From Italy and the World

Neskuchne, Ukraine CNN  —  The four roads of Staromayorske appear almost ground to dust in the drone footage. It’s a tiny village, but as the latest gain of Ukraine’s renewed counteroffensive in the direction of Mariupol, Staromayorske’s symbolism far outweighs its size. Its fate represents a larger problem for Ukraine…

The four roads of Staromayorske appear almost ground to dust in the drone footage. It’s a tiny village, but as the latest gain of Ukraine���s renewed counteroffensive in the direction of Mariupol, Staromayorske’s symbolism far outweighs its size. Its fate represents a larger problem for Ukraine as it pushes forward.…

Kyiv, Ukraine CNN  —  A day after Volodymyr Zelensky said war was “returning to Russia” with an attempted drone strike on Moscow, the Kremlin launched a deadly airstrike against the Ukraine president’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih. At least six people were killed and another 75 were wounded when a pair…

CNN  —  Russia may be forced to use a nuclear weapon if Ukraine’s counteroffensive succeeds, senior Russian official Dmitry Medvedev said Sunday – the latest in a series of nuclear threats made during Moscow’s invasion by the key ally of President Vladimir Putin. “Just imagine that the offensive… in tandem…

Ukraine’s forces are “gradually moving forward” around the battered city of Bakhmut, while also claiming some gains elsewhere on the eastern front, a military spokesperson told CNN on Sunday. Surrounding Bakhmut, Kyiv’s military has generally been able to gain hundreds of meters per day and capture kilometers of territory each week,…

CNN  —  Italy’s defense minister called his country’s decision to join a flagship Chinese infrastructure scheme “wicked,” as the government weighs up whether continue as part of the scheme. In an interview with the Corriere della Serra newspaper published Sunday, Guido Crosetto said that the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)…

More than 100 Wagner Group mercenaries have moved toward the Suwałki corridor, a small stretch of NATO territory separating the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad from Belarus, Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Saturday. Morawiecki called it “a step toward a further hybrid attack on Polish territory.” Poland’s government has…

Ukraine CNN  —  At a secret makeshift military base a nondescript van and pickup truck tow two gray objects covered by tarpaulin mounted on trailers. In the driving rain, they resemble something more akin to a Boston Whaler, rather than hiding one of Ukraine’s most closely guarded secrets. Perched on…

CNN  —  More than 100 troops from the Russian mercenary group Wagner are moving towards a thin strip of land between Poland and Lithuania, Poland’s prime minister says, who warned they could pose as migrants to cross the border. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Saturday that his government had…

CNN  —  Ukraine has passed legislation moving its official Christmas holiday to December 25, further distancing itself from the traditions of the Putin-aligned Russian Orthodox Church, which celebrates the holiday on January 7. The bill was passed by Ukraine’s parliament earlier this month. President Volodymyr Zelensky signed it into law…

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova attends a news conference in Moscow, Russia, on April 4, 2023. Maxim Shemetov/Reuters/FILE Moscow reserves the right to take tough measures in response to a missile attack that wounded more than a dozen people in the Russian border region of Rostov on Friday, a foreign ministry spokesperson…

CNN  —  The Ukrainian military is doubling down on efforts to break through thick Russian defenses in its counteroffensive in the south, which has struggled to gain momentum since being launched at the beginning of June. Ukrainian officials have said little about what fresh units are being committed to the…

CNN  —  Russia said it shot down a Ukrainian missile over the southern Russian city of Taganrog and that fragments from the blast injured several civilians. It’s believed to be the first time that Taganrog – some 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the border with Ukraine — has been hit…

Berlin CNN  —  The remains of a German mountain climber who went missing 37 years ago while hiking along a glacier near Switzerland’s iconic Matterhorn have been recovered, as melting glaciers lead to the re-emergence of bodies and objects thought to be long lost. Climbers hiking along the Theodul Glacier…