Украйны улс төрийн хямрал болон ОХУ-тай хийж буй мөргөлдөөний нөхцөл байдал

More than four years after Russia launched its assault on Kyiv from Belarus, Ukraine is still fortifying the border it shares with Moscow’s ally. What was once a busy crossing between the two countries is now a quiet, mine-laden stretch of land closed off to civilians.

Roads near the 1,084-kilometer-long (673-mile-long) border are covered for long distances by anti-drone netting. The surrounding landscape is dominated by rows of razor wire and concrete anti-tank barriers known as “dragon’s teeth.”

The Associated Press visited parts of the border in northern Ukraine earlier this month, following a rise in tensions between the two countries; Ukraine demanded that Belarus shut down communications relay stations Russia had installed to boost the range of its drones attacking Ukrainian cities.

A Ukrainian source said Zelenskiy was interested in travelling to the United States but his team was waiting for official confirmation of Trump’s schedule from the White House.

The source added that Ukrainians and US officials had been discussing a proposal for an air ceasefire to take to Russian officials, as part of a new round of peace proposals to try to end the war that began in ⁠2022 with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The source said Ukraine ​had ⁠approached Russian president Vladimir Putin in the past with offers of a ceasefire, which had been turned down. However, some officials believe that pressure on Russia’s ⁠economy from ongoing Ukrainian drone and missile strikes may soften Putin’s stance.

Zelensky spoke on Wednesday ​with ⁠US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared ‌Kushner about the prospects for renewed peace talks with Russia, and said that Ukrainian and US officials could meet in the United States in the coming days.

Acting Ukrainian defence ‌minister Yevhenii Khmara, writing on Telegram, said he and ‌new Commander-in-Chief Mykhailo Drapatyi had met US ambassador to Nato Matthew Whitaker on Friday in Kyiv and discussed different factors in confronting Russia on the battlefield.

“We have a strong synergy and shared vision of the war with Commander ⁠Drapatyi: technological superiority, asymmetric solutions, and more opportunities to destroy the enemy,” Khmara said.

“We informed our partners about the situation on the front and Ukraine’s steps to force Russia into a fair peace.”

Earlier on Friday, right-wing activist and Trump ally Laura Loomer interviewed Zelensky and said he had told her he would likely be in the United States next week for a trip that would include a meeting with Trump.

Loomer, in a post on ‌X, added that Zelensky said he would attend the funeral for US Senator ​Lindsey Graham, who died earlier this month.

Protesters in Kyiv on Friday announced an open-ended rally demanding that pesident Volodymyr Zelensky reappoint ousted defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov after a badly explained government ⁠reshuffle escalated into a political crisis.

The protest peaked last week, when thousands of angry Ukrainians took to the streets to insist on Fedorov’s reinstatement and dismissal of then commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, whom some accused of disregarding servicemen’s lives and stalling army modernisation.

But even as Zelensky replaced Syrskyi with respected commander Mykhailo Drapatyi, hundreds of people returned ⁠outside the presidential office on Friday to press on.

“We stood, `we stand, and we will stand,” they chanted. Protest organiser Dmytro Koziatynskyi, a military veteran, told Reuters he believed people were ready to keep it on “as long as ⁠it takes”.

Zelensky, who previously argued Fedorov’s dismissal was due to irreparable conflict with Syrskyi, presented him with a choice of several roles, including vice prime minister for defence innovation. But a 35-year-old credited with cleaning up the defence ministry publicly dismissed the offer. Fedorov said none of the posts had actual authority to proceed with necessary reforms.

“We don’t need Fedorov just as a figurehead. We need Fedorov as a young reformer. And unfortunately, the posts offered by the president do not carry sufficient influence or provide the necessary tools to press on with reform,” Koziatynskyi added.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview broadcast on Friday that cooperation between Kyiv and Washington on drones would include a US factory to produce the unmanned aerial vehicles using Ukraine’s advanced technology.

Zelensky, interviewed ⁠by US right-wing blogger Laura Loomer, said Ukraine wanted to build quickly on an initial agreement on drones clinched with Washington.

The Ukrainian president said drone technology was undergoing constant change, with Ukrainian drones now able to operate over 3,000km with the prospect of even longer distances.

