Category: News

Russian prosecutors are seeking an additional 13-year sentence for high profile Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, a spokeswoman for Navalny said Tuesday. “We’ve been saying that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin wants to keep Navalny in prison forever. The upcoming sentence has nothing to do with the law,” the spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh, wrote on Twitter. Navalny, 45, …

Read more “Russian Prosecutors Seek 13 Year Additional Sentence for Dissident Navalny “

China says it does not want to get caught up in the diplomatic and economic blowback Russia is facing from Western nations over its invasion of Ukraine. State media said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi expressed his government’s wishes during a lengthy phone conversation Monday with Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares. According to a …

Read more “China Says It Is ‘Not a Party’ to Ukraine Crisis”

More than 2.8 million people have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion, according to the United Nations — the swiftest mass exodus of refugees since World War II, some experts say. The overwhelming majority of refugees from Ukraine are fleeing to European Union countries. More than half of those have fled to Poland, while hundreds of …

Read more “European Union Grants Temporary Protection to Ukrainians”

A look at the latest developments in Ukraine after Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24, 2022. …

White House says ‘no evidence’ Russia willing to pair diplomacy with de-escalation  …

The battle over Ukraine’s fate is happening on multiple fronts, with U.S. officials flying around the globe to meet with civilians who have been affected by the carnage, but also speaking virtually and in person with officials from other countries who have a role to play in ending this conflict. VOA’s Anita Powell reports from …

Read more “Ukraine Conflict Sees Multiple Diplomatic Fronts “

Some experts say China is trying to safeguard itself from the impact of Western sanctions without forfeiting ties to Russia …

WASHINGTON — Ukraine’s economy is expected to contract by 10% in 2022 as a result of Russia’s invasion, but the outlook could worsen sharply if the conflict lasts longer, the International Monetary Fund said in a staff report released on Monday. The report, prepared ahead of the IMF’s approval of $1.4 billion in emergency financing, …

Read more “Ukraine Economy to Contract Sharply in 2022 Due to War, IMF Report Says”

Full developments of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine   …

Two months after the Berlin Wall fell, another powerful symbol opened its doors in the middle of Moscow: a gleaming new McDonald’s.  It was the first American fast-food restaurant to enter the Soviet Union, reflecting the new political openness of the era. For Vlad Vexler, who as a 9-year-old waited in a two-hour line to …

Read more “Once a Powerful Symbol in Russia, McDonald’s Withdraws”

Russian officials have said that they will move to nationalize the assets of Western companies that pull out of their country over its invasion of Ukraine, a decision that will cause significant economic harm to hundreds of businesses while, at least temporarily, preserving the jobs of the tens of thousands of Russians employed by them.  …

Read more “Putin Threatens to Privatize Western Companies that Exit Russia”

An anti-war protester interrupted the main news program on Russian state TV Channel One on Monday, holding up a sign behind the studio presenter with slogans denouncing the war in Ukraine. The sign, in English and Russian, read: “NO WAR. Stop the war. Don’t believe propaganda. They are lying to you here.” Another phrase, which …

Read more “Anti-war Protester in Studio Disrupts Live Russian State TV News”

German prosecutors said Monday they have charged Wirecard’s former chief executive Markus Braun and two other high-ranking managers for the colossal commercial fraud that led to the collapse of the payment company. The trio are accused of market manipulation, embezzlement and gang fraud on a commercial scale, said prosecutors, noting that the indictment itself runs …

Read more “Germany Charges Wirecard’s ex-CEO Braun over Fraud”

Marina, a 34-year-old mother of a seven-year-old boy, waves a hand in what she thinks is the direction of Ukraine. “I have to stay near Ukraine, and my husband, that is where my heart is,” she says. “America, Britain, Spain, Italy, what would I do there without him,” she says, after I ask her whether …

Read more “Reporter’s Notebook: ‘The Future Is Here’”

The chairperson of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said Monday that Russia’s targeting of Ukrainian civilians, as well as schools and hospitals, is “state terrorism.” “The invading force started to target the civilian population and infrastructure in an attempt to break the spirit of the Ukrainian people,” Zbigniew Rau said. “This is …

Read more “OSCE Chair: Russian Actions in Ukraine ‘State Terrorism’  “

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has been denied permission to appeal at the Supreme Court against a decision to extradite him to the United States, the court said on Monday. U.S. authorities want Australian-born Assange, 50 to face trial on 18 counts relating to WikiLeaks’ release of vast troves of confidential U.S. military records and diplomatic …

Read more “WikiLeaks’ Assange Denied Permission to Appeal Extradition Decision at Supreme Court”

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has confirmed the bloc is poised to impose a fourth round of sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. Speaking in Skopje during a visit to the North Macedonian capital on Monday, the EU’s top diplomat accused Moscow of targeting civilians in its war against Ukraine, noting that …

Read more “EU Confirms New Sanctions Package Against Russia “

BERLIN — Germany will purchase F-35 fighter jets built by U.S. firm Lockheed Martin LMT.N to replace its aging Tornado aircraft, according to two government sources, with one of the sources saying Berlin aims to buy up to 35 of the stealth jets.  A German defense source told Reuters in early February that Germany was …

Read more “Germany to Buy up to 35 Lockheed F-35 Fighter Jets – Sources”

Shelling by Russia near Ukraine’s border with Poland reveals Putin’s frustration, according to U.S. national security adviser …

Russia may default on its debts in the wake of unprecedented sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, but that would not trigger a global financial crisis, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Sunday. Georgieva told CBS’s “Face the Nation” program that sanctions imposed by the United States and other democracies were already …

Read more “IMF: Russian Default No Longer ‘Improbable,’ but No Trigger for Global Financial Crisis”

President Joe Biden is sending his national security adviser for talks with a senior Chinese official in Rome on Monday as concerns grow that China is amplifying Russian disinformation in the Ukraine war and may help Russia evade punishment from economic sanctions. The talks between National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and senior Chinese foreign policy …

Read more “US, China Officials to Meet as Tensions Mount Over Russia”

U.S. officials say Russia’s lethal shelling in the western part of Ukraine on Sunday, close to the border with Poland, is something that they had anticipated. “This does not come as a surprise to the American intelligence and national security community,” said U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan during a Sunday morning appearance on CNN. …

Read more “US Official: War Widening to the West of Ukraine Was Anticipated  “

For many Ukrainians, staying online has been daunting as Russia attacks telecoms and power supplies, but some people, like Oleg Kutkov, a software and communications engineer, are testing out a new way to stay connected. In a FaceTime interview with VOA Mandarin from Kyiv, Kutkov held up the components of the two-part terminal needed to …

Read more “Corporations and Big Tech Find Ways to Help Ukraine ”

Demonstrations are taking place in many locations across Russia on Sunday to protest Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine with nearly 300 detained by police so far. OVD-Info, which monitors arrests during protests, said police had detained 292 people during demonstrations in 25 Russian cities. An AFP journalist present at a protest in the capital Moscow …

Read more “Nearly 300 Detained in Anti-War Protests in Russia”