Category: News

More than three months into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. Justice Department is girding for more Russian cyberattacks, the department’s top national security official said Thursday. “At DOJ, we’re particularly focused right now on the cyberthreat from Russia,” said Matthew Olsen, head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “And we are bracing for …

Read more “US Justice Department Braces for More Russian Cyberattacks “

For full coverage of the crisis in Ukraine, visit Flashpoint Ukraine. The latest developments in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. All times EDT. 12:02 a.m.: Al Jazeera reports that a man in Kharkiv, Ukraine, has been indicted for allegedly supporting the Russian invasion. A prosecutor says the man produced and distributed materials justifying the invasion. …

Read more “Latest Developments in Ukraine: June 3”

Britain celebrates the second day of Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee on Friday, with the highlight a service of thanksgiving attended by senior royals and politicians that the 96-year-old monarch herself will miss due to ongoing mobility issues. The four days of events kicked off Thursday, when a happy-looking Elizabeth waved to crowds from the balcony …

Read more “Queen Elizabeth to Miss Platinum Jubilee Thanksgiving Service”

Hidden from much of the world behind a veil of Kremlin censorship, critics of President Vladimir Putin are waging a vigorous campaign of resistance to the war in Ukraine, according to a prominent opposition spokesman. “The war in Ukraine is being fought on three different fronts,” said Leonid Volkov, a top aide to jailed opposition …

Read more “Russia’s Putin Critics Detail Efforts to Resist War in Ukraine”

The U.S. government said Thursday that it was trying to shut down sanction evasion measures used by Russia’s elites, including President Vladimir Putin, “to attempt to hide and move money and anonymously make use of luxury assets around the globe.” The targets include a yacht brokerage, aircraft, Russian officials and others close to Putin. Targeted …

Read more “US Announces More Sanctions on Russian Elites”

Matthew Parker is a U.S. army veteran who served in Iraq alongside a Ukrainian American soldier. When Parker heard Russia invaded Ukraine, he decided he wanted to help Ukrainians defend their homeland. He is among thousands of Americans that Ukraine says have joined its new international legion to help protect the country. VOA’s Myroslava Gongadze …

Read more “American War Veteran Joins Fight for Peace in Ukraine”

The Greek government and shipping industry on Thursday called for a global mobilization to free the crews of two oil tankers held by Iran in an ongoing dispute with Athens. “We call on all nations to act in order to end this unacceptable incident, and to ensure it does not happen again,” Merchant Marine Minister …

Read more “Greece Urges Global Action to Free Iran-Held Tankers”

Four days of celebrations honoring Queen Elizabeth II’s 70 years on the throne get underway with a display of British military traditions stretching from the days of horse and cannon to the jet age, The Associated Press reports. …

Four days of celebrations honoring Queen Elizabeth II’s 70 years on the throne got underway Thursday with a display of British military traditions stretching from the days of horse and cannon to the jet age. Formal celebrations for the Platinum Jubilee began with Trooping the Color, an annual military review that has marked the sovereign’s …

Read more “Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee Kicks Off With Pomp”

President Joe Biden has announced that the United States will send advanced rocket systems to Ukraine to help Kyiv resist Russian forces in the eastern part of the country. As VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports, Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Ukraine has assured the U.S. it will not use the systems to …

Read more “Blinken: Ukraine Pledges Medium-Range Rockets Will Not Strike Russian Territory”

The effort to bring Sweden and Finland into NATO remains stalled, as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan insists that his country will exercise its authority to veto an expansion of the alliance. In public remarks on the issue, Erdogan has claimed that by allowing some Kurdish dissident groups that oppose his government to operate in …

Read more “Erdogan Continues to Block NATO Bids of Sweden, Finland”

For full coverage of the crisis in Ukraine, visit Flashpoint Ukraine. The latest developments in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. All times EDT. 12:04 a.m.: Russian forces continue their siege of Sievierodonetsk, an industrial city in eastern Ukraine. The New York Times posted this update. …

Queen Elizabeth II will make two appearances on the Buckingham Palace balcony on Thursday, kicking off four days of public events to mark her historic Platinum Jubilee. The extent of the 96-year-old monarch’s involvement in the celebrations for her record-breaking 70 years on the throne has been a source of speculation for months. She has …

