Year: 2022

Finland’s much-delayed Olkiluoto 3 nuclear reactor started test production on Saturday, operator TVO said, delivering power to the national grid, which over time is expected to reduce the need for electricity imports and lead to lower prices. Plagued by technological problems that became the subject of lawsuits, the 1.6 gigawatt (GW) reactor had originally been …

Read more “Finland Starts Much-Delayed Nuclear Plant, Bringing Respite to Power Market”

Italian police have seized a superyacht from Russian billionaire Andrey Igorevich Melnichenko, the prime minister’s office said on Saturday, a few days after the businessman was placed on an EU sanctions list following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The 143-meter Sailing Yacht A, which has a price tag of $578 million, has been sequestered at the …

Read more “Italy Seizes Russian Oligarch Melnichenko’s $578 Million Yacht”

Western sanctions against Russia could cause the International Space Station to crash, the head of Russian space agency Roscosmos warned Saturday, calling for the punitive measures to be lifted. According to Dmitry Rogozin, the sanctions, some of which predate Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, could disrupt the operation of Russian spacecraft servicing the ISS. As a …

Read more “Sanctions Could Cause Space Station to Crash, Russia Says”

Up to the final hours before Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, former chancellor Angela Merkel had been touted as the person favored by Germans to try to talk President Vladimir Putin out of the conflict. But as Russian bombs fell on Ukrainian cities, a shadow has fallen on Merkel’s 16 years in office, with …

Read more “Clouds Over Merkel’s Legacy as Russian Invasion Lays Flaws Bare”

When Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis took the floor in a parliament debate on Ukraine this month, there was no doubt which side his government was taking in the conflict. “There can be no equal distances. You are either with peace and international law, or against them,” he told lawmakers, after announcing a shipment of …

Read more “In Greece, Russia Sympathies Die Hard Despite Ukraine War”

Full developments of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine    …

After almost eight hours sitting in a police station and court, Vera Kotova became one of the first people to be judged and fined just under $240 under a new Russian law to punish anyone deemed to have discredited the armed forces. Her crime was writing “No to war” accompanied by a heart in the …

Read more “Fines, Fear, Self-censorship: Russia’s New Ukraine Law Casts Chill”

An Istanbul court on Friday sentenced Turkish journalist Sedef Kabas to more than two years in prison for insulting the president. Kabas has been in pretrial detention since late January over comments she made about President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during a political talk show. She is now released pending the outcome of her appeal. The freelance …

Read more “Turkish Journalist to Appeal 2-Year Jail Term”

In an attempt to tighten the financial screws on Russian President Vladimir Putin amid the invasion of Ukraine, countries around the world are seizing the prized possessions of oligarchs believed to be close to him. VOA’s Laurel Bowman has that story. …

President Joe Biden on Friday announced that the U.S. will seek to revoke “most favored nation” (MFN) status for Russia. If approved by Congress, the move effectively ends normal trade relations between the two countries and allows the administration to impose new tariffs and sanctions in response to the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine. Biden is …

Read more “Biden Calls to End Normal Trade Relations With Russia”

The United States has banned Russian energy imports and wants Saudi Arabia to increase oil production to mitigate a dramatic spike in gas prices. But just how willing Gulf states are to help bring oil prices down remains to be seen. VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports. …

The European Union has warned it could slap massive new sanctions against Russia, but it also rejected fast-tracking Ukraine’s EU membership. At a summit outside Paris, the group also focused on beefing up the EU’s military, energy and food security in response to the Ukraine conflict. French President Emmanuel Macron, who hosted the two-day meeting …

Read more “EU Threatens Russia With New Sanctions, Aims to Bolster Energy, Defense Independence”

Britain’s Buckingham Palace announced that Queen Elizabeth II would not attend the Commonwealth Day events scheduled for Monday in Westminster Abbey. In a statement, the palace said, “After discussing the arrangements with the Royal Household, the Queen has asked The Prince of Wales to represent Her Majesty” at the Commonwealth Day service. The statement said …

