Ukraine retakes eastern town from occupiers

KYIV (AFP) — Ukraine on Friday claimed to have recaptured a part of the eastern town of New York, in the first success for Kyiv on this part of the front for months.

The announcement came after months of Moscow advancing in east Ukraine and a day after President Vladimir Putin said he aimed to capture the whole of the Donbas region.

Kyiv’s counter-attack came just over two weeks after Russia captured New York, a town that had a pre-war population of around 10,000 people.

“Thanks to the high morale, courage and professionalism of the brigade’s fighters, Azov managed to stabilize the situation, regain control of part of New York,” the Azov Brigade, fighting in the area, said on social media.

Russia claimed the capture of New York in late August, saying it had taken an “important logistics hub.”

New York lies south of the town of Toretsk, where intense battles have been raging for weeks.

Kyiv has struggled to hold the line on this part of the front, with Moscow pushing an advance despite Ukraine mounting an incursion in Russia’s Kursk region.

New York has been a frontline town since 2014, when a conflict erupted between Moscow-backed separatists and Kyiv.

The story of the town’s name is a mystery, but it was marked on maps as “New York” in the 19th century.

Soviet authorities renamed it “Novgorodskoye” — which has “New City” as the root — in 1951 for ideological reasons, before Kyiv switched it back to New York in 2021.

Military aid, missiles

Meanwhile, United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Friday that Washington will provide $250 million in new military aid for Ukraine as Kyiv faces advancing Russian forces in the east and devastating strikes by Moscow.

“I’m pleased to say that President (Joe) Biden will announce today an additional $250 million security assistance package for Ukraine. It will surge in more capabilities to meet Ukraine’s evolving requirements,” Austin told a meeting in Germany of Ukraine’s international supporters.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will hold “one-on-one” talks in Frankfurt, according to a German government spokesperson, who did not give further details about the Ukrainian leader’s program.

German news outlet Der Spiegel reported that Zelensky will also attend the gathering of Kyiv’s backers, which includes the US, at the US Ramstein Air Base.

The United Kingdom will send Ukraine 650 new specialist missile systems to boost its air defenses, London said Friday, weeks after criticized the pace of weapons deliveries.