Sergei Lavrov

Aug. 27 (UPI) — A summer offensive by Russian forces has succeeded in penetrating Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky‘s home region of Dnipropetrovsk for the first time, with troops capturing two villages in the southeastern corner of the province.

The Russians occupied Zaporizke and Novohryhorivka, the BBC and The New York Times said, after breaking through from neighboring Donestsk following months of heavy fighting for control of cities in the west of the province and were now battling to establish a foothold in Dnipropetrovsk.

The Russian gains by infantry backed by drones and other fire support were confirmed Tuesday by “DeepState,” a real-time mapping project with links to the Ukrainian military, and the Russian Defense Ministry.

DeepState said that having entered the province, Russian forces were “now entrenching themselves, and accumulating infantry for further advances.”

Officially, Ukraine categorically denied it had lost more territory to Russia, which has been attempting to push westwards from Donetsk all summer.

“This is the first attack of such a large scale in Dnipropetrovsk region,” Viktor Trehubov, of the Dnipro Operational-Strategic Group of Troops, told the BBC, but insisted Ukrainian forces had halted the Russian advance.

The general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said in a statement that its military “continues to control” Zaporizke and that “active hostilities are also ongoing in the area of the village of Novohryhorivka.”

The province is not one of the three, in addition to Donetsk, that Russia has partially occupied and claims as its own, including Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, but it has been pushing hard to capture more territory for much of the year, likely as leverage in peace negotiations being brokered by the United States.

However, while neither of the villages in question is strategically significant — the population of each is around 100 or fewer — losing them will be a further shock to the morale of Ukrainian forces already struggling against their more numerous and better-armed Russian adversaries.

Dnipropetrovsk, in Ukraine’s industrial heartland and the second most industrialized region after the Donbas, before most of it fell into Russian hands, holds a strategically key position, but analysts do not believe the Russians aim to take the whole province.

The Russian advance came as a flurry of diplomatic activity to capitalize on the Aug. 15 Alaska peace summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to be fizzling.

Putin was understood to have offered a deal that would involve Ukraine ceding additional parts of Donbas that Russia does not already control in exchange for ending the war, but efforts by Trump to organize a follow-up meeting between Putin and Zelensky have thus far been unsuccessful.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov last week poured cold water on prospects for a Putin-Zelensky summit, saying no meeting was planned and that Moscow would not accept security guarantees for Ukraine provided by the West, saying any such discussion that excluded Russia was a “road to nowhere.”

However, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, who has visited Moscow five times this year in pursuit of a deal, suggested Tuesday that peace efforts were still alive, announcing a meeting with Ukrainian officials in New York later this week and that “we talk to the Russians every day.”

Aug. 14 (UPI) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Downing Street on Thursday to maintain the momentum of a European push to influence a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The high-profile meeting between the British and Ukrainian leaders, reported by the BBC, Sky News and The Telegraph, was described as a carefully choreographed display of support timed for just hours before the historic U.S.-Russia summit in Alaska, which Zelensky was left out of.

Neither man commented nor provided any details of their discussion when the pair emerged from No. 10 after around 60 minutes.

The London talks came as the Kremlin confirmed “resolving the Ukraine crisis” would be the main focus of the summit and that the delegation headed by Putin would include top aide Yuri Ushakov, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Defense Minister Andrey Belousov, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov and Russian sovereign wealth fund CEO Kirill Dmitriev.

Co-chairing a meeting of European leaders, Zelensky and Trump on Wednesday, Starmer said a cease-fire between Russia and Ukraine was a “viable” outcome from what he called Friday’s “hugely important” meeting, but stressed Ukraine’s “territorial integrity” must be defended and international borders “must not be changed by force”.

“As I’ve said personally to President Trump for the three-and-a-bit years this conflict has been going on, we haven’t got anywhere near a prospect of actually a viable solution, a viable way of bringing it to a ceasefire,” said Starmer.

“And now we do have that chance, because of the work the president has put in.”

However, Starmer said any cease-fire would have to be lasting and therefore needed “robust and credible security guarantees” and that European allies had established “this Coalition of the Willing” to back a post-war Ukraine militarily, with troops if necessary, to preempt Russia from breaking any peace agreement.

