All posts tagged: Ukrainian

UNESCO Grants ‘Provisional Enhanced Protection’ to Ukrainian Sites

UNESCO Grants ‘Provisional Enhanced Protection’ to Ukrainian Sites

Published by skeptic

UNESCO, the cultural arm of the United Nations, has granted “provisional enhanced protection” to two Ukrainian heritage sites, the Odessa Literary Museum and the National Historical and Memorial Reserve Babyn Yar, as the Russia’s war on Ukraine approaches its three-year anniversary. One of the cultural properties, National Historical Memorial Reserve Babyn Yar in Kyviv, honors the more than 33,000 Jews, as well as Roma and Soviet prisoners, killed by the Nazis in a two-day massacre in 1941. In March of 2022, a Russian projectile hit close to the site, killing five people. A monument to Holocaust victims was not directly struck, but a nearby building the center planned to use for a new museum was damaged. Related Articles “Cultural property under the enhanced protection of UNESCO benefits from the highest level of immunity from attack and use for military purposes. Non-compliance with these clauses would constitute a ‘serious violation’ of the 1999 Second Protocol to the Hague Convention, opening the possibility of prosecution,” UNESCO said in a statement. In February of this year, UNESCO reported that 341 …

At a secret Ukrainian drone command post, Russian soldiers are hunted : NPR

At a secret Ukrainian drone command post, Russian soldiers are hunted : NPR

Published by Sam

Callsign “Sonic”, 34, a сommander of the strike unmanned aerial vehicle platoon, known as Dovbush’s hornets, a unit of 68th Separate Jäger Brigade. He watches the live streams of drone pilots operating in the Donbas Region on Dec. 19, 2024. Anton Shtuka for NPR hide caption toggle caption Anton Shtuka for NPR NEAR POKROVSK, Ukraine — In a small town outside Pokrovsk, a city in eastern Ukraine under siege by Russia, a soldier guides an armored vehicle down a muddy, snow-swept lane. In the early winter darkness, lights flash on the horizon as the two armies trade artillery fire. In the driveway of a rundown house, two soldiers work quickly under the glow of headlamps, loading weapons from a shed into the back of a battered truck. “They’re going to take one of our drones into the field,” says a 35-year-old military technician named Yurii. For security reasons, Yurii declines to be photographed and shares only his first name. He says he was a video game programmer before enlisting in Ukraine’s army earlier this year. …

Ukrainian prosecutor general resigns amid corruption scandals

Ukrainian prosecutor general resigns amid corruption scandals

Published by Sam

Ukrainian Attorney General Andriy Kostin on Capitol Hill, Washington, April 18, 2023. ANNA MONEYMAKER / GETTY IMAGES VIA AFP Scandal on a subject as sensitive as the equality of citizens in the face of mobilization could not go unpunished. The prosecutor general of Ukraine, Andriy Kostin, was swept up in the revelation of corruption cases involving dozens of prosecutors from the central Khmelnytskyi region, accused of acquiring false disability certificates enabling them to obtain pensions in addition to their salaries and, potentially, avoid conscription. This energetic man, who enjoyed a good reputation as a professional and is not personally involved, announced his resignation on Tuesday, October 22, at the end of a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council, chaired by Volodymyr Zelensky. The case first came to light in the Ukrainian media at the beginning of October, when investigators in the Khmelnytskyi region revealed that the head of the local medical and social expertise commission, Tetiana Kroupa, who is also an elected member of the regional council, and her son, who heads the …

Ukrainian Allies Rebuke Russia At UN Meeting: ‘Not A Victim’

Ukrainian Allies Rebuke Russia At UN Meeting: ‘Not A Victim’

Published by Sam

Russia did not get the sympathy it was hoping for at an informal UN Security Council meeting on Tuesday. Ukraine has managed to humiliate Moscow over the last nine days by breaching Russia’s southern borders, reaching into the Kursk region and taking 100 Russian troops as prisoners of war. Kyiv says it is already occupying 1,000 sq km (386 sq miles) – that’s the same amount of Ukrainian land Russia has seized so far this year. Despite often boasting of its military prowess and Vladimir Putin’s promise to “kick the enemy out”, Moscow is struggling to remove the Ukrainian forces. And it’s certainly not getting any help from the West judging from what happened at the informal the UN Security Council. Ukraine’s allies, the US, France and the UK, did not waver in their support for Kyiv during the mini stand-off, and instead chose not mention the Kursk attack at all. Russia’s deputy UN ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy said: “We haven’t heard a word of condemnation of these actions from the Western sponsors of the Kyiv …

Germany seeks arrest of Ukrainian diver for Nord Stream sabotage | Business and Economy News

Germany seeks arrest of Ukrainian diver for Nord Stream sabotage | Business and Economy News

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Ukrainian diving instructor Volodymyr Z is accused of being part of a team that blew up the gas pipelines. Germany has issued a European arrest warrant for a Ukrainian diving instructor over his alleged involvement in the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea, according to German media. German investigators believe Volodymyr Z was a member of a team that in September 2022 planted explosive devices on the pipeline route carrying natural gas from Russia to Germany, German media reported on Wednesday. German law does not allow publication of the suspect’s surname. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly denied his country was behind the sabotage, which disrupted Russian gas exports to the European Union, hitting Moscow’s energy revenues hard. Volodymyr Z was last known to have lived in Poland, according to a report by the Suddeutsche Zeitung and Die Zeit newspapers and the ARD public broadcaster, which quoted unnamed sources. The Polish prosecutor’s office confirmed on Wednesday that it had received a German arrest warrant for a Ukrainian man who is a …

At the Sudzha crossing where Ukrainian troops pushed into Russia nerves are tense | Ukraine

At the Sudzha crossing where Ukrainian troops pushed into Russia nerves are tense | Ukraine

Published by skeptic

The journey from the Ukrainian city of Sumy to the Russian border is short. In about three-quarters of an hour it is possible to arrive at a smashed-up Ukrainian border post and stare over two simple lines of fencing into Russian fields to the right. Except the territory beyond is no longer under Kremlin control. The Sudzha crossing is now 5 miles or so from the current frontline inside Russia’s Kursk oblast. For now at least, it remains very much in Ukrainian hands a full week into the border incursion; on a brief visit what could be heard were the pops of outgoing artillery, not the crumps of incoming shells. Edgy military guards, clips of rifle ammunition tucked into chest pouches, blocked further progress into Russia, a swathe of territory that Ukraine’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday it had no interest in permanently occupying. Instead, it said the attack was justified “to protect the lives of our people” – part of a creative attempt at self-defence, striking where the Russians are weakest. The crossing fell …

Russia, adapting tactics, advances in Donetsk and takes more Ukrainian land

Russia, adapting tactics, advances in Donetsk and takes more Ukrainian land

Published by Sam

POKROVSK, Ukraine — Russian forces have mounted an arc of attack in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, pushing through intense summer heat in a bid to extend Moscow’s steady territorial gains and capture the city of Pokrovsk, a key transit junction. The offensive is underway as Ukraine continues to suffer from a shortage of soldiers and as election turmoil in the United States has set off new speculation that Kyiv may soon be forced to negotiate a surrender of lands. After an influx of American weapons and money helped Ukraine blunt a renewed invasion of the northeastern Kharkiv region in May, preventing a major breakthrough and dashing Moscow’s hopes of surrounding Ukraine’s second-largest city, Russian commanders have refocused their attention on the Donetsk region, perhaps Russian President Vladimir Putin’s top territorial goal. The reinvasion of the Kharkiv region, while yielding limited gains, nonetheless diverted Ukrainian resources. Oleksandr, 30, a battalion commander of the 47th brigade, fighting near Ocheretyne, said that Ukrainian forces are struggling and that Putin’s prize increasingly seems within Russia’s reach. “This strategy is …

Life returns to Ukrainian reservoir drained by Russian strike on dam | Ukraine

Life returns to Ukrainian reservoir drained by Russian strike on dam | Ukraine

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Standing in a scene of shimmering green, Vadym Maniuk pointed to a young white willow tree. “What happened here is a miracle,” he said. “Some of the saplings are already 4 metres tall. There is nowhere else like this on the planet. Not even the Amazon comes close.” Maniuk, an ecologist, picked his way through a jungle of new branches. The sky above was scarcely visible. In the mud – cracked after days of sweltering temperatures – were the remains of molluscs. The scientist showed off black poplars, also racing upwards, reeds and a small mulberry. Under the leaves it was pleasantly cool. Vadym Maniuk in the former Kakhovka reservoir. White willows and black poplars have grown rapidly, turning it into forest. Photograph: Alessio Mamo/The Guardian Just over a year ago, the spot where Maniuk stood was under several metres of water. In the 1920s Stalin ordered the construction of a series of hydroelectric power stations along the Dnipro. The area between two of the dams – one in Zaporizhzhia, the other in Kakhovka – …

Dodging the draft: one Ukrainian man’s story – podcast | News

Dodging the draft: one Ukrainian man’s story – podcast | News

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Two years on and the war in Ukraine has approached stalemate. And it’s created a problem. At the beginning of the conflict hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians volunteered to fight. But with no end in site and recruits exhausted, enthusiasm has waned. In response, Ukraine has lowered the conscription age, sent patrols round to round up men of fighting age, and increased the punishment for dodging the draft. But for some young men, this is not enough to convince them to join up. Luke Harding explains why Ukraine has such a recruitment crisis, and what is being done to improve matters. Myroslav is one young man who felt desperate in the face of pressure to join the army. He explains why he did not want to fight and how he plotted his escape from Ukraine. And he tells Michael Safi how it feels being torn between his sense of self-protection and his sense of duty. Photograph: Sergei Supinsky/AFP/Getty Images Support The Guardian The Guardian is editorially independent. And we want to keep our journalism open …

Crimean sunbathers struck by deadly shrapnel shower from Ukrainian missile

Crimean sunbathers struck by deadly shrapnel shower from Ukrainian missile

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Shrapnel from an intercepted US-made missile fired by Ukraine hit a beach packed with sunbathing tourists in occupied Crimea on Sunday. Russian officials said at least five people, including three children, had died of shrapnel wounds – and they expected the death toll to rise. A video shot by a tourist on the beach shows a missile coming into view above the nearby city of Sevastopol and then exploding. Shrapnel crashes into the sand in a succession of thuds and bangs, and tourists scream and run. “Run!” one of the tourists shouts. Two other videos show tourists using sun loungers to carry injured people off the beach and women in bikinis frantically administering first aid to an injured tourist as his blood drips onto the sand. One of the dead has been named as the nine-year-old daughter of the deputy mayor of a town in the north of the occupied peninsula. Russia’s health ministry said 124 people were injured in the incident, including 27 children. “The entire health care system has been mobilised. Doctors and …