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The United States assesses that members of Russia’s military, since their invasion of Ukraine last month, have committed war crimes there and vows that those responsible will be held accountable. VOA’s senior diplomatic correspondent Cindy Saine reports. …
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday Russian forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine and that the U.S. will work to hold Russia accountable. “We’ve seen numerous credible reports of indiscriminate attacks and attacks deliberately targeting civilians, as well as other atrocities,” Blinken said, adding that many of the apartment buildings, schools, hospitals and …
Read more “Blinken Formalizes Accusations of Russian War Crimes in Ukraine”
President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Russia will only accept payments in rubles for gas deliveries to “unfriendly countries,” which include all EU members, after Moscow was hit by unprecedented sanctions over Ukraine. Immediately after his announcement, the ruble, which has plummeted since the start of the Ukraine conflict, strengthened against the dollar and euro, …
Read more “Putin Tells Europe to Pay for Natural Gas in Rubles”
The U.N. General Assembly began a lengthy debate Wednesday over two draft resolutions that seek to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, where millions wait for food, water and medical supplies or the chance to escape their besieged country safely. “Thousands of Ukrainians have lost their lives over this month: young and old, …
Read more “As Ukrainians Wait for Humanitarian Aid, More Talk at UN”
Senior Western officials are increasingly alarmed that Russia’s losses in Ukraine are making President Vladimir Putin more dangerous, some going as far as to compare him to a caged animal ready to lash out. The warnings, from Washington and Brussels, come as new intelligence estimates suggest that up to 20% of Russian troops sent into …
Read more “NATO Fears Russia’s Failures in Ukraine Making Putin More Dangerous”
Western leaders meeting in Brussels about Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine are expected to spend a significant amount of time talking about China. U.S. security officials say they have yet to see any sign that Beijing is providing Moscow with military equipment or other aid to boost the Russian forces. But Western officials warn China’s …
The Biden administration on Wednesday accused Russia of committing war crimes in Ukraine. “Today, I can announce that, based on information currently available, the U.S. government assesses that members of Russia’s forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. The accusations come as both Blinken and …
Kenya’s tea and flower exporters say global sanctions to punish Russia for invading Ukraine have halted millions of dollars of Kenyan trade with Russian importers. While they hope for peace, Kenyan traders are looking for alternative buyers. Victoria Amunga reports from Kajiado, Kenya. …
Russian and Belarusian swimmers, divers, water polo players and artistic swimmers will no longer be able to compete in the upcoming world championships over the war in Ukraine, swimming’s governing body announced Wednesday. Soon after the invasion, swimming’s governing body, FINA, said it would allow the swimmers to compete, but as neutral athletes who didn’t …
Read more “Russian, Belarusian Swimmers Banned from World Championships”
A small protest group of Ukrainians greeted the arrival of a large yacht belonging to Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich. The billion-dollar vessel was joined a day later by a second owned by Abramovich at the Turkish Aegean resort of Bodrum, a popular playground for the world’s super-rich. With Abramovich under sanctions by both the European …
Read more “Arrival of Oligarch Yachts Raises Questions about Turkey’s Stance on Russia”
U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price says officials from the U.S. Embassy in Moscow visited American basketball player Brittney Griner in a Russian prison and reported she is in good condition. Griner, 31, was detained in February at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport on a flight from New York. When authorities scanned her luggage, they say …
Read more “American Basketball Player Reportedly in Good Condition in Russian Jail”
Well-known post-Soviet reformer Anatoly Chubais has reportedly left his post as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s envoy for stable development, a move that could signal a high-profile protest inside the Kremlin against Moscow’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. News agencies Bloomberg and Reuters on March 23 quoted Kremlin sources as saying that Chubais, who was responsible …
Read more “Reports: Noted Post-Soviet Reformer Chubais Leaves Post as Putin Envoy”
NATO leaders meet in Brussels today (Thursday) for an extraordinary summit on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. As Henry Ridgwell reports from NATO headquarters, calls are growing for the West to take stronger military action in support of Ukraine. …
Poland’s interior ministry says 45 Russian diplomats have been identified as working in Poland as spies and they have been expelled. On his Twitter account, Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski said “Poland expelled 45 Russian spies pretending to be diplomats. With full consistency and determination, we are breaking up the agents of the Russian secret …
Read more “Poland Says 45 Russian Diplomats are Suspected Spies “
Baltics long seen as one of NATO’s most vulnerable regions …
US officials warn situation could worsen as Moscow grows increasingly frustrated, targets civilians …
Full developments of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine …
On Wednesday, U.S. President Joe Biden heads to Brussels and Warsaw to coordinate with Western allies on the next phase of military, economic and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. White House Bureau chief Patsy Widakuswara has this report, narrated by correspondent Anita Powell from Brussels. …
The United States on Tuesday announced an agreement with Britain to end tariffs on steel and aluminum imports imposed by former president Donald Trump. “By allowing for a flow of duty-free steel and aluminum from the UK, we further ease the gap between supply and demand for these products in the United States,” Commerce Secretary …
Read more “US Announces Deal With UK to End Steel, Aluminum Tariffs”
Nearly a month after Russian forces invaded Ukraine, there are growing indications Ukrainian forces are going on the offensive, targeting Russian troops and, in some cases, retaking lost ground. Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday that its forces had retaken Makariv, a suburb of the capital of Kyiv, following heavy fighting. Ukraine’s military also appeared …
Read more “Ukraine Forces Launching Counterattacks as Russian Invasion Stalls”
Multiple, small earthquakes that have been rattling a mid-Atlantic Portuguese island for three days could trigger a stronger tremor or a volcanic eruption, experts said on Tuesday, as authorities urged people not to travel there. The number of earthquakes recorded on the volcanic island of Sao Jorge in the Azores archipelago since Saturday afternoon has …
Read more “Azores on Alert for Large Quake, Eruption After Three Days of Shaking”
Chinese state-controlled media are placing volumes of content on popular social media platforms to air the government’s unique message about Russia’s war on Ukraine to a Western audience, analysts say. News readers don’t always know the content’s origin, they add. The official Xinhua News Agency, the English-language newspaper China Daily and the English website …
Read more “China Uses Overseas Social Media to Spread Unique Views on War in Ukraine”
Rights activists in Azerbaijan say the government’s recent sentencing to prison of an opposition party leader on charges of slander is another sign of how defamation laws are being used against political opponents and civil society activists in the country. Last month the Baku Appellate Court upheld the five-month prison sentence given to Ali Aliyev, …
Read more “Azerbaijan’s Jailing of Opposition Party Leader Highlights Criminalization of Slander”
The emergence of thousands of foreigners volunteering to fight for Ukraine against Russia’s invasion has drawn sharply differing responses from the governments of those pro-Ukraine fighters, some of whom are from Russia itself and its ally Belarus. The three main types of responses identified by VOA include Western governments giving tacit or explicit permission to …
Read more “Foreigners Fighting for Ukraine Elicit Scorn, Ambivalence, Support From Governments “