In Ukraine, gas shortages further complicate daily life
LVIV, Ukraine — As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine grinds through its third month, gas shortages are spreading across the country, adding to people’s misery and testing their resilience in new ways.
Lines are forming at service stations in major cities, small villages and roadside stops along the highways that stretch over the countryside. Some stations have gone dark because they have no fuel to sell. With supplies tight and limits imposed on how much people can buy, motorists are relying on apps, gas cans and persistence to fill up.
Irina Yusuchuk, 35, waited two hours in line to fill her Mercedes near her work in a suburb of Lviv. “It was really hard to find this gas station,” she said. “I’m just shocked.”
The shortages have spread in recent weeks as heavy fighting has shifted mostly to the east and life has started returning to something like normal in central and western Ukraine.
Read the full story here.
LVIV, Ukraine — As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine grinds through its third month, gas shortages are spreading across the country, adding to people’s misery and testing their resilience in new ways.
Lines are forming at service stations in major cities, small villages and roadside stops along the highways that stretch over the countryside. Some stations have gone dark because they have no fuel to sell. With supplies tight and limits imposed on how much people can buy, motorists are relying on apps, gas cans and persistence to fill up.
Irina Yusuchuk, 35, waited two hours in line to fill her Mercedes near her work in a suburb of Lviv. “It was really hard to find this gas station,” she said. “I’m just shocked.”
The shortages have spread in recent weeks as heavy fighting has shifted mostly to the east and life has started returning to something like normal in central and western Ukraine.
Read the full story here.
Ukrainian song takes center stage at Eurovision — and new meaning amid war
“I’ll always come to you, by broken roads.” Ukrainian singer Oleh Psiuk once rapped these words as a tribute to his mother, but when his band, Kalush Orchestra, performs at Eurovision this week, the lyrics will resonate differently.
“And my willpower can’t be taken from me, because she gave it,” he sings after his melodic chanting in “Stefania,” rehearsing for Tuesday’s semifinals of Europe’s most popular televised music contest, as bombs rain down across his country.
With more than 5 million views, the Ukrainian song has become the most-watched music video on YouTube among the entries from 40 countries.
“Some stuff in here was written long before the war, and it was dedicated to my mother,” Psiuk told the Associated Press. “After it all started with the war, it took on additional meaning, and many people started seeing it as their mother, Ukraine, in the meaning of the country.”
Read the full story here.
“I’ll always come to you, by broken roads.” Ukrainian singer Oleh Psiuk once rapped these words as a tribute to his mother, but when his band, Kalush Orchestra, performs at Eurovision this week, the lyrics will resonate differently.
“And my willpower can’t be taken from me, because she gave it,” he sings after his melodic chanting in “Stefania,” rehearsing for Tuesday’s semifinals of Europe’s most popular televised music contest, as bombs rain down across his country.
With more than 5 million views, the Ukrainian song has become the most-watched music video on YouTube among the entries from 40 countries.
“Some stuff in here was written long before the war, and it was dedicated to my mother,” Psiuk told the Associated Press. “After it all started with the war, it took on additional meaning, and many people started seeing it as their mother, Ukraine, in the meaning of the country.”
Read the full story here.
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Database of 231 videos exposes the horrors of war in Ukraine
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is one of the most documented wars ever. Citizens, public officials and soldiers have posted videos every day that show the dead bodies in neighborhoods, the trails of missiles streaking through the skies and the smoldering ruins of entire towns.
The Washington Post’s visual forensics team has been verifying and cataloging videos from the war from the day Russia’s invasion began. This work is now searchable in a database that will be updated. The videos have been uploaded in raw format and graphic content is clearly marked.
The Post will continue to verify videos of the Russian invasion, so if you are in Ukraine and have footage you recorded of what is going on, please send it to us here on Telegram at +1 202-580-1002.
Click here to see the full database.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is one of the most documented wars ever. Citizens, public officials and soldiers have posted videos every day that show the dead bodies in neighborhoods, the trails of missiles streaking through the skies and the smoldering ruins of entire towns.
