Category Archives: Ukraine

‘I couldn’t leave my son’: the Ukrainians going into the war zone

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At a busy train station in Poland, families arrive while others head in the opposite direction to take up arms or be with family

Platform four or three: at the railway station in Przemyśl, Poland, the fates of hundreds of Ukrainians lie divided. On platform four, families fleeing the Russian bombing of Ukraine get off the carriages, seeking asylum in Europe. At platform three, dozens of Ukrainian men and women are about to board a blue train bound for Odessa, southern Ukraine.

“I have worked and lived in many countries,” says Oksana, 50. “I have lived in Poland and Italy. Ukraine may not be as beautiful as Italy, but it is my country. And I’m not leaving my country at such a difficult time. If all Ukrainians flee the country, who will stay in Ukraine? I see many of my fellow countrypeople around me here, coming from Germany and Poland. Some of them had good jobs. But they left them to return to Ukraine and fight.”

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Vast Russian military convoy may be harbinger of a siege of Kyiv

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Analysis: convoy estimated to be 40 miles long raises fears of siege tactics and escalating civilian casualties

In the satellite image, the trees of the forest just north of the Ukrainian village of Rudnya-Shpylivska – population 107 – appear as if you could brush them with your hand.

Before last week, this hamlet was almost too small to notice, a place that cars would speed past on the P02 highway, those trees a blur.

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Dozens of diplomats walk out during Russian foreign minister’s UN speech – video

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Dozens of diplomats walked out of a speech by the Russian foreign minister to the UN human rights forum on Tuesday.

Sergei Lavrov was addressing the UN human rights council remotely, after cancelling his attendance previously because of what the Russian mission in Geneva said on Monday were EU states blocking his flight path, when delegates from the UK, US and EU started to walk out in protest.

Yevheniia Filipenko, Ukraine's ambassador to the UN, said the organisation was taking a 'very strong stance in defence of its own principles'

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Ukrainian president receives standing ovation after EU parliament speech – video

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During an emergency session of the European parliament, Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged the EU via video link to 'prove that you are with us' as Ukraine defends itself against an onslaught from Russia, a day after Kyiv officially asked to join the bloc. EU lawmakers, many bearing the Ukrainian flag, gave Zelenskiy a standing ovation. The Ukrainian president has remained in Kyiv to rally his people against the invasion. As he spoke on Tuesday, a Russian armoured column was bearing down on the capital

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Russia’s NHL hero Alex Ovechkin has a rare chance to hit Putin where it hurts

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The Washington Capitals star is popular among Russians who may not usually question their leader. And he has debated the need for war

In 2017, Alexander Ovechkin, inarguably the best Russian hockey player alive or dead and the country’s most famous male athlete, started something called PutinTeam.

“I have never hidden my attitude towards our president, always supporting him,” the Muscovite and captain of the NHL’s Washington Capitals wrote, three years after Russia annexed Crimea. “I am confident that there are many of us, supporting Vladimir Putin. So let’s unite and show everyone a united and strong Russia!”

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Mastercard blocks Russian firms; bitcoin rises after latest sanctions on Russia – business live

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European stocks are falling again, but not collapsing... The UK’s FTSE 100 index has followed the rest of Europe and is now trading 11 points, or 0.15%, lower at 7,447, giving up earlier modest gains.

Germany’s Dax has lost 1% while France’s CAC and Italy’s FTSE MiB are 0.7% and 0.9% lower respectively.

Russia exposed stocks more mixed this morning: Polymetal, JPMorgan Russian Securities and Petropavlosk all lower again, whilst Evraz and Ferrexpo rallied a bit. The rouble has come off its lows and trades around 91 to the US dollar. At the moment it looks as though the Russian central bank is doing a not terrible job of supporting the currency, but through some pretty tough measures – massive rate hike and capital controls. How long can this last? First Switzerland and now even Monaco is kicking out Russian money!

As for Russia and Ukraine....the dreadful situation gets worse as heavy shelling of built-up areas shows us what is to come. Talks yesterday didn’t get far but the two sides have agreed to try again as a massive Russian convoy starts to encircle Kyiv. Bombing of civilians will harden Western public opinion against Russia – voters are already taking a pretty hard line across Europe. Unified public opinion complicates matters for governments who might prefer to base policy solely on the advice of their military intelligence and strategic advisors. But that is the way of things.

We think there is a clear financial as well as a moral case for divestment with respect to our Russian holdings.

Morals drive finance and if you are a financial investor and you don’t think about the moral impacts of what you are doing you are both shortsighted and, dare I say it, immoral.

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Russia-Ukraine war latest news: 70 Ukrainian soldiers killed in Okhtyrka, huge Russian army convoy nears Kyiv – live updates

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Convoy north of Ukraine capital has more doubled in length, images suggest; ICC prosecutor to open possible war crimes inquiry; Kharkiv civilians ‘massacred’, says mayor

Satellite images taken on Monday show a Russian military convoy north of Kyiv that stretches for about 40 miles (64km) in an area north-west of Kyiv. It is substantially longer than the 17 miles (27km) reported earlier in the day, according to the US company Maxar.

Maxar, which filed a series of satellite images on the Russian military buildup on the Ukraine border, also said additional ground forces deployments and ground attack helicopter units were seen in southern Belarus, less than 20 miles (32km) north of the Ukraine border.

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Ukrainians want to stay near home, claims Raab, amid UK visa criticism

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Deputy prime minister says those that leave ‘want to be as close to their home country as possible’

• Russia-Ukraine crisis: live news

The UK’s deputy prime minister has suggested Ukrainians would prefer to flee to countries nearer to home amid criticism that the Britain’s support for refugees is “heartless” and pressure to offer more help from Conservative MPs.

Under plans set out on Sunday evening, Ukrainian nationals settled in the UK will be able to bring their “immediate family members” to join them, which applies only to spouses, unmarried partners of at least two years, parents or their children if one is under 18, or adult relatives who are also carers.

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More than 70 Ukrainian soldiers killed in Russian attack on base near Kharkiv

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Rescuers searching rubble of base in Okhtyrka in eastern Ukraine as Russian forces gather outside Kyiv

More than 70 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the eastern city of Okhtyrka after a Russian missile strike on a military base, in what is thought to be the biggest loss of life in a single incident in Moscow’s invasion.

The death toll – reported by Ukrainian officials in the city – follows a sharp intensification of the Russian bombardment of Ukrainian cities, including the use of multiple-launch rocket systems against civilian areas, which has led to increasing casualties.

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Flood of Russian misinformation puts tech companies in the hot seat

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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.

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The show can’t go on: Russian arts cancelled worldwide

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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.

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What are thermobaric weapons and how do they work?

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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.

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Zelenskiy says Russia continued to bomb Ukrainian cities during negotiation talks – video

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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

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Ukraine’s UN ambassador reads texts from Russian soldier to mother before he was killed – video

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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

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Discrimination and racism as people flee Ukraine shared on social media – video

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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

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Inside Ukraine: life in a bunker as missiles fall on Kharkiv – video

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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

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Weapons from the west vital if Ukraine is to halt Russian advance

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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).

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‘I left everything’: Tens of thousands of Ukrainians seek safety in neighbouring Poland

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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.

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