Month: November 2023

The Gershkovich family is accustomed to having Thanksgiving without their son, journalist Evan Gershkovich, since he has lived abroad as a reporter for several years. But this year, his absence at the Thanksgiving table weighs particularly heavily because Gershkovich is jailed in a Russian prison. “Having a Thanksgiving with Evan there would have been a huge treat. But, of course, this Thanksgiving, it’s just hard,” Danielle Gershkovich, Evan’s sister, told VOA. There’s “a literal, physical darkness,” she said. As millions of people across the United States and the world celebrate Thanksgiving on Thursday, two American journalists — Gershkovich, as well …

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The EU is poised to give 900 million euros ($980 million) to Hungary as an advance on its part of post-Covid pandemic recovery funds which remain frozen in a dispute over the rule of law. The European Commission said Thursday that the money, which it termed a “pre-financing,” would go towards a greening of Hungary’s energy production, once EU member states signed off on it. Brussels’ announcement came after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was accused of being ready to veto further EU aid to Ukraine and stall Kyiv’s push for membership talks in order to unblock the frozen funds. …

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Russian state television said Thursday one of its journalists died after being hurt in a Ukrainian drone attack in the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia region of southern Ukraine. The Russian network announced the death of Boris Maksudov a day after the Russian defense ministry said he was hit while working in Zaporizhzhia. Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials said Thursday that Russian shelling killed one person and injured another in southern Ukraine’s Kherson region. The officials said the areas hit by the Russian shelling included a residential building. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy used part of his nightly address Wednesday to highlight new military aid packages …

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He’s been called the Dutch Donald Trump. He’s been threatened with death countless times by Islamic extremists, convicted of insulting Moroccans, and Britain once banned him from entering the country. Now Geert Wilders has won a massive victory in a Dutch election and is in pole position to form the next governing coalition and possibly become the Netherlands’ next prime minister. An exit poll revealing his landslide appeared to take even 60-year-old political veteran Wilders by surprise. In his first reaction, posted in a video on X, formerly Twitter, he spread his arms wide, put his face in his hands …

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Finnish border guards and soldiers began erecting barriers including concrete obstacles topped with barbed wire at some crossing points on the Nordic country’s lengthy border with Russia to better control an influx of migrants, officials said Wednesday. Finland said it will close three more crossing points, leaving only one Arctic point open for migrants seeking asylum. Some 600 migrants without proper visas and documentation, mostly from the Middle East and Africa, have arrived in Finland in November compared to a few dozen in September and October. The arrivals include residents of Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Kenya, Morocco and Somalia, border …

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The United States and Germany, the two top providers of military aid to Ukraine, pledged continued support this week as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared his core goal was securing international assistance for the year ahead. But experts caution that the US and Germany risk being perceived as too closely tied to Ukraine’s grinding war with Russia. VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports. …

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As Ukraine’s forces continue their counteroffensive, mines and explosives threaten its people in de-occupied regions. According to the Ukrainian government, since the start of the Russian invasion, mines have killed at least 264 civilians and injured more than 830. Demining efforts, led by various entitles, are actively underway. Myroslava Gongadze tells the story. (Camera: Eugene Shynkar; Produced by Daniil Batushchak) …

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From headlines taken out of context to the framing of fringe figures as representative of wider American views, Russian state-run outlets are cherry-picking U.S. content to back up Kremlin narratives. And it comes with results. Headlines such as “Biden accused of concealing extent of corruption in Ukraine” and “US highlights NATO inability to withstand Russia for extended period” regularly propel state-run stories into the top five spots on Russian search engines, with a potential reach of millions of views. Americans regularly cited by Russian media include former Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson, Republican Representative James Comer, and members of “The …

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