Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Poorest Americans Dealt Biggest Blow Under Senate Republican Tax Package

4 hours ago

Trump Vowed to Dismantle MS-13. His Deal With Bukele Threatens That Effort.

8 hours ago

Ukraine Voices Concern as US Halts Some Missile Shipments

8 hours ago

Poll: Most Americans Say National Divide, Political Violence Threaten Democracy

8 hours ago

Paramount Settles With Trump Over ‘60 Minutes’ Interview for $16 Million

8 hours ago

Republicans Tee up House Vote on Trump Bill, Outcome Uncertain

8 hours ago

What’s Next for Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs After His Sex Trafficking Trial?

9 hours ago

Dalai Lama Says He Will Be Reincarnated, Trust Will Identify Successor

9 hours ago
Ukraine President Visits Front-Line Areas as New Phase Nears
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 2 years ago on
March 23, 2023

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Ukraine’s president on Thursday made his third visit in two days to areas that have felt the brunt of Russia’s war, with a trip to the southern Kherson region that was retaken from the Kremlin’s forces, and as a senior Kyiv commander hinted that a brewing Ukrainian counteroffensive could come “very soon.”

Ukraine took back control of the Kherson region’s capital, also called Kherson, at the end of last year, pushing out the Russian occupiers who had captured the city in the weeks following the start of Moscow full-scale invasion more than a year ago. The Dnieper River now marks the front line in the region, which is still partially occupied.

While in Kherson on Thursday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with local security officials and inspected infrastructure damaged by Russian strikes, his office said.

On Wednesday, Zelenskyy visited Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city in northeastern Ukraine. Kyiv’s troops recaptured Kharkiv from the Russians last September as part of the same monthslong counteroffensive that won back Kherson.

Also Wednesday, Zelenskyy met with troops in the eastern Donetsk region, stopping by a hospital to see wounded soldiers and giving state awards to the defenders of Bakhmut, a wrecked city that is now a symbol of Ukraine’s dogged resistance against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ambitions.

Zelenskyy’s 48 hours of visits far from Kyiv — and close to the front line — came as improving weather sets the stage for possible new offensives by both sides. The biting winter weather, followed by mud as the ground thawed out, have prevented major changes on the battlefield, and the war has largely been deadlocked in recent months.

Ukraine is now starting to receive modern weapons, including tanks, from its Western allies, who are also training Ukrainian troops to use them.

Russian forces have been digging in where they hold territory in the four provinces that Moscow illegally annexed in September — Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia. Putin has made it clear he wants to have control there.

Ukraine’s ground forces commander said Thursday that Russian forces are “exhausting themselves” in their grinding push to take Bakhmut, giving Kyiv a window of opportunity for a counterstrike.

Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi said in a Telegram post that the Russian assault on Bakhmut was causing Russian forces to “lose considerable strength.”

“Very soon, we will take advantage of this opportunity, as we once did near Kyiv, Kharkiv, Balakliia and Kupiansk,” Syrskyi added, referencing Ukraine’s counteroffensive last year that pushed Russia back from the country’s capital and large swathes of the northeast.

Russia has kept up its long-range attacks using artillery, missiles and drones, meanwhile.

Russian Missile Attack on High School, Dorms

The death toll from a Russian drone attack Wednesday on a high school and dormitories south of Kyiv rose to nine, Ukrainian emergency services reported.

Russia on Wednesday also struck a nine-story apartment building in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia where at least one person was killed.

In addition to Thursday’s demonstrations, tens of thousands of people have been showing up for weekly protests each Saturday night for more than two months.

Netanyahu’s government rejected a compromise proposal earlier this month meant to ease the crisis. It said that it would slow the pace of the changes, pushing most of them to after a monthlong parliamentary recess in April.

But the government was plowing forward on a key part of the overhaul, which would grant the government control over who becomes a judge. The government says it amended the original bill to make the law more inclusive, but opponents rejected the move, saying the change was cosmetic and would maintain the government’s grip over the appointment of judges. The measure was expected to pass next week.

Netanyahu is on trial for fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in a series of scandals involving wealthy associates and powerful media moguls. He denies wrongdoing and dismisses critics who say he could find an escape route from the charges through the legal overhaul his government is advancing.

The government says the changes are necessary to restore a balance between the executive and judicial branches, which they say has become too interventionist in the way the country is run.

Critics say the government, Israel’s most right-wing ever, is pushing the country toward authoritarianism with its overhaul, which they say upends the country’s fragile system of checks and balances.

Rights groups and Palestinians say Israel’s democratic ideals have long been tarnished by the country’s 55-year, open-ended occupation of lands the Palestinians seek for an independent state and the treatment of Palestinian Israeli citizens, who face discrimination in many spheres.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

House Republicans Say They Expect to Vote Tonight on Trump’s Tax-Cut Bill

DON'T MISS

San Luis Obispo’s Madre Fire Grows to 8,300 Acres, Prompts Evacuations

DON'T MISS

SLO Deputies Fatally Shoot Man in Los Osos Weeks After US Marshal Impersonation Arrest

DON'T MISS

Madera County Deputy Injured, Wanted Felon Arrested After Violent Struggle

DON'T MISS

San Luis Obispo County Wildfire Burns More Than 3,000 Acres. No Containment Yet

DON'T MISS

Wired Wednesday: Why Is State Lawmaker Taking Aim at Rooftop Solar?