The bloc backed Zelensky’s demand that no decisions be made without Ukraine at the table.

Trump emerged from the meeting to put Putin on notice he would face “severe consequences” if he did not agree to a cease-fire when the pair meet in Anchorage on Friday. Trump said that, provided the meeting went well, he would also seek a second meeting between Putin and Zelensky to hammer out the details of a peace deal.

SEOUL, July 18 (UPI) — Just weeks after opening a massive new beach resort, North Korea has banned foreign visitors from the self-proclaimed “world-class” facility, according to a state-run tourism promotion website.

“Foreign tourists are temporarily not accepted at the Wonsan Kalma coastal tourist zone,” a notice on the official DPR Korea Tour site said Wednesday. No explanation was given for the ban.

The information came in a post announcing the July 1 opening of the facility, which runs along 2.5 miles of beachfront and has a capacity for up to 20,000 guests. The tourist zone also boasts recreational facilities such as a water park, gym and concert hall.

When the Wonsan Kalma tourist area officially opened, North Korea promoted it as a destination for both domestic and foreign tourists. A small group of Russian guests visited last week, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un there.

“Our Korean friends have expressed interest in having more Russians at the wonderful resort of Wonsan and other resorts in the DPRK,” Lavrov said at a press conference during his visit, using the official acronym for North Korea. “I have no doubt that this will happen.”

The resort has long been a favored project of Kim, who oversaw its launch in 2014. It was initially slated to open in April 2019 but faced numerous setbacks, including international sanctions on materials.

At a ribbon-cutting ceremony last month, the North Korean leader called the completion of the resort one of the country’s “greatest successes this year” and said it would “play a leading role in establishing the tourist culture of the DPRK.”

International tourism offers a rare chance for the sanctions-hit North to earn foreign currency, but visitors have been almost nonexistent since Pyongyang sealed its borders at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in January 2020.

Russian travelers were the first to return post-COVID as North Korean carrier Air Koryo resumed a route between Vladivostok in Russia’s Far East and Pyongyang last year. On Monday, Russia’s Transport Ministry announced that budget carrier Nordwind will begin operating direct service between Moscow and Pyongyang later this month.

In May, the United States extended its ban on travel by American citizens to North Korea for the ninth year in a row, citing “imminent danger” posed by any trips to the authoritarian state.

SEOUL, July 15 (UPI) — North Korea and Russia will begin operating direct flight service linking their capital cities of Pyongyang and Moscow later this month, Russia’s Transport Ministry announced.

Nordwind Airlines, a Russian budget carrier, will begin direct flights between the two cities on July 27, the ministry said Monday night on its Telegram channel. Travel time will be about eight hours.

“For the first time, the capitals of Russia and the DPRK will be connected by direct flights,” the ministry said, using the official acronym for North Korea.

“Further flights will be operated once a month — to create sustainable demand and load flights,” the ministry added.

Currently, the only direct flights between the two countries are operated by North Korea’s Air Koryo, connecting Pyongyang with Vladivostok in Russia’s Far East.

The announcement comes amid growing military and economic ties between Russia and North Korea, highlighted by Pyongyang supplying troops and weapons to Moscow for its war against Ukraine.

North Korea has gradually begun opening up to international tourism after sealing its borders at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in January 2020. So far, foreign visitors have come almost exclusively from Russia.

Russian travelers were the first to return to North Korea post-COVID on the Pyongyang-Vladivostok Air Koryo route early last year. Direct rail service between Pyongyang and Moscow also resumed in June after a five-year suspension.

Last week, the North welcomed around 10 Russian guests — including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov — to its sprawling new beach resort on the east coast, Russia’s Kommersant newspaper reported on Monday.

The Wonsan Kalma coastal tourist area runs along 2.5 miles of beachfront and has a capacity for up to 20,000 guests. At a ribbon-cutting ceremony last month, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called the completion of the resort one of the country’s “greatest successes this year” and said it would “play a leading role in establishing the tourist culture of the DPRK.”

Launched in 2014, the Wonsan project was initially slated to open in April 2019 but faced numerous setbacks, including international sanctions on materials and COVID-19 pandemic closures.

During his visit to Wonsan last week, Lavrov said that Russia also plans to restore maritime passenger routes between the two countries.

