Residents say shelling of Schastia and Volnovakha is revenge for standing up to ‘Russian aggression’
Happiness lies in ruins. This small town – Schastia in Ukrainian – has been out of the headlines since Moscow took its brutal war against civilians to the country’s biggest cities.
But it is here, and in nearby Volnovakha, that the illegal tactics of terrorising civilians for military aims, honed in Syria and then brought back so close to home, have reached a grim high point.
Continue reading...Volodymyr Zelenskiy has appealed to Russians to stage protests over Russian forces' seizure of the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. A building at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant was set ablaze during intense fighting, triggering fears of a potential nuclear disaster.
The Ukraine president also urged the west to consider imposing a no-fly zone for Russia in response to the attack
Continue reading...Linda Thomas-Greenfield tells emergency security council meeting Russia actions were ‘reckless’; Jens Stoltenberg warns of ‘more death, more suffering and more destruction’
US cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global Inc will not pre-emptively ban all Russians from using the platform, chief executive officer Brian Armstrong said in a tweet on Friday.
“We don’t think there’s a high risk of Russian oligarchs using crypto to avoid sanctions,” Armstrong said, adding that “some ordinary Russians are using crypto as a lifeline now that their currency has collapsed”.
Continue reading...Volodymyr Zelenskiy has once again called on Vladimir Putin to sit down for talks as Ukraine continues to fight the Russian invasion. In reference to a long table Putin used in recent meetings with foreign leaders, Zelenskiy said: ‘Sit down with me to negotiate, just not at a 30-metre distance.’
He added: ‘I don't bite. What are you afraid of?’
Continue reading...As reported earlier, Russian elites could have their property seized and handed over to Ukrainian refugees, Britain’s deputy prime minister has suggested.
Dominic Raab made the remarks as he defended the UK’s response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and the prime minister, Boris Johnson, called for an emergency UN summit after a Russian attack on a nuclear power station in Ukraine.
Continue reading...An exhibit invites visitors to imagine how it may have felt to live on the brink of nuclear annihilation. I don’t want to
Monday
The nearest thing New York has to the Imperial War Museum in London is the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, built on and around the USS Intrepid, a hulking great aircraft carrier parked at Pier 86 on the Hudson River. It is the obligation of every school age-child in greater New York to attend this museum at least once a year, and on the last day of mid-winter recess, we do.
Continue reading...Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant has been seized by Russian military forces, according to regional authorities, after a fire sparked by overnight shelling burned for several hours at the largest facility of its kind in Europe. Volodmyr Zelenskiy has accused Russia of resorting to 'nuclear terror'. 'No country other than Russia has ever fired on nuclear power units,' the Ukrainian president said
A number of charities are addressing humanitarian needs and US people can support Ukrainian journalism or get active politically
As the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues, Americans have offered an outpouring of support for the Ukrainian people. Here are a few ways you can join the effort.
Donations
GlobalGiving supports non-profits around the world through crowdfunding. Its Ukrainian crisis relief fund is working toward a goal of $7m to provide food, water, shelter and other assistance to refugees.
Direct Relief is working to fulfill a list of medical needs provided to the organization by Ukraine’s health ministry.
Care, a 75-year-old organization operating in 100 countries, is working to provide food, water and hygiene kits to those suffering in Ukraine. Donate here as Care seeks to support 4 million people.
Doctors Without Borders, a 50-year-old Nobel-winning organization, has teams in Ukraine as well as surrounding countries as it works to send staff and medical supplies to the hardest-hit areas. Donate here to support its efforts in Ukraine and elsewhere in the world.
Save the Children, a century-old organization that has worked in 100 countries, has a Ukraine crisis relief fund aimed at furnishing children and families with food, hygiene kits, funding and more.
The International Rescue Committee has teams working in Poland aiding displaced families. The organization, founded in 1933, operates in 40 countries and donations go to food, medical treatment, and other emergency care in Ukraine, Afghanistan, Syria and elsewhere. Donate here to the IRC’s work around the world.
Razom, a Ukrainian-focused charity founded in 2014, is furnishing medical supplies to the country and working to “amplify the voices of Ukrainians”. It has not been evaluated by Charity Navigator but has received wide coverage in the US media. Donate here.
Continue reading...Overnight shelling at plant sparked fire that prompted Volodymyr Zelenskiy to issue stark warning
Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant has been seized by Russian military forces, according to regional authorities, after a fire sparked by overnight shelling burned for several hours at the largest facility of its kind in Europe.
The Ukrainian state inspectorate for nuclear regulation said in a statement on its Facebook page the plant had been “captured by the military forces of the Russian Federation”, but added that employees were continuing to work on the premises.
