MOSCOW: Russia said Thursday its troops had seized full control of Siversk, a Ukrainian city in the eastern Donetsk region where fighting has intensified in recent weeks, though Ukraine denied the key settlement had been lost.
The Russian army has been slowly but steadily grinding through eastern Ukraine and taking ground from outnumbered and outgunned Ukrainian forces, with some of the fiercest battles taking place in Donetsk.
Russia’s military chief of staff, Valery Gerasimov, said Moscow’s forces had captured Siversk in a report to President Vladimir Putin during a televised meeting with army commanders.
The Russian army in Ukraine is “confidently advancing along the entire front,” Putin said, thanking the commanders and soldiers “for their combat work.”
Putin said last month his troops were advancing on Siversk, home to around 11,000 residents before the war, claiming that the Russian offensive was “practically impossible to hold back.”
The Ukrainian army’s eastern command denied Russian claims it had taken Siversk, saying that it “remains under the control of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”
“The enemy is trying to infiltrate Siversk in small groups, taking advantage of unfavorable weather conditions but most of these units are being destroyed on the approaches,” it added in a Facebook post.
Siversk is located about 30 kilometers (18 miles) east of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, the last two major cities still under Ukrainian control in the Donbas — an industrial and mining region in Moscow’s sights.
Moscow earlier this month said it had captured Pokrovsk, a former road and rail hub also in Donetsk, but Kyiv claims fighting in the city is still ongoing.
Putin has said that Moscow is ready to fight on to seize the rest of the land it claims in eastern Ukraine if Kyiv does not give it up as part of a peace deal.
Eastern Ukraine has been ravaged since Russia launched its assault in February 2022, with tens of thousands of people killed and millions forced to flee their homes.
Russia says captured Ukraine’s Siversk in key eastern region
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Russia says captured Ukraine’s Siversk in key eastern region
- The Russian army in Ukraine is “confidently advancing along the entire front,” Putin said
- He said last month his troops were advancing on Siversk, home to around 11,000 residents
Norway launches probe of Middle East diplomat and husband over Epstein links
- Mona Juul resigned from her position as ambassador to Jordan and Iraq
- Juul and her husband Terje Rod-Larsen played key roles in the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations which led to the Oslo Accords
OSLO: Norwegian police said Monday they have launched an “aggravated corruption” investigation against a high-profile diplomat, Mona Juul, and her husband Terje Rod-Larsen, over the couple’s links to late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The police economic crime unit Okokrim said in statement that the probe began last week and that an Oslo residence was searched on Monday, as well as a residence belonging to a witness.
“We have launched an investigation to determine whether any criminal offenses have been committed. We are facing a comprehensive and, by all accounts lengthy investigation,” Okokrim chief Pal Lonseth, said.
Juul, 66, and Rod-Larsen, 78, played key roles in the secret Israeli-Palestinian negotiations which led to the Oslo Accords of the early 1990s.
Epstein left $10 million in his will to the couple’s two children, according to Norwegian media.
“Among other things, Okokrim will investigate whether she received benefits in connection to her position,” the statement said.
On Sunday, the foreign ministry announced that Juul had resigned from her position as ambassador to Jordan and Iraq.
“Juul’s contact with the convicted abuser Epstein has shown a serious lapse in judgment,” Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said in connection to the announcement.
She had already been temporarily suspended last week pending an internal investigation by the ministry into her alleged links to Epstein, who died in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking.
Norway’s political and royal circles have been thrust into the eye of the Epstein storm, including the CEO of the World Economic Forum Borge Brende.
Former prime minister Thorbjorn Jagland, is also being investigated for “aggravated corruption” over links to Epstein while he was chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee — which awards the Nobel Peace Prize — and as secretary general of the Council of Europe.
Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit has also come under scrutiny for her relationship with Epstein, which on Friday she said she “deeply regretted.”
On Monday, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store voiced support for the establishing of an independent commission set up by Parliament, to fully examine the nature of the ties between these figures and Epstein.
