Category: Євросоюз

Russia launched “massive shelling” Tuesday of Sloviansk in eastern Ukraine, the city’s mayor said, as Moscow’s forces initiated attacks in Donetsk province after winning control of neighboring Luhansk province.  In an interview on Ukrainian television, Mayor Vadim Lyakh first urged residents to flee. Hours later, he reversed course and advised them to take cover in shelters. Prior to Russia’s invasion more than four months ago, the city had a prewar population of about 107,000. “Artillery is already hitting the city,” Lyakh warned, saying that 40 houses were destroyed by Russian shelling on Monday. On Facebook, Lyakh said one person was …

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NATO members on Tuesday signed the accession protocols for Finland and Sweden to join the military alliance.  Both countries submitted their applications in May, breaking longstanding non-aligned stances in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  “This is a good day for Finland and Sweden, and a good day for NATO. With 32 nations around the table, we will be even stronger and our people will be even safer as we face the biggest security crisis in decades,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said.  He added that “NATO’s door remains open to European democracies who are ready to and willing to contribute …

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Britain’s defense ministry said Tuesday it expects Russia to use the same tactics it employed to seize virtually all of eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk province as it pushes to control Donetsk province and reach its stated goal of holding the entire Donbas region. “The battle for the Donbas has been characterized by slow rates of advance and Russia’s massed employment of artillery, levelling towns and cities in the process,” the ministry said in a statement. “The fighting in Donetsk Oblast will almost certainly continue in this manner.” Russian President Vladimir Putin declared victory Monday in Luhansk province as Ukrainian troops retreated …

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A group of young off-duty Ukrainian soldiers gathered at a military distribution center to enjoy a rare respite from the fighting that has again engulfed their fractured home in eastern Ukraine. As they shared jokes and a pizza, artillery explosions could be heard a few kilometers away — a reminder of the looming battle that threatens to unfold here in the city of Slovyansk, which was occupied by Russian proxy fighters in 2014. “Everyone knows that there will be a huge battle in Slovyansk,” said one of the soldiers, who could not be named for security reasons. Now, eight years …

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Pope Francis has dismissed rumors he plans to resign anytime soon, and says that he hopes to visit Moscow and Kyiv after traveling to Canada later this month. Francis also told Reuters in an interview published Monday that the idea “never entered my mind” to announce a planned retirement at the end of the summer, though he repeated he might step down some day as Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI did in 2013. He revealed that his knee trouble, which has caused him to use a wheelchair for over a month, was caused by a “small fracture” that occurred when he …

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Russian President Vladimir Putin declared victory Monday in Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk province as Ukrainian troops retreated from their last stronghold in the city of Lysychansk.   Moscow’s forces immediately turned their attention to fighting in the adjoining Donetsk province. It is part of the industrialized Donbas region Putin has sought to take control of during his invasion of Ukraine, now in its fifth month, after failing earlier to topple the government of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy or capture the capital, Kyiv.    Ukraine said Russian forces are now trying to advance on Siversk, Fedorivka and Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, …

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A gunman who killed three people when he opened fire in a crowded shopping mall acted alone and apparently selected his victims at random, Danish police said Monday, all but ruling out that the attack was an “act of terrorism.” Police have not identified a motive for Sunday’s attack inside one of Scandinavia’s biggest shopping centers. A suspect carrying a rifle and knife was quickly arrested, and Copenhagen chief police inspector Søren Thomassen said the 22-year-old Danish man also had access to another gun. He said the firearms were obtained illegally and that the suspect was known to mental health …

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French President Emmanuel Macron replaced several ministers Monday, in a Cabinet reshuffle that was expected after his ruling alliance lost its majority in parliament. Macron appointed French Red Cross director Jean-Christophe Combe as the new minister for solidarity and for the disabled, replacing Damien Abad, who is under investigation in a sex scandal. Abad has denied any wrongdoing. While the foreign, finance and defense portfolios remained unchanged, Macron made several changes in other key positions. Macron appointed Laurence Boone, the chief economist of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), as new Europe minister to replace Clement Beaune, a …

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  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed to win back territory with the help of advanced weapons after his forces withdrew from Lysychansk, the last remaining Ukrainian-held territory in the eastern Luhansk province.  In his nightly address Sunday, Zelenskyy said Russia was focusing its firepower on the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, and that Ukrainian forces would respond with long-range weapons supplied by Western allies such as the U High Mobility Artillery Rocket System from the United States.  “The fact that we protect the lives of our soldiers, our people, plays an equally important role. We will rebuild the walls, we …

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Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said on Sunday there were casualties among civilians and law enforcement officers after rare protests in the Central Asian country, and an exiled opposition politician said at least five people had been killed.  Separately, a local government official told an Uzbek news website that thousands of people have been hospitalized.  In a statement posted online, Mirziyoyev said rioters had carried out “destructive actions” in the city of Nukus, capital of the northwestern Karakalpakstan region, by throwing stones, starting fires and attacking police.  “Unfortunately there are victims among civilians and law enforcement officers,” he said. The statement …

