Protesters took to the streets in Moscow, St. Petersburg and across Russia on Friday to decry the invasion of Ukraine, even as authorities sought to suppress the spreading antiwar sentiment and project an image of strength and righteousness. The largest demonstration erupted in St. Petersburg, where several hundred people spontaneously gathered in the city …
Read more “Protests Resume as Russia Seeks to Quash Invasion Critics”
Hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared war in a pre-dawn Thursday televised address, social media users living in countries near Ukraine began setting up online networks to support refugees. By Friday evening, at least 100,000 people had signed up to various groups on Facebook and other platforms, offering their homes, money and carpools to …
Read more “Thousands Join Online Networks to Help Ukrainians Fleeing War “
U.N. aid agencies are increasing humanitarian operations to help Ukrainians whose lives have been upended since Russia invaded the country. The Russian offensive has thrown the country into turmoil. Aid agencies are scrambling to assess the dangers and priority needs and to help millions of people in an environment of extreme insecurity. Preliminary figures of …
Read more “Humanitarian Needs in Ukraine Escalate as Crisis Intensifies”
South Korean officials reiterated Friday that they willl implement U.S. and European sanctions on Russian exports but that Seoul will not impose its own. The sanctions were imposed this week in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “As a responsible member of the international community, the Korean government will support and join [its] efforts, including …
Read more “South Korea to Join Russia Sanctions, But Won’t Lodge Its Own”
Hundreds of Australians of Ukrainian descent joined those with Russian heritage to demonstrate against the Russian invasion of Ukraine in downtown Sydney on Friday. It was an act of solidarity many thousands of kilometers away from the conflict in Ukraine. Protesters held signs urging Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop the killing. The Australian government …
Read more “Protesters in Australia Condemn Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine”
International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Karim Khan on Friday expressed his concern over the Russian invasion of Ukraine and said his court may investigate possible war crimes in the country. “I have been closely following recent developments in and around Ukraine with increasing concern,” Khan said in a statement. “I remind all sides conducting hostilities …
Read more “ICC May Investigate Possible War Crimes After Russian Invasion of Ukraine”
European Union leaders have announced what they called “massive” sanctions against Russia for invading Ukraine during an emergency summit in Brussels that spilled into the early hours of Friday. The measures come amid reports of Russian troops moving ever closer to Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv. This is the European Union’s second set of sanctions against Moscow …
Explosions were heard over Ukraine’s capital early Friday, the second day of Russia’s full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine. The New York Times reported that it had “verified” video of the blasts showing “fiery debris” falling on Kyiv. The Times also said the video “appeared to show at least two surface-to-air missiles being fired near Kyiv …
The British government has decided to expand a program allowing some Hong Kong residents to settle in the U.K., providing a potential lifeboat for thousands of young people seeking to escape increasingly repressive Chinese rule in the former British colony. The British Nationals Overseas, or BNO, plan that gives millions of Hong Kong residents the …
Read more “Britain to Allow More Hong Kongers to Settle Under Lifeboat Plan”
After Russian troops invaded Ukraine Thursday morning, Americans took to the streets Thursday afternoon. Groups pleading for peace and for an end to the war protested across the country. VOA’s Senior Washington Correspondent Carolyn Presutti has our story. Camera: Michael Eckels, Scott Stearns and Ihar Tsikhanenka …
For full coverage of the crisis in Ukraine, visit Flashpoint Ukraine. The latest developments of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, all times EST: 12:10 a.m.: Facebook and rumors of “kill lists.” 12:03 a.m.: VOA’s Jeff Seldin on Vladimir Putin: 12:01 a.m.: Reuters reports that protests around the world denounce Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. …
In the days leading up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, some current and former Western officials began to question the sanity of Russian President Vladimir Putin. They pointed to what they perceived as changes in Putin’s demeanor, his way of speaking about the crisis, as evidence something had changed and made the Russian leader all …
Read more “Putin’s Gamble on Ukraine May Be Anything but Crazy”