The Washington Post’s visual forensics team has been verifying and cataloging videos from the war from the day Russia’s invasion began. This work is now searchable in a database that will be updated. The videos have been uploaded in raw format and graphic content is clearly marked.
The Post will continue to verify videos of the Russian invasion, so if you are in Ukraine and have footage you recorded of what is going on, please send it to us here on Telegram at +1 202-580-1002.
Click here to see the full database.
Russia’s ultimate political survivor faces a wartime reckoning
Sergei Shoigu, the consummate survivor of Russian politics, has always had a knack for PR.
The 66-year-old Russian defense minister for years presided over theatrical exercises, rattled off statistics about personnel, and boasted of fearsome new weaponry — all to project the image of a Russian military on the rise under his guidance.
But in the 2½ months since the Kremlin launched a war against Ukraine, the facade that Shoigu meticulously presented over the past decade has disintegrated into an ugly reality, laying bare the incompetence and barbarity of one of the world’s biggest militaries.
Shoigu’s future is now on the line. Having retreated from its attack on Kyiv, the Russian military is facing immense pressure to save face and capture a larger swath of Ukraine’s east.
Read the full story here.
Sergei Shoigu, the consummate survivor of Russian politics, has always had a knack for PR.
The 66-year-old Russian defense minister for years presided over theatrical exercises, rattled off statistics about personnel, and boasted of fearsome new weaponry — all to project the image of a Russian military on the rise under his guidance.
But in the 2½ months since the Kremlin launched a war against Ukraine, the facade that Shoigu meticulously presented over the past decade has disintegrated into an ugly reality, laying bare the incompetence and barbarity of one of the world’s biggest militaries.
Shoigu’s future is now on the line. Having retreated from its attack on Kyiv, the Russian military is facing immense pressure to save face and capture a larger swath of Ukraine’s east.
Read the full story here.
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Here is the latest from Ukraine.
- Russia struck key Ukrainian cities in the south and east overnight, including the strategic port of Odessa, as Congress is set to begin debating a nearly $40 billion aid package for Ukraine on Tuesday.
- More than 8 million Ukrainians have been internally displaced by the war, according to the U.N.'s International Organization for Migration.
- A U.N. official said Tuesday that thousands more civilians have been killed in the conflict than confirmed figures suggest. A regional official in Kharkiv said 44 bodies were pulled from the rubble of a building in Izyum that Russia destroyed in March.
- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made a surprise visit to Budapest on Monday to try to persuade Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to drop his objection to a proposed European Union embargo on Russian oil. However, their talks ended without a deal.
More live updates here.
- Russia struck key Ukrainian cities in the south and east overnight, including the strategic port of Odessa, as Congress is set to begin debating a nearly $40 billion aid package for Ukraine on Tuesday.
- More than 8 million Ukrainians have been internally displaced by the war, according to the U.N.'s International Organization for Migration.
- A U.N. official said Tuesday that thousands more civilians have been killed in the conflict than confirmed figures suggest. A regional official in Kharkiv said 44 bodies were pulled from the rubble of a building in Izyum that Russia destroyed in March.
- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made a surprise visit to Budapest on Monday to try to persuade Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to drop his objection to a proposed European Union embargo on Russian oil. However, their talks ended without a deal.
More live updates here.
Here’s the latest on key battlegrounds in Ukraine.
Izyum: 44 bodies were found under the debris of a building destroyed by Russian forces here, a Ukrainian official said Tuesday.
Kherson: Russian authorities are likely preparing to integrate occupied Ukrainian territories, such as Kherson, directly into Russia — rather than creating proxy “People’s Republics,” the Institute for the Study of War said.
Mariupol: Ukrainian fighters holed up at a steel plant here made a plea Tuesday for help evacuating their wounded, as the Russians hit a field hospital at the complex. The Pentagon said Monday that the equivalent of two Russian battalion tactical groups are still in the city — with 700 to 900 in each group — down from about a dozen last month.
