Category Archives: Ukraine

‘Idiotic’: Fury in Ukraine after female soldiers made to march in heels

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Female troops were photographed practising for a parade wearing high heels, sparking outrage among lawmakers

Ukrainian authorities have found themselves buried in controversy after official pictures showed female soldiers practising for a parade in heels.

Ukraine is preparing to stage a military parade next month to mark 30 years of independence following the Soviet Union’s breakup, and the defence ministry on Friday released photographs of fatigue-clad women soldiers marching in mid-heel black pumps.

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‘I want to believe’: proud Ukraine aims for Euro 2020 upset against England

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After disappointment in past tournaments, there has never been as good a time to be a Ukraine fan

Kyiv doesn’t look like a city gripped by Euro 2020 fever. Take a walk through Ukraine’s capital on a non-game day and there are few banners or flags to suggest the national team is on a historic run to its first quarter-finals of a European football championship.

But scratch the surface and you’ll find a city of diehards. “I’m set for a Ukraine victory,” said Andriy, 29, the head of a marketing agency, outside the popular Espressoholic cafe in the Podil district. “I know, of course, that England are stronger, but I want to believe.”

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Britain acknowledges surprise at speed of Russian reaction to warship

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Kremlin summons UK ambassador as Boris Johnson says HMS Defender’s deployment ‘wholly appropriate’

British officials acknowledged they were taken by surprise by the speed of the Russian reaction to HMS Defender’s 36-minute passage through Crimean waters on Wednesday as the British ambassador to Moscow was summoned to the Kremlin.

Although a Russian response to the Royal Navy warship’s passage within the 12-mile territorial limit was anticipated, the UK Ministry of Defence did not expect the Kremlin to speedily declare that warning shots had been fired.

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UK-Russian naval dispute: both sides will claim victory

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Analysis: Royal Navy ship sailing near Crimea may also be test of Beijing reaction to territorial reach

British ministers will have been under no illusions that the decision to sail HMS Defender into disputed waters off the coast of Russian-annexed Crimea would provoke a reaction from the Kremlin.

A dispute about whether warning shots were fired or not is beside the point – although if they were, they were miles out of range. Because even if the west considers Crimea, annexed by Moscow in 2014, to be still part of Ukraine, the Russians do not and will act accordingly.

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Ukrainian couple break up after being handcuffed together for 123 days – video report

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The couple, from the eastern city of Kharkiv, decided to handcuff themselves together on Valentine’s Day in a last-ditch attempt to break the cycle of breaking up and making up.

After 123 days handcuffed together to save their on-again, off-again relationship, Ukrainians Alexandr Kudlay and Viktoria Pustovitova shed their bonds on national TV, saying the experiment had brought home uncomfortable truths

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Ukraine’s inseparable couple ditch handcuffs and go separate ways

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After 123 days, Alexandr Kudlay and Viktoria Pustovitova decide they were not meant to be together

After 123 days handcuffed together to save their on-again off-again relationship, Ukrainians Alexandr Kudlay and Viktoria Pustovitova have split up, shedding their bonds on national TV and saying the experiment had brought home uncomfortable truths.

The couple, from the eastern city of Kharkiv, decided to handcuff themselves together on Valentine’s Day in a last-ditch attempt to break the cycle of breaking up and making up.

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No sign of thaw between Russia and US ahead of Geneva summit

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Analysts say event will be ‘boring’ as both sides attempt a reboot following catastrophic meeting between Trump and Putin in 2017

On the 24-hour Russian state news channel, Thursday began as any other might: with a segment about the ageing president of the United States battling back cicadas and then giving a “confused” speech about his upcoming summit in Geneva with Vladimir Putin.

“I’ll let [Putin] know what I want him to know,’” said Biden after a cutaway shot of him swatting his neck before boarding Air Force One this week.

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Multiple sightings of missile launcher before MH17 shot down, court told

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Four men on trial in absentia in the Netherlands over downing of flight with 298 onboard over Ukraine

Multiple witnesses saw an anti-aircraft missile launcher that had secretly crossed into eastern Ukraine from Russia in the hours before it shot down the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, a trial in the Netherlands has heard.

The Buk system crossed the border in darkness in the early hours of 17 July 2014. It was then loaded on to a trailer and taken to the rebel-held city of Donetsk, the court heard on Wednesday, before it headed east towards the town of Snizhne.

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Ukraine’s football kit with map featuring Crimea causes outrage in Russia

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National team shirt features map of Ukraine that includes Russian-annexed Crimea

The head of the Ukrainian football association has caused outrage in Russia by unveiling a new national team shirt emblazoned with a map of Ukraine that includes Crimea.

Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and Moscow considers the peninsula part of Russia, but it is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine.

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Violence against women ‘a pandemic’, warns UN envoy

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A decade after Istanbul convention was drawn up to end gender-based violence, activists report decline in women’s rights and safety

A decade after the launch of the Istanbul convention, the landmark human rights treaty to stop gender-based violence, women are facing a global assault on their rights and safety, according to campaigners.

This week marked 10 years since the first 13 countries signed up to the convention, seen as a turning point in efforts to address violence against women.

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Russia to pull back troops from Crimea and Ukraine border

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Defence minister announces decision after military buildup led to fears of possible invasion

Russia has said it will recall many of its troops from Crimea and the border regions of Ukraine, rolling back an aggressive military buildup that had sparked fears that Moscow was preparing an invasion force.

