Month: September 2022

Private American pilots with a group called “Ukraine Air Rescue” are working to get supplies into Ukraine. VOA Russian met some of them and has the story. VOA footage by David Gogokhia. …

Armenia and Azerbaijan accused each other on Wednesday of violating a cease-fire agreement that ended two days of warfare this month – the second such violation in five days. Azerbaijan’s defense ministry said that at about 6 p.m. (1400 GMT), Armenian units had started firing at Azerbaijani positions in the Kalbajar region, wounding one serviceman, …

The youth league of South Africa’s ruling ANC party has endorsed Russia’s referendums in occupied parts of Ukraine, which are designed to pave the way for Moscow to annex the territories. The endorsement came after members of the group accepted invitations from Moscow to act as international observers of the Kremlin-orchestrated votes. The Ukrainian Association …

The U.N. human rights office is calling for the release of Russians arrested for protesting President Vladimir Putin’s draft to build up Russia’s fighting capacity in Ukraine. Nearly 2,400 demonstrators reportedly have been arrested in various locations across Russia following President Vladimir Putin’s declaration last Wednesday of a partial mobilization of troops to join the …

The U.S. State Department expressed concern Wednesday that Americans with dual citizenship with Russia could be conscripted by Moscow to help fight its war against Ukraine. “Russia may refuse to acknowledge dual nationals’ U.S. citizenship, deny their access to U.S. consular assistance, prevent their departure from Russia, and conscript dual nationals for military service,” the …

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Wednesday that all indications are that leaks from two Nord Stream natural gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea “are the result of a deliberate act.”  “We will support any investigation aimed at getting full clarity on what happened and why, and will take further steps to increase …

Ukrainian war veterans who lost limbs in the war are undergoing a unique form of therapy that involves help from some four-legged friends. Omelyan Oshchudlyak has the story. Camera: Yuriy Dankevych …

About 98,000 Russians have crossed into Kazakhstan in the week since President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilization of reservists to fight in Ukraine, Kazakh officials said Tuesday, as men seeking to avoid the call-up continued to flee by land and air into neighboring countries. Kazakhstan and Georgia, both part of the former Soviet Union, …

Russia claimed Tuesday that early vote counting in what Western allies say are sham referendums showed Ukrainians in four regions overwhelmingly supporting joining Russia.  State news agency RIA Novosti said that with about a fifth of the vote counted from the five days of balloting in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, more than 97% of …

A sprawling disinformation network originating in Russia sought to use hundreds of fake social media accounts and dozens of sham news websites to spread Kremlin talking points about the invasion of Ukraine, Meta revealed Tuesday. The company, which owns Facebook and Instagram, said it identified and disabled the operation before it was able to gain …

A Spanish court on Tuesday formally ordered Colombian superstar Shakira to stand trial on accusations that she failed to pay $14.31 million in income taxes, a court document released on Tuesday showed. The ‘Hips Don’t Lie’ singer, 45, whose full name is Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, rejected in July a deal to settle the case, …