Earlier this week, Russian Army announced the capture of three villages in the east, southeast and northeast of Ukraine.
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

Russia on Sunday claimed its troops had captured a village in southern Ukraine, continuing its progress on the front line against a Ukrainian army lacking troops and ammunition.

“Units of the Eastern forces have liberated the settlement of Zagrine in the Zaporizhzhia region and occupied more favourable positions,” the Russian defence ministry said in its daily report.

The Russian army has been gaining ground for months in Ukraine, particularly in the east, without however achieving a real breakthrough.

Earlier this week, it announced the capture of three villages in the east, southeast and northeast of Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said this week that his troops had conquered nearly 880 square kilometres (340 square miles) of land since the start of the year.

Russia also launched an offensive in the Kharkiv region on May 10, seizing several localities before their advance was slowed by reinforcements sent in by Kyiv.

Ukrainian troops have been facing shortages of soldiers and ammunition for months, despite Western pledges of arms deliveries.

A British man who flew to Russia to fight alongside Vladimir Putin’s forces in Ukraine has said he’s willing to die for the cause, Metro reported. Notably, British citizen Aiden Minnis, 37, is a former National Front member and convicted criminal from Chippenham, Wiltshire. He claimed that he’s  ”doing the Lord’s work” after joining the Russian army in January.

He said his fellow soldiers are his brothers, adding, ”I trust them and will die for them. They have proven themselves and helped me a lot. We understand each other. A bit of pidgin English and pidgin Russian and sign language. It gets done.”

Mr Minnis has multiple charges, ranging from dangerous driving causing the deaths of two people, a racist attack and beating up a homeless man.

Another British citizen Ben Stimson, 48, is also known to be fighting in Ukraine for Vladimir Putin’s regime. Both are understood to be in the Donbas region, which is under Russian occupation.

In a video, Mr Stimson, from Oldham, Manchester, said, ”Every man takes his choice… a lot of us, the foreign volunteers, have chosen to come over to this side, to the Russian side.”

According to BBC, he was previously jailed in the UK in 2015 for joining pro-Russian separatists in the east of Ukraine. Subsequently, his family cut off all communication with him. 

His father said, ”I’ve cut him off. Before I cut him off he was in Moscow. I’ve been looking after Ben on and off for years and years. He’s on his own now. He’s 48 now, he can do what he wants. He’s been a constant worry. I want a bit of peace at my age. You never know what he’ll do next.”

The two men have also posted several videos of them on social media,  posing with grenades, and various flags and even showing two dead bodies.

A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said: “Reports of British nationals taking part in Putin’s illegal invasion are shocking and their alleged actions are reprehensible. Those who travel from the UK to conflict zones to engage in unlawful activity should expect to be investigated upon their return.”

Both of them have been branded traitors by a former British Army commander. If either of the two men came back to the UK, they would be arrested under the Foreign Enlistment Act of 1870. 

However, Mr Minnis said he had no plans to return to the UK and is in the process of obtaining a Russian passport.

Russian law enforcement officers stand guard on the roof of a building near a damaged multi-storey block of flats following an alleged drone attack in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on March 2, 2024. File
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

Russia said on Saturday it had destroyed 47 Ukrainian drones over its southern regions overnight, mostly in the Rostov area bordering Ukraine.

Kyiv has regularly launched drones into Russia during Moscow’s military offensive in Ukraine, now in its third year.

“Air defence systems on duty intercepted and destroyed over the territories of Belgorod region (one drone), Kursk region (two drones), Volgograd region (three drones) and Rostov region (41 drones),” the Russian army said on social media.

The southern Rostov region is a hub for the Russian army to plan its military operations in Ukraine.

Rostov governor Vasily Golubev said on social media that a drone attack had hit the city of Taganrog, on the Azov Sea near a Russian-occupied part of Ukraine.

He said a rescue worker was wounded but there were “no dead”.

Social media channels close to the Russian army said Ukraine had targeted an aviation plant in Taganrog.

“In Taganrog, in all likelihood, the target of raid was the Beriev aviation plant,” Telegram channel Rybar, with close army links, said.

The channel also alleged that another target was a military air base further into Russia in the town of Morozovsk.

Authorities in the Kursk region, which lies further north and also borders Ukraine, said a clinic had been damaged in the main city of Kursk.

Regional governor Roman Starovoyt posted a video of himself outside “polyclinic number 6 in Kursk”. The top of the green building was visibly damaged.

“Luckily, everyone is alive,” Starovoyt said, adding that medics had evacuated patients from a nearby hospital.

Kursk is a city of around 440,000 people, around 120 kilometres (75 miles) from the Ukraine border.

A resident of Kupwara who joined as a security helper with the Russian Army last year. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

“Two Russia-based agents involved in the human-trafficking network that pushed Indians into the Ukraine war zone are under the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) scanner,” officials said on March 8.

