Major Russian air strikes destroy Kyiv power plant, damage other stations
Kyiv, Ukraine Reuters Russian missiles and drones destroyed a large electricity plant near Kyiv and hit power facilities in several regions of Ukraine on Thursday, officials said, ramping up pressure on the embattled energy system as Kyiv runs low on air defences. The major attack more than two years since Russia’s full-scale invasion completely destroyed […]
Russia says it is hard to believe Islamic State could have launched Moscow attack
Moscow, Russia Reuters Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday that it was “extremely hard to believe” that Islamic State would have had the capacity to launch an attack on a Moscow concert hall last Friday that killed at least 143 people. Zakharova repeated Moscow’s assertions, for which it has not yet provided […]
Lukashenko to run for president in 2025, Belarus blasts US over poll criticism
Moscow, Russia Reuters Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko said he would run for president again in 2025, Belarusian state news agency BelTA reported on Sunday. Lukashenko made his comments after voting in parliamentary and local council elections, denounced by the United States as a sham. The ex-Soviet state’s top election official dismissed the criticism and told […]
Silencing dissent: Belarus cracks down on clergy who supported protests of its authoritarian leader
YURAS KARMANAU, of Associated Press, reports on the increasing crackdown on clergy and religious organisations who are critical of the government of President Alexander Lukashenko…
Essay: Israel now ranks among the world’s leading jailers of journalists. We don’t know why they’re behind bars
PETER GRESTE, Professor of Journalism and Communications at Australia’s Macquarie University, looks – in an article first published on The Conversation – at the latest annual report from the Committee to Protect Journalists…
Belarus’ authoritarian leader tightens control over the country’s religious groups
Tallinn, Estonia AP Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has signed a law into effect that significantly tightens control over various religious denominations and organisations. The law, published on the presidential website this week, mandates that all denominations and religious groups reapply for state registration, which authorities reserve the right to refuse. In this photo provided by […]
Ukrainian teen returns to Ukraine after being taken to Russia from occupied Mariupol
Kortelisy, Ukraine Reuters A Ukrainian teenager who was taken to Russia from the occupied city of Mariupol during the war and prevented from leaving the country earlier this year returned to Ukraine on Sunday. Bohdan Yermokhin, who turned 18 on Sunday, appealed to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy this month to help bring him back to Ukraine. […]
Thousands of Ukrainian children taken to Belarus – Yale research
Amsterdam, The NetherlandsReuters More than 2,400 children from Ukraine aged between six and 17 years old have been taken to 13 facilities across Belarus since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, research published by Yale University said on Thursday. Ukraine’s prosecutor general said in May that he was investigating the alleged role of […]
Organise or fight? Three years in exile, Belarus opposition divided about path
Warsaw, PolandReuters Pavel Maryeuski, 33, was an activist committed to peaceful politics who had never held a weapon, when he fled his native Belarus after President Alexander Lukashenko’s crackdown on protests following an election three years ago. Last year, when Russia invaded Ukraine, he felt the call to battle, and joined a Belarus volunteer unit fighting in support of […]
A year before Paris Olympics, Ukraine torn over boycott threat
Kyiv, UkraineReuters Kyiv could drop a threatened boycott of next year’s Paris Olympics if athletes from Russia and Belarus, allies in the war in Ukraine, compete under a neutral flag rather than their national colours, Ukraine’s sports minister told Reuters. Vadym Huttsait said there had been no decision to soften Ukraine’s stance but indicated Kyiv […]