Continue reading...Most academics back research boycott but ‘there is a case for maintaining ties’, says Oxford professor
Researchers at UK universities are bracing themselves for sanctions affecting science partnerships with Russia, including in climate science and space research, as the government seeks to isolate Vladimir Putin over the invasion of Ukraine.
Simon Marginson, a professor of higher education at the University of Oxford, said most academics would support a research boycott with heavy hearts and concerns for Russian colleagues.
Continue reading...Fire reported at nuclear plant after Russian shelling, as France warns ‘worst is yet to come’ based on Macron call with Putin
Continue reading...Deputy PM defends response to invasion after criticism the government has acted too slowly over sanctions
Russian elites could have their property seized and handed over to Ukrainian refugees, the deputy prime minister has suggested.
Dominic Raab made the remarks as he defended the UK’s response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and the prime minister, Boris Johnson, called for an emergency UN summit after a Russian attack on a nuclear power station in Ukraine.
Continue reading...James Rutherford resigns from board of Evraz, steel and mining group in which Roman Abramovich has stake
The London Stock Exchange has suspended trading in more Russian companies, while an independent director resigned from the board of Evraz, the steel and mining group in which Roman Abramovich holds a 29% stake.
The LSE suspended trading in the remaining eight companies with strong links to Russia that were not included on a list of 27 companies suspended on Thursday.
Continue reading...Otaci is a Moldovan border town, on the opposite side of the Dniester River lies the Ukrainian city of Mohyliv-Podilskyi. As refugees spill over the bridge that links the two, local people are rallying together to provide them with warm food, shelter, internet and free onward travel in cars and taxis.
Since Putin's invasion of Ukraine started on 24 February, more than 1 million people have fled across the closest borders. The conflict could result in the 'largest refugee crisis this century', the UN refugee agency has warned, with up to 4 million people fleeing the country in the coming weeks and months. So far, more than 98,000 refugees have entered Moldova, Europe's poorest country
The warm reception given to Ukrainians starkly reveals the hostility to other desperate refugees on the Belarus border
At the train station in Przemyśl in Poland, thousands of refugees fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine get off the carriages every day, seeking asylum in Europe. As they arrive, dozens of Polish border guards and soldiers distribute food, water, blankets and hot tea with a smile.
I look on as the soldiers help Ukrainian women and children with their heavy luggage. I watch as they play with the children and caress their faces. As the scene unfolds, I can’t help but think that this is the same border force which, for months, a short distance north, along the same eastern border, has been violently pushing back asylum seekers from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan who attempt to cross the frontier from Belarus.
Continue reading...The usual deluge of invective prompted by coronavirus and vaccine issues is absent – Russia’s invasion may be a factor
When David Fisman tweets, he often receives a deluge of hate within moments of posting. Fisman, an epidemiologist and physician, has been outspoken about Covid and public health.
Even when he tweets something innocuous – once, to test his theory, he wrote the banal statement “kids are remarkable” – he still receives a flood of angry pushback.
Continue reading...Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has accused Russia of nuclear terrorism after a fire burned for several hours at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. The shelling of the nuclear plant, the largest of its kind in Europe, prompted widespread concern about the safety of Ukraine’s atomic infrastructure. 'We are warning everybody – not a single state apart from Russia has ever shelled nuclear reactors,' Zelenskiy said. 'It is the first time in our history, in the history of humankind, that the terrorist state turned to nuclear terrorism'
Videos of PoWs used for Ukraine propaganda, but there is an authentic sense of regret among Russian servicemen
Five Russian soldiers sit in a brick building. They are blindfolded: the latest prisoners to be captured inside Ukraine. A Ukrainian voice interrogates them. “Speak,” he says to the group’s Russian officer. What message would he like to send to his soldiers and to Russians back at home?
“Frankly speaking, they tricked us,” the officer replies, referring to his military superiors sitting in Moscow. “Everything we were told was a fake. I would tell my guys to leave Ukrainian territory. We’ve got families and children. I think 90% of us would agree to go home.”
Continue reading...Website reportedly available at only 17% of normal levels in Russia, hours after broadcaster revives radio technology to reach Ukraine and parts of Russia
Access to BBC websites has been restricted in Russia, hours after the corporation brought back its shortwave radio service in Ukraine and Russia to ensure civilians in both countries can access news during the invasion.
State communications watchdog Roskomnadzor restricted access to BBC Russia’s online presence, as well as Radio Liberty and the Meduza media outlet, the state-owned Russian RIA news agency reported on Friday.
Continue reading...Members of the Ukrainian parliament sang the country's national anthem as they gathered in the capital of Kyiv amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
This footage, posted to Twitter by Ukrainian MP Sasha Ustinova, shows people in the meeting singing the anthem while some held their hands to their chest. About 300 MPs attended the meeting, which approved a bill to allow the seizure of assets or property in Ukraine owned by Russia or Russian citizens amid the Russian invasion
Continue reading...