MOSCOW: Fighting has “sharply increased” in the southern Ukraine region of Zaporizhzhia, where the front has been largely stagnant for months, a senior Moscow-installed official in the area said Friday.
“In the direction of Zaporizhzhia, the intensity of military activity has sharply increased,” the official, Vladimir Rogov, said on the Telegram social media platform.
Both Rogov and the Russian army said Moscow’s forces had seized the village of Lobkove, some 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of the Ukrainian-held regional capital also called Zaporizhzhia.
“Lobkove is ours,” Rogov said.
He added that Russian forces had fired at Ukrainian positions with “tanks, mortar and artillery” in a dozen villages in the region.
The Ukrainian army said Friday that “more than 20 settlements” had been attacked.
Rogov had announced a “local offensive” in the region — near the town of Orikhiv — a day earlier.
He told the Russian state-run TASS news agency on Friday that this was “not yet the storming” of the town, which lies south-east of Zaporizhzhia, but that fighting had reached its suburbs.
“Hills have been taken that determine fire control over Orikhiv and other settlements,” he said.
The front in southern Ukraine has been considerably quieter recently than the east, with Moscow withdrawing from the major city of Kherson in November.
Also on Friday, Russia said it had captured a hamlet south of the eastern town of Bakhmut, now the epicenter of fighting between Kyiv and Moscow’s forces.
The defense ministry said pro-Russian separatist forces with artillery and aviation support had taken control of Klishchiivka in the eastern region of Donetsk.
Klishchiivka, which had an estimated population of around 500 people before Moscow sent troops to Ukraine, lies southwest of Bakhmut, suggesting Russian forces were attempting to encircle the town.
Russia launched its offensive to seize the industrial hub last year but has failed to make decisive gains, although capturing the Donetsk region is now Russia’s primary aim of the conflict.
The defense ministry and mercenary group Wagner said last week they had wrested control of Soledar in Donetsk, Moscow’s first claim of victory after months of battlefield setbacks.
Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk are two of four Ukrainian regions that Russian President Vladimir Putin announced in September were annexed and part of Russia.
The Kremlin has vowed to use all available means to push Ukraine forces from them.
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Fighting on Ukraine southern front ‘sharply’ increases
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Fighting on Ukraine southern front ‘sharply’ increases
- "In the direction of Zaporizhzhia, the intensity of military activity has sharply increased," the official, Vladimir Rogov, said
- Russian forces had fired at Ukrainian positions with "tanks, mortar and artillery" in a dozen villages in the region
Rubio warns Iraq on Iran ties as Al-Maliki sets return
WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Iraq on Sunday against a pro-Iranian government as the expected return of Nouri Al-Maliki as prime minister stirs Washington’s concern.
Maliki, who left power in 2014 following heated pressure from the United States, has been chosen by Iraq’s largest Shiite bloc, which would put him in line to be nominated prime minister.
Rubio, in a telephone call with incumbent Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, voiced hope the next government will work to make Iraq “a force for stability, prosperity and security in the Middle East.”
“The secretary emphasized that a government controlled by Iran cannot successfully put Iraq’s own interests first, keep Iraq out of regional conflicts or advance the mutually beneficial partnership between the United States and Iraq,” Rubio said, according to State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott.
A pro-Iranian government in Iraq would be a rare boon for Tehran’s clerical state after it suffered major setbacks at home and in the region.
The Islamic republic has killed thousands of Iranians since mass protests erupted in late December.
Since the October 7, 2023 attacks, Israel has hit Iran both with strikes inside the country and heavy blows against Tehran’s Lebanese ally Hezbollah, while Iran lost its main Arab ally with the fall of Bashar Assad in Syria.
An Iraqi political source told AFP that the United States had conveyed that it “holds a negative view of previous governments led by former prime minister Maliki.”
In a letter, US representatives said that while the selection of the prime minister is an Iraqi decision, “the United States will make its own sovereign decisions regarding the next government in line with American interests.”
The United States wields key leverage over Iraq as the country’s oil export revenue is largely held at the Federal Reserve Bank in New York, in an arrangement reached after the 2003 US invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
Chief among US demands is that Iraq prevent a resurgence of Shiite armed groups backed by Iran. Sudani, who took office in 2022, has won US confidence through his delicate efforts to curb violence by the groups.
Maliki initially took office in 2006 with support of the United States as he strongly backed US military efforts against Al-Qaeda in Iraq and other Sunni militants.
But the United States eventually soured on Maliki, believing he pushed an excessively sectarian agenda that helped give rise to the Islamic State extremist movement.
Iraq’s parliament meets Tuesday to elect a new president, who holds a largely ceremonial role but will appoint a prime minister.
Maliki, who left power in 2014 following heated pressure from the United States, has been chosen by Iraq’s largest Shiite bloc, which would put him in line to be nominated prime minister.
Rubio, in a telephone call with incumbent Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, voiced hope the next government will work to make Iraq “a force for stability, prosperity and security in the Middle East.”
“The secretary emphasized that a government controlled by Iran cannot successfully put Iraq’s own interests first, keep Iraq out of regional conflicts or advance the mutually beneficial partnership between the United States and Iraq,” Rubio said, according to State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott.
A pro-Iranian government in Iraq would be a rare boon for Tehran’s clerical state after it suffered major setbacks at home and in the region.
The Islamic republic has killed thousands of Iranians since mass protests erupted in late December.
Since the October 7, 2023 attacks, Israel has hit Iran both with strikes inside the country and heavy blows against Tehran’s Lebanese ally Hezbollah, while Iran lost its main Arab ally with the fall of Bashar Assad in Syria.
An Iraqi political source told AFP that the United States had conveyed that it “holds a negative view of previous governments led by former prime minister Maliki.”
In a letter, US representatives said that while the selection of the prime minister is an Iraqi decision, “the United States will make its own sovereign decisions regarding the next government in line with American interests.”
The United States wields key leverage over Iraq as the country’s oil export revenue is largely held at the Federal Reserve Bank in New York, in an arrangement reached after the 2003 US invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
Chief among US demands is that Iraq prevent a resurgence of Shiite armed groups backed by Iran. Sudani, who took office in 2022, has won US confidence through his delicate efforts to curb violence by the groups.
Maliki initially took office in 2006 with support of the United States as he strongly backed US military efforts against Al-Qaeda in Iraq and other Sunni militants.
But the United States eventually soured on Maliki, believing he pushed an excessively sectarian agenda that helped give rise to the Islamic State extremist movement.
Iraq’s parliament meets Tuesday to elect a new president, who holds a largely ceremonial role but will appoint a prime minister.
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