KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian troops in eastern Ukraine have captured the stronghold of Kurakhove after a monthslong battle, Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed Monday, adding the wrecked town to the Kremlin’s list of conquests during the almost three-year war.
But the Ukrainian force defending Kurakhove dismissed the claim while acknowledging that Russian forces were attacking urban areas. "Measures to identify and destroy enemy assault groups that are trying to infiltrate our battle formations are underway,” the local military command said on Telegram.
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An Orthodox priest performs a funeral service of neurobiologist Ihor Zyma and his wife, biologist Olesia Sokur who were killed by a Russian strike on Jan. 1, in Kyiv, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Cemetery workers carry a coffin of biologist Olesia Sokur, who was killed together with her husband neurobiologist Ihor Zyma by a Russian strike on Jan. 1, during a funeral ceremony in Kyiv, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Relatives and friends hold candles during the funeral ceremony of neurobiologist Ihor Zyma and his wife, biologist Olesia Sokur, who were killed by a Russian strike on Jan. 1, in Kyiv, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
People attend the funeral ceremony of neurobiologist Ihor Zyma and his wife, biologist Olesia Sokur, who were killed by a Russian strike on Jan. 1, in Kyiv Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
In this photo taken from video distributed by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, Russian servicemen attend a combat training for assault units in an undisclosed location. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
In this photo taken from video distributed by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, Russian servicemen attend a combat training for assault units in an undisclosed location. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
In this photo taken from video distributed by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, Russian servicemen attend a combat training for assault units in an undisclosed location. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
Russia's claim came a day after its Defense Ministry said Ukrainian forces had pressed new attacks in Russia’s Kursk border region.
Ukrainian officials usually comment on major battlefield defeats only days after Russia announces them.
The inauguration in two weeks of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has brought a new element of uncertainty and triggered an apparent effort by both sides to establish battlefield gains before any possible peace talks.
Trump hasn’t detailed his plans for accomplishing his goal of ending the fighting, but his presence in the White House is likely to significantly affect how the war plays out.
Kurakhove is a stronghold for the Ukrainian army on the eastern front line in the partially occupied Donetsk region. It has an industrial zone, a thermal power plant and a reservoir and sits on a highway between eastern and southern Ukraine.
In November, The Associated Press reported from the town that some 7,000-10,000 people likely remained there. Its prewar population was about twice that. The town has been under relentless attacks from artillery, multiple rocket launchers, powerful guided bombs and drones that have shattered buildings.
Meanwhile, Michael Kofman of the Carnegie Endowment said in an assessment published on social platform X that there has been some cheering news for Ukraine. “Ukraine is grinding down Russian forces. Russian gains are small relative to costs. There has been no collapse of the front,” Kofman wrote.
On the other hand, he said, “Ukraine is losing territory. The coldest part of the winter is yet ahead. The current theory of success is unclear, or what resources will be made available by the West in 2025.”
Russia has been driving westward in a slow and costly effort to capture all of Donetsk. Ukraine is short of troops on the front lines and is straining to hold back the bigger Russian army.
Russian forces are trying to close in on Pokrovsk, a key road junction and rail distribution center furnishing supplies to a broad span of the Ukrainian front line.
In 2022, Moscow illegally annexed the Donetsk and neighboring Luhansk regions, which make up the Donbas industrial area, together with southeastern provinces of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. But Russian forces don’t fully control any of them.
Ukraine is keen to get new Western military aid delivered quickly, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday he hoped more would be pledged this week at a meeting with Western partners in Germany.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Sunday that Ukraine launched a fresh offensive in the Kursk region, where military analysts estimate Kyiv recently lost 40% of what its forces captured in a lightning insurgency five months ago.
Russian officials claimed their forces pushed back the Ukrainian offensive, but some reports from Russian military bloggers indicated that Moscow’s forces faced significant pressure.
