entire Donbas region and pushing Ukrainian forces out of areas they have controlled since the month of August.

Putin is open to discussing a Ukraine ceasefire deal with Donald Trump but rules out making any major territorial concessions and insists Kyiv abandon ambitions to join NATO, five sources with knowledge of Kremlin thinking told Reuters. U.S. President-elect Trump, who has vowed to swiftly end the conflict, is returning to the White House at a time of Russian ascendancy. Moscow controls a chunk of Ukraine about the size of the American state of Virginia and is advancing at the fastest pace since the early days of the 2022 invasion. In the first detailed reporting of what President Putin would accept in any deal brokered by Trump, the five current and former Russian officials said the Kremlin could broadly agree to freeze the conflict along the front lines.

Russia in an overnight attack, a source in Ukraine’s SBU Security Service told Reuters on Saturday.The attack on the Aleksinsky chemical plant, which produces gunpowder, ammunition and weapons in the Tula region about 200 km (120 miles) south of Moscow, was part of a strategy to target factories that support Moscow’s war against Ukraine, the source said.As the war against Russia approaches its 1,000-day mark, Ukraine is on the back foot on the battlefield against its larger and better-equipped foe.Russian troops are steadily advancing in the eastern Donetsk region, slicing through Ukrainian defence lines and wiping out towns and villages there with guided air bombs and artillery.The Ukrainian General Staff said on Saturday that the frontline situation was complicated, reporting more than 170 combat clashes in the past 24 hours, the majority in the east.Ukrainian officials say strikes against military facilities, warehouses, and airfields in Russia would disrupt Moscow troops’ logistics and supplies and help turn the war in Ukraine’s favour.Since September, Ukraine has struck several ammunition warehouses in Russia with Ukrainian-produced long-range drones, according to Ukrainian security officials.President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has repeatedly urged Kyiv’s Western partners to supply more long-range missiles and lift restrictions on using them to hit targets deep inside Russia.

S-70 Okhotnik stealth drone was shot down over Kostiantynivka, a city in Ukraine's Donetsk region. While initial reports from Telegram channels suggested Ukrainian forces may have been responsible, further investigation confirmed that the drone was destroyed by Russian forces in a friendly fire incident. The drone, part of Russia’s next-generation unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) program, was reportedly downed during a test flight. According to sources from Ukraine's Defense Forces, Russian commanders ordered the destruction of the drone to prevent it from falling into Ukrainian hands after losing control. This decision marked a significant blow to Russia's military operations, as the Okhotnik was a key part of the Russian Aerospace Forces' ongoing drone warfare efforts.

Vuhledar, perched atop a tactically significant hill in eastern Ukraine, after more than two years of grinding battle, military officials said Wednesday. Vuhledar, a town Ukrainian forces fought tooth and nail to keep, is the latest urban settlement to fall to the Russians as the war stretches deep into its third year and the Ukrainian army is gradually being pushed backward in the eastern Donetsk province. It follows a vicious summer campaign along the eastern front that saw Kyiv cede several thousand square kilometers (square miles) of territory as the Russian army hacks its way westward, obliterating towns and villages with missiles, glide bombs, artillery and drones.

Vladimir Putin on Monday vowed that Moscow would accomplish all goals it has set for itself in Ukraine, in its third year of conflict. «The truth is on our side. All goals set will be achieved,» Putin said in a video message released to mark the second anniversary of what Russia calls «Reunification Day», when Moscow annexed four Ukrainian regions. After it sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, Russia annexed the regions of Lugansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. It does not fully control all territory in these regions.

prosthetics and rehabilitation. Yevhen Pramonov was injured last December in Donetsk when he stepped on a mine. Evacuated under heavy gunfire, he survived due to prompt first aid and later treatment at the Superhumans Centre. The centre, established after the Russian invasion, has become essential for both soldiers and civilians. It specializes in prosthetics, mental health support, reconstructive surgery, and rehabilitation. So far, it has treated more than 625 people and provided 850 prosthetic limbs. Aether Biomedical, founded by two Indian innovators, has played a key role in this success by supplying advanced bionic arms. The company, established by Dhruv Agrawal and Faith Jiwakhan, has provided 70 bionic arms to amputees at the centre.

Ukraine army’s surprise charge into Russia this week was a stunning maneuver that caught the Kremlin’s forces off guard.The Kremlin declared a “federal-level” emergency in the Kursk region following the large-scale incursion and sent reinforcements there on Friday, four days after hundreds of Ukrainian troops poured across the border.Meanwhile, a Russian plane-launched missile slammed into a Ukrainian shopping mall in the middle of the day, killing at least 14 people and wounding 44 others, authorities said. It was the latest in an unrelenting barrage of strikes on civilian targets, which made July the deadliest month for civilians since October 2022, according to the U.N.

Ukraine on Sunday announced the mandatory evacuation of children and their guardians from areas in the Donetsk region, where Russia has been claiming advances. Just hours earlier, Russia said its forces had seized a nearby village, after claiming a string of villages in recent weeks — many just consisting of a few streets. «The enemy is bombing the towns and villages of these communities every day, so it was decided to evacuate children with their parents or other legal representatives,» Donetsk governor Vadym Filashkin said, listing the towns and villages to be evacuated.

troops moved through the forest in east Ukraine at dawn, imitating assault rifle fire while searching for non-existent Russians between the trees.

Ukrainian shelling of Russia-held areas of the Donetsk region killed two people in the village of Horlivka, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti said. Three people were wounded by Russian drone strikes in southern Ukraine's partly occupied Kherson region, local officials said Sunday morning. In the country's northeast, officials in the Kharkiv region said two people were wounded when a village was hit by Russian shells.

Russia on Sunday said it had captured another village in south-eastern Ukraine as it continues to make battlefield gains in the conflict that is now into its third year. «Units from the Vostok troops captured the village of Urozhaine» in the Donetsk region, the Russian defence ministry announced in its daily report. The village was one of the few that Ukraine won back during its 2023 offensive.

Indians working in the Russian army after Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised the issue with President Vladimir Putin during his Moscow visit on Monday night, a development that observers described as a diplomatic victory for India. At least four Indians have died fighting the Ukraine war. Around 61 Indians are believed to be serving in the Russian army. The PM raised the issue at a private dinner hosted by Putin on Monday evening, said people familiar with the matter.