Red Soviet flags and orange-and-black striped military ribbons are on display in Russian cities and towns. Neighborhoods are staging holiday concerts. Flowers are being laid by veterans’ groups at monuments to the Great Patriotic War, as World War II is known in the country. At first glance, preparations for Monday’s celebration of Victory Day, marking …
Read more “Patriotism, Unease Mix as Russia Marks Victory Day in WWII”
Food prices around the world have soared to record levels this year as the Russia-Ukraine war slashes key exports of wheat and fertilizer from those countries, at the same time as droughts, floods and heat fueled by climate change claim more harvests. Wheat prices hit a 14-year peak in March, and maize prices reached the …
Read more “As Conflict and Climate Change Bite, Are High Food Prices Here to Stay?”
A deadly fire at an aerospace research institute in Tver, northwest of Moscow. Another blaze at a munitions factory in Perm, more than 1,100 kilometers to the east. And fires in two separate oil depots in Bryansk, near Belarus. Coincidences, or a sign that Ukrainians or their supporters are mounting a campaign of sabotage inside …
Read more “Is Ukraine Conducting a Sabotage Campaign Inside Russia?”
Ukrainians are finding different ways to leave the areas under heavy fire along the southern front line of the Russian-Ukrainian war. …
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.: Kyiv’s mayor says it’ll probably be safer for residents to return to the city after Monday, which is Russia’s Victory Day, The Washington Post reports. Victory Day marks the Soviet …
The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says global food prices stabilized last month at a very high level but were slightly lower than in March, which saw the highest ever jump in food prices. FAO officials see little prospect of a significant decrease in the price of food as long as the Russian-Ukrainian war …
Read more “Russian Blockade of Ukrainian Sea Ports Sends Food Prices Soaring”
Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein was widely expected to become the largest group in the Northern Ireland Assembly for the first time, giving it the right to the post of first minister in Belfast, as vote-counting in this week’s election resumed Saturday. A Sinn Fein win would be a milestone for a party long linked …
Read more “Sinn Fein Set for Historic Win in Northern Ireland Election”
Russia’s desire to create a land corridor to Moldova’s separatist region of Transnistria is drawing attention to Moscow’s efforts to prevent the pro-Russian enclave from deepening ties to the West and undermining the decadeslong Russian grip over part of Moldova, some analysts say. Russian General Rustam Minnekaev endorsed the idea of a land corridor …
Read more “How Russia Tries to Counter Moldova Separatist Region’s Westward Drift”
Ukrainian officials have warned the country’s residents that the battles with Russian troops are likely to intensify this weekend, in the lead-up to Russia’s Victory Day celebrations Monday, commemorating the 77th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany. The holiday is celebrated across Russia with military parades. Reuters reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin …
Read more “Fighting in Ukraine Likely to Intensify This Weekend”
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.: The Institute for the Study of War, a U.S. think tank, says that “likely widespread civilian resistance” may disrupt Russian plans for a Victory Day event in Mariupol. Some information …
The Russian girlfriend of a Belarusian dissident, arrested with him a year ago when their plane was forced to land in Minsk, was on Friday sentenced to six years in prison, a rights group said. Sofia Sapega, 24, was detained with Belarusian opposition activist Roman Protasevich, 27, in May 2021 when their Ryanair flight from …
Read more “Belarus Sentences Activist’s Girlfriend to Six Years “
U.N. officials warn that soaring prices of food, fuel, fertilizers, and other commodities due to the Russia-Ukraine war could have a profound destabilizing impact on the African continent. Africa is still reeling from the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has plunged some 50 million people into extreme poverty. The continent is also tackling …
Read more “UN: Destabilizing Impact of Russia-Ukraine War Feared in Africa”
A Moscow court on Friday ordered the arrest in absentia of Alexander Nevzorov, a prominent Russian journalist accused of spreading false information about what Moscow calls its special military operation in Ukraine. The court said Nevzorov, who has been put on Russia’s international wanted list, would be detained for two months if he ever returns …
