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Tag: Russia vs Ukraine

  • WAR: UNDP maps out plans to re-build Ukraine

    WAR: UNDP maps out plans to re-build Ukraine

    United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has mapped out plans to provide immediate economic help and would be presenting longer-term assistance to the millions left struggling to meet basic needs, following the Russia versus Ukraine war.

    UNDP has also assured that it will help rebuild the country from the ruins and devastation the war with Russia has caused it, adding many years of economic progress could be lost if the war continues.

    The announcement came as The World Bank issued an alert that Ukraine’s economy is set to shrink by 45 per cent in 2022 because of the war.

    The World Bank also noted that, hit by unprecedented sanctions, Russia’s economy has already plunged into a deep recession with output projected to contract by 11.2 per cent in 2022.

    “The war in Ukraine continues to inflict immense human suffering…with nine out of 10 people at risk of falling into poverty.

    “As part of a coordinated UN response, UNDP has an unwavering commitment to stay and deliver for the people of Ukraine,” Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator, said.
    Russia launched its first attack on Ukraine on February 24 over claims the European neighbour is trying to join NATO an attempt perceived to be inimical to the security of Russia.
  • Russia Vs Ukraine War: Pope Francis intervenes, appeals to Putin

    Russia Vs Ukraine War: Pope Francis intervenes, appeals to Putin

    The spiritual leader of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis has appealed to the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin to put an end to “spiral of violence and death” in Ukraine.

    Pope Francis said he is haunted by “rivers of blood and tears” in an address to Putin on Sunday.

    The Pope said “My appeal goes above all to the president of the Russian Federation, begging him to stop this spiral of violence and death, even out of love for his own people,” he said.

    Similarly, Pope Francis called on Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to be open to serious peace proposals to halt the ongoing war.

    He also lamented the annexation of four Ukrainian regions by Russia’s troops, saying it risked nuclear escalation, hence urging Putin to think of his own people.

    Recall that, Putin proclaimed the annexation of four partially occupied Ukrainian regions, calling the residents of Ukraine’s occupied Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions “our citizens forever”.

    Ukraine and Western allies condemned the annexation as illegal, and Kyiv said it will continue fighting to recapture all occupied Ukrainian territory.

    The war  between both countries  broke out on September 24, 2022 after Russia accused Ukraine of intention to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

  • WAR: I’ll be forced to use nuclear weapons – Russia’s Putin roars

    WAR: I’ll be forced to use nuclear weapons – Russia’s Putin roars

    Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to use the nuclear weapons to defend his country amid the ongoing war with Ukraine.

    Putin on Wednesday ordered Russia’s first mobilization since World War II which ended in 1945.

    He has backed a plan to annex swathes of Ukraine with a stern warning to the west that he wasn’t bluffing with the threats.

    In the biggest escalation of the ongoing Ukraine war since Moscow’s February 24 invasion, Putin explicitly raised the spectre of a nuclear conflict, approved a plan to annex a chunk of Ukraine the size of Hungary, and called up 300,000 reservists.

    “If the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will, without doubt, use all available means to protect Russia and our people – this is not a bluff,” Putin said in a televised address to Russia.

    He added that North Atlantic Treaty Organization, (NATO) was trying to expand and make incursions into Russia’s borders and using nuclear blackmail at the same time.

    The Russian president accused the United States, United Kingdom, European Union of encouraging Ukraine to push military operations into Russia.

    Putin said, “In its aggressive anti-Russian policy, the West has crossed every line.”

    “This isn’t a bluff. And those who try to blackmail us with nuclear weapons should know that the weathervane can turn and point towards them,” he added.

    The crisis between Ukraine and Russia (former colonies) started on the 24th of February and it has since snowballed into a war between both countries and by extension the western nations.

     

  • War: Iran intervenes in Russia, Ukraine Crisis

    War: Iran intervenes in Russia, Ukraine Crisis

    The Islamic state of Iran has presented a peace initiative proposal drafted by an European leader to Russia as a measure to end the War between two European nations of Russia and Ukraine.

    Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian confirmed that he had handed over the European proposal that he said was given to Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi.

    “There are ideas to help establish peace and stop the fighting in Ukraine, and I shared these ideas with Mr Lavrov,” Amirabdollahian said.

    He did not name the European leader behind the initiative or reveal any further details but said the proposal includes points on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant and prisoners of war.

    The war in Ukraine and Russia has left several persons dead with many recuperating in hospitals across Europe.

    Recent shelling around the plant in southeastern Ukraine has spurred fears of a possible nuclear disaster and prompted the International Atomic Energy Agency to deploy experts to visit the site.

