Russia, Ukraine update battle report

The Russian Ministry of Defense said on Wednesday that Russian forces have seized a settlement in the Donetsk region and repelled Ukraine's attack in the Kursk region, while the Ukrainian side said on the same day that it was blocking Russian forces' attempts to advance deeper into the country.

According to the Russian Ministry of Defense report released on Wednesday, Russian forces have taken control of the settlement of Kamyshevka in the Donetsk region and struck a foreign mercenaries' camp in Ukraine in the past day.

In Kharkiv, Avdeyevka, Donetsk and other directions, the Russian army has repelled several Ukrainian attacks and launched offensives, killing and wounding Ukrainian personnel and destroying tanks, armored vehicles and other equipment. Russian air defense forces also shot down 49 Ukrainian drones.

The Russian army has repelled eight attacks launched by the Ukrainian army from several settlements in the direction of Kursk, and the Russian air force and artillery units hit the personnel and equipment concentrations of several Ukrainian army units in the direction of Kursk.

Also on Wednesday, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in a report that there were 111 battle engagements on the front lines over the past 24 hours. The Russian army continued to try to push deeper, while the Ukrainian forces are fully defending and inflicting losses on the Russian army. The Russian army also continued air strikes on Sumy Oblast. In the Pokrovsk region, Ukrainian forces repelled 23 attacks from the Russian army.

On the same day, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry and the country's special forces used attack drones to strike an oil depot in Rostov Oblast in Russia. The facility is part of the Russian military-industrial complex and directly supplies the Russian army. A fire has broken out at the oil depot, and details are still being verified.

Russia, Ukraine update battle report

The three major global initiatives on development, security, and civilization proposed by President Xi Jinping are worthwhile studying, said Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store in an interview with China Media Group on Tuesday.

In the interview on a high-speed train from Beijing to Shanghai, Store, who was paying an official visit to China from Monday to Wednesday, said the three global initiatives condense China's fine culture and tradition, noting that he looks forward to the implementation of the initiatives.

"I think they are worthwhile studying. We have all different way of expressing our aspiration for the world. I think there's something recognizable about Chinese culture and tradition in the way President Xi expresses this. I hope it will be followed up, you know, with concrete actions on the international scenes in relations with other countries like mine," he said.

The Global Development Initiative, proposed by Xi at the General Debate of the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in 2021, aims to steer global development toward a new stage of balanced, coordinated and inclusive growth.

The Global Security Initiative was proposed in April 2022, aiming to give clear answers to questions of the times, such as what security concept the world needs and how countries can achieve common security.

The Global Civilization Initiative, put forward in March 2023, calls for upholding the principles of equality, mutual learning, dialog and inclusiveness among civilizations.

Norwegian PM on President Xi's global initiatives