Three correspondents from the Russian Service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a sister network of VOA, were detained in Moscow while covering a rally against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The journalists were arrested despite one of them telling police repeatedly that he was a representative of the press. According to a video of the arrest …
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed again Thursday to Russian President Vladimir Putin to cease his invasion of Ukraine and withdraw his troops. “The decisions of the coming days will shape our world and directly affect the lives of millions upon millions of people,” Guterres told reporters at U.N. headquarters. The use of force by …
Russian police detained more than 1,300 anti-war protestors in 50 Russian cities Thursday, according to OVD-Info, an independent Russian human rights group. Anti-war rallies broke out after a military operation targeting Ukraine was announced. The human rights organization said most of the detentions, 660, were in Moscow. The group said arrests were also made in …
Read more “Russian Police Arrest More than 1,000 Anti-War Protestors in Russia”
Like many people in Ukraine today, we knew about the invasion before we could hear the bombs. Around 5 a.m. our phones were pinging, with WhatsApp, Signal and Facebook posts: “We heard a blast in Kyiv. Blasts heard in Mariupol … bombs in Kramatorsk,” and so on. By the time we could hear bombing in …
Read more “Reporter’s Notebook: Confusion, Chaos as Russia Invades Ukraine”
It was among the most worrying developments on an already shocking day, as Russia invaded Ukraine on Thursday: warfare at the Chernobyl nuclear plant, where radioactivity is still leaking from a nuclear disaster 36 years ago. Russian forces took control of the site after a fierce battle with the Ukrainian national guards protecting the decommissioned …
Read more “Chernobyl No-go Zone Targeted as Russia Invades Ukraine”
President Vladimir Putin of Russia hosted Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan for “wide-ranging consultations” Thursday, covering bilateral relations and regional as well as international issues of “mutual interest.” Khan arrived in Moscow the previous day on a long-planned two-day “working” visit, the first by a Pakistani prime minister in 23 years, hours before Russian forces …
Read more “Pakistan’s Prime Minister Meets Putin as Russia Attacks Ukraine”
In the week after the Nazis began attacking Poland, the U.S. weekly newsmagazine Time declared in its September 11, 1939, edition, “World War II began last week at 5:20 a.m. (Polish time) Friday, September 1, when a German bombing plane dropped a projectile on Puck, a fishing village and air base in the armpit of …
Read more “Is This the Start of World War III or Cold War II? “
Russian authorities on Thursday warned anti-war sympathizers from gathering for protests after President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion of Ukraine. The Investigative Committee, a government body that investigates major crimes, warned Russians of legal repercussions for joining unsanctioned protests related to “the tense foreign political situation.” It said it was responding to social media calls …
Read more “Moscow Warns Russians Against Staging Anti-War Protests”
U.S. lawmakers condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine early Thursday, calling on the Biden administration to act swiftly to address the first full-scale war in Europe in more than 70 years. “History will prove Vladimir Putin’s decision to sacrifice the lives of countless Ukrainians and Russians was made out of fear — fear …
Read more “US Lawmakers Condemn Putin’s Unprovoked Invasion of Ukraine “
President Joe Biden announced additional sanctions that “will impose severe costs on the Russian economy” following its invasion of Ukraine. “Putin is the aggressor. Putin chose this war and now he and his country will bear the consequences,” Biden said from the White House Thursday. Watch President Biden’s press conference: The new sanctions will target …
Read more “Biden Announces Additional Sanctions After Russia Invades Ukraine”
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has so far been met with diplomatic silence in Africa, except for a comment made by Kenya’s ambassador to the UN earlier this week. Analysts say that while many Africans disagree with Russia’s use of force, the continent’s governments are aware of Russia’s power on the world stage. Ukraine’s ambassador to …
Read more “Africa Opposes Border Aggression but Unlikely to Condemn Russia “
Human Rights Watch warns Russian President Vladimir Putin’s battle plan for Ukraine will likely entail the deliberate targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure to weaken Ukraine’s resolve to fight on. Executive Director of Human Rights Watch, Kenneth Roth, says he fears Russia’s military will replicate in Ukraine the war strategy it employed to help the …
Read more “HRW: Civilians Run Greatest Risk in Putin’s War Against Ukraine”