Category: News

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer on Saturday joined the stream of European leaders showing their support for Ukraine by traveling to the nation’s capital for face-to-face meetings with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Johnson’s surprise visit included a pledge of new military assistance, including 120 armored vehicles and new anti-ship missile systems. …

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United Nations humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths is calling for localized cease-fires in war-torn Ukraine to allow humanitarian aid into areas under siege and to allow trapped civilians to leave. Griffiths this week discussed a possible humanitarian cease-fire in Ukraine with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Griffiths, the U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief …

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Residents of eastern Ukraine were jolted by the sound of air raid sirens Saturday. The region’s governor is warning civilians to evacuate immediately as Russia increases shelling in the area. Governor Serhiy Haidai told a public television station that Russia is “amassing an offensive” on the third of the population that remains in Ukraine’s Luhansk …

Read more “Eastern Ukraine Governor Warns of Russian ‘Offensive,’ Urges Residents to Evacuate”

The world is shocked at what has been discovered in the Ukrainian town of Bucha after Russian forces retreated. As residents and authorities investigate the devastation, they are finding mass graves, burned out vehicles and destroyed buildings amid the widespread loss of life. VOA’s Heather Murdock reports on the atrocities in Bucha, which Ukrainian officials …

Read more “Ukrainian Authorities in Bucha Exhuming Multiple Mass Graves”

Spain is awaiting the publication in coming days of a new law banning the intimidation or harassment of women entering abortion clinics. The law comes into force when it is published in the Government Gazette, possibly next week, after the Spanish Senate on Wednesday endorsed a law passed earlier by parliament. The Senate gave its …

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Civilian evacuations moved forward Saturday in patches of battle-scarred eastern Ukraine a day after a missile strike killed at least 52 people at a train station where thousands were waiting to leave the increasingly vulnerable region before an expected Russian onslaught. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy demanded a tough global response to Friday’s train station attack …

Read more “More Civilians Flee East Ukraine After Deadly Station Strike”

YouTube has blocked Duma TV which broadcasts from Russia’s lower house of parliament, drawing an angry response from officials who said the world’s most popular streaming service could face restrictions in response. On Saturday, a message on YouTube said the Duma channel had been “terminated for a violation of YouTube’s Terms of Service.” YouTube, owned …

Read more “YouTube Blocks Russian Parliament Channel, Drawing Ire From Officials”

Their government still unrecognized by any country in the world, Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban have found a way to beat international isolation: opening diplomatic ties with neighboring countries and others, with an eye to gaining formal recognition. In recent months, at least four countries — China, Pakistan, Russia and Turkmenistan — have accredited Taliban-appointed diplomats, even …

Read more “Russia Latest Country to Establish Diplomatic Ties With Taliban”

More than 50 civilians have been killed and dozens wounded in a missile strike on a railway station in Ukraine, which Kyiv blamed on Russian forces. Henry Ridgwell’s report contains graphic images that may be disturbing to some viewers. Cameras: Henry Ridgwell, Oleksiy Merkulov, Serhiy Horbatenko. …

About 30 Sudanese citizens living in Europe demonstrated Friday outside the International Criminal Court in The Hague, demanding that Sudanese officials surrender more individuals accused of committing atrocities in Darfur. The ICC’s trial of suspected Janjaweed militia leader Ali Kushayb got underway this week, with Kushayb pleading not guilty to 31 counts of war crimes …

Read more “Darfur Protesters Outside ICC Trial Demand Bashir’s Handover”

Ukraine has recaptured the northern city of Chernihiv from Russian forces. But after a rocket attack in the east killed dozens of people Friday, residents are wary, saying they are expecting they could be attacked again. VOA’s Heather Murdock has more from Chernihiv, Ukraine. …

Russia has declared 45 Polish embassy and consulate staff “persona non grata” in retaliation for Warsaw’s expulsion of 45 Russian diplomats from Poland, Moscow’s foreign ministry said Friday.  Poland said in March that the 45 Russian diplomats were suspected of working for Russian intelligence.    …

As Turkish military dive teams this week safely defused their third floating naval mine in Turkish waters since March 26, some maritime experts said the explosives still pose a threat to Istanbul’s Bosphorus Strait. On March 19, Russia’s FSB intelligence service said 420 naval mines were drifting freely in the Black Sea after breaking loose …

Read more “Amid Russia-Ukraine War, Turkey Worries About Floating Mines in Black Sea”

Belarusian journalist Catarina Andreeva, who is serving a two-year prison sentence for covering protests against authoritarian ruler Alexander Lukashenko, has now been charged with high treason just ahead of her release. Andreeva’s husband, Ihor Ilyash, wrote on Facebook on April 7 that it remains unclear what the charge is based on, adding that the investigations …

Read more “Jailed Belarusian Journalist Charged With Treason 5 Months Before Her Release”

Ukrainian state railway officials say more than 30 people were killed and 100 were wounded Friday in a Russian rocket attack on a railway station in east Ukraine that was being used to evacuate civilians, as the region readies for another major Russian offensive. Two rockets are said to have struck the station in Kramatorsk. …

Read more “Russian Airstrike Hits Ukraine Train Station”

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 …

Read more “UN Food Agency: Russian’s Spending on Food Doubles Following Ukraine War”

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. …

Read more “German President Calls for War Crimes Tribunal Against Putin, Lavrov”

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 …

Read more “NATO Pledges New Weapons for Ukraine With ‘Strong Sense of Urgency’”

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 …

Read more “Health Care Under Threat in Ukraine “