Dmitry Firtas, one of the country’s richest citizens, who has previously been sanctioned by Ukraine for his close ties to Russia, made international headlines this week, saying he was hosting hundreds of Ukrainians at his chemical plant. “This war is completely pointless and can not be justified in any way, it only brings suffering and misery on all sides. “This humanitarian tragedy is unbearable,” the 57-year-old said in a statement on his company’s website. A former ally of ousted pro-Russian Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, Firtas, who is currently in Austria fighting to extradite to the United States on corruption charges, has a controversial history. In June 2021, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree imposing sanctions on Firtash, including freezing his assets and revoking licenses from his companies, after accusing him of selling titanium products to Russian military companies. But now about 800 civilians, including 200 factory workers, have taken refuge in the warehouses of the Azot chemical plant, owned by Firtash’s Group DF, in the strategic city of Severodonetsk in eastern Ukraine, tycoon Lanny Davis said this week. Russian troops have been pushing for control of the main city in recent weeks as part of an effort to seize eastern Ukraine. “Russian President Vladimir Putin” will never win … Whatever happens, Russia will lose, “Firtas told NBC News in April. Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Firtash’s Inter has also joined the pool of many major Ukrainian news channels, which broadcast 24/7 and fully reflect the official position of the Ukrainian authorities. Prior to the invasion, Inter, one of Ukraine’s largest national television channels, was considered pro-Russian. Firtash insists he has always been pro-Ukrainian, telling NBC he “has never been pro-Russian”. “But you have to understand that I am an entrepreneur. And my goal is to make money. “This is my job,” he said in the interview. In this archive photo taken on June 25, 2019, Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash looks before a public hearing in the Vienna Supreme Court. – Dmitry Firtas, one of the richest citizens of the country, previously punished by Ukraine for his close ties with Russia, made headlines on the international front page this week, saying he was hosting hundreds of Ukrainians at his chemical plant. Photo: Herbert Neubauer / APA / AFP / Getty Images An AFP request for an interview with Firtash is pending. Firtash is also wanted for bribery and extortion in the United States. In the case, Indian officials allegedly took $ 18.5 million in bribes to secure titanium mining licenses in 2006. Firtash, who denies the allegations and says he is the victim of a defamation campaign, was arrested in Austria in March 2014. He had to pay a guarantee of 125 million euros ($ 130 million) – reportedly a record high for Austria – and has not been able to leave the country since. The Supreme Court of Austria ruled in 2019 that it could be extradited. But Firtash is still fighting for extradition and may remain in Austria pending legal proceedings. In an interview with CNN in May, Firtash said he had asked prosecutors to allow him to return to Ukraine while the war was in progress – but his request was denied. He has also been accused of plotting to oust Rudy Giuliani, a former New York mayor and personal lawyer of former US President Donald Trump, to dig up dirt for Joe Biden before becoming president, but Firtas denies meeting him. . Ukraine’s armed forces issued a daily statement on Russian military casualties. The Guardian has not independently verified these allegations, but they are: About 32,150 Russian soldiers have been killed since the beginning of the invasion. Among the military resources, Ukraine claims to have destroyed about 1430 tanks, 2455 tanks and other vehicle equipment, 3484 armored vehicles, about 1,000 artillery systems, multiple missile launchers and other means of air defense, almost 218 13 aircraft and 132 aircraft. boats and 125 cruise missiles. Of these statistics, about 100 deaths of soldiers and the destruction of 11 tanks, 18 APVs and half a dozen other assets were recorded in the last day. The statement said Russia had suffered the heaviest losses in the Severodonetsk and Bakhmut regions. More than 795 children have been killed or injured in Ukraine since June 12, the government said in a statement. He said at least 287 children had been killed and 508 injured in the conflict, adding that warnings were difficult to confirm in areas of active hostilities and in the occupied territories. The report said most of those affected were in Donetsk (2017 children), Kharkiv (149) and Kyiv (116).
The last from Ukraine
Welcome to the rolling cover of the war in Ukraine.
Heavy fighting is raging in Sivierodonetsk, but Ukraine still controls an industrial area and a chemical plant in the eastern city where hundreds of civilians are sheltered from incessant Russian bombing, the region’s governor says. Ukraine said about 800 people were hiding in several bomb shelters under the Azot plant, including about 200 employees and 600 residents of Sievierodonetsk. The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, stated that the Ukrainian army is gradually liberating territories further west in the Kherson region and has had some success in Zaporizhzhia as well. The EU executive will make a recommendation this week on whether Ukraine should take up candidate status, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said during a surprise visit to Kyiv on Saturday. Such a recommendation would be a step on the long road to full integration. Speaking with Von der Leyen, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the EU decision on Ukraine would “determine” the future of Europe. US President Joe Biden has said that Volodymyr Zelensky “did not want to hear” warnings about the Russian invasion. Speaking at a fundraiser in Los Angeles, Biden said “there was no doubt” that Vladimir Putin was planning to “enter.” “I knew we had data to keep [Putin] was going to go in, out of bounds. “There was no doubt; and Zelensky did not want to hear it.” The family of a British man sentenced to death for fighting with Russian forces said he was “devastated” and called for “urgent cooperation” to secure his release. The Russian military has set up another field hospital due to heavy casualties, the Kyiv Independent reports. It is located in the village of Shebekino in the Belgorod region of Russia, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. A UN commission arrived in Ukraine on Saturday to investigate war crimes. The deputy speaker of the Ukrainian parliament, Olena Kondratyuk, said the commission’s goal was to document war crimes and human rights abuses. About 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since Russia invaded the country in February, according to Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a military adviser. He added that in terms of Ukraine’s daily losses, “about 200 to 300 die, no less.” German Chancellor Olaf Solz is planning a visit to Kyiv together with French President Emanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi. The leaders want to meet with Volodymyr Zelenskiy before the G7 summit.