Ukraine has excelled at drone innovation as it has pursued asymmetrical ⁠warfare against Russia during their four-year-old conflict, and Kyiv has ​shared ⁠its advances with some ‌allies.

“Important technology. This is what we have. And America has great technology. Our drone deal is win-win,” he said in the interview made available on X.

“We ‌will build a great factory in the United States. We want to (have) lines of production,” he said.

In Washington, a source familiar with the matter said details of an agreement were still being worked out ahead of Zelensky’s talks with US president Donald Trump, scheduled for Tuesday, according to a White House official.

Reuters, in a report from Kyiv quoting a source familiar with the matter, said Ukraine had agreed to export drones ‌to the United States to participate in the ​Pentagon’s Drone Dominance programme.

Six Ukrainian companies have received permission to export about 100 drones each, the source said,

In eastern Ukraine, a Russian aerial bomb attack killed five people and ‌injured nine in the city of Sloviansk, Regional Governor Vadym Filashkin said on ​Friday.

He later said that a new Russian strike on the city in ‌the evening injured 16 people and damaged ⁠residential buildings. In Sumy region, a frequent Russian target on Ukraine’s northern border, a Russian ⁠drone strike killed two people, Regional governor Oleh Hryhorov said on Telegram.

And in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, a ‌Russian strike set fire to ​a shopping centre, injuring a number of ‌people, the regional governor said. Both sides deny targeting ​civilians in the war launched by Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

A Russian ballistic missile strike on Friday in Ukraine’s Kyiv region killed 10 people and injured close to 100 at the site of a defence industry event that president Volodymyr Zelensky said should never have taken place.

Ukraine’s Emergency Services said its crews had completed rescue operations at the site north of the capital.

Pictures posted online by the Emergency Services showed teams sifting through piles of rubble at the site, adjacent to several houses. “Of course, ⁠the cause of this attack is Russian missiles, nothing ​but ⁠Russian terror,” Zelensky said in his nightly video address.

“However, we have said a thousand times that under these wartime conditions, with such an enemy, it is absolutely unacceptable to hold any weapons exhibitions with large crowds of people, especially near residential buildings.”

The ​event, ⁠hosted by a drone manufacturers’ association, ‌was taking place in an area a short drive from the outskirts of the capital.

A spokesperson for the military’s general staff said the event took place at a site not under its jurisdiction, but added that any such event required “maximum security measures”. The acting governor of Kyiv region, Ruslan Oliynyk, said that a day of mourning would be observed on Saturday in the region.

After days of protests, Volodymyr Zelensky acquiesced to demands to sack his military’s commander-in-chief, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, and replaced him with the much younger Major General Mykhailo Drapatyi, who enjoys a formidable battlefield reputation.

Sirskyi, 60, appointed in 2023, was credited with forcing Russian forces to retreat from their attempt to capture the capital, Kyiv, at the start of Moscow’s February 2022 full scale invasion. Later that year, he masterminded a surprise offensive that routed Russians occupying large swathes of territory in Ukraine’s north eastern Kharkiv region.

But many Ukrainians disliked Sirskyi, saying he retained the rigid traits and strict hierarchical attitude from his Soviet-era military training and service. They also accused him of not caring enough about how many of his men lost their lives.

In contrast, 43-year-old Drapatyi’s appointment has met wide approval.

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Donald Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr ⁠Zelensky are scheduled to meet in Washington on Tuesday, a White House official said on Friday.

A Ukrainian source said Zelensky was interested ⁠in travelling to the United ​States ⁠but his team was waiting for official confirmation of Trump’s schedule from ⁠the White House.

He is reportedly hoping to attend the funeral of US Senator Senator Lindsey Graham, who died earlier this month.

Earlier on Friday, right-wing activist and ‌Trump ally Laura Loomer interviewed Zelensky ‌and said he had told her he would likely be in the United States next week ⁠for a trip that would include a meeting with Trump.

For years, Loomer had downplayed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and disseminated Russian propaganda to her nearly two million followers. However, this week marked a notable change of heart for the activist.

“Just experienced my first air raid in Ukraine. Sirens blaring. This is everyday for every Ukrainian,” Loomer posted on X. “I often said I don’t care. Looking back, that wasn’t very nice of me to say.”

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