“The agents allegedly confiscated the passports of Indians arriving in Russia and forced them to fight with the armed forces,” officials said. The network was busted by the CBI on March 7.

“Christina and Moinuddin Chippa, a resident of Rajasthan, are based in Russia and were facilitating the trafficking of Indian youth to Russia by offering them lucrative job opportunities there,” officials said.

“The Central probe agency’s FIR has listed 17 other Visa consultancy companies, their owners and agents spread across India,” they said.

Watch | Two years of Russia-Ukraine war: How Russia and the world are changing

The agency has booked them under Indian Penal Code Sections related to criminal conspiracy, cheating and human trafficking. The CBI has alleged that the accused persons through their agents trafficked Indian nationals to Russia on the pretext of getting jobs related to the Russian Army, security guards, helpers, better life, and education and a huge amount was charged from these people illegally.

The agents also duped students by providing them admission to dubious private Universities in Russia instead of government or public Universities by offering discounted fees, and visa extensions and ultimately leaving them “at the mercy” of local agents.

Once these aspirants reached Russia their passports were seized by the agents there and they were forced to join the armed forces after combat role training.

“They were being trained in combat roles and provided with Russian Army uniforms and batches. Thereafter, these Indian nationals are being deployed at front bases in the Russia-Ukraine War Zone against their wishes and put their lives in grave danger,” the CBI FIR said. The Central Bureau of Investigation on March 7 had busted the trafficking network.

They said the agency has found 35 instances in which youngsters were taken to Russia after being lured with false promises of high-paying jobs via social media channels and local contacts and agents.

After filing the FIR, the CBI conducted countrywide searches at 13 locations across Delhi, Thiruvananthapuram, Mumbai, Ambala, Chandigarh, Madurai and Chennai. “The human-trafficking network of these agents is spread over several States across the country and they are operating in an organised manner,” the spokesperson had said.

The Central probe agency has booked 24×7 RAS Overseas Foundation in Delhi and its director Suyash Mukut, OSD Bros Travels and Visa Services Private Limited in Mumbai and its director Rakesh Pandey, Adventure Visa Services Private Limited in Chandigarh and its director Manjeet Singh and Baba Vlogs Overseas Recruitment Solutions Private Limited in Dubai and its director Faisal Abdul Mutalib Khan alias Baba among others.

“It has been ascertained that some of the victims also suffered grievous injuries in the war zone,” the official had said.

“So far, cash worth more than ₹50 lakh, incriminating documents and electronic records such as laptops, mobiles, desktops and CCTV footage have been seized. Searches are going on. Certain suspects have also been detained for questioning at various locations,” he had added.

In the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, a video of a “tank duel” is gaining traction on social media. The clip has been posted on X (formerly Twitter) by Ukraine’s Defence Ministry and shows a fight between a Ukrainian T-64BV and a Russia’s T-72B3. The Ukrainian tank emerged victorious in the close encounter, which unfolded in a rural area. The confrontation was intense in southern Ukraine, where Kyiv’s military forces are strategically manoeuvring armoured units to breach Russia’s defensive positions.

“A tank duel. A Ukrainian T-64BV knocked down the occupiers’ T-72B3 at close range,” Ukraine’s defence ministry said in the post, crediting the gripping footage to 128th Mountain Assault Brigade.

A tank duel.
A Ukrainian T-64BV knocked down the occupiers’ T-72B3 at close range.

128th Mountain Assault Brigade pic.twitter.com/9TPB098aAZ

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) September 20, 2023

Newsweek cited a report from RBC-Ukraine to say that the action unfolded on the southeastern front of Zaporizhzhia, a region that has been a focal point of Ukrainian offensive operations since early June.

The video shows the Russian tank firing along the length of the tree line, its barrel parallel to the dense foliage that concealed the Ukrainian tank metres away. The Ukrainian tank appeared to be lining up for a decisive shot on the enemy tank.

The Ukrainian tank fired two rounds into the side of the Russian T-72B3, seemingly immobilising it. White smoke billowed from the hatches of the Russian tank, indicative of a breach in its armoured hull. The Ukrainian tank then moved away towards the tree line. The dramatic takedown was captured from multiple angles by at least two drones, said the Newsweek report.

On Monday, Ukraine’s defence ministry said it had recaptured a total of seven square kilometres (nearly three square miles) last week near the eastern town of Bakhmut and also along the southern front.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said that the Ukrainian counteroffensive “continues to make steady forward progress”.

Kyiv has, meanwhile, stepped up efforts to boost domestic weapons production because 19 months of war has created a huge demand for arms and ammunition to fend off Russian attacks along a 1,000 km front line. Russian air strikes across Ukraine have caused widespread damage and killed many people.

Ukraine currently depends heavily on western military support and has received a number of tanks and ammunition system from the US and its allies in its fight against Russia.