Yulia isn’t convinced Ukraine should give up any part of its territory to Russia — even if by doing so it could end the war. The 25-year-old from Bucha on the outskirts of Kyiv is now living in a shelter in the western Ukrainian town of Lviv, and her life is on hold while the …
Read more “Increasingly Confident Ukrainians Want No Concessions to Russia”
Turkey is in the grip of nationwide protests by doctors over surging violence and worsening economic conditions. The country is witnessing an unprecedented increase in doctors quitting to take jobs overseas, which as Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul, threatens one of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s major achievements. …
Moldova is watching the war in neighboring Ukraine with special concern. Like Ukraine, Moldova is not a member of NATO or the European Union, and it has a very large Russian-speaking population – factors that for some Moldovans have sown fears of becoming the next target of Russian ambitions. Jon Spier narrates this report from …
Washington’s hospitality industry quickly stepped up to help Ukrainian refugees after Russia invaded Ukraine in late February. In the US capital, restaurants and bars are actively raising funds to help. Maxim Moskalkov has the story. Camera – Dmytri Shakhov. …
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is warning of a burgeoning health crisis in Ukraine, which is likely to last longer than the conflict itself. Francesco Rocca, president of the Red Cross Federation, recently visited Ukraine and Romania to see conditions in the region since Russia’s military invaded Ukraine five weeks …
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Plans for a European Union-China summit were already laid before Russia invaded Ukraine last month — although Beijing’s formal announcement it would attend only came this week. On the agenda are issues like climate change, trade and what the EU describes as “universal values.” But the Ukraine conflict tops it. Eric Mamer, spokesman for the …
Read more “EU, Chinese Leaders Meet Amid Backdrop of Ukraine Conflict”
Foreign buyers of Russian gas could have to pay in rubles starting April 1, according to a decree signed Thursday by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Refusing to pay in the Russian currency will result in the suspension of contracts, Putin said. The decree targets the United States, the United Kingdom and European Union countries, which …
Read more “Putin Demands Western Countries Pay for Gas in Rubles”
Ukraine’s president said his country’s defense against the Russian invasion was at a “turning point” and again pressed the United States for more help, hours after the Kremlin’s forces reneged on a pledge to scale back some of their operations. Russian bombardment of areas around Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv and intensified attacks …
Read more “Ukrainian President Says Defense Is at a ‘Turning Point’”
The beautiful medieval city of Lviv in western Ukraine has become a refuge for hundreds of thousands of refugees from all over Ukraine. One Local soccer stadium, built for the 2012 Euro Cup, has been turned into a refugee center. Anna Kosstutschenko reports for VOA in Lviv. Videographer: Yuiry Dankevych …
Georgia on Thursday denounced as “unacceptable” plans announced by pro-Moscow separatists in the breakaway South Ossetia region to hold a referendum on joining Russia. South Ossetia was in the center of the Russian-Georgian war in 2008 after which the Kremlin recognized the territory — along with another separatist region, Abkhazia — as an independent state …
Read more “Georgia Denounces South Ossetia’s Planned Vote on Joining Russia”
As millions of Ukrainians flee their homes, there has been an outpouring of support from people around the world. One Ukrainian woman in Guatemala has mobilized the online community to help Ukrainians. For VOA News Eugenia Sagastume has the story. Camera: Eugenia Sagastume …
The United Nations chief said Wednesday that one-quarter of humanity — 2 billion people — are living in conflict areas today and the world is facing the highest number of violent conflicts since 1945, when World War II ended. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres cited conflicts from Yemen, Syria, Myanmar and Sudan to Haiti, Africa’s Sahel, “and …
Read more “UN Chief: 2 Billion People Live in Conflict Areas Today”
Taiwan’s defense ministry has set up a working group to study the tactics of the war in Ukraine, including how the country has been able to hold out against Russia, and has been discussing this with the United States, its minister said Thursday. Taiwan, claimed by China as its own territory, has raised its alert …
Read more “Taiwan Studying Ukraine War Tactics, Discussing With US”
Two senior British judges resigned from Hong Kong’s highest court on Wednesday as part of a broader British rebuke of the territory’s claim that its courts are independent of political interference. In a prepared statement released by Lord Robert Reed and his colleague Lord Patrick Hodge, the judges cited the territory’s Beijing-imposed National Security Law …
Read more “British Judges Quit Hong Kong Court Over Beijing-Imposed National Security Law”
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The ruble is no longer rubble. The Russian ruble by Wednesday had bounced back from the fall it took after the U.S. and European allies moved to bury the Russian economy under thousands of new sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin has resorted to extreme financial measures to blunt the West’s …
Read more “Russia’s Ruble Rebound Raises Questions of Sanctions’ Impact”
The U.N. high commissioner for human rights on Wednesday called Russia to immediately withdraw its troops from Ukraine and stop the war that she said had caused immeasurable suffering and grief for millions of people. In a dramatic rendering of conditions in Ukraine to the U.N. Human Rights Council, Michelle Bachelet described the living nightmare …
Read more “UN Rights Chief Tells Russia to Stop War in Ukraine Immediately”
Turkish-made drones have featured prominently in Ukraine’s resistance against Russia’s invasion, taking out significant Russian targets in the first few weeks of the war. But the conflict, and any possibility of a Russian victory, have cast a shadow over the future of Turkey’s rapidly growing drone industry, which relies on Ukrainian engines. In one of …
Read more “Turkish Drone Industry Banks on Ukrainian Battlefield Successes”
A Ukrainian girl seen singing in a viral video while in a Kyiv bomb shelter is using her newfound fame to help raise money for her homeland. VOA’s Myroslava Gongadze caught up with Amelia Anisovych, 7, and her family in Poland, where they are living as refugees. …
Olga M. spent the first week of the Russian invasion hiding with her teenage son in a shelter in Kotsiubynske, a Kyiv suburb. As the shelling intensified in nearby Irpin, they fled, reaching Spain a week later. “My legs are bloodshot” from standing on the trains and in lines, said Olga, who asked that her …
Read more “Ukrainians Struggle to Tell Russian Relatives About the War”
The World Health Organization reported a 43 percent spike in deaths from COVID-19 globally last week, while the number of cases continued to fall worldwide. In its weekly epidemiological report, the WHO said 45,000 deaths attributed to COVID-19 were reported in the week ending March 27, up from 33,000 the week before. That spike follows …
Read more “WHO Reports 43 Percent Increase in Global COVID-19 Deaths, While Caseload Drops”
Every day, the Ukrainian refugee registration center in Brussels sees around 2000 newcomers – mostly women with children who are trying to escape the war in Ukraine. Even with help, refugees face a daunting reality as they try to rebuild their lives. Valentina Vasileva reports. Anna Rice narrates her story. Camera: Dana Preobrazhenskaya …
Turkish-made drones have featured prominently in Ukraine’s resistance against Russia’s invasion, taking out significant Russian targets in the first few weeks of the war. But the conflict, and any possibility of a Russian victory, have cast a shadow over the future of Turkey’s rapidly growing drone industry, which relies on Ukrainian engines. In one of …
Read more “Turkish Drone Industry Banks on Ukrainian Victory”
The United Nation’s children’s agency says some 2 million children have fled the fighting in Ukraine, with another 2.5 million driven from their homes within the country. In a statement released Wednesday, UNICEF, along with the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNCHR), said children make up half of all refugees from …
Read more “UNICEF: More Than 2 Million Children Have Fled Ukraine”