    Russia and Ukraine have traded blame over the firefights, accusing each other of risking citizens’ safety.

    Iran’s semi-official ISNA news website reported earlier on Wednesday that French President Emmanuel Macron was the leader who relayed the message to Tehran, but no officials have commented on the issue.

    Mohammad Jamshidi, the political deputy to the Iranian president, tweeted on Wednesday that Amirabdollahian had “a peace initiative and an important message” from “a top western European leader”.

    Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began on February 24 this year, Iran has relayed messages between Moscow and Kyiv several times, but this is the first publicised instance of Tehran delivering a message from Europe.

    The Islamic republic has repeatedly stated that fighting must stop through dialogue and refuses to condemn Moscow. Tehran says NATO expansion is the root of the problem.

  • Russia vs Ukraine: President Zelensky orders Ukrainians to vacate Donetsk region

    Russia vs Ukraine: President Zelensky orders Ukrainians to vacate Donetsk region

    The President of Ukraine  Volodymyr Zelensky has given orders to Ukrainians living in the eastern parts of the Donetsk region to evacuate the area.

    Zelensky fears that the fight could escalate in those areas in the coming days.

    The Ukrainian president made this known while speaking during a late-night address on Saturday night in Kyiv.

    “The more people leave the Donetsk region now, the fewer people the Russian army will have time to kill,” he said.

    The region has seen heavy clashes amid a slow advance by Russian forces, who already control large parts of it.

    “The more people leave the Donetsk region now, the fewer people the Russian army will have time to kill,” the Ukrainian leader said. “We will use all available opportunities to save as many lives as possible and to limit Russian terror as much as possible.”

    Mr. Zelensky’s intervention comes as Russia invited UN and Red Cross officials to investigate the deaths of 50 Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) in another part of the Donetsk region held by Russian-backed separatists.

    The troops were killed in unclear circumstances during an attack on a prison in Olenivka, with both sides trading blame.

    Speaking on Saturday evening, Russia promised to launch an objective investigation into the attack

    The Red Cross said on Friday it was asking for access to the Russian-run detention facility and to surviving prisoners – but no permission was immediately forthcoming.

    The Olenivka prison camp is controlled by the Russian-backed self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR).

    What happened there on Friday remains unclear. Unverified Russian video footage of the aftermath shows a tangle of wrecked bunk beds and badly charred bodies.

    On Saturday, Russia published a list of what it said were the 50 POWs killed in the strike. Moscow says the attack was carried out by Ukraine using a US-made HIMARS artillery system.

    Kyiv denies carrying out the strike and has alleged that Russia fired on the facility to cover up evidence of war crimes.

  • WAR: Russia draws list of unfriendly countries

    WAR: Russia draws list of unfriendly countries

    Russia has added to the growing list of unfriendly countries towards it in the ongoing war with neighbour Ukraine.

    European countries of Greece, Denmark, Slovenia, Croatia, and Slovakia, have been added to the list.

    This develop[ment was made known by Prime Minister, Mikhail Mishustin, in a decree obtained by cable television, CNN.

    The decree said Russia considers nations that “commit unfriendly actions” against It as “unfriendly countries.”

    Meanwhile, the Czech Republic and the United States of America are already on the list.

    Countries in this list are limited in their ability to hire workers located in the territory of Russia for embassies, consulates, and representative offices of state bodies.

    The decree on unfriendly countries was signed by President Vladimir Putin in April 2022 barely two months after the invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops.

    Greece has a limit of hiring 34 people, Denmark of 20, and Slovakia of 16, the decree added.

    Slovenia and Croatia will not be able to hire employees for their diplomatic missions and consular offices, as was the case with the United States.

    Recall that the crisis between Ukraine started in February 2022 and has now lasted for five months with both nations expected to ceasefire.

  • WAR: Russia underestimated Ukraine’s resistance – NATO

    The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has explained that Russia underestimated the powers of Ukraine before going into war with it.

    NATO Secretary-General, Jens Stoltenberg has said that it was clear Russia underrated  Ukraine’s resistance.

    According to him, President Vladimir Putin of Russia also underestimated the unity of the NATO military alliance, adding that Putin has made a big mistake.

    Stoltenberg said  “He [Putin] has made a big mistake; he totally underestimated the strength of Ukrainian armed forces,” he told CNN.

    President Putin did not foresee the courage being displayed by President Volodymyr Zelensky and the people of Ukraine.

    He also claimed that the Russian leader had failed in achieving one of his major objectives at the beginning of the war, which was to weaken the NATO alliance.

