Rocket attacks on the city of Kharkiv have left several civilians dead, as the ICC launches an investigation into possible war crimes
Continue reading...Category Archives: Ukraine
Flood of Russian misinformation puts tech companies in the hot seat
With Facebook and other platforms key to spreading news from Ukraine, officials and activists urge broader crackdown
Millions of people are flocking to platforms such as Facebook, TikTok and Twitter for round-the-clock updates the Russian invasion of Ukraine – renewing scrutiny of the outsized role that tech companies play in disseminating news of war.
Social media has long been instrumental in distributing frontline footage, but Ukraine presents a new scale of global conflict for private platforms to navigate.
Continue reading...The show can’t go on: Russian arts cancelled worldwide
Concerts, dance recitals and exhibitions have been postponed indefinitely after Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has prompted responses from the cultural sphere, with Russian artists and companies beginning to feel the repercussions of decisions taken by the Kremlin. Not only has Russia been stripped of two prestigious events – the Champions League men’s final and Formula One’s Russian Grand Prix –but an increasing number of performances by Russians are being cancelled worldwide.
Continue reading...What are thermobaric weapons and how do they work?
The ‘vacuum bomb’, which Ukraine says the Russians have used in the invasion, ignites a fireball that sucks in all surrounding oxygen
Fears have risen over the use of thermobaric weapons by Russia after the Ukrainian ambassador to the US said a vacuum bomb – another term for the weapon – had been used during the invasion.
The use of such weapons, which suck in oxygen from the surrounding air to generate a high-temperature explosion, has yet to be independently confirmed, though footage from Ukraine has shown thermobaric rocket launchers on Russia’s TOS-1 vehicles.
Continue reading...Footage of fires at Ukrainian military base after reported air strike outside Kyiv – video
Video shared online shows the moments after a Ukrainian military base was hit by an air strike on Monday night. The base is located in the city of Brovary, 25km north-east of the capital, Kyiv. The reported strike comes as Russia continues its push into Ukraine
Continue reading...Zelenskiy says Russia continued to bomb Ukrainian cities during negotiation talks – video
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Russia of dropping bombs on Ukrainian cities despite negotiations to end the conflict between the two parties occurring at the same time. Zelenskiy also accused Russia of committing war crimes in Kharkiv and said his country had applied to join the European Union
Continue reading...Ukraine’s UN ambassador reads texts from Russian soldier to mother before he was killed – video
Ukraine's ambassador to the United Nations, Sergiy Kyslytsya, has read aloud a text message exchange between a Russian solider in Ukraine and his mother before he was killed. "Mama, I'm in Ukraine. There is a real war raging here. I'm afraid," one message read according to Kyslytsya
Continue reading...Discrimination and racism as people flee Ukraine shared on social media – video
A deluge of reports and footage posted on social media appears to show acts of discrimination and violence against African, Asian and Caribbean citizens while fleeing Ukrainian cities and at some of the country’s border posts. They are among hundreds of thousands of people trying to escape after Russia's invasion
Continue reading...Inside Ukraine: life in a bunker as missiles fall on Kharkiv – video
From inside a makeshift bunker in the basement of their block of flats in Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine, Olia and her neighbours give an insight into their lives as they reach day five of heavy shelling from Russian forces. Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second biggest city, was the focus of dozens of Grad missiles targeting civilian areas in an apparent change of tack by Moscow. Olia, a young artist, reflects on the conflict so far and explains how she is keeping her spirits up
Continue reading...Weapons from the west vital if Ukraine is to halt Russian advance
Analysis: previously there has been a reluctance to supply arms to the under-siege state, but that appears to be changing
Since the outbreak of fighting last week and after years of reluctance, western countries have promised to send thousands of anti-tank and hundreds of anti-aircraft weapons to Ukraine, but they will have to get supplies to the frontline quickly if they are to be effective.
Germany in the past few days broke with decades of anti-rearmament tradition to send 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger anti-aircraft missile systems, while Sweden agreed to send 5,000 next generation light anti-tank weapons (NLAWs).
Continue reading...‘I left everything’: Tens of thousands of Ukrainians seek safety in neighbouring Poland
Poland is facing what could become Europe’s largest wave of refugees since the second world war
When, at the end of January, Poland’s deputy interior minister, Maciej Wąsik, said his country had “to be prepared for a wave of up to a million people” in the event of a major Russian invasion of Ukraine, many thought he was exaggerating. Just five days after the military attack ordered by Putin, over 280,000 Ukrainians have entered Poland. At this rate, Warsaw could be facing Europe’s largest wave of refugees since the second world war.
The village of Medyka in south-eastern Poland is the main border crossing with Ukraine. Thousands of refugees have crossed the border by bus, car and on foot. They are mostly women and children. After Kyiv decreed a full military mobilisation, Ukrainian men aged 18-60 are forbidden to leave the country.