Odessa: Photos showed firefighters combing through debris and searching for civilians after at least four high-precision Onyx missiles struck this city Monday.
More live updates here.
Izyum: 44 bodies were found under the debris of a building destroyed by Russian forces here, a Ukrainian official said Tuesday.
Kherson: Russian authorities are likely preparing to integrate occupied Ukrainian territories, such as Kherson, directly into Russia — rather than creating proxy “People’s Republics,” the Institute for the Study of War said.
Mariupol: Ukrainian fighters holed up at a steel plant here made a plea Tuesday for help evacuating their wounded, as the Russians hit a field hospital at the complex. The Pentagon said Monday that the equivalent of two Russian battalion tactical groups are still in the city — with 700 to 900 in each group — down from about a dozen last month.
Odessa: Photos showed firefighters combing through debris and searching for civilians after at least four high-precision Onyx missiles struck this city Monday.
More live updates here.
Here’s the latest from Ukraine.
- A package of nearly $40 billion in additional aid for Ukraine was overwhelmingly approved by the House on Tuesday as the country battles Russia’s brutal invasion. The Senate is expected to follow suit this week, taking total U.S. military, economic and humanitarian support provided during the conflict to more than $50 billion.
- A top U.S. intelligence official is warning of a “prolonged” and “potentially escalatory” conflict as President Putin readjusts his goals to go beyond capturing the Donbas region and consolidate control of a land bridge between Russia, Donbas and Russian-held Crimea to the south.
- The Finnish Parliament’s defense committee recommended NATO membership. The country’s official decision on whether to join the alliance could come as soon as this week.
- A U.N. official said Tuesday that thousands more civilians have been killed in the conflict than confirmed figures suggest.
More live updates here.
- A package of nearly $40 billion in additional aid for Ukraine was overwhelmingly approved by the House on Tuesday as the country battles Russia’s brutal invasion. The Senate is expected to follow suit this week, taking total U.S. military, economic and humanitarian support provided during the conflict to more than $50 billion.
- A top U.S. intelligence official is warning of a “prolonged” and “potentially escalatory” conflict as President Putin readjusts his goals to go beyond capturing the Donbas region and consolidate control of a land bridge between Russia, Donbas and Russian-held Crimea to the south.
- The Finnish Parliament’s defense committee recommended NATO membership. The country’s official decision on whether to join the alliance could come as soon as this week.
- A U.N. official said Tuesday that thousands more civilians have been killed in the conflict than confirmed figures suggest.
More live updates here.
Putin prepared for ‘prolonged’ conflict, U.S. intelligence chief says
Russian President Vladimir Putin is prepared for a prolonged conflict in Ukraine, betting that Russia is more willing and able to endure the longer-term effects of the war than Moscow’s adversaries, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told senators on Tuesday.
But the war may grow more volatile in the next few months, she said. Both Ukraine and Russia appear confident in achieving battlefield progress, making a diplomatic path unviable. That, combined with the mismatch between Putin’s ambitions and the Russian military’s capabilities, means the war could become more “unpredictable and escalatory,” she said.
“The [intelligence community], as you know, provided warnings of President Putin’s plans” to attack Ukraine before the Kremlin’s Feb. 24 invasion, Haines told senators in her opening statement. “But this is a case where I think all of us wish we had been wrong.”
Read the full story here.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is prepared for a prolonged conflict in Ukraine, betting that Russia is more willing and able to endure the longer-term effects of the war than Moscow’s adversaries, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told senators on Tuesday.
But the war may grow more volatile in the next few months, she said. Both Ukraine and Russia appear confident in achieving battlefield progress, making a diplomatic path unviable. That, combined with the mismatch between Putin’s ambitions and the Russian military’s capabilities, means the war could become more “unpredictable and escalatory,” she said.
