Ukrainian forces locked in a grinding battle for control of the country's east struggled to hold off Russian troops and buy themselves some time Thursday while they await the arrival of the advanced rockets and anti-aircraft weapons promised by the West.
With the arms deliveries possibly weeks away, Ukraine is looking at a prolonged period of gruelling combat, military analysts said.
"There's a time lag, so the next few weeks are going to be pretty tough for our Ukrainian friends," said retired U.S. Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, former commanding general of U.S. Army forces in Europe.
Ukraine is intent on exhausting Russian forces, as evidenced by street-to-street fighting in the critical eastern city of Sievierodonetsk, said Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov.
"And this can go on for quite some time," he warned.
Britain on Thursday pledged to send sophisticated medium-range rocket systems to Ukraine, joining the U.S and Germany in equipping the country with some of the advanced weapons it had been begging for for shooting down aircraft and destroying artillery and supply lines.
Western arms have been critical to Ukraine's success in stymieing Russia's much larger and better-equipped military during the war, which was in its 99th day Thursday.
The Kremlin warned of "absolutely undesirable and rather unpleasant scenarios" if the latest western-supplied weapons are fired into Russia.
"This pumping of Ukraine with weapons ... will bring more suffering to Ukraine, which is merely a tool in the hands of those countries that supply it with weapons," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Russian forces continued to pound towns and cities overnight and to tighten their grip on Sievierodonetsk in Ukraine's industrial Donbas region, which Moscow is intent on seizing. An estimated 800 people, including children, were holed up in bomb shelters at a chemical factory under attack in the city, the regional governor said.
Britain's Defence Ministry reported that Russia had captured most of Sievierodonetsk, one of two cities in Luhansk province that had remained under Ukrainian control. The Donbas is made up of Luhansk and Donetsk provinces.
Meanwhile, residents forced to flee the Kyiv area after the Russians' abortive attempt to storm the capital weeks ago confronted the overwhelming task of rebuilding their shattered lives.
Nila Zelinska and her husband, Eduard, returned for the first time to the charred ruins of their home outside Kyiv. They fled with her 82-year-old mother amid Russian shelling and airstrikes in the early days of the war.
A sobbing Zelinska recovered from the rubble a doll that belonged to one of her grandchildren, clutching it as if it were a real child.
"May there be peace on earth, peace so that our people are not suffering so much," she said.
Speaking by video link to a security conference in Slovakia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for even more weapons and sanctions against Russia to halt such horrors.
"As of today, the occupiers control almost 20% of our territory," he said.
Zelenskyy said Russia had fired 15 cruise missiles in the past day and used a total of 2,478 missiles since invading Ukraine. He said "most of them targeted civil infrastructure."
British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said Britain will send an unspecified number of M270 launchers, which can fire precision-guided rockets up to 80 kilometres (50 miles). Ukrainian troops will be trained in Britain to use the equipment, he said.
On Wednesday, the U.S. said it would supply advanced rocket launchers to Ukraine, and Germany agreed to provide up-to-date anti-aircraft missiles and radar systems.
Analysts think Russia is hoping to overrun the Donbas before any weapons that might turn the tide arrive. It will take at least three weeks to get the precision U.S. weapons and trained troops onto the battlefield, the Pentagon said.
Military analyst Zhdanov said Russia stepped up missile strikes in response to the newly promised arms.
"Supplies of western weapons are of great concern for the Kremlin, because even without sufficient weapons the Ukrainian army is daringly resisting the offensive," he said.
Zhdanov predicted Russian forces will be exhausted when the fierce fighting in and around Sievierodonetsk is over, giving Ukraine time to get the weapons and prepare a counteroffensive.
Kyiv also got a diplomatic boost with the formal installation Thursday of a new U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink.
Brink said her top priority "is to help Ukraine prevail against Russian aggression."
"There is no place on the planet I would rather be," she said after presenting her credentials to Zelenskyy. "President Biden has said that we're going to be here, helping Ukraine, for as long as it takes. And that's what we'll do."
Brink is Washington's first ambassador in Kyiv since former U.S. president Donald Trump abruptly forced out Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch in 2019. She later became a key figure in the impeachment proceedings against Trump.
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Becatoros reported from Sloviansk, Ukraine. Yuras Karmanau in Lviv, Ukraine, Ricardo Mazalan in Kyiv, Oleksandr Stashevskyi in Potashnya, Ukraine, and Associated Press reporters around the world contributed to this report.
