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by Nina LARSON More than 5.3 million Ukrainians have fled their country since Russia invaded two months ago, the United Nations said Wednesday, with more than 52,000 joining their ranks in the past 24 hours. In total, 5,317,219 people have fled Ukraine as refugees since February 24, according to the latest data from the UN refugee agency, UNHCR. That marks an increase of 52,452 over the figure given on Tuesday. While the outflow has slowed […]
Moscow said Wednesday it was expelling eight Japanese diplomats in a tit-for-tat response to expulsions by Tokyo over the conflict in Ukraine. Accusing Tokyo of pursuing an “openly hostile anti-Russian course,” the foreign ministry said in a statement that the Japanese diplomats must leave by May 10, in a reciprocal answer to Japan’s expulsion of eight Russian diplomats. It accused Tokyo of “taking steps that were unprecedented in modern Russian-Japanese relations” and “abandoning friendly, constructive […]
by Dave CLARK with Emmanuel PEUCHOT in Kharkiv The European Union warned Russia on Wednesday it would not bend to “blackmail” over its support for Kyiv, after the Kremlin cut off gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland. The warning came as UN chief Antonio Guterres arrived in Kyiv to meet Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky following talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Putin issued his own warning on Wednesday, saying that if Western forces […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia’s energy giant Gazprom said Wednesday it had stopped all gas supplies to Poland and highly dependent Bulgaria after not receiving payment in rubles from the two EU members. President Vladimir Putin last month said Russia will only accept payment for deliveries in its national currency, with buyers required to set up ruble accounts or have their taps turned off. Gazprom said in a statement it notified Bulgaria’s state-owned gas […]
by Christophe Archambault © Agence France-Presse SIGHETU MARMATIEI, Romania (AFP) – A heartbreaking human drama is playing out along Ukraine’s borders — fleeing refugees pass the homesick going back, while others who left and then returned flee for their lives for a second time. Women and children are still pouring out of a land being pummelled by what one called Russia’s “creatures from Hell”. But hundreds of thousands of refugees are returning home, determined to […]
by Paul HANDLEY Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The push by the United States to send artillery to Ukraine aims to degrade Russian forces — not only on the immediate battlefield but over the longer term, according to US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and military experts. The United States, France, Czech Republic and other allies are sending scores of the long-range howitzers to help Ukraine blunt Russia’s mounting offensive in the eastern […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP)– Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday that peace talks with Ukraine would continue, while warning there was a “real” danger of a World War III. Speaking to Russian news agencies, he criticised Kyiv’s approach to the talks, adding: “Good will has its limits. But if it isn’t reciprocal, that doesn’t help the negotiation process. “But we are continuing to engage in negotiations with the team delegated by (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) […]
KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of planning to “falsify” an independence referendum in the partly occupied southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. In a video message Thursday evening, Zelensky urged residents of areas under occupation to not provide any personal information, like their passport numbers, to the Russian forces. “This is not to help you… This is aimed to falsify the so-called referendum on your land, if an order […]
by Sam KINGSLEY Agence France Presse HELSINKI, Finland (AFP) — Finland’s parliament on Wednesday opened a debate on whether to seek NATO membership, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sparked a surge in political and public support for joining the military alliance. Despite Russia warning of a nuclear build-up in the Baltic should Finland and neighbouring Sweden join the military alliance, Finland’s prime minister said that her country now needed to decide quickly on whether […]
by Joris Fioriti with Anatoly Stepanov in Kramatorsk © Agence France-Presse ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (AFPZ) — Ukraine called Wednesday for urgent negotiations with Russia in Mariupol, which appeared close to falling after weeks of siege, as Vladimir Putin flexed his military muscle with the test launch of a new, nuclear capable ICBM. Washington downplayed the test of the intercontinental ballistic missile and said it had been notified in advance, but Putin said it would make […]
OSLO, Norway (AFP) — Norway has given Ukraine around 100 French-made Mistral anti-air missiles, the government said on Wednesday. The Mistral launchers and missiles, which have already been delivered, had until now been mounted on Norwegian navy vessels, the defence ministry said in a statement. Built from the end of the 1980s by defence group Matra, which later merged with European missile developer MBDA, the Mistral is a very short-range surface-to-air missile. It can be […]
KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — Ukraine said it had agreed with Russian forces to open a safe route Wednesday for civilians to flee the besieged port city of Mariupol. “Taking into account a catastrophic humanitarian situation in Mariupol, we’ll be concentrating our efforts in this direction today,” Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk wrote on Telegram. “We have managed to get a preliminary agreement on a humanitarian corridor for women, children and elderly persons,” she […]