The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank that monitors the conflict, said Ukrainian forces on Sunday resumed offensive operations in at least three areas of Kursk and made tactical advances.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
An Orthodox priest performs a funeral service of neurobiologist Ihor Zyma and his wife, biologist Olesia Sokur who were killed by a Russian strike on Jan. 1, in Kyiv, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Cemetery workers carry a coffin of biologist Olesia Sokur, who was killed together with her husband neurobiologist Ihor Zyma by a Russian strike on Jan. 1, during a funeral ceremony in Kyiv, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Relatives and friends hold candles during the funeral ceremony of neurobiologist Ihor Zyma and his wife, biologist Olesia Sokur, who were killed by a Russian strike on Jan. 1, in Kyiv, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
People attend the funeral ceremony of neurobiologist Ihor Zyma and his wife, biologist Olesia Sokur, who were killed by a Russian strike on Jan. 1, in Kyiv Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
In this photo taken from video distributed by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, Russian servicemen attend a combat training for assault units in an undisclosed location. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
In this photo taken from video distributed by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, Russian servicemen attend a combat training for assault units in an undisclosed location. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
In this photo taken from video distributed by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, Russian servicemen attend a combat training for assault units in an undisclosed location. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
Israeli airstrikes in southern Gaza killed at least 18 people late Tuesday, including five displaced children who were sheltering in the same tent, the territory’s Health Ministry said.
The bodies of eight kids were brought to the nearby Nasser Hospital, said Ahmed al-Farra, director of the child ward. The strikes in the Khan Younis area also hit a vehicle and two houses, the hospital said.
The Israeli military did not have an immediate comment about the strikes. Israel blames Hamas for civilian casualties.
The Israel-Hamas war in Gaza is raging with no end in sight, although there has reportedly been recent progress in long-running talks aimed at a ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
Some Palestinians in the Gaza Strip still have hope the war will end soon. Issam Saqr, a displaced man from Khan Younis, told The Associated Press he hopes the ceasefire “will happen today — before tomorrow!”
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KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Displaced Palestinians in the Gaza Strip still have hope that Israel’s 15-month war with Hamas will end soon, as both sides appear to be inching toward a ceasefire deal.
“What we are living is not a life. Nobody could bear the situation we’re experiencing for a single day,” said Munawar al-Bik, a displaced woman from Gaza City.
“We wake up at night to the sounds of men crying, because of the bad situation,” al-Bik said. “The situation is unbearable, we have no energy left, we want it to end today.”
She spoke to The Associated Press on a dusty road in the southern city of Khan Younis beside the rubble of a destroyed building. Behind her, a sea of makeshift tents filled with displaced families stretched into the distance.
Muhammad Zaqout, a displaced man from Gaza City, said he’s sick of children being killed daily, of the destruction and displacement.
In recent months, families who fled their homes in Gaza have had little access to clean water or enough food to eat, and they struggle to cope with harsh winter conditions that have killed several babies from hypothermia in recent weeks.
Issam Saqr, displaced from Khan Younis, said he hopes the ceasefire “will happen today — before tomorrow!”
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Israeli airstrikes in southern Gaza killed at least 18 people late Tuesday, including five children who were sheltering in a tent camp for displaced Palestinians, the territory’s Health Ministry said.
The bodies of eight kids, including the five killed together in the same tent, were among those brought to the nearby Nasser Hospital, said Ahmed al-Farra, director of the child ward. The strikes in the Khan Younis area also hit a vehicle and two houses, the hospital said.
The Israeli military did not have an immediate comment about the strikes.
It was not immediately clear if that strike that killed the five children was inside the area Israel's military designated a humanitarian safe zone but has repeatedly targeted. Israel blames Hamas for civilian casualties.
Muwasi is a desolate coastal area where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians are sheltering in makeshift tents during the cold and rainy winter.
JERUSALEM — Israel’s foreign minister was in the United Arab Emirates for talks with his Emirati counterpart.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said that Gideon Saar discussed “regional developments and the bilateral relations between the two countries” in his talks with Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
The statement did not elaborate, but Israeli officials have expressed hope that the United Arab Emirates and other Arab countries could play a role in rebuilding and helping run postwar Gaza.