“The [intelligence community], as you know, provided warnings of President Putin’s plans” to attack Ukraine before the Kremlin’s Feb. 24 invasion, Haines told senators in her opening statement. “But this is a case where I think all of us wish we had been wrong.”
Read the full story here.
Russian soldier in Ukrainian custody will stand trial for alleged war crime, Ukraine’s prosecutor general announces
The office of Ukraine’s prosecutor general said it would try a 21-year-old Russian soldier who is in Ukrainian custody, the first Russian service member to stand trial in the country on a war crimes charge since the war began.
The prosecutor’s announcement accused Vadim Shishimarin of firing several shots with a Kalashnikov rifle that killed an unarmed 62-year-old resident by the side of the road in a village in the Sumy region of northeastern Ukraine on Feb. 28. It said investigators have collected “enough evidence of his involvement in violation of the laws and customs of war combined with premeditated murder."
“Shishimarin is actually physically in Ukraine,” Iryna Venediktova, the prosecutor general, told Ukraine’s public broadcaster. “We are starting a trial not in absentia, but rather directly with the person who killed a civilian, and this is a war crime.”
More live updates here.
The office of Ukraine’s prosecutor general said it would try a 21-year-old Russian soldier who is in Ukrainian custody, the first Russian service member to stand trial in the country on a war crimes charge since the war began.
The prosecutor’s announcement accused Vadim Shishimarin of firing several shots with a Kalashnikov rifle that killed an unarmed 62-year-old resident by the side of the road in a village in the Sumy region of northeastern Ukraine on Feb. 28. It said investigators have collected “enough evidence of his involvement in violation of the laws and customs of war combined with premeditated murder."
“Shishimarin is actually physically in Ukraine,” Iryna Venediktova, the prosecutor general, told Ukraine’s public broadcaster. “We are starting a trial not in absentia, but rather directly with the person who killed a civilian, and this is a war crime.”
More live updates here.
Congress set to approve an additional $40 billion in aid to Ukraine
Congress is poised to approve nearly $40 billion in additional military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine, outstripping President Biden’s $33 billion request and extending a fresh lifeline to Kyiv as Moscow plows ahead with plans to annex vast swaths of the country’s south and east.
The House approved the proposal late Tuesday on a 368-to-57 vote, with the Senate likely to follow suit as early as this week. Passage of the measure would bring the total amount of Ukrainian aid provided by Congress since the Feb. 24 invasion to more than $53 billion.
The bill includes almost $15 billion earmarked for military equipment, training, intelligence support and Ukrainian defense force salaries. A further $14 billion would be allocated for nonmilitary support, including humanitarian aid, and another $5 billion would address global food security issues.
Read the full story here.
Congress is poised to approve nearly $40 billion in additional military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine, outstripping President Biden’s $33 billion request and extending a fresh lifeline to Kyiv as Moscow plows ahead with plans to annex vast swaths of the country’s south and east.
The House approved the proposal late Tuesday on a 368-to-57 vote, with the Senate likely to follow suit as early as this week. Passage of the measure would bring the total amount of Ukrainian aid provided by Congress since the Feb. 24 invasion to more than $53 billion.
The bill includes almost $15 billion earmarked for military equipment, training, intelligence support and Ukrainian defense force salaries. A further $14 billion would be allocated for nonmilitary support, including humanitarian aid, and another $5 billion would address global food security issues.
Read the full story here.
Mariupol fighters — faces bruised, limbs missing — plead for rescue
With swollen faces and missing limbs, Ukrainian fighters who for weeks have been defending Mariupol’s steel plant issued a desperate plea for help, seeking escape as pro-Russian forces in the city appeared to threaten an acceleration of strikes.
The Azov Regiment, the nationalist group that is part of Ukraine’s national guard that has been defending the Azovstal plant, the last bastion of Ukraine’s defense in the shattered port city, on Tuesday shared photos of the injured fighters on its Telegram channel.
