The U.N. refugee agency UNHCR says it is beefing up its humanitarian aid operation for millions of Ukrainians forced to flee their homes in the face of intensified fighting and increased brutality by Russia’s military forces. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that began February 24 has triggered one of the fastest-growing displacement and humanitarian crises in …
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Russian citizens are spending on average 40% of their disposable income on food – about twice as much as they did before the Russia-Ukraine war, the director of the U.N. food agency’s Russia liaison office told Reuters. Russian government data shows annual food inflation hit 18.75% on April 1 as the economy reels from Western …
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Slovakia has donated its S-300 air defense system to Ukraine to help it defend against Russia’s aggression, Slovakia Prime Minister Eduard Heger said Friday. Ukraine has appealed to Western nations for air defense equipment to help repel a Russian military onslaught that is now in its second month. “I would like to confirm that Slovakia …
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German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is calling for a war crimes tribunal against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, German magazine Der Spiegel cited Steinmeier as saying. “Anyone who has responsibility for these crimes will have to explain themselves,” Steinmeier told Der Spiegel in an interview. “That includes soldiers. That includes military commanders. …
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Stores in Istanbul, once filled with Russian and Ukrainian shoppers, are now experiencing hard times because of the war in Ukraine. The conflict is also causing prices for food and fuel in Turkey to rise. VOA’s Behzod Muhammadiy reports from Istanbul. …
Voters in France head to the polls Sunday for the first of a two-round election that could see centrist President Emmanuel Macron become the first French leader to win a second term in nearly two decades. For VOA, Lisa Bryant reports from Paris. …
U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Thursday new weapons are being delivered to Ukrainian forces with a “strong sense of urgency,” following a two-day meeting of NATO and G-7 foreign ministers in Brussels. As Henry Ridgwell reports, Ukraine’s foreign minister told NATO that the coming battles against invading Russian forces will resemble “World War …
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has upended decades of relative peace and stability in Europe with his unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. Experts tell VOA he is an ideological leader focused on returning Russia to the superpower status it lost when the Soviet Union collapsed. VOA’s senior diplomatic correspondent Cindy Saine has this profile. …
U.N. health officials warn that more people in Ukraine will start dying from chronic diseases and preventable illnesses than from war injuries the longer the conflict goes on. The World Health Organization said Thursday that health workers in Ukraine were continuing to deliver care in the face of unimaginable human suffering and in areas of …
Dmitry Muratov, the editor-in-chief of one of Russia’s leading independent newspapers, Novaya Gazeta, said he was attacked by an assailant who threw a mixture of red paint and acetone on him. Muratov, co-winner of the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize with Filipino journalist Maria Ressa, was on a train bound from Moscow to Samara on Thursday …
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China’s patience with Russia over the war in Ukraine has set back its prized ties with the European Union despite tentative gains late last year, analysts say. At the first European Union-China summit in nearly two years, on April 1, the EU warned China against supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine or interfering with international sanctions …
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When Brent Renaud was killed covering the impact of the Ukraine war, state media in Cuba described the American photojournalist as a CIA agent. The state-run news website Cubadebate cited an Iranian news outlet as the source of the story, which it ran on March 13. But it didn’t specify the name of the Iranian …
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Thursday that more credible reports of Russian atrocities against Ukrainian civilians are coming out of the war-ravaged country and vowed that “one day, somehow, there will be accountability” for Moscow. The top U.S. diplomat, after meeting with an array of NATO and allied foreign ministers in Brussels, said, …
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Since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, thousands of Russian citizens — the majority working in the IT sector and passionately opposing Russia’s aggression — have moved to Armenia. Shake Avoyan went to Armenia to find out why and has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. VOA footage by Shake Avoyan. …
The U.N. General Assembly voted Thursday to suspend Russia from the body’s Human Rights Council over atrocities it has been accused of committing in Ukraine. In a vote of 93 to 24 with 58 abstentions, the assembly suspended Russia for its “gross and systematic violations of human rights” and violations of international law committed against …
German intelligence officials say they have intercepted radio communications in which Russian troops discussed indiscriminately killing civilians in Ukraine, undercutting claims by Moscow that atrocities were only committed after its military left occupied suburbs near the capital of Kyiv. The officials, who briefed members of parliament Wednesday, described two separate communications in which Russian soldiers …
Read more “German Intel Claims Intercepts Show Russians Discussing Killing Ukrainian Civilians”
Greece says it will ask the International Criminal Court in The Hague to launch an investigation into possible war crimes in Ukraine’s southern port of Mariupol. The move comes as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed Greece’s parliament on Thursday, urging Athens to use all its diplomatic might to prosecute Russian military and political officials for atrocities …
Read more “Greece Vows to Seek War Crimes Prosecution of Russia for Ukraine Offensive”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Thursday dismissed the reluctance of some countries fulfill Ukrainian requests for arms due to fears of being drawn into the conflict with Russia, saying that by giving Ukraine what it needs, Ukrainians will do the fighting so no one else has to. “I think the deal that Ukraine is …
Read more “Ukraine’s Agenda for NATO Talks: ‘Weapons, Weapons and Weapons’ ”
International efforts to punish Russia for its war on Ukraine are being felt far from Europe, in the U.S. Gulf state of Louisiana, a hub of America’s energy sector. Late last month, the European Union announced it was exploring ways to gain independence from Russian energy “well before 2030.” American firms took note. “You can …
Read more “Shipping LNG to Europe: Pros, Cons for US Gulf Coast”
The road to Borodyanka is littered with signs of a battle that ended abruptly. An empty tent. Discarded, unused ammunition. A dead pig. A security expert tells us everything that moved was probably shot. Inside the town, the devastation is colossal. Broken glass and mounds of debris surround a row of apartment buildings, most of …
Read more “Reporter’s Notebook: The Aftermath of Battles in Ukraine’s Borodyanka”
A Ukrainian official has provided VOA with exclusive photos of the aftermath of Russia’s five-week occupation of Ukraine’s decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear power plant, showing what he says are Russian trenches dug into radioactive soil near a 1986 nuclear accident at the site. Evgen Kramarenko, director of the Ukrainian state agency managing the exclusion zone around …
The United States announced new sanctions against Moscow on Wednesday following allegations that Russian forces in Ukraine massacred civilians. Henry Ridgwell reports from London. Camera: Henry Ridgwell. This video contains graphic images and may not be suitable for all viewers. …
The parents of a former U.S. Marine held captive in Russia pleaded for information about him on Wednesday, expressing fears about his “rapidly declining health” and that “something terrible” had happened to him. Joe and Paula Reed, who met last week with President Joe Biden about the plight of their son, Trevor, 30, said in …
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The European Union is expected to join the United States in imposing new sanctions against Russia as horrific reports of possible war crimes in Ukraine continue to surface. But critics, including some EU members, are calling the measures insufficient. The new EU sanctions — the fifth round by the bloc since Russia invaded Ukraine — …