Israel and the UAE established diplomatic relations as part of the 2020 Abraham Accords.
PALM BEACH, Fla. — President-elect Donald Trump is dispatching his incoming special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, to Qatar this week for talks aimed at a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of some 100 Israeli hostages.
Trump speaking at a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Tuesday reiterated his threat that there will be “hell to pay” in the Middle East if the hostages are not released prior to his Jan. 20 inauguration.
Witkoff, who also spoke briefly at the press conference, said he expected to depart for Qatar later Tuesday or Wednesday but did not detail who he’d be meeting with during his latest visit to the region.
Witkoff added that progress is being made on landing a deal, something he said is happening because of the pressure Trump is creating.
“The red lines he’s put out there — that’s driving this negotiation,” Witkoff said.
LONDON — Ireland has formally asked to intervene in South Africa’s case accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, the International Court of Justice said Tuesday.
The request submitted in the Hague on Monday has roiled Irish relations with Israel.
Israel, which denies the allegations, announced last month that it would close its embassy in Ireland after the Irish government decided to intervene in South Africa’s case.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the “antisemitic rhetoric of the Irish government against Israel are rooted in efforts to delegitimize and demonize the Jewish state.”
In May, Israel recalled its ambassador to Dublin after Ireland announced along with Norway, Spain and Slovenia it would recognize a Palestinian state.
Several other countries have also intervened in the case: Nicaragua, Colombia, Libya, Mexico, Palestine, Spain, Chile, Bolivia, the Maldives and Turkey.
BEIRUT — France’s special envoy to Lebanon, Jean-Yves Le Drian, arrived in Beirut on Tuesday to help mediate the parliament's latest attempt to elect the country's president — a position that has been empty for more than two years amid sharp political and sectarian divides.
Lebanon’s parliament is scheduled to meet on Thursday to elect a president. Le Drian will attend the session at the invitation of Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri.
His visit comes as part of ongoing efforts to “enable the Lebanese to elect a president, in accordance with the principles agreed upon in Doha in July 2023,” according to a statement from his office. He is working alongside members of the Quintet — France, the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Egypt — to push for a resolution to the prolonged stalemate.
Le Drian urged lawmakers to reach a consensus, emphasizing that electing a president is “the first step toward the urgent reactivation of Lebanon’s institutions and the restoration of the country’s sovereignty,” according to the statement.
It remains to be seen how much Lebanon's political landscape has shifted in recent months after Hezbollah, a powerful political actor in the country, was severely hobbled after the war with Israel, which killed top officials including longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah, as well as the overthrow of President Bashar Assad in neighboring Syria.
Former President Michel Aoun, an ally of Iran-backed Hezbollah, finished his term in October 2022.
DAMASCUS, Syria — The first international commercial flight since the fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad last month landed Tuesday at the Damascus airport from Qatar.
Jordanian state-run Petra news agency also reported that a Royal Jordanian Airlines plane was heading to Damascus on a test flight.
The head of Syria's Civil Aviation Regulatory Commission, Capt. Haitham Misto, who was on board the flight with a team of specialists, said the aim was to evaluate the condition of the Damascus airport before resuming regular flights.
JERUSALEM — The Israeli military launched a wave of raids across the occupied West Bank overnight and into Tuesday, killing at least three Palestinians it said were militants a day after a deadly shooting attack.
The army said it killed two militants in an airstrike after they fired at troops in the area of Tamun in the northern West Bank. It said another militant was killed in “close-quarters combat” in the nearby village of Taluza and an Israeli soldier was severely wounded. The military said it arrested more than 20 suspected militants.
Hamas said in a statement that one of its veteran commanders, Jaafar Dababsah, was killed by Israeli forces in the area of the two deadly raids.
The Israeli army said the overnight operations were not related to Monday’s shooting in which gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying Israelis in the West Bank, killing two women in their 70s and a 35-year-old policeman before fleeing.
