Month: March 2022

Up to 30,000 men, women and children joined an anti-war demonstration in central Berlin on Sunday, with many waving Ukrainian flags or holding banners with slogans opposing the Russian invasion. Gathering near the Brandenburg Gate, symbol of a divided Germany during the Cold War, protesters – including people in wheelchairs and toddlers in pushchairs – walked through the streets of Berlin, at times chanting and singing. Slogans on posters and banners included “Stop Putin,” “Stop War,” “Russian soldiers go home” and “Solidarity with Ukraine!” “Above all, it’s extremely important for Ukrainians to see that we will not forget them, not …

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U.S. officials say Russia’s lethal shelling in the western part of Ukraine on Sunday, close to the border with Poland, is something that they had anticipated. “This does not come as a surprise to the American intelligence and national security community,” said U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan during a Sunday morning appearance on CNN. “What it shows is that Vladimir Putin is frustrated by the fact that his forces are not making the kind of progress that he thought that they would make.” At least 35 people died and 134 were wounded early Sunday when Russia fired cruise missiles …

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One of Ukraine’s biggest military training bases, located 25 kilometers from the Polish border in the west of the country, was struck by Russian missiles in an attack that left 35 people dead and 134 others injured, according to Ukrainian officials. The base at Yavoriv is only 60 kilometers from Lviv, a major hub for Ukrainian evacuees heading into Poland. It has also been used by NATO military instructors, but Ukrainian officials say they are still trying to establish whether any were on-site for the attack and were injured. The strike on the International Center for Peacekeeping and Security is …

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Full developments of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine    …

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Turkey and Armenia have pledged to pursue the normalization of ties in what the Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu described as a “productive and constructive” meeting on Saturday. After talks with his Armenian counterpart, Ararat Mirzoyan, Cavusoglu said that Azerbaijan also “supports the process” of normalization. Armenia and Turkey have no diplomatic relations, a closed land border and a deep-seated hostility rooted in the mass killing of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire during World War I. But in December, the two countries appointed special envoys to normalize relations, spurred by support from regional powerbroker Russia and Armenia’s arch-foe Azerbaijan. The …

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Britain will pay people to open their homes to Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion as the government moves to deflect anger over its response to the fastest-growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II. The new program called “Homes for Ukraine” will let refugees from the war come to Britain even if they do not have family ties, the government said Sunday. Britain will pay people 350 pounds ($456) a month if they can offer refugees a spare room or property for a minimum period of six months. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has sought to portray Britain as helping …

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The United States on Saturday said it would rush up to $200 million in additional small arms, anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons to Ukraine, as Ukrainian officials pleaded for more equipment to defend against heavy shelling by Russian forces. U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday authorized the additional security assistance, the White House said, paving the way for the “immediate” shipment of fresh military equipment to Ukraine, a senior administration official said. Biden’s decision brings the total U.S. security aid provided to Ukraine to $1.2 billion since January 2021, and to $3.2 billion since 2014, when Russia annexed the Crimea region …

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The clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Dutch city of Amsterdam, announced Saturday it was splitting from the Moscow church because of threats to them over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  In a statement posted to its website it said that after a meeting, “the clergy unanimously announced that it is no longer possible for them to function within the Moscow Patriarchate and provide a spiritually safe environment for our faithful.”  It was “with a heavy heart” that the four priests of Saint Nicholas of Myra in Amsterdam had reached their decision, they said.  They had asked Archbishop Elisey, …

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