Some are pictured with lost arms, others their legs, while many sit with bandaged wounds, waiting for help that might not arrive as Russian troops continue their assault.
“The whole civilized world must see the conditions in which the wounded, crippled defenders of Mariupol are and act!” the regiment wrote in its post.
Read the full story here.
With swollen faces and missing limbs, Ukrainian fighters who for weeks have been defending Mariupol’s steel plant issued a desperate plea for help, seeking escape as pro-Russian forces in the city appeared to threaten an acceleration of strikes.
The Azov Regiment, the nationalist group that is part of Ukraine’s national guard that has been defending the Azovstal plant, the last bastion of Ukraine’s defense in the shattered port city, on Tuesday shared photos of the injured fighters on its Telegram channel.
Some are pictured with lost arms, others their legs, while many sit with bandaged wounds, waiting for help that might not arrive as Russian troops continue their assault.
“The whole civilized world must see the conditions in which the wounded, crippled defenders of Mariupol are and act!” the regiment wrote in its post.
Read the full story here.
Russia-Ukraine gas dispute could threaten some European supply amid war
Ukraine’s national gas company, Naftogaz, said it would halt the transit of some Russian gas that runs through its borders into Europe due to challenges relating to Russia’s invasion. The move could affect a third of Russia’s gas transiting through Ukraine.
“Ukraine no longer bears responsibility for the transmission of Russian gas through Ukrainian territories under Russian military occupation,” Naftogaz said Tuesday in a statement. The company said it notified Gazprom, Russia’s state-owned gas supplier.
Naftogaz said Russian forces occupying parts of eastern Ukraine had made it impossible to operate in those areas or communicate with facilities that oversee gas flow from Russia into Europe via Ukraine. It said the Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine (GTSOU) could no longer “perform uninterrupted and effective operational and technological control” over its facilities in Russian-occupied territory.
Read the full story here.
Ukraine’s national gas company, Naftogaz, said it would halt the transit of some Russian gas that runs through its borders into Europe due to challenges relating to Russia’s invasion. The move could affect a third of Russia’s gas transiting through Ukraine.
“Ukraine no longer bears responsibility for the transmission of Russian gas through Ukrainian territories under Russian military occupation,” Naftogaz said Tuesday in a statement. The company said it notified Gazprom, Russia’s state-owned gas supplier.
Naftogaz said Russian forces occupying parts of eastern Ukraine had made it impossible to operate in those areas or communicate with facilities that oversee gas flow from Russia into Europe via Ukraine. It said the Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine (GTSOU) could no longer “perform uninterrupted and effective operational and technological control” over its facilities in Russian-occupied territory.
Read the full story here.
Ukraine regains territory, and crime scene investigators move in
TSYRKUNY, Ukraine — To get to the crime scene, the police investigators drove about 30 minutes northeast of downtown Kharkiv — past neighborhoods in ruins, destroyed Russian military vehicles, a field littered with blast craters, and plumes of dark smoke rising a few miles in the distance, where fighting between the Ukrainian and Russian militaries was ongoing.
The Ukrainians had expelled Russian forces from the town of Tsyrkuny, less than 20 miles from the Russian border, just three days earlier — part of a Ukrainian counteroffensive that has reclaimed a significant swath of territory in the Kharkiv region this month.
Now the police investigators were eager to visit the village, where they had a report of two civilian bodies lying on the side of a dirt road. The women had been killed by a Russian land mine weeks earlier, the police said.
Read the full story here.
TSYRKUNY, Ukraine — To get to the crime scene, the police investigators drove about 30 minutes northeast of downtown Kharkiv — past neighborhoods in ruins, destroyed Russian military vehicles, a field littered with blast craters, and plumes of dark smoke rising a few miles in the distance, where fighting between the Ukrainian and Russian militaries was ongoing.
The Ukrainians had expelled Russian forces from the town of Tsyrkuny, less than 20 miles from the Russian border, just three days earlier — part of a Ukrainian counteroffensive that has reclaimed a significant swath of territory in the Kharkiv region this month.