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The number of pubs in England and Wales has plunged to its lowest ever level, according to analysis published on Monday which blames the coronavirus pandemic and soaring costs. In the first half of this year, pub numbers dropped below 40,000 — a fall of more than 7,000 since 10 years ago. A total of 200 pubs called “last orders” for good from the end of December to the end of last month, real estate advisers Altus Group said. Pubs, which have been central to British communities for centuries, have either been demolished or converted into homes and offices, it …

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Germany and Ireland on Sunday told Britain there was no legal or political justification for Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plan to override parts of the Brexit deal governing trade with Northern Ireland. The British parliament is considering a new law which would unilaterally change customs arrangements between Britain and Northern Ireland that were initially agreed as part of its exit deal from the European Union. Britain says the changes are necessary to ease the overly burdensome requirements of the divorce deal, designed to prevent goods flowing into EU member Ireland via British province Northern Ireland. Johnson says the checks are …

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Peter Brook, one of the world’s most innovative theater directors who perfected the art of staging powerful drama in bizarre venues, has died aged 97, his publisher said Sunday. The British director used the world as his stage mounting productions ranging from challenging versions of Shakespeare through international opera to Hindu epic poems. Brook put on plays in gymnasiums, deserted factories, quarries, schools and old gas works in towns around the world. His 1970 Stratford production of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” played all in white and with a huge, garlanded swing, secured his place in the annals of theater …

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Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Sunday pledged further military support to Ukraine, including armored vehicles and drones, while meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv. Making the first ever visit to Ukraine by an Australian premier, Albanese said at a news conference in Kyiv that his country would give Ukraine “a hundred million dollars of military support,” without specifying if he meant Australian dollars. This figure in Australian dollars would amount to $68 million. The prime minister specified that Australia would provide extra military equipment requested by Ukraine including 14 armored personnel carriers, 20 Bushmaster armored vehicles and a …

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Blasts Sunday in a Russian city bordering Ukraine have killed at least three people, Russian officials said. Dozens of residential buildings were damaged in the explosions in Belgorod. Russian lawmaker Andrei Klishas has called for a military response to the blasts. “The death of civilians and the destruction of civilian infrastructure in Belgorod,” Klishas posted on Telegram, “are a direct act of aggression on the part of Ukraine and require the most severe — including a military — response.” Ukrainian officials have traditionally said very little about attacks on Russia. Meanwhile, the mayor of the occupied Ukraine city of Melitopol, …

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Voters in Scotland remain evenly split over supporting independence from the rest of Britain, a poll published by the Sunday Times showed, days after the Scottish government set out plans for a referendum on the subject next year. Last week, Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon announced plans for a second independence referendum to be held in October 2023 and vowed to take legal action if the British government blocks it. The Panelbase survey showed 48% of respondents were in favor of independence, 47% were opposed and 5% did not know. A previous online Panelbase poll in April had 47% in …

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As Russia’s military continues to pound Ukraine with missiles and other lethal weapons, Western nations have responded in part by targeting Russia’s defense industry with sanctions. The latest round came on Tuesday, when the United States issued new sanctions on some arms makers and executives at the heart of what it dubbed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “war machine.” But a Reuters examination of companies, executives and investors underpinning Russia’s defense sector shows a sizable number of players have yet to pay a price: Nearly three dozen leaders of Russian weapons firms and at least 14 defense companies have not been …

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Ukrainian-born Karina Lipsman is running for a seat in the US House. VOA’s Yurii Mamon has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. Camera: Kostiantyn Golubchyk …

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The leader of an extremist Norwegian anti-Islamic group was in a spectacular car chase and collision Saturday, minutes after burning a Quran on the outskirts of Oslo. Norwegian police said they arrested two people, including the driver of a car accused of deliberately ramming the SUV of Lars Thorsen, leader of the radical group “Stop the Islamization of Norway” (SIAN). The five passengers in the SUV were slightly injured, with one requiring hospital treatment, police said. A video posted on Facebook showed Thorsen and other activists first drove to Mortensrud, a suburb of Oslo with a large Muslim community. The …

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Several dozen Romanian and Bulgarian firefighters took up their posts in Greece on Saturday, the first members of a European force being deployed to the country to provide backup in case of major wildfires during the summer.   More than 200 firefighters and equipment from Bulgaria, France, Germany, Romania, Norway and Finland will be on standby during the hottest months of July and August in Greece, where a spate of wildfires caused devastation last summer. A group of 28 Romanian firefighters with eight vehicles, and 16 firefighters from Bulgaria with four vehicles, were the first to arrive for the two-month …

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