Read more “Russian Court Orders Arrest in Absentia of Top Journalist Over ‘Fakes’”
The U.N. Children’s Fund, UNICEF, reports the war in Ukraine is having a devastating impact on children, with tens of thousands requiring psychological and social care. Millions of children in Ukraine have suffered from more than two months of relentless bombing and shelling, a lack of food, the inability to go to school, and the …
Read more “UNICEF: Ukraine War Has Devastating Psychological Impact on Children”
Delivering good cheer — and 5 gallons of ketchup — Jill Biden thanked U.S. troops deployed to Romania as a check against Russian aggression for their service, as she began a four-day trip to Europe to see first-hand the refugee crisis caused by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. After flying overnight from Washington, the first lady …
Read more “Jill Biden to Meet Ukrainian Refugees During Eastern Europe Visit”
When the war in Ukraine started, composer and cello player Ian Maksin immediately spoke up, condemning Russia’s aggression. Today, Maksin, who is of Russian descent, is touring the U.S., performing in a series of concerts to raise money to help Ukrainian children. From Los Angeles, Angelina Bagdsaryan has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. Camera …
Read more “Russian-Born Composer Gives Concerts to Raise Money for Ukraine’s Children”
In lush fields southwest of Paris, farmers are joining Europe’s fight to free itself from Russian gas. They’ll soon turn on a new facility where crops and waste are fermented to produce “biogas.” It’s among energy solutions being explored as the continent works to choke off funding for Russian gas amid the Kremlin’s war in …
Read more “Europe’s Farmers Stir Up Biogas to Offset Russian Energy”
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.: The Washington Post reports that the western Ukraine city of Ivan-Frankivsk is warning its residents about possible shelling ahead of Russia’s May 9 Victory Day celebration. Russia uses Victory …
Ukraine received $6.5 billion in pledges at an international donors’ conference in Warsaw Thursday. VOA Eastern Europe Bureau Chief Myroslava Gongadze discussed the conference and other issues with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal in the Polish capital. The following interview has been edited for brevity and clarity. VOA: Donors pledged nearly $7 billion for Ukraine …
Read more “Ukraine’s PM Details War Costs to VOA as Donors Dig Deep”
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Thursday that a third evacuation operation is underway to assist civilians in Ukraine’s southern city of Mariupol and the Azovstal steel plant. “We must continue to do all we can to get people out of these hellscapes,” he told the U.N. Security Council, refusing to go into details about the …
Read more “UN Chief: More Evacuations Underway in Mariupol, Azovstal”
Former Belarusian leader Stanislav Shushkevich died this week at the age of 87. He took a part of the Soviet Union’s history with him. Shrewd and wise, he was the one who put the last nail in the Soviet Union’s coffin. Together with Ukrainian and Russian leaders Leonid Kravchuk and Boris Yeltsin, in the cold …
Read more “Reporter’s Notebook: Memories of Talking to Belarus’ Stanislav Shushkevich”
An International Labor Organization survey in 80 countries finds collective bargaining agreements and practices are critical to improving working conditions, closing the gender wage gap, and in reducing inequality and discrimination in the work place. The ILO has just launched the first in a series of reports on Social Dialogue. The report finds one third …
Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly apologized to Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett for antisemitic comments made earlier this week by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Lavrov reportedly said “the biggest antisemites are the Jews themselves” and that Hitler had Jewish blood, among other long-discredited antisemitic tropes while speaking to an Italian television journalist. “The prime …
Read more “Putin Apologizes to Israel for Lavrov’s Anti-Semitic Remarks”
The international sanctions imposed on Russia for the invasion of Ukraine have opened a new front in the Ukraine conflict, an economic one. Moscow is now trying to curb inflation and maintain the value of its currency, the ruble, while European countries are discussing the possibility of stopping their purchase of Russian hydrocarbons. Elizabeth Cherneff …
Read more “Russia Braces for Effects of Energy Export Losses”