Now the police investigators were eager to visit the village, where they had a report of two civilian bodies lying on the side of a dirt road. The women had been killed by a Russian land mine weeks earlier, the police said.
Read the full story here.
Sanctions said to force Russia to use appliance parts in military gear
U.S.-led sanctions are forcing Russia to use computer chips from dishwashers and refrigerators in some military equipment, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said Wednesday.
“We have reports from Ukrainians that when they find Russian military equipment on the ground, it’s filled with semiconductors that they took out of dishwashers and refrigerators,” Raimondo told a Senate hearing, noting that she recently met with Ukraine’s prime minister.
U.S. technology exports to Russia have fallen by nearly 70 percent since sanctions began in late February, according to Raimondo, whose department oversees the export controls that form a big part of the sanctions package. Three dozen other countries have adopted similar export bans, which also apply to Belarus.
Read the full story here.
U.S.-led sanctions are forcing Russia to use computer chips from dishwashers and refrigerators in some military equipment, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said Wednesday.
“We have reports from Ukrainians that when they find Russian military equipment on the ground, it’s filled with semiconductors that they took out of dishwashers and refrigerators,” Raimondo told a Senate hearing, noting that she recently met with Ukraine’s prime minister.
U.S. technology exports to Russia have fallen by nearly 70 percent since sanctions began in late February, according to Raimondo, whose department oversees the export controls that form a big part of the sanctions package. Three dozen other countries have adopted similar export bans, which also apply to Belarus.
Read the full story here.
Here’s the latest on key battlegrounds in Ukraine.
Kharkiv region: Ukraine said Wednesday that its armed forces had recaptured the village of Pytomnyk while pushing Russian troops back in the Kharkiv region, which has seen intense fighting and aerial bombardment.
Kherson: This Russian-occupied region plans to ask President Putin to make it a part of Russia, state news agencies said Wednesday.
Mariupol: Ukraine has offered to turn over Russian prisoners in exchange for the evacuation of seriously injured fighters holed up at a steel plant here. There was no immediate response from Russia regarding the proposal and Ukraine said Wednesday that negotiations were ongoing.
Snake Island: The Ukrainian military successfully struck Russian air defenses and resupply vessels in the Black Sea with Turkish-made Bayraktar drones and continues to combat Russian forces near Snake Island, Britain’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday in an intelligence update.
More live updates here.
Kharkiv region: Ukraine said Wednesday that its armed forces had recaptured the village of Pytomnyk while pushing Russian troops back in the Kharkiv region, which has seen intense fighting and aerial bombardment.
Kherson: This Russian-occupied region plans to ask President Putin to make it a part of Russia, state news agencies said Wednesday.
Mariupol: Ukraine has offered to turn over Russian prisoners in exchange for the evacuation of seriously injured fighters holed up at a steel plant here. There was no immediate response from Russia regarding the proposal and Ukraine said Wednesday that negotiations were ongoing.
Snake Island: The Ukrainian military successfully struck Russian air defenses and resupply vessels in the Black Sea with Turkish-made Bayraktar drones and continues to combat Russian forces near Snake Island, Britain’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday in an intelligence update.
More live updates here.
Finland’s leaders give green light for NATO membership
Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin said Thursday that Finland should join NATO — signaling tectonic shifts in Europe’s post-Cold War security landscape, a day after Helsinki signed a mutual security agreement with London. A green light from Finland’s leaders is the first step toward a formal application, with a proposal also requiring approval from the country’s Parliament.
“Finland must apply for NATO membership without delay,” Niinisto and Marin said in a highly anticipated statement. The leaders also said Finland joining the security alliance would be mutually beneficial.
A membership application from Finland, which has long maintained military nonalignment, would be an ironic consequence of an invasion that Russian President Vladimir Putin said he started for fear of NATO expanding to include Ukraine.
More live updates here.
Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin said Thursday that Finland should join NATO — signaling tectonic shifts in Europe’s post-Cold War security landscape, a day after Helsinki signed a mutual security agreement with London. A green light from Finland’s leaders is the first step toward a formal application, with a proposal also requiring approval from the country’s Parliament.
“Finland must apply for NATO membership without delay,” Niinisto and Marin said in a highly anticipated statement. The leaders also said Finland joining the security alliance would be mutually beneficial.
A membership application from Finland, which has long maintained military nonalignment, would be an ironic consequence of an invasion that Russian President Vladimir Putin said he started for fear of NATO expanding to include Ukraine.
More live updates here.
U.N. Human Rights Council considers war crimes probe in Kyiv region
The United Nations Human Rights Council is poised to decide Thursday whether to greenlight an investigation into alleged abuses by Russian troops around the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, which could constitute war crimes.
At a special session of the council Thursday, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said her team had collected evidence of hundreds of killings of Ukrainian civilians by Russian soldiers and continues to verify allegations that “may amount to war crimes.”
“The scale of unlawful killings, including indicia of summary executions in areas to the north of Kyiv, is shocking,” Bachelet said in a video message to the council. “These killings of civilians often appeared to be intentional, carried out by snipers and soldiers.”
More than 1,000 civilian bodies have been recovered in the Kyiv region alone, she said.
Read the full story here.
The United Nations Human Rights Council is poised to decide Thursday whether to greenlight an investigation into alleged abuses by Russian troops around the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, which could constitute war crimes.
At a special session of the council Thursday, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said her team had collected evidence of hundreds of killings of Ukrainian civilians by Russian soldiers and continues to verify allegations that “may amount to war crimes.”
“The scale of unlawful killings, including indicia of summary executions in areas to the north of Kyiv, is shocking,” Bachelet said in a video message to the council. “These killings of civilians often appeared to be intentional, carried out by snipers and soldiers.”
More than 1,000 civilian bodies have been recovered in the Kyiv region alone, she said.
Read the full story here.
Finland’s leaders seek to join NATO ‘without delay’ after Ukraine invasion
Finland’s leaders announced Thursday that they would seek NATO membership for the Nordic nation as soon as possible — an extraordinary move that demonstrates the far-ranging effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Finland must apply for NATO membership without delay,” Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin said in a statement after weeks of discussions about whether the traditionally nonaligned nation should aim to join the military alliance.
“The war started by Russia jeopardizes the security and stability of the whole of Europe,” Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto told European lawmakers Thursday. “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has altered the European and Finnish security environment."
NATO leaders have said that Finland, which shares an 800-mile border with Russia, will be welcomed by the alliance if it decides to join.
Read the full story here.
Finland’s leaders announced Thursday that they would seek NATO membership for the Nordic nation as soon as possible — an extraordinary move that demonstrates the far-ranging effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Finland must apply for NATO membership without delay,” Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin said in a statement after weeks of discussions about whether the traditionally nonaligned nation should aim to join the military alliance.
“The war started by Russia jeopardizes the security and stability of the whole of Europe,” Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto told European lawmakers Thursday. “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has altered the European and Finnish security environment."
NATO leaders have said that Finland, which shares an 800-mile border with Russia, will be welcomed by the alliance if it decides to join.
Read the full story here.
In a soccer friendly, German fans cheer on a loss to Ukraine
Fans of German soccer club Borussia Mönchengladbach don’t usually hope for their team to lose.
But as the team was defeated by the Ukraine men’s national squad, 2-1, on Wednesday night, the German stadium erupted in cheers. Mönchengladbach fans chanted Ukrainian songs, sporting yellow-and-blue flags painted on their cheeks and Ukrainian scarves around their necks.
The match, a friendly that benefited Ukrainian humanitarian causes and was free for all Ukrainian fans to attend, was a bittersweet return by the country’s national team. As some refugees appeared close to tears while watching their squad compete, the match in many ways also captured the country’s broader hopes for a quick return to some degree of normality and peace.