    Stoltenberg believes that what is before Putin at this point is a more strengthened and stronger NATO with two new members, Finland and Sweden, the former which shares a border with Russia.

    Stoltenberg added that he is ignoring Putin’s rhetoric and that he will “assess him on his actions.”

    Jens Stoltenberg is a Norwegian politician serving since 2014 as the 13th secretary general of NATO. A member of the Labour Party, he previously served as the 34th prime minister of Norway from 2000 to 2001 and again from 2005 until 2013.

  • WAR: Russia accuse US of supplying weapons to Ukraine

    Russia has called out the United States of America for supply weapons used by Ukraine to attack arms depot within Moscow-controlled Luhansk.

    Russian backed forces have identified  HIMARS multiple launch rocket system, MLRS as the weapon Ukraine used.

    “The first case of the use of the American MLRS M142HIMARS, which was so advertised, was detected in the LPR today [Tuesday],” the spokesman for the People’s Militia of the self-declared Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR), Lieutenant Colonel Andrey Marochko said in an interview with state broadcaster Russia 1.

    “At 7:20 a.m., from the direction of the settlement of Artemovsk [the Ukrainian side calls the city Bakhmut], there was a strike on Perevalsk,” he said.

    “This is the deep rear,” he said, adding, “I also think this shows a lot right now, about what Ukraine is doing, because, firstly, we confirmed that these systems are in the Donbas.”

    Pictures of the aftermath of the strike, posted by Russian affiliated accounts, showed the remains of what looked like a Western-made missile.

    Commenting on the reports that Ukrainian forces had used the HIMARS to target Russian forces far from the front lines, the head of the Luhansk region military administration, Serhiy Hayday said: “There is good news in this regard, because warehouses and barracks with personnel explode and burn.”

    “This may slow down their advance towards Lysychansk,” Hayday added without providing additional details on the strike.

  • War: Russia set to take over key Ukrainian city

    Ukraine military officials have revealed that Russia will take control of its key city Severodonetsk in the eastern part of the country in few days time.

    The military officials said that most of Severodonetsk is now under Russian control.

    Russian forces destroyed the second of three bridges between the cities of Lysychansk and Severodonetsk and are heavily destroying the third with shellings.

    Head of Luhansk regional military administration, Serhiy Hayday, disclosed this, according to CNN.

    “As I understand they want to completely cut off Severodonetsk and leave it without any chance to evacuate people or bring in any munition or assistance,” Hayday said, adding that he expects the Russians to “throw all their reserves to seize the city.”

    He added that it is possible the Russians will cut off and seize the main highway into the city.

  • WAR: Sweden, Finland government dare Russia, set to join NATO

    WAR: Sweden, Finland government dare Russia, set to join NATO

    Despite playing neutral in the past years Sweden and Finland have confirmed they will apply for North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) membership in the midst of Russia-Ukraine war.

    Swedish government said it would not back down in its aspirations to join NATO

    The announcement came soon after Finland formally announced it too would apply to join the security organization.

    Russia sees NATO as a threat and has issued warnings to both Finland and Sweden, saying they risk being attacked.

    Recall that both Sweden and Finland stayed neutral in World War II and for more than two centuries have avoided joining military alliances.

    Finland shares a 1,300-km (810-mile) border with Russia. Until now, it has stayed out of Nato to avoid antagonising its eastern neighbour.

    In a statement, Sweden’s Social Democrats said they would “‘work toward” membership, something supported by the public and most opposition parties. A formal application is likely within days.

    However, the social Democrats have added that they were interested in Joining the organization but opposed to hosting NATO bases and refused stationing of nuclear weapons in their country.

    Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said her party believed joining the alliance was “best for Sweden’s and the Swedish people’s security”.

    “For us Social Democrats, it is clear that the military non-alignment has served Sweden well, but our conclusion is that it won’t serve us as well in the future,” she added.

    She also said Sweden would be left in a “vulnerable position” if it was the only country in the Baltic region that was not a NATO member.

    Finland’s President Sauli Niinisto earlier confirmed his country would apply, calling it a “historic day”.

    He spoke to Russia’s President Vladmir Putin about the decision, saying he wanted to “say it straight”.

    “I, or Finland, are not known to sneak around and quietly disappear behind a corner,” he said.

    Russia’s president had previously told Finland it would be a “mistake” to join Nato, which was founded in 1949 to counter the threat from the Soviet Union.

    President Putin mentioned Ukraine’s intention to join the alliance as one of the reasons for the invasion.