The Palestinian Health Ministry says at least 840 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza. At least 46 Israelis, including 19 soldiers, have been killed in violent attacks by Palestinian militants, according to the U.N.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed across the border in a massive surprise attack nearly 15 months ago, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Israel’s air and ground offensive has killed over 45,800 Palestinians in Gaza, according to local health authorities, who say women and children make up more than half of those killed. They do not say how many of the dead were militants. The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence.
Palestinian children play next to buildings destroyed by Israeli army strikes in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians walk through the destruction in the wake of an Israeli air and ground offensive in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Members of the new security forces stand guard at a checkpoint located near the border with Lebanon, in the town of Serghaya, Syria, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Members of the new security forces stand guard at a checkpoint located near the border with Lebanon, in the town of Serghaya, Syria, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
A child looks at blood at the site where Jaafar Dababsah, a Palestinian Hamas commander was killed in a raid by Israeli forces, in the village of Talouza, near the West Bank city of Nablus, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
Palestinians queue for food in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Destroyed buildings are seen inside the Gaza Strip from southern Israel, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Smoke rises following an explosion in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Smoke rises following an explosion in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Destroyed buildings stand inside the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Destroyed buildings stand inside the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Mourners carry the bodies of Rachel Cohen, 73, and Aliza Raiz, 70, who were killed yesterday in a Palestinian shooting attack in the West Bank, during their funeral at a cemetery in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Kdumim, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Mourners attend the funeral of Rachel Cohen, 73, and Aliza Raiz, 70, who were killed yesterday in a Palestinian shooting attack in the West Bank, at a cemetery in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Kdumim, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Mourners attend the funeral of Rachel Cohen, 73, and Aliza Raiz, 70, who were killed yesterday in a Palestinian shooting attack in the West Bank, at a cemetery in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Kdumim, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Mourners carry the body of Jaafar Dababsah, a Palestinian Hamas commander killed in a raid by Israeli forces, during his funeral in the village of Talouza, near the West Bank city of Nablus, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
Mourners carry the body of Jaafar Dababsah, a Palestinian Hamas commander killed in a raid by Israeli forces, during his funeral in the village of Talouza, near the West Bank city of Nablus, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
A mourner kisses the body of Jaafar Dababsah, a Palestinian Hamas commander killed in a raid by Israeli forces, during his funeral in the village of Talouza, near the West Bank city of Nablus, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
An Arabic mural reading, "Palestine," is the backdrop as Palestinian children walk on a street damaged in Israeli military operation at the Al-Fara'a refugee camp in the West Bank, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
Mourners attend the funeral of Rachel Cohen, 73, and Aliza Raiz, 70, who were killed yesterday in a Palestinian shooting attack in the West Bank, at a cemetery in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Kdumim, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Mourners attend the funeral of Rachel Cohen, 73, and Aliza Raiz, 70, who were killed yesterday in a Palestinian shooting attack in the West Bank, at a cemetery in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Kdumim, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Mourners attend the funeral of Rachel Cohen, 73, and Aliza Raiz, 70, who were killed yesterday in a Palestinian shooting attack in the West Bank, at a cemetery in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Kdumim, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Palestinians walk on a street damaged in an Israeli military operation in the Al-Fara'a refugee camp in the West Bank, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
Mourners carry the body of Jaafar Dababsah, a Palestinian Hamas commander killed in a raid by Israeli forces, during his funeral in the village of Talouza, near the West Bank city of Nablus, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
A woman protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and call for the release of hostages, held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Israelis protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and call for the release of hostages, held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Mourners attend the funeral of three members of Hussein family who were killed in the Israeli bombardment in Maghazij, central Gaza Strip, at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Mourners attend the funeral of three members of Hussein family who were killed in the Israeli bombardment in Maghazi, central Gaza Strip, at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A man mourn over the bodies of two members of Abeid family who were killed in the Israeli bombardment in Maghazi, central Gaza Strip, at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