Read more “Queen Elizabeth Cancels Appearance at Commonwealth Day Celebration “

U.S. President Joe Biden spoke Friday by phone with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the White House said, updating him on U.S. and ally moves to further raise the cost of war for Russia. Biden also highlighted “how the United States is continuing to surge security, humanitarian and economic assistance to Ukraine.” Earlier Friday, Zelenskyy …

Read more “Biden Tells Zelenskyy US Is Raising Cost of War for Russia “

Russia’s efforts to recruit foreign mercenaries to bolster Russian forces fighting in Ukraine do not appear to be paying off just yet. Reports of Russian attempts to pull experienced troops from other conflict zones – Syria, in particular – have been circulating for weeks. But the United States says that so far, the effort is …

Read more “US Sees No Evidence of Syrian, African Mercenaries in Ukraine”

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday declared that Ukraine had reached a strategic turning point in its fight with Russia, which he said was relying on conscripts, reservists and Syrian mercenaries to prop up its invasion force. In a daily televised address in Kyiv, Zelenskyy called on the international community to ramp up sanctions pressure on …

Read more “Ukraine Says Russia Now Relying on Conscripts, Mercenaries”

South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa says he has been asked to help mediate peace between Russia and Ukraine, after having spoken to his counterpart Vladimir Putin. But some analysts are questioning whether South Africa’s ties to Russia could impact its neutrality.   The prospective role of mediator comes after the country abstained from a United …

Read more “South Africa’s Ramaphosa Asked to Mediate Russia-Ukraine Talks ”

As civilian deaths and injuries in Ukraine grow, United Nations aid agencies warn indiscriminate attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure may amount to war crimes. The U.N. human rights office so far has recorded 1,564 civilian casualties, including 564 killed and 982 injured since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. U.N. aid agencies are calling …

Read more “UN: Russian Attacks Against Civilians in Ukraine May Amount to War Crimes”

A massive Russian armored column that’s been at a standstill for days north of Kyiv has been dispersed on three sides of the Ukrainian capital, prompting fears the deployment is a prelude to a redoubled offensive.  American defense officials say the Russian forces have moved 5 kilometers nearer to Kyiv, and artillery has taken up …

Read more “Russian Forces Reposition in Possible Prelude for Kyiv Offensive”

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis heads to Turkey Sunday for talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan amid rising tensions between the neighboring countries. As Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul, the escalating tensions have already claimed victims. …

Russian officials have been shifting their explanations in the past two days about why their forces struck a maternity hospital in the besieged Ukrainian seaport of Mariupol, one of more than a dozen health care facilities to have been attacked since Russia launched its invasion of its neighbor. Midweek, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told a …

Read more “Targeting of Ukraine Hospitals Recalls Russia’s Syria Campaign”

A $13.6 billion emergency package of military and humanitarian aid for besieged Ukraine and its European allies easily won final congressional approval Thursday, hitching a ride on a government-wide spending bill that’s five months late but loaded with political prizes for both parties. With Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion killing thousands and forcing over 2 …

Read more “US Senate Gives Final Approval to Ukraine Aid, Huge Budget Bill”

Beijing is controlling messaging on the war in Ukraine, analysts and observers say, as social media companies and traditional Chinese state media outlets have been suppressing voices critical of Russia’s invasion.  On February 22, Horizon News, an affiliate of China’s state-owned Beijing News, accidentally posted on Weibo, the Chinese Twitter, censorship instructions related to posts …

Read more “Chinese State Censors at Work to Control Messaging on War”

The U.N. Security Council will hold an emergency meeting Friday on alleged manufacture of biological weapons in Ukraine at the request of Moscow, whose credibility on chemical weapons was questioned during a session on Syria. Russia on Thursday accused the United States of funding research into the development of biological weapons in Ukraine, which has …

Read more “UN Security Council to Meet Friday on Biological Weapons, at Moscow’s Request”