The team’s coach, Oleksandr Petrakov, said it was a sign “that life returns.”
“It distracts the [Ukrainian] people from the war, and it distracts the players from the war,” he told The Post.
Read the full story here.
Fans of German soccer club Borussia Mönchengladbach don’t usually hope for their team to lose.
But as the team was defeated by the Ukraine men’s national squad, 2-1, on Wednesday night, the German stadium erupted in cheers. Mönchengladbach fans chanted Ukrainian songs, sporting yellow-and-blue flags painted on their cheeks and Ukrainian scarves around their necks.
The match, a friendly that benefited Ukrainian humanitarian causes and was free for all Ukrainian fans to attend, was a bittersweet return by the country’s national team. As some refugees appeared close to tears while watching their squad compete, the match in many ways also captured the country’s broader hopes for a quick return to some degree of normality and peace.
The team’s coach, Oleksandr Petrakov, said it was a sign “that life returns.”
“It distracts the [Ukrainian] people from the war, and it distracts the players from the war,” he told The Post.
Read the full story here.
U.K. law could send Ukrainian refugees who enter via Ireland to Rwanda
If Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion reach Britain via Ireland without travel documents, they could be caught up in a contentious new plan under which migrants who don’t meet strict asylum criteria will be flown to Rwanda for possible resettlement there, U.K. lawmakers have been told by a top immigration official.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the Rwanda plan as part of a crackdown on smuggling routes across the English Channel. Under the plan, which passed into law late last month, most migrants who cross illegally will be deemed inadmissible to claim asylum because their journeys will have taken them through safe countries before their arrival in Britain.
“You are leaving open the possibility that Ukrainians who have crossed from Dublin to Belfast could conceivably end up in Rwanda,” said Stuart C. McDonald, the Scottish National Party member of Parliament who posed the question.
Read the full story here.
If Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion reach Britain via Ireland without travel documents, they could be caught up in a contentious new plan under which migrants who don’t meet strict asylum criteria will be flown to Rwanda for possible resettlement there, U.K. lawmakers have been told by a top immigration official.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the Rwanda plan as part of a crackdown on smuggling routes across the English Channel. Under the plan, which passed into law late last month, most migrants who cross illegally will be deemed inadmissible to claim asylum because their journeys will have taken them through safe countries before their arrival in Britain.
“You are leaving open the possibility that Ukrainians who have crossed from Dublin to Belfast could conceivably end up in Rwanda,” said Stuart C. McDonald, the Scottish National Party member of Parliament who posed the question.
Read the full story here.
U.S. Intelligence-sharing with Ukraine designed to prevent wider war
The United States is sending billions of dollars in military equipment to Ukraine, including heavy artillery, drones and antitank missiles. Administration officials have publicly enumerated those contributions, practically down to the number of bullets. But they are far more cautious when describing another decisive contribution to Ukraine’s battlefield success: intelligence about the Russian military.
Information about the location and movements of Russian forces is flowing to Ukraine in real-time, and it includes satellite imagery and reporting gleaned from sensitive U.S. sources, according to U.S. and Ukrainian officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the cooperation.
“The intelligence is very good. It tells us where the Russians are so that we can hit them,” one Ukrainian official said, using his finger to pantomime a bomb falling on its target.
Read the full story here.
The United States is sending billions of dollars in military equipment to Ukraine, including heavy artillery, drones and antitank missiles. Administration officials have publicly enumerated those contributions, practically down to the number of bullets. But they are far more cautious when describing another decisive contribution to Ukraine’s battlefield success: intelligence about the Russian military.
Information about the location and movements of Russian forces is flowing to Ukraine in real-time, and it includes satellite imagery and reporting gleaned from sensitive U.S. sources, according to U.S. and Ukrainian officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the cooperation.
“The intelligence is very good. It tells us where the Russians are so that we can hit them,” one Ukrainian official said, using his finger to pantomime a bomb falling on its target.
Read the full story here.