Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky warns ‘no time to waste’ as army chief says frontline situation ‘tense’

More than 125,000 people have been forced to flee their homes as areas of northern Kazakhstan and Russia’s Urals region were flooded today.

The countries have been experiencing some of the worst flooding in living memory as melt waters swelled the tributaries of the world’s seventh longest river system.

Very large snow falls have melted swiftly amid heavy rain over land already waterlogged before winter.

This has swelled the tributaries of the Ob, which rises in the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia and empties into the Arctic Ocean, beyond bursting point, leaving some cities in Russia and Kazakhstan under water.

Russia’s Kurgan, a region of 800,000 people at the confluence of the Ural mountains and Siberia, was grappling with flooding and rising water levels in the Tobol River, another tributary of the Irtysh.

Water levels rose to over 20 ft in the main city of Kurgan.

Governor Vadim Shumkov said there was almost a “sea” of water approaching.

“The city of Kurgan itself will be next,” Shumkov said.

“The flow of the Tobol is accelerating. The water level in it is constantly rising.”

“Fellow countrymen, leave the flooded areas immediately.”

Roughly 50 Russian military vehicles and equipment have been damaged or destroyed on the frontline in the last 24 hours, analysis suggests.

Ukraine has lost 19 pieces of military equipment in the same time period.

Russian losses include nine tanks, while Ukraine’s military lost four.

Russian aluminium producer Rusal has said new sanctions introduced by the UK and USA will have no impact on its aluminium supply.

The UK and US governments announced new sanctions on Russia last week, which prohibits metal-trading exchanges from accepting new aluminium, copper and nickel produced by Russia and barred the import of the metals into the Britain and the US.

The sanctions are in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine in an attempt to disrupt its export revenue. Russia is a major producer of metals.

“The announced actions have no impact on Rusal’s ability to supply since Rusal’s global logistic delivery solutions, access to banking system, overall production and quality systems are not affected,” Rusal said in a statement.

“These actions do not impose any new prohibitions or requirements relating to the processing, clearing or sending of payments by any intermediary banks, including the U.S. banks.”

The company confirmed it would still be able to provide hedging services to customers and said it remained committed to market-based pricing.

A draft peace agreement that Russia and Ukraine negotiated in the early days of the war could serve as a starting point for talks to end the fighting, the Kremlin said Friday, reviving a proposal that Ukraine had rejected.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that the draft document that was discussed in Istanbul in March 2022 could be “the basis for starting negotiations.” At the same time, he noted that the possible future talks would need to take into account the “new realities.”

Editorial: Reports of refugees sent to live with suspected gangsters underline the need for improved safeguards

More civilians died across Ukraine Sunday as analysts warned that delays in U.S. military assistance would see Kyiv struggle to fight off Russian offensives.

One man was Sunday killed after a Russian drone hit the truck he was driving in the Sumy region, the local prosecutor’s office said.

Officials in the Kharkiv region also said Sunday that they had retrieved the bodies of a 61-year-old woman and a 68-year-old man killed by a Russian strike the previous day. Ten Russian Shahed-type drones were shot down over the Kharkiv region overnight, the Ukrainian Air Force said Sunday.

Below are some of the latest photos from Ukraine.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrived in China on Sunday on a visit focused on the increasingly tense economic relationship between the nations and differences over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Scholz’s first destination was Chongqing, where he and his delegation of ministers and business leaders were to visit a partially German-funded company and other sites in the vast city, which is a production base for China’s auto and other industries.

Scholz is also scheduled to visit the financial hub of Shanghai during his three-day visit, before travelling to the capital, Beijing, to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang.

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Volodymyr Zelensky has told his allies there is no more time to waste on aid and critical assistance packages for Ukraine as Russian attacks only continue to surge.

“Over the last week, Russian terrorists used nearly 130 “Shahed” drones against Ukraine; fortunately, we were able to intercept the vast majority of them. More than 80 Russian missiles and nearly 700 guided aerial bombs were also used,” Mr Zelensky said in his nightly address.

“Rhetoric does not protect the skies. Thoughts do not limit the production of terrorist missiles and drones,” he added.

He pointed out that sanctions against Russia can “still be circumvented” while Ukraine has to wait for months to receive vital assistance packages, in addition to waiting for a vote in the US Congress.

This “indicates that terrorists’ self-confidence is also growing by the month”, Mr Zelensky said.

“There is no more time to waste. Wherever life is threatened by terror, it must be protected through real action. Every effort must be made to prevent the evil of war from spreading throughout the world, whether in Europe, the Middle East, or elsewhere,” he said.

More civilians died across Ukraine Sunday as analysts warned that delays in U.S. military assistance would see Kyiv struggle to fight off Russian offensives.

One man was Sunday killed after a Russian drone hit the truck he was driving in the Sumy region, the local prosecutor’s office said.

Officials in the Kharkiv region also said Sunday that they had retrieved the bodies of a 61-year-old woman and a 68-year-old man killed by a Russian strike the previous day. Ten Russian Shahed-type drones were shot down over the Kharkiv region overnight, the Ukrainian Air Force said Sunday.

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