“Our Korean friends have expressed interest in having more Russians at the wonderful resort of Wonsan and other resorts in the DPRK,” Lavrov said at a press conference. “I have no doubt that this will happen.”

May 24 (UPI) — Russia, using missiles and drones, launched one of the biggest assaults on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, since the beginning of the war more than three years ago and hours after a prisoner exchange began.

Russia was retaliating after several days of Ukrainian drone attacks inside its territory, including in Moscow.

The first explosions in Kyiv were reported at 10 p.m. Friday, according to the Kviv Independent. Another wave was heard at around 1 a.m. and then, hours later, more missile debris was reported in the Obolonskyi district

CNN reported that 13 people died in the drone and missile attacks — at least four in the eastern Donetsk region, five in the southern Kherson and Odesa regions, and four in the northern Kharkiv region in the past 24 hours.

At least 15 people needed medical attention in Kyiv, including two children, the network reported.

Russia launched 14 ballistic missiles and 250 drones, with Ukrainian forces shooting down six missiles and stopping 245 drones before they reached Kyiv. Projectiles also hit the Dnipro, Odesa, Kharkiv, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reacted angrily after the attack and posted video with his message on X.

“It was a difficult night for all of Ukraine — 250 strike drones, the absolute majority of them Iranian ‘Shaheds,’ and 14 ballistic missiles,” Zelenskyy wrote. “The Odesa, Vinnytsia, Sumy, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Kyiv, Dnipro regions suffered damages. All strikes targeted civilians. There are fatalities. My condolences to the families and loved ones.”

Zelensky called for more sanctions on Russia to achieve a cease-fire, including one lasting 30 days.

“With each such attack, the world becomes more certain that the cause of prolonging the war lies in Moscow,” Zelensky wrote.

“Ukraine has proposed a ceasefire many times — both a full one and one in the skies. It all has been ignored. It is clear that far stronger pressure must be imposed on Russia to get results and launch real diplomacy.

“We are awaiting sanctions steps from the United States, Europe, and all our partners. Only additional sanctions targeting key sectors of the Russian economy will force Moscow to cease fire.”

Amid explosions and loud sirens throughout Kyiv, people took shelter in the city’s subway stations as the air raid alert in lasted more than seven hours

A five-story building in the Solomianskyi district caught fire, and seven people needed medical attention, said Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv city military administration.

“It’s terrorism,” said Mykyta Kruchan, a 22-year-old business development manager whose parents live in an apartment building in the Obolonskyi district hit by a Russian Shahed-type drone. Their apartment was not damaged, he told the Independent.

“What Ukraine does we shoot their military buildings, military stuff, centers. … But here, it’s not an adequate reply to me. All they do is on purpose.”

Kruchan, who described himself as once a supporter of President Donald Trump, said the president wants to “team up with terrorists rather than stop them.”

Olha Chyrukha, a 64-year-old resident of Kyiv, standing outside a damaged apartment building, said: “I wish they’d agree to a cease-fire. To bomb people like this …”

Ukrainian parliament member Kira Rudik told CNN hiding “under the stairs” overnight in Kyiv.

“It was terrifying, it felt honestly like armageddon, the explosions were everywhere,” she said.

Russia’s defense ministry claimed 94 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over Russian territory were destroyed, mostly over the Belgorod and Bryansk regions. Also, some UAVs were shot down over the Kursk, Lipetsk, Voronezh and Tula regions.

Prisoner swap, cease-fire talks

Russia and Ukraine began a one-for-one 1,000 prisoner exchange of soldiers and civilians in the first phase of a deal agreed to in Istanbul, Turkey, this week.

In the first swap on Friday, 390 Ukrainians were back home, and on Saturday the Russian defense ministry said 307 prisoners from each country were exchanged.

The two sides, with help from the United States, have been working toward a permanent cease-fire.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said “one week has passed since the Istanbul meeting, and Russia has yet to send its ‘peace memorandum.’ Instead, Russia sends deadly drones and missiles at civilians.”

Ukraine and its allies want an immediate and unconditional cease-fire.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said his nation would give Ukraine a draft text stating its conditions for a truce after the prisoner swap is completed.

Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin didn’t show up for a meeting with Zelensky in Turkey. Instead, lower-level officials negotiated.