Following the re-election of former U.S. president Donald Trump, former finance minister Bill Morneau says the Canadian government should re-evaluate the timing of some cornerstone Liberal policies.
A team of tornado experts are investigating a path of damage through Wellington County.
Canada has announced changes to their visitor visa policies, effectively ending the automatic issuance of 10-year multiple-entry visas, according to new rules outlined by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris on Monday made their first joint appearance since her U.S. selection loss when they observed Veterans Day together by laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Across Canada, dignitaries marked Remembrance Day by laying wreaths at ceremonies, school children sang in the late fall chill and veterans recalled the horrors of battle.
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Toy giant Mattel says it 'deeply' regrets an error on the packaging of its 'Wicked' movie-themed dolls, which mistakenly links toy buyers to a pornographic website.
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A government-funded report released to Â鶹´«Ã½ highlights 'systemic racism' against dozens of Black executives within the federal public service, including allegations of abuse, violence and harassment that, in some instances, led to suicide.
The federal government is urging both sides in the British Columbia port dispute to return to the table after mediated talks broke off on Saturday, the first of three scheduled days.
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Israel’s new foreign minister said that there has been 'certain progress' in efforts to end the fighting with Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris on Monday made their first joint appearance since her U.S. selection loss when they observed Veterans Day together by laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
A Spirit Airlines plane was hit by gunfire Monday over Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince, according to diplomatic source in the country, resulting in what the airline described as “minor injuries†to one of its crew members.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams is seeking to move up the start of his trial on corruption and bribery charges so he can focus on his campaign for reelection this spring.
A man accused of killing a person and staging it as a fatal bear attack in Tennessee was taken into custody in South Carolina over the weekend on murder charges, in what authorities described as a plot to steal the victim’s identity.
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Murray Sinclair’s family members say the late justice and senator has been laid to rest according to his wishes.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced voters in Cloverdale—Langley City will pick their next member of Parliament on Dec. 16.
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An opponent of vaccines who urged violence against scientists, politicians and public health officials during the COVID-19 pandemic was sentenced Monday.
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Environment Canada issued a weather alert for Barrie, Collingwood and surrounding areas, alerting residents about the wicked winds that are expected to pick up to 80 kilometres per hour in the afternoon hours.
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Representatives of the Windsor Veterans Memorial Services Committee, military representatives, wreath bearers, government officials, and members of the public will attend the Cenotaph at City Hall Square for the outdoor service.
Windsor Paralympic champion, Danielle Campo, has been crowned the number one Inspirational Speaker of the Year for 2024 at the Inspirational Speaking Finals.
A B.C. woman who stole more than $14,000 in volunteer-raised funds that were supposed to be spent on school supplies and programs – including hot meals for vulnerable kids – won't spend any time in jail.
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Environment Canada says heavy rain and winds could cause power outages on Vancouver Island as an "intense" storm system is set to hit the B.C. coast Sunday.
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Police in Kamloops, B.C., are reminding parents and guardians to check their children's Halloween candy after receiving a report of a mother finding a razor blade in one of her daughter's treats.
More than two years after Alannah Brown and Douglas Barker were found dead north of Penticton, police are asking for help identifying a vehicle they believe was associated with the crime.
The Southern Alberta Recreation Association is officially announcing the Town of Taber as next year’s host for the Southern Alberta Summer Games.
The Lethbridge Hurricanes broke open a close game with three goals in the first two minutes of the third period as they defeated the Warriors 7-3 in a game played Friday night in Moose Jaw.
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It was just days before the COVID-19 pandemic shut the world down when the Shaft Bottom Boys of Sudbury broke a world record for 'Deepest Concert Underground.' Now, more than four years later, a Timmins band is looking to take the title.
Police say that a 16-year-old was attacked with a sword Nov. 3 in Cobalt, Ont., in a case of intimate partner violence.
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On Thursday morning, Dave Penny officially ended a suggested hundred-day isolation period that followed his diagnosis and stem cell treatment for non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. On Thursday night, Penny returned to a stage at a downtown St. John's bar, regaling a small crowd with songs and stories with a distinctive Newfoundland flair.
A Memorial University scientist says the mysterious white blobs washing up on Newfoundland beaches are actually gobs of plastic -- and they need to be cleaned up.
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