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...A fire has broken out in Europe’s largest nuclear power plant located in Zaporizhzhia, according to an announcement from plant employees and the mayor of the nearby town of Enerhodar. Andriy Tuz, a spokesperson for the plant appeared on Telegram saying, 'There is a real threat of a nuclear danger at the biggest nuclear power plant in Europe. We demand that they stop the heavy weapons fire at the energy blocks of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.'
Continue reading...Drone footage filmed months apart shows the scale of destruction at Borodyanka, a small town 60km north-west of Kyiv.
The video on the left was filmed in August 2021, while the video on the right – shot 3 March 2022 – shows smoke rising from a residential building destroyed by the shelling as the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues
Continue reading...Students, mostly Nigerian, stranded in town 40km from the northeast border which has become a war zone
More than 500 international students are trapped in Sumy, a town 40km from Ukraine’s northeast border which has been battered by days of shelling by Russian forces.
Most of the students are Nigerian, while others are from Ghana, Ethiopia, Angola, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ireland, India, Lebanon and Turkey. They have all suddenly found themselves stranded in a war zone.
Continue reading...As his EU counterparts leave for western city of Lviv and home, Bartosz Cichocki wants to keep up spirits in capital
Some members of Kyiv’s diplomatic corps have moved to the western city of Lviv, others have crossed the border and are working from neighbouring countries, while most havebeen evacuated back home.
But inside the Polish embassy compound in the centre of an eerily quiet Kyiv, the ambassador Bartosz Cichocki is still at work.
Continue reading...Thousands of Russians flee country as rumours spread government is preparing clampdown
The Kremlin has said it is not planning to institute martial law in Russia as rumours have spread that the government is preparing for a clampdown tied to its invasion of Ukraine.
Thousands of Russians have begun fleeing the country amid unsourced reports that the borders could close as soon as this weekend after an extraordinary session of the Federation Council, Russia’s upper house of parliament, scheduled for Friday.
Continue reading...Speculation that massive column of Russian vehicles and troops may be regrouping for assault on capital
Concern is mounting over the movements of a huge column of Russian military vehicles outside Kyiv, amid a lack of fresh information about its position and the threat it poses.
While a US defence official suggested it appeared to have “stalled”, there was also speculation that an estimated 15,000 troops attached to it may be regrouping, and potentially waiting for logistical supplies before an assault on Kyiv.
Continue reading...Drone footage shows debris and destroyed buildings as well as burnt-out Russian military vehicles in Borodyanka, a small town 60km north-west of Kyiv.
Smoke can be seen pouring out of a residential building destroyed by the shelling and several houses appear to be heavily damaged in the fight as well as Russian military vehicles
Continue reading...Russian forces claim capture of city and also tighten siege of Mariupol as large amphibious taskforce threatens Odesa
Russian forces appeared to be moving to cut Ukraine off from the sea on Thursday via its key southern ports, claiming the capture of Kherson and tightening the siege of Mariupol, as a large amphibious taskforce threatened Odesa to the west.
With the Russian naval assault in the south spreading, a second merchant ship – the Estonian-owned carrier Helt – was hit and sunk after a Bangladeshi-owned cargo ship had been hit by a projectile that killed one of its crew.
Continue reading...Thousands of people in cities across Russia have been defying police threats and staging protests against the invasion of Ukraine. Authorities have a low tolerance for demonstrations and marches, and attending them can have serious consequences including fines, arrests and even imprisonment
Continue reading...A missile appeared to hit a residential building in central Chernihiv, northern Ukraine, in footage captured on a dashcam. The state emergency service of Ukraine said an oil depot in Chernihiv was also on fire after being hit by a shell
Continue reading...Top brands from M&S to Apple, Jaguar Land Rover, Expedia and Coca-Cola are suspending operations
Ikea has temporarily closed all stores and factories across Russia in a move affecting 15,000 workers, becoming the latest in a swathe of western firms to halt operations in the country since it invaded Ukraine.
The Swedish flatpack furniture company has mothballed its 17 outlets across Russia but said it would keep its Mega shopping centres open to allow access to essential retailers, such as food shops and pharmacies. The news prompted a rush of shoppers at the stores due to close.
Continue reading...People are paying but not staying, as rental platform offers free housing to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees
Members of the public are paying for Airbnb rentals in Ukraine to help get money to residents who are facing extreme financial hardship because of the Russian invasion.
The home rental platform has already moved to offer free housing to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees, but members of the public have come up with a novel way to financially help those who either intend to remain or are trapped in the country owing to the conflict.
Continue reading...Suddenly, brutally, the invasion of Ukraine has taken member states back to the founding principle of the European project
Interpreters in the European parliament usually sound so monotonous and mechanical that even well-rested listeners have trouble staying awake. But when the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, addressed a parliamentary session via video link on Tuesday, something extraordinary happened: the person relaying his words into English was so moved that he audibly fought to hold back his tears. “We’re fighting … just for our land … and for our freedom,” he said, then sniffed, his voice almost breaking as Zelenskiy, wearing a khaki T-shirt in what looked like a bunker, declared: “Despite the fact … that all our cities of our country are now blocked … nobody is going to enter and intervene with the freedom and our country.”
This is just one example among many, of how Vladimir Putin’s brutal war on Ukraine is shaking Europeans to the core. Having long believed that war was impossible on the continent, they are shocked – and embarrassed – that Ukrainians must not only defend their country against Russian aggression, but must also defend democracy, freedom and the right of sovereign states to determine their destiny – the very principles that underpin the European Union.
Caroline de Gruyter is a Europe correspondent and columnist for the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad, and Foreign Policy
Continue reading...Police say death of businessman who made his fortune in oil and gas is unexplained but not suspicious
A Ukraine-born oligarch has been found dead at his home in unexplained circumstances, Surrey police have said.
Officers are treating the death of 66-year-old Mikhail Watford, who made his fortune in oil and gas after the demise of the Soviet Union, as unexplained. But they said it was not thought to be suspicious.
Continue reading...More than 1 million people have already crossed the border, with numbers set to rise as the Russian invasion intensifies. What has been the response of neighbouring countries?
What is the expected scale of the refugee crisis in Ukraine?
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could see 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.
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