The decision, announced by the defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, came after video on social media and satellite imagery last month revealed a buildup of tanks, artillery, fighter jets and even short-range ballistic missiles massing 150 miles from Ukraine. US officials called it the largest muster of Russian military power along the border since the 2014 annexation of Crimea.

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‘What do they want from us?’ As Russian forces amass, a Ukraine frontier town feels fear and despair

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Caught on the frontline between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists, Marinka is a town forgotten by the world

Vera Basova stands by her house holding a local newspaper. The front page headline says Russia is bringing tanks to the eastern Ukrainian border. “What do they want from us? Why are they dragging those tanks here?” Basova asks her neighbour.

The 90-year-old worries she will have to go back to hiding in her basement to escape shelling in the war between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists in the eastern Donbas region that recently entered its eighth year and has taken more than 13,000 lives.

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Russia to expel Ukrainian diplomat, prompting vow of retaliation from Kyiv

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Disagreement over Alexander Sosonyuk, who was allegedly caught trying to obtain sensitive information, escalates tensions after troop buildup

Russia on Saturday said it would expel a Ukrainian diplomat, prompting an immediate pledge of retaliation from Kyiv, further escalating tensions after Moscow’s troop buildup on Ukraine’s eastern flank.

The detention of a Ukrainian consul in the second city, St Petersburg, comes at a time of global concern over a possible repeat of Moscow’s 2014 aggression, when Russia annexed the peninsula of Crimea and backed separatists in Ukraine’s east. Moscow claimed that the diplomat had been caught “red-handed” trying to obtain sensitive information.

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Ukraine still outgunned as Russia prepares for larger conflict

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Analysis: Ukraine’s military is in better shape than at outbreak of war in 2014, but still no match for Russia’s larger force

Russia’s unexplained buildup along Ukraine’s border set alarm bells ringing in the west last month as military analysts noted unusual flourishes – such as new field hospitals, long-distance shipments of armour and artillery and last-minute railcar bookings – that did not feel like a normal exercise.

Whether it is merely an attention-grabbing feint or a prelude to an escalation will depend on the Kremlin’s will. But through the buildup, Russia has already signalled that if a larger war does take place, it is prepared to deliver a hammer blow to its neighbour.

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Biden urges Russia to de-escalate Ukraine tensions in call with Putin

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US president proposed a summit between the two leaders amid growing concern over Russian military buildup on Ukraine border

In a phone call with Vladimir Putin, Joe Biden has called on Russia to de-escalate tensions with Ukraine and proposed a summit between the two leaders amid growing concern over a Russian military buildup on Ukraine’s border.

The president emphasized the United States’s unwavering commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and expressed concern about Russia’s military buildup, the White House said.

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Military buildup near Ukraine sows confusion over Russian intentions

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Analysis: there are several reasons Russia would want to raise tensions, but an attack appears unlikely

Russia’s fortnight-long military buildup to the east and south of Ukraine has helped it mass an estimated 80,000 troops in the border region in an attention-grabbing exercise that is increasingly occupying western thinking.

Tanks and other artillery units have also been arriving at Voronezh, east of Ukraine, according to Janes, a military intelligence firm, and a staging ground for about 3,000 troops been established to the south of the city.

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Ukrainian soldier reportedly killed in artillery fire from Russia-backed troops

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Attacks have intensified in recent weeks as Kremlin assembles troops along border

The Ukrainian military said a soldier was killed and another seriously wounded in artillery fire from Russia-backed separatist rebels, as hostilities rose sharply in the east of the country.

As of the reported attack on Sunday, Ukraine says 27 soldiers have been killed in the east this year, more than half the number who died in all of 2020. Attacks have intensified in recent weeks and Russia has built up troops along the Ukraine border.

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Kremlin defends Russian military buildup on Ukraine border

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Intelligence reports show Russian tanks and short-range ballistic missiles just 150 miles from Ukraine

Kremlin officials have said that its forces massing on the border with Ukraine could intervene if Kyiv launches an assault on Russian-backed separatists, as concerns grow about the largest military buildup since 2014.

Open source intelligence reports have shown that tanks, rocket artillery, and short-range ballistic missiles have been transported to just 150 miles from Ukraine, where Russia has established a large new military staging area.

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Ukraine urges Nato to hasten membership as Russian troops gather

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President calls for his country to be put on pathway to membership of western military alliance

Ukraine’s president has called on Nato and key member states to hasten his country’s membership of the western military alliance in response to a growing buildup of Russian forces on his country’s borders.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy spoke to Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, on Tuesday, and urged for Ukraine to be put on a pathway to future membership to halt the long-running conflict in the eastern Donbas region.

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EU pledges backing to Ukraine after Russian military buildup

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European envoy says Kiev has its ‘unwavering support’ while Moscow denies threatening behaviour

The European Union has pledged its “unwavering” support for Ukraine’s government amid concerns of a military escalation in the east of the country or a possible new offensive against the Nato ally after recent Russian troop movements.

Ukraine has accused Russia of massing thousands of military personnel on its northern and eastern borders as well as on the Crimean peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014. Online researchers have identified troops being transferred to Ukraine’s borders from western and central Russia, including artillery from as far away as Siberia.

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