by Hervé BAR Agence France Presse KRAMATORSK, Ukraine (AFP) — A rocket attack on a train station in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk killed dozens on Friday, as civilians raced to flee the Donbas region bracing for a feared Russian offensive. World leaders condemned the attack with US President Joe Biden accusing Russia of being behind an “horrific atrocity” while the French government called it a “crime against humanity” and British Prime Minister […]
Europe
Moscow shutting down Amnesty, Human Rights Watch in Russia
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia said on Friday it was shutting down the local offices of more than a dozen international organisations including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Fifteen organisations have been taken off Russia’s registry of international organisations and foreign NGOs due to “violations of the current legislation of the Russian Federation,” the justice ministry said in a statement without providing further details. Russia also shut […]
Russia rights council suspension sends strong signal: NGOs
by Robin Millard © Agence France-Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The vote to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council on Thursday strengthens the forum and sends a powerful message that “massive”-scale violators cannot be members, rights organizations said. The United Nations General Assembly in New York voted overwhelmingly to stop Moscow sitting in judgement of other nations’ human rights records following allegations of war crimes in its six-week-long assault on Ukraine. Russia withdrew […]
EU approves Russia coal embargo, proposes more arms to Ukraine
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — The European Union on Thursday said it had approved an embargo on Russian coal and the closing of the bloc’s ports to Russian vessels over the Ukraine war. An official from the French presidency of the European Council said the moves spearhead a “very substantial” fifth round of sanctions against Moscow. That package also includes a 10 billion euro ($10.9 billion) ban on exports to Russia, including high-tech goods, and […]
Russia kicked off UN rights council over Ukraine abuses
by Hervé Bar, with Philippe Rater at the United Nations © Agence France-Presse SEVERODONETSK, Ukraine (AFP) — The United Nations suspended Russia from the Human Rights Council on Thursday, as US President Joe Biden called the atrocities continuing to emerge in Ukraine an “outrage” to humanity. The diplomatic rebuke came as the G7, the European Union and Washington further tightened the economic screws on Moscow, spurred by the horrific images emerging in recent days […]
Civilians try to flee east Ukraine as Russia prepares attack
by Hervé Bar © Agence France-Presse SEVERODONETSK, Ukraine (AFP) — Desperate evacuation attempts from eastern Ukraine were under way Thursday as authorities warned of an imminent Russian offensive, following the devastation around Kyiv that has shocked the world. Russian troops have been withdrawing from around the capital and Ukraine’s north, leaving a trail of destruction, as they prepare for an expected assault on the country’s southeast. Scenes of carnage that Ukrainian officials have accused retreating […]
Ukraine calls for ‘weapons, weapons, weapons’ at NATO talks
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Thursday called on NATO members to provide Kyiv with all the weaponry it needs to fight Russia. “My agenda is very simple. It has only three items on it. Its weapons, weapons, and weapons,” Kuleba told journalists ahead of a meeting with NATO foreign ministers in Brussels. “I call on all allies to put aside their hesitations, their reluctance, to provide Ukraine with everything it […]
Putin’s daughters, sanctioned by US, hidden from public eye
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Little is known publicly about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s daughters, sanctioned on Wednesday by the US government over Moscow’s “atrocities in Ukraine.” The US Treasury identified the daughters as Katerina Tikhonova, “a tech executive whose work supports … the Russian defense industry” and Maria Vorontsova, who leads state-funded genetics research programs “personally overseen by Putin.” A senior US official said Washington believes “Putin’s assets are hidden with family members.” […]
US slaps sanctions on Putin’s daughters, Russia’s biggest banks
The White House announced sanctions Wednesday targeting Russia’s top public and private banks and two daughters of Vladimir Putin, adding pressure on the country’s economy and its elite over the invasion of Ukraine. The new sanctions targeted Maria Vorontsova and Katerina Tikhonova, two adult daughters of Putin’s with his former wife Lyudmila Shkrebneva. Also hit with new sanctions were the wife and daughter of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and members of Russia’s Security […]
Dutch seize 14 yachts over Russia sanctions: minister
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) — Dutch customs authorities have impounded 14 yachts in shipyards, including 12 still under construction, as part of Western sanctions imposed over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the government said Wednesday. European and US authorities have seized several yachts with links to Russian tycoons under the unprecedented sanctions that followed the February 24 invasion. “Given the current measures, these vessels cannot be delivered, transferred or exported for the moment,” Foreign Minister […]
US to announce new sanctions on Russia over Ukraine killings
by Joe STENSON with Philippe RATER at the United Nations Agence France Presse KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — The United States was expected to announce tough new sanctions on Russia Wednesday, including a ban on new investments, a day after Ukraine’s president showed the UN Security Council harrowing images of violence and accused Moscow of widespread atrocities. The sanctions come after an outcry over the discovery of dozens of bodies in civilian clothing in areas […]
Spain to expel around 25 Russian diplomats
Spain will expel around 25 Russian diplomats and embassy staff over the Russian invasion of Ukraine, following similar moves by Germany and France, Spain’s foreign minister said Tuesday. “The unbearable images we have seen of the massacre of civilians in the town of Bucha after the withdrawal of the Russian army deeply outrage us,” Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said in a reference to a town outside Kyiv. The Russian diplomats and staff “represent a […]





