Inside the activism of a prominent Ukrainian Protestant trying to show Republicans in the U.S. that Kyiv is the real defender of Christian values.
country: Ukraine
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With strikes on Moscow’s fleet in the Black Sea, Ukraine has undermined the Russian capacity to slow down Ukrainian grain exports. It’s a pivotal triumph, which nonetheless can’t hide Kyiv’s losing ground on the front line on a regular basis.
After going on humanitarian missions in Kenya and Rwanda, Ukrainian surgeon Evgeniy Tkachev returned home in 2014 when the Donbas war broke out. He recounts his experiences as a medical volunteer then and now, as his hometown of Chasiv Yar is being stormed by Russian troops.
The competing May 8 and May 9 World War II victory celebrations, and an upcoming D-Day snub to Vladimir Putin, show how uncertain the future appears right now. Perhaps even more uncertain than the Cold War.
Demonstrations suppressed by the forces of order are taking place daily in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi around a draft law on “foreign interests”, considered by the protesters to be a “Russian law.” At stake is Georgia’s future, between the European Union and Putin’s Russia.
When the U.S. and other Western countries recently defended Israel against Iran’s drones and missiles, Ukrainians began to blame themselves for not receiving similar protection against Russia’s attacks. But the reality is very different.
In an ominous speech in Paris, the French president warned that Europe is in mortal danger. Macron also suggested he may be just the man to save it.
Switzerland announced, on April 10, that it would hold a peace conference on Ukraine in June. While some 100 countries are expected to attend, Russia will not. So what is behind these talks, and what can be expected from them?
It has taken months for Ukraine to be able to celebrate the U.S. approval of a much-needed aid package. Now that the House of Representatives has voted in favour, what is crucial is the timing of the arms delivery. Because the aid package comes late, but hopefully not too late for Ukraine to reverse its losses on the battlefield, writes Pierre Haski for France Inter.
Seeing the near-perfect effectiveness of Israel’s defense against Iranian drones and missiles, Ukrainians are bitterly wondering why the West is denying them life-saving assistance. Fear of confrontation with a nuclear Russia remains the main reason.
How the women’s partisan movement rose up from the southeastern city of Melitopol to carry out undercover operations in the occupied territories of Ukraine that undermine every step of the Russian troops.
Russia’s semantic war against Ukraine aims to create a discourse and future in which Ukraine never was and never will be. Ukraine — and its Western allies — must take this war as seriously as the military war.
Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, viewed the confession of a detained militant as a “proof” that Ukraine was involved in the deadly attack. They employed it to facilitate comprehensive military mobilization ahead of a looming fresh large offensive on Ukraine.
Geopolitical analysts who view Russia as an unpredictable force tend to understand Moscow’s actions in purely worldly, political terms. German Professor of Theology Hubertus Lutterbach has uncovered a different message hidden in Putin’s religiosity — an implicit threat to his neighbors and the world.
Russia is planning a large-scale offensive in Ukraine for the coming months. Putin wants to gain as much territory as possible, while Kyiv is waiting in vain for the West to provide more weapons. But the Ukrainian army is by no means as vulnerable as it seems.
NATO this week unveiled new plans to massively expand its support for Ukraine. A plan by Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg includes an additional 100 billion euros in military aid to be coordinated by the Alliance — together with weapons delivery and military training. The plan is meant to reverse the momentum in the defensive campaign against Russia. But it carries several major risks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s decision to lower conscription age from 27 to 25 may not be sufficient to replenish the army’s ranks, in a country where the age of the average soldier is far above other countries at war — now and historically. Here’s why.
While Germany’s Scholz has chosen to walk a tightrope, France’s Macron has made a major U-turn on. While differences between Berlin and Paris are not new, the intensifying war in Ukraine has changed the situation.
Pope Francis appears incapable of grasping that for Ukraine to “raise the white flag” would be to concede defeat, and accept the victory of evil over good. Is he a poor theologian or a poor global strategist, or both?
Celebrating his reelection and the 10th anniversary of the annexation of Crimea on Monday, Vladimir Putin showed that he is not backing down. And he signaled that he will redouble his efforts in the invasion of Ukraine as well as his psychological war with the West.
President Vladimir Putin is just a vessel for a longstanding Russian psychology that is simultaneously expansionist and worried about external threats on the Motherland.
Ukrainian drones that struck nine Russian provinces on Tuesday while armed Russian dissident soldiers launched a ground attack against Moscow’s troops in the Bolgorod region, bordering Ukraine. It’s a reminder to the Russian people that the war is on them, and won’t be ending anytime soon.
The “pearl of the Black Sea” was the scene of the single Ukrainian military victory in 2023, when the country broke the maritime blockade imposed by Moscow. But, as a third year under the bombs begins, the first cracks appear among the port city’s residents, who are torn between weariness, anger toward Ukraine’s leaders and an insatiable passion to live a full life.
Despite Western sanctions against doing business in Russia, and Renishaw’s promises that it has closed its business there, Russian defense plants continue to receive both measuring equipment and software from the British engineering company.
Since the war began, an estimated 2,500 children have been transferred from Ukraine to Russia, where local authorities are training potential foster parents on how to raise these “children from the combat zone” and “work with their national identity.”
Ukrainian journalist and soldier Pavlo Kazarin reflects on what he has learned about dealing with time, taking control of circumstances, and living in this historic era since enlisting in the army.
After Super Tuesday, Americans (and the world) are now virtually assured of another Biden-Trump showdown in November. It’s a chilling reminder to Europe that their fate is tied too closely to the whims of U.S. politics.
Russians have long waged systematic and effective disinformation campaigns. Roman Vybranovskyi considers “active measures” that have been successful in the past, and what can be done to fight them today, notably in Ukraine.
The fact that the Ukrainian army has been forced onto the defensive is mainly due to sluggish support from the West. However, there is another factor at play that is contributing to the dangerous situation: the leadership approach of President Zelensky is being increasingly called into question.
With men leaving for the front, Ukrainian women have stepped in to fill the void, notably in the coal industry. A reportage from the mines of the Dnipropetrovsk region to see how women are faring in this male-dominated field.
The authorities of the pro-Russian breakaway region of Transnistria in Moldava have asked for “protection” from Russia, which has been quick to respond. It is a blatantly “engineered-from-scratch” crisis in a region bordering Ukraine. This tiny territory may be the next place on the world map to watch.
After a short “honeymoon period” that followed the start of the full-scale Russian invasion, Ukrainian-Polish relations have once again entered a state of permanent crisis. Strong words against Russia at the UN by Polish Foreign Minister were appreciated, but long-term relations between Kyiv and Warsaw are bound to be more complicated.
Reports abound of forced mobilization taking place in the Chechen Republic, where the regime of Ramzam Kadyrov, in an effort to gain Vladimir Putin’s favor, is using pressure and blackmail to force its men to join the Russian war effort.
Real estate is booming in Ukraine, even as the war with Russia has fundamentally changed where people want to live, and in what kind of buildings. There is, in any case, a lot of activity as lives are uprooted — and a general preference for lower floors.
As the war in Ukraine enters its third year, results of a survey suggest that only one European out of ten thinks that Ukraine will come out of this war with a victory. While their support has not shifted towards Russia, the poll results give an insight into how fatigue is playing in citizens’ minds — and what European governments have to put up with if they want to continue supporting an expensive war.
There are many analogies between 1916 and 2024, two years into World War I and the War in Ukraine respectively. It offers a clear way to try to understand what may happen next in Ukraine — and the world.
It’s what we call lighting a counter-fire. At a time when U.S. support for Ukraine is under threat, Europe is coming together. But can it fill the void that may be left by Washington?
While Ukrainians may be hoping for Russia to disintegrate, history shows otherwise. Only when Putin’s authoritarian regime will come down, will it be possible for Chechens, Dagestanis, Buryats, Yakuts, or Bashkortostans to gain any kind of autonomy or democracy vis a vis Moscow.
A video is fueling speculation about Ukrainian military activities in Africa that appears to show the capture of Wagner mercenaries in Sudan. Kyiv is cooperating with the army in the African nation in the fight against the RSF militia supported by Wagner — in a sort of proxy war far from home.
Donald Trump’s recent campaign remarks have escalated concerns in Europe as he questioned the credibility of NATO’s collective defense and went as far as encouraging Russia to act freely.