DON'T MISS

Two Visalia Men Sentenced in 2021 Motel Killing

DON'T MISS

Ex-Jan. 6 Defendant Gets Life in Prison for Plot to Kill FBI Agents

DON'T MISS

Del Monte Files for Bankruptcy. Gets Nearly $1B to Keep Producing Through Process

DON'T MISS

Who is Running for Fresno Area Offices in 2026? An Updated Look

UP NEXT

Iran Enacts Law Suspending Cooperation With UN Nuclear Watchdog

UP NEXT

Ukraine Voices Concern as US Halts Some Missile Shipments

UP NEXT

Dalai Lama Says He Will Be Reincarnated, Trust Will Identify Successor

UP NEXT

Hamas Says It Is Studying Ceasefire Proposal Labeled ‘Final’ by Trump

UP NEXT

Trump Says Israel Has Agreed to Conditions to Finalize 60-Day Gaza Ceasefire

UP NEXT

Iran Made Preparations to Mine the Strait of Hormuz, US Sources Say

UP NEXT

Trump Says US Could Reach Trade Deal With India, Casts Doubt on Deal With Japan

UP NEXT

France Shuts Schools, Italy Limits Outdoor Work as Heatwave Grips Europe

UP NEXT

Israeli Officials to Hold Ceasefire Talks in Washington Amid Military Escalation in Gaza

UP NEXT

Where Trade Talks Stand With Major US Partners Ahead of Tariffs-Hike Deadline

Madera County Deputy Injured, Wanted Felon Arrested After Violent Struggle

2 hours ago

San Luis Obispo County Wildfire Burns More Than 3,000 Acres. No Containment Yet

2 hours ago

Wired Wednesday: Why Is State Lawmaker Taking Aim at Rooftop Solar?

2 hours ago

Two Visalia Men Sentenced in 2021 Motel Killing

2 hours ago

Ex-Jan. 6 Defendant Gets Life in Prison for Plot to Kill FBI Agents

3 hours ago

Del Monte Files for Bankruptcy. Gets Nearly $1B to Keep Producing Through Process

3 hours ago

Who is Running for Fresno Area Offices in 2026? An Updated Look

4 hours ago

CIA Review Finds Flaws but Does Not Dispute Finding Putin Sought to Sway 2016 Vote to Trump

4 hours ago

Poorest Americans Dealt Biggest Blow Under Senate Republican Tax Package

4 hours ago

Check Out Newest Downtown Mural. It’s a Spectacular Tribute to Fresno Artisans

5 hours ago

House Republicans Say They Expect to Vote Tonight on Trump’s Tax-Cut Bill

WASHINGTON – Republicans in the House of Representatives on Wednesday struggled to pass President Donald Trump’s massive tax-cut...

54 minutes ago

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson speaks to the press, as Republican lawmakers struggle to pass U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping spending and tax bill, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 2, 2025. (Reuters/Annabelle Gordon)
54 minutes ago

House Republicans Say They Expect to Vote Tonight on Trump’s Tax-Cut Bill

The Madre Fire in San Luis Obispo County has rapidly expanded to 8,396 acres with no containment, prompting evacuation orders and warnings near New Cuyama. (CalFire)
60 minutes ago

San Luis Obispo’s Madre Fire Grows to 8,300 Acres, Prompts Evacuations

Andrew Biscay, 40, was arrested Friday, June 20, 2025, after deputies found him with a fake U.S. Marshal’s badge, homemade firearm, and law enforcement-style gear during a warrant arrest. (Madera County SO)
1 hour ago

SLO Deputies Fatally Shoot Man in Los Osos Weeks After US Marshal Impersonation Arrest

On Tuesday, July 1, 2025, a Madera County sheriff’s deputy was injured while trying to arrest a wanted felon, Felix Adrian Nucamendi Carrasco, 40, who later fled and was captured near Raymond Road. (Madera County SO)
2 hours ago

Madera County Deputy Injured, Wanted Felon Arrested After Violent Struggle

A wildfire dubbed the Madre Fire has burned over 3,300 acres near New Cuyama with 0% containment, officials said Wednesday, July 2, 2025. (CalFire)
2 hours ago

San Luis Obispo County Wildfire Burns More Than 3,000 Acres. No Containment Yet

2 hours ago

Wired Wednesday: Why Is State Lawmaker Taking Aim at Rooftop Solar?

Jose Luna (left), 33, and Ralph Grajeda, 45, both of Visalia, have been sentenced for their roles in the 2020 shotgun killing of Robert Soto at a local motel. (Tulare County DA)
2 hours ago

Two Visalia Men Sentenced in 2021 Motel Killing

A U.S. Justice Department logo or seal showing Justice Department headquarters, known as "Main Justice," is seen behind the podium in the Department's headquarters briefing room before a news conference with the Attorney General in Washington, January 24, 2023. (Reuters File)
3 hours ago

Ex-Jan. 6 Defendant Gets Life in Prison for Plot to Kill FBI Agents

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend