Ukraine’s Kherson, Zaporizhzhia Regions Struggle Under Russian Occupation
Increasingly isolated from their home country, residents fear being annexed by or even forced to fight for the Russians …
Increasingly isolated from their home country, residents fear being annexed by or even forced to fight for the Russians …
The family of RFE/RL freelance correspondent Andrey Kuznechyk say the journalist has been sentenced to six years in prison in Belarus on a charge of creating an extremist group. According to the relatives, the Mahilyou regional court in the country’s east took only a few hours to hear the case and hand down its verdict and punishment on June 8 in a closed-door trial. The 43-year-old father of an 8-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son was initially sentenced to 10 days in jail on November 26 on hooliganism charges that he rejected. On December 6, when his sentence ended, he was …
Millions of tons of grain remain trapped in Ukraine as Russia continues its aggression against the country and world wheat prices soar. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met in Ankara Wednesday with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu for talks focused on creating shipping corridors to allow Ukrainian grain exports to access world markets. But both sides failed to reach any agreements to avert a looming world food crisis. At a joint news conference with Lavrov, Cavusoglu said Turkey was ready to work with the United Nations to create a secure shipping corridor to allow Ukrainian ships to transport wheat to …
China and Russia were called to explain to the international community on Wednesday why they vetoed a Security Council resolution calling for new sanctions on North Korea for its recent string of prohibited long-range and ballistic missile tests. Wednesday was the first time the General Assembly implemented its April 25 resolution requiring any of the five permanent members of the powerful Security Council (Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States) to explain their actions to the wider U.N. membership when they exercise their use of the veto. Both countries shifted the blame to the U.S., saying Washington …
A high-profile fraud trial of soccer’s once most powerful men was delayed Wednesday in Switzerland after one of the accused, Sepp Blatter, said he was too ill to testify. “The pain will come back, and I am having difficulty breathing,” said the 86-year-old in a whisper. Blatter, the former head of soccer’s world governing body, FIFA, along with Michel Platini, former star player and former head of UEFA, are charged with fraud over an alleged 2011 payment of $2 million from Blatter to Platini. UEFA is soccer’s governing body in Europe. Blatter’s 17 years as FIFA president came to an …
A man drove a car into pedestrians in a popular Berlin shopping district on Wednesday, killing at at least one person and injuring at least eight others, rescue services said. The man drove into people on a street corner at around 10:30 a.m. before getting the car back on the road and then crashing into a shop window around a block further on, police spokesman Thilo Cablitz said. Fire service spokesman Stefan Salzwedel put the number of injured at eight. Police said more than a dozen were injured. Police said several of them were in serious condition. The driver was …
For full coverage of the crisis in Ukraine, visit Flashpoint Ukraine. The latest developments in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. All times EDT. 3:45 a.m.: In his nightly video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says “whatever the occupiers plan for themselves, we must prepare for the next winter, in our state, on our land, for all citizens.” 2:30 a.m.: Norway has shipped 22 M109 self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine along with spare parts and ammunition. The Norwegian defense ministry said it conducted training sessions in Germany with Ukrainian soldiers on using the weapons. 1:30 a.m.: Britain’s defense ministry said …
Zelenskyy Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised the work of his troops in the eastern Donbas region and said Russia had not expected to meet much resistance, while Russia claimed to have assumed control of almost all of one of the provinces that makes up the Donbas. After weeks of focusing its attacks on eastern Ukraine, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Tuesday Russian forces now control 97% of Luhansk province. Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address Tuesday that “the absolutely heroic defense of the Donbas continues.” He added that Russia had made no significant advances in the region during …
The European Union’s chief executive vowed Tuesday that Poland would get no money from the bloc’s vast pandemic relief fund until the right-wing government rolls back measures deemed to limit the independence of the country’s judiciary. Poland is line to receive nearly 36 billion euros ($38.5 billion) to help its economy recover from the impact of measures introduced to limit the spread of the coronavirus. But the EU has frozen Poland’s access to the funds amid concern about political interference with the judiciary. The European Commission, which proposes EU laws and supervises the way they are enacted, insists that a …
It was a moment Pablo González’s family had been longing for: a letter from the Spanish journalist imprisoned in Poland for 100 days on accusations of spying for Russia. “It was a thrill and a present for me and our three children,” González’s wife, Oihana Goiriena, told VOA. The four-page letter, which arrived last week, was the first contact the family has had with González since his arrest in February. Poland’s secret service alleges he used his role as a journalist as a cover for espionage, but officials have not publicly disclosed any supporting evidence. González denies the accusation. The …
