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Tag: Andriy Yermak

  • Ukraine war: Moscow and Kyiv exchange women detainees for sailors

    Russia has swapped 108 Ukrainian women detained as prisoners of war for 110 Russian hostages held by Ukraine according to officials on both sides,

    As per reports, 37 of the women were caught after surrendering during the siege of the Azovstal steel factory in Mariupol, which ended in May.

    Most of the Russians freed are sailors from merchant ships held in Ukraine.

    They also include members of pro-Russian separatist military units from the Donbas in eastern Ukraine.

    Daylight photos were released of the Ukrainian women boarding coaches in an unspecified area and later of them arriving after dark in government-held territory in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia.

    Freed prisoners
    IMAGE SOURCE, REUTERS Image caption, The freed Ukrainians were taken to safety in coaches

    Freed prisoners
    IMAGE SOURCE, REUTERS

    Freed prisoners
    IMAGE SOURCE, REUTERS

    The Ukrainian presidency’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, confirmed on social media that 108 women had been released in the “first all-female exchange”.

    He said they included mothers and daughters who had been held captive together. All but 12 of them are servicewomen, he said.

    Denis Pushilin, the top Russian-backed official in the breakaway part of Ukraine’s Donetsk region, confirmed the swap but said two detainees had decided to remain in Russia. Kyiv has not commented on this.

    According to Mr Pushilin, the prisoners freed by Ukraine are 80 sailors and 30 service personnel.

     

  • Russia-Ukraine war: Kyiv suffer kamikaze drones attacks say officials

    At least four explosions have occurred in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, with a presidential adviser accusing “kamikaze drones” launched by Russia.

    “It shows their desperation,” said Andriy Yermak, head of Ukrainian President Zelensky’s staff.

    Mayor Vitalii Klitschko said residential buildings in the central Shevchenkivskiy area had been damaged.

    A week ago, the capital was hit by Russian missiles at rush hour, part of nationwide attacks which left 19 dead.

    This morning’s attacks were from drones – the low buzzing of these slow-moving weapons is becoming familiar across the country.

    Kyiv reverberated to the rattle of gunfire as anti-aircraft batteries frantically tried to shoot them down. Video on social media appeared to show one interception.

    The explosions on Monday began at around 06:30 local time (03:30 GMT), and there were at least five in total. The most recent was at around 08:10 local time.

    Two were close to the city centre, with sirens and car alarms heard across the area.

    What’s being targeted is hard to determine. The mayor’s office says residential and non-residential buildings have been hit. Railway officials say explosions were seen close to Kyiv’s main station.

    Recent attacks have targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. It will be surprised if that’s not the case today.

    Writing on the Telegram social media site, Mr Klitschko said there were four strikes in Kyiv, although residents heard five or six explosions. He also told people to stay in air raid shelters.

    But despite the warnings, the streets are far from deserted. Between the first and second set of strikes, plenty of people seemed to be going about their Monday morning business.

    Mr Yermak described the kamikaze attacks as Russia’s “death throes”, and that Ukraine needed more air defence systems “as soon as possible”.

    What are kamikaze drones?

    • Small aerial weapons, also known as loitering munitions, that are destroyed after striking the target
    • Unlike other drones – which are supposed to return home after dropping missiles – kamikaze drones are disposable
    • The name derives from the Japanese pilots who volunteered to crash their planes in suicide missions in World War Two
    • President Zelensky has previously accused Russia of using Iranian-made drones – Iran denies supplying them while Russia has not commented

    Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week’s strikes were in retaliation for the bombing of a key bridge linking Russia to occupied Crimea, which he blamed on Ukraine.

    It was the first time during the war that the centre of Kyiv had been directly targeted.

    Earlier this week, Mr Putin said there was no need for more large-scale strikes on Ukraine. Most designated targets had been hit, he said, adding that it was not his aim to destroy the country.

    Kamikaze drone in sky
    IMAGE SOURCE,YASUYOSHI CHIBA Image caption, A drone seen in Kyiv on Monday

    An officer fires at a flying drone stood in front of car.
    IMAGE SOURCE,YASUYOSHI CHIBA Image caption, A Ukrainian in Kyiv fires at a drone

     

  • Russia-Ukraine war: Kyiv demands that the Red Cross visit a notorious prison

    Ukrainian officials have asked the Red Cross to send a team to a notorious prison camp in the country’s occupied east.

    Andriy Yermak, the chief of staff of Ukraine’s president, has ordered that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) visit the Olenivka prison in Donetsk within three days.

    “We just can’t waste more time. Human lives are at stake,” he tweeted.

    Last month, the Red Cross tried to secure access to the camp but said it was denied by Russian authorities.

    The Olenivka prison has been under the control of Russian-backed authorities in Donetsk since 2014, and conditions are said to be extremely poor.

    In July, dozens of Ukrainian prisoners were killed in explosions at the camp, which both sides blamed on each other. Kyiv said the prison was targeted by Russia to destroy evidence of torture and killing, while Moscow blamed Ukrainian rockets. Without an independent investigation, however, the truth remains unknown.

    Those detained at the site include members of the Azov battalion, who were the last defenders of the city of Mariupol and whom Russia has sought to depict as neo-Nazis and war criminals.

    This is not the first time Ukraine has applied pressure on international organizations to investigate what is going on at the prison.

    Mr Yermak said he had raised the issue again during a video conference with officials from the ICRC and other international organizations.

    He has demanded the trip be made by Monday.

    “Ukraine… will contribute to this mission in every possible way,” he said on Telegram, adding he did not understand why a mission to inspect Olenivka had not yet been arranged.

    President Volodymyr Zelensky echoed the calls, and accused the Red Cross of inaction, saying it had “obligations, primarily of a moral nature”.

    In his nightly address on Thursday, Mr Zelensky said he believed that the Red Cross was “not a club with privileges where one receives a salary and enjoys life”.

    He said a mission to the prison camp could be organised similar to that of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which visited the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station in August.

    “But it requires leadership,” Mr Zelensky said in a thinly veiled criticism of the Red Cross. “The Red Cross can make it happen. But you have to try to make it happen.”

    The ICRC has been contacted for comment.

    Last month, the organisation’s Director-General Robert Mardini said talks were ongoing with Russian authorities about access to Olenivka – but were eventually denied.

    “We are negotiating every day to have full access to all prisoners of war,” he told reporters. “It is clearly an absolute obligation [of] the parties to give the ICRC access to all prisoners of war.”

    Also in his Thursday address President Zelensky said Ukraine would celebrate its Defenders Day on Friday, which was made a national holiday in 2014 after Russia’s invasion of Crimea.

    “Tomorrow we will definitely celebrate… one of our most important days. The holiday of all our warriors – from ancient times to the present, from the Cossacks to the rebels, from all of them to the soldiers of the modern army,” he said.