Continue reading...UK politics live: Truss warns of ‘some economic hardship’ as she gives more detail of Russian sanctions
Truss says officials ‘working through the night’ to draw up sanctions against oligarchs; Kwasi Kwarteng in Commons on economic crime bill
- UK law firms aiding Russian oligarchs could face penalties, No 10 suggests
- Ukrainians denied entry to UK despite being eligible for visa
- No 10 distances itself from Truss comments on UK volunteers
- Russia-Ukraine crisis: live news
In a thread on Twitter, Rob Ford, the politics professor and co-author of Brexitland, a book explaining the attitudinal shifts (including on immigration) that led to Brexit, says that the public may be much more supportive of opening the borders to Ukrainian refugees than people (like Priti Patel?) assume. It starts here.
And here is one of Ford’s conclusions.
Continue reading...Shell to exit joint ventures with Gazprom and pull out of Nord Stream 2
Decisive move to end tie-up with Russian state gas firm follows BP pledge to sell its 20% Rosneft stake
Shell is to exit its joint ventures with Russian state energy firm Gazprom, a day after BP said it would offload its 20% stake in Kremlin-owned oil firm Rosneft, as British businesses scrambled to distance themselves from Vladimir Putin.
The oil company said it would “exit its joint ventures with Gazprom and related entities”, which are worth about $3bn.
Continue reading...Biden under pressure on Ukraine, inflation and more as State of the Union looms – live
- Tuesday night speech comes as approval rating drops to 40.4%
- President warns crisis and sanctions could drive up gas prices
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The Republican governor of Arizona, Doug Ducey, has come under fire for saying he needs the support of a far-right state senator who told a white nationalist event in Florida she fantasises about building gallows on which to hang her enemies.
State progressive groups said Ducey should “stop catering to hate”.
Continue reading...Russia-Ukraine war latest news: Turkey will limit Russian warship access to Black Sea, says Erdoğan – live
Turkish president confirms Ankara will invoke Montreux Convention on day that rocket strikes killed ‘dozens’ in Ukrainian city of Kharkiv
- Deadly Russian rocket strikes Kharkiv as Kyiv-Moscow talks begin
- Rockets kill dozens in Kharkiv as Russia ‘adapts its methods’
- Belarus may be about to send its troops into Ukraine, says US official
- Russia’s war in Ukraine: complete guide in maps, video and pictures
- Tell us: how have you been affected?
Here’s a report from the Guardian’s diplomatic editor, Patrick Wintour, on how the phone has become the Ukrainian president’s most effective weapon.
In a string of phone calls from a besieged Kyiv, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has persuaded the west to agree to a set of sanctions against Russia that were inconceivable a week ago.
Continue reading...Nigeria condemns treatment of Africans trying to flee Ukraine
Government says citizens are being denied entry into Poland amid growing reports of discrimination
The Nigerian government has condemned the treatment of thousands of its students and citizens fleeing the war in Ukraine, amid growing concerns that African students are facing discrimination by security officials and being denied entry into Poland.
A deluge of reports and footage posted on social media in the past week has shown acts of discrimination and violence against African, Asian and Caribbean citizens – many of them studying in Ukraine – while fleeing Ukrainian cities and at some of the country’s border posts.
Continue reading...Germany’s ‘Putin-caressers’ start coming to terms with their naivety
Analysis: politicians who believed Putin could be ‘tamed by empathy and accommodation’ are having to hurriedly rethink their positions
Prominent figures in Germany are coming under increasing pressure to publicly distance themselves from Vladimir Putin amid accusations that they are bringing shame on the country and themselves.
The range of so-called Putin-Versteher (Putin-understanders) – those who have sought to explain or justify the Russian leader’s actions – include figures from the far-left Die Linke and the far-right AfD, as well as members of the Social Democrats and some conservatives who have tried to keep him on side in the interests of their constituents and German energy security.
Continue reading...Russia suspended from all Fifa and Uefa competitions until further notice
- Russia had been due to face Poland in World Cup play-off
- Women’s side set to miss out on place at Euro 2022
Fifa and Uefa have acted in unison to suspend Russian teams from international football competition.
The most powerful bodies in football acted after days of growing protest. Russia has now been removed from qualification for this winter’s World Cup, and its remaining club side will no longer compete in the Europa League.
Continue reading...Moments of defiance: how Ukraine has stood up to Russia – video
More than 360,000 people have already fled their homes in Ukraine since the beginning of Vladimir Putin's bloody invasion, according to the UN refugee agency, and more than 4.5 million more could follow if the fighting spreads. But among the bloodshed, moments of hope and defiance stood out and captured the hearts and minds of the world, encapsulating the Ukrainian people's resilience and determination to stand up to the aggressor
- Russia-Ukraine war - latest updates
- Russian rocket strikes kill dozens in Kharkiv as Kyiv-Moscow talks begin
Switzerland adopts wholesale EU sanctions against Russia
Measures do not undermine neutrality principle as Switzerland says it is acting in defence of international law
Switzerland, a bastion of neutrality through two world wars, has decided to adopt wholesale swingeing EU sanctions against the Russian central bank, freezing as much as billions of dollars in assets and massively increasing the pressure on the Russian economy.
The government also announced it had banned five oligarchs close to Vladimir Putin from entering the country. Flights from Russia are being banned, although this will not apply to flights carrying diplomats.
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