Read more “Queen Elizabeth II to Salute Jubilee From Palace Balcony”

When she helped launch The Kyiv Independent in November, chief editor Olga Rudenko had no idea that six months later she would be on the cover of Time magazine. But her team’s reporting on Russia’s war in Ukraine propelled their English-language site into the spotlight, with Time describing The Kyiv Independent as the “world’s primary …

Read more “Interview: Ukraine’s Journalists in ‘Epicenter’ of War”

The European Commission said Wednesday that Croatia had met all the criteria to join the eurozone, paving the way for the country to become the single currency’s 20th member on January 1. Croatia’s switch from the kuna to the euro will come less than a decade after the former Yugoslav republic joined the European Union, …

Read more “EU Says Croatia Ready to Adopt Euro Currency in 2023”

The food crisis exacerbated by the war in Ukraine could see some easing according to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who spoke Wednesday. He said any breakthrough was not imminent and could still be some time off. The war has effectively bottlenecked supplies of grain and fertilizer from the war zone. Russia and Ukraine account for …

Read more “UN Chief Sees Progress Made in Food Crisis, Though Timeline Unclear”

Russia relentlessly shelled Sievierodonetsk in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday, with the Luhansk regional governor conceding that Moscow’s forces now control 70% of the city and that evacuation of civilians had been halted. Some Ukrainian troops were still fighting against the Russian onslaught, Luhansk governor Serhiy Haidai said, but others had retreated. “There is no possibility …

Read more “Russia Relentlessly Shelling Sievierodonetsk in Eastern Ukraine”

Ukrainian Galina Pashkevich witnessed Nazi atrocities during World War II, including the bombing of her city, Kyiv. After Russia invaded Ukraine in February, she left her homeland for America. Angelina Bagdasaryan spoke to her in this report. Anna Rice narrates. Camera: Vazgen Varzhabetian.  …

Ukraine’s most stalwart backers in the West are promising there will be no let-up in support, despite increasingly tough talk from Russian officials. The U.S. permanent representative to NATO said Wednesday in Washington that recent Russian gains in eastern Ukraine have failed to shake the alliance’s resolve, with members continuing to have faith in Kyiv’s …

Read more “NATO Hoping Ukraine Will Prevail in War with Russia”

Greece’s armed forces are on high alert in the Eastern Aegean Sea as tensions escalate with Turkey. Officials have been responding to what they say are mounting provocations by Turkey’s leadership. Senior Greek Defense Ministry sources say the military intelligence they have gathered point to the prospect of so-called hybrid threats that Greece may face …

Read more “Greek Forces on High Alert over Crisis with Turkey”

The United States is the target of thousands of cyberattacks daily, many of them originating in Russia. If tensions between Washington and Moscow escalate further over the war in Ukraine, experts worry that Russian leader Vladimir Putin will order a full-scale cyberattack that could devastate America’s critical infrastructure. VOA’s Igor Tsikhanenka reports on the likelihood …

Read more “Is the US Prepared for a Cyberwar With Russia?”

For full coverage of the crisis in Ukraine, visit Flashpoint Ukraine. The latest developments in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. All times EDT. 5:00 a.m.: One of the world’s largest yachts sits in a quiet port in the United Arab Emirates — so far avoiding the fate of other luxury vessels linked to sanctioned …

Read more “Latest Developments in Ukraine: June 1”

In the dusty, northern-most sheikhdom of the United Arab Emirates, where laborers cycle by rustic tea shops, one of the world’s largest yachts sits in a quiet port — so far avoiding the fate of other luxury vessels linked to sanctioned Russian oligarchs.  The display of lavish wealth is startling in one of the UAE’s …

Read more “Sanctioned Russian Oligarch’s Megayacht Hides in a UAE Creek “

The World Health Organization reported more than 250 attacks on health facilities and health personnel in Ukraine since it was invaded by Russian forces. One U.S. firm is helping fill the gap with mobile laboratories and clinics. For VOA, Genia Dulot has our story from Los Angeles. …