Russian Forces Pound Avdiivka for Fourth Straight Day

Ukrainian forces in Donetsk (AFP)
Ukrainian forces in Donetsk (AFP)
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Russian Forces Pound Avdiivka for Fourth Straight Day

Ukrainian forces in Donetsk (AFP)
Ukrainian forces in Donetsk (AFP)

Russian forces pounded the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka for the fourth day in a row on Friday.

In attacks elsewhere in Ukraine, a Russian missile strike killed one person in the city of Pokrovsk, also in the east, while a drone attack in the south killed a women and seriously injured her husband.

"The fighting has been going on for four consecutive days," Vitaliy Barabash, head of the city's military administration, told Ukrainian national television.

"They have substantial reserves of personnel and equipment. Avdiivka is completely ablaze. They shoot, using everything they have. The hospital is again under fire, as are administrative buildings and our volunteer center."

Russia has focused its campaign along the 1,000-km (600-mile) front on the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Russia's representative to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzia, said the intensified battles in the east signified a new stage in its campaign.

"Russian troops have, for several days now, switched over to active combat action practically throughout the entire front line," Nebenzia told a session of the UN Security Council, Reuters reported.

"The so-called Ukrainian counteroffensive can therefore be considered finished."

Russian forces abandoned the western bank of the Dnipro River in the Kherson region late last year, but continue to shell towns there from positions on the eastern bank.



EU Will Review Trade Deal with Israel, Kallas Says

Israeli army tanks are deployed at Israel's southern border with the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing war with Hamas, May 20, 2025. (dpa)
Israeli army tanks are deployed at Israel's southern border with the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing war with Hamas, May 20, 2025. (dpa)
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EU Will Review Trade Deal with Israel, Kallas Says

Israeli army tanks are deployed at Israel's southern border with the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing war with Hamas, May 20, 2025. (dpa)
Israeli army tanks are deployed at Israel's southern border with the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing war with Hamas, May 20, 2025. (dpa)

The European Union's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said on Tuesday that there would be a review of the EU's trade agreement with Israel amid the "catastrophic" situation in Gaza.

International pressure on Israel has mounted in recent days as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has launched a renewed military offensive in Gaza.

Kallas said a "strong majority" of EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels favored such a review of the bloc's association agreement with Israel in the light of events in Gaza.

"The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The aid that Israel has allowed in is of course welcomed, but it's a drop in the ocean. Aid must flow immediately, without obstruction and at scale, because this is what is needed," Kallas told reporters.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, speaking in parliament, welcomed the EU decision and said 17 out of the 27 member states had backed the move.

EU sanctions on violent Israeli settlers have been prepared but have so far been blocked by one member state, Kallas said, without naming the country.