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson survived a no-confidence vote by his own party Monday evening — but the threats to his leadership haven’t gone away, as Henry Ridgwell reports from London. Videographer: Henry Ridgwell …
A Fiji court has ruled a Russian-owned superyacht be removed from the Pacific island nation by the United States because it was a waste of money for Fiji to maintain the vessel amid legal wrangling over its seizure. The U.S. Justice Department’s Taskforce KleptoCapture has focused on seizing yachts and other luxury assets of Russian oligarchs in a bid to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine. The 106-meter(350-foot) Amadea arrived in Fiji on April 13 after an 18-day voyage from Mexico. It was seized by Fiji authorities after the country’s High Court granted a U.S. warrant …
Ukrainian and Russian forces engaged in intense street-to-street fighting in the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk on Monday, as Ukraine’s president said Russian troops were also intending to capture the key southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia. The situation in Sievierodonetsk was “changing from hour to hour,” according to the head of the city’s administration, Oleksandr Stryuk, who spoke on television. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces had “every chance” to gain control in the city. His assessment came after Luhansk regional Governor Serhiy Haidai suggested Ukraine had lost ground. Haidai said, “Our defenders managed to undertake a counterattack for a certain time. …
The U.S. Justice Department ordered the seizure Monday of two aircraft owned by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, saying they had been used in violation of sanctions on Russia imposed over its invasion of Ukraine. The department said in court filings that the two aircraft, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner and a Gulfstream G650ER executive jet, had been flown into Russian territory earlier this year in violation of U.S. export controls set for US-made aircraft March 2. The department’s move targets one of the wealthiest Russian billionaires, who has already been forced to sell the Chelsea Football Club in the wake of …
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson survived a no-confidence vote Monday but is weakened after more than 40% of his Conservative Party voted against him remaining in office. In a secret ballot, 148 of the 359 Conservative Party lawmakers voted against Johnson. At least 180 would have had to vote against Johnson for him to be removed. The prime minister has been under heavy scrutiny since revelations last year that he and his staff held parties in his Downing Street office when Britain was under strict COVID-19 restrictions. Lawmakers across the political spectrum have voiced concerns about Johnson, and he has …
The United States on Monday announced sanctions on two Bosnian officials, saying they sought “to pursue ethno-nationalist and political agendas at the expense of the democratic institutions and citizens” of Bosnia. Bosnia was the site of a violent interethnic war in the 1990s after the breakup of the former Yugoslavia. The U.S. said Marinko Cavara, in his capacity as the president of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, one of Bosnia’s two postwar administrative parts, “directly or indirectly engaged in actions or policies that undermine democratic processes and institutions.” The U.S. said Alen Seranic, health and social welfare minister in …
Belgium’s King Philippe on Tuesday begins a historic visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo, in a region cruelly exploited by his ancestors, as tensions rise in the volatile east. The six-day trip, at the invitation of President Felix Tshisekedi, has strong symbolic significance, coming two years after Philippe expressed to the Congolese leader his “deepest regrets” for the “wounds” of colonization. The visit, the monarch’s first to the DRC since ascending the throne in 2013, has been billed as a chance for reconciliation after the atrocities and other abuses committed under Belgian colonial rule. The visit had originally been …
Britain announced Monday it will supply an unspecified number of long-range missile launchers to Ukraine, following the United States’ decision last week to send similar weapons. Ukrainian troops will be trained to use the systems in Britain in the coming weeks. Ukraine has repeatedly asked the West to supply longer-range weapons as it faces an unrelenting barrage of Russian artillery in the eastern Donbas region. Changing tactics Britain’s Defense Minister Ben Wallace said in a statement Monday: “The U.K. stands with Ukraine in this fight and is taking a leading role in supplying its heroic troops with the vital weapons …
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is due to visit Turkey on Wednesday for talks, including on creating a Black Sea corridor to allow Ukrainian grain to access world markets as global food prices soar. The talks come as Ankara faces pressure to open the Black Sea to NATO ships to break Russia’s blockade of Ukraine. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul. …
Britain’s governing Conservatives will hold a no-confidence vote on Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday that could oust him as Britain’s leader. Party official Graham Brady says he has received enough letters from lawmakers demanding a vote on Johnson’s leadership to trigger one. That happens if 54 Tory lawmakers — 15% of the party’s group in the House of Commons — write to Brady. “The threshold of 15% has been passed,” Brady said. He said the vote would take place in person in the House of Commons on Monday evening. If Johnson loses the vote among the 359 Conservative lawmakers, …