BOGOTÁ — A majority of gay and lesbian students in Colombia feel unsafe in school and almost a quarter of them miss classes because they fear getting bullied, a survey by two non-profits found. Sixty-seven percent of LGBT secondary schoolchildren feel unsafe at school, according to the poll by advocacy groups Colombia Diversa and Sentiido, which surveyed 500 students.
A 14-year-old bisexual student said she had not yet come out as her school would "open a disciplinary folder and force her to see a psychologist." An 18-year-old said he was relieved to have finished secondary school. He said he was tired of hearing one teacher repeat that gay men would "end up with a ripped sphincter," research by the study found.
Juliana Martínez, a member of Sentiido and a lecturer at the American University, told El Espectador that there are no figures on bullying of LGBT students at Colombian schools. "We're practically guessing ... (as) it is often not recognized as violence," she said.
The poll found that 59% of victims prefer to not speak up about the intimidation they face. This is not surprising. Many schools and parents blame the LGBT student, not the bully. Constitutional rights and the education ministry's rules are rarely enforced in schools. Sergio Urrego, a gay student who committed suicide in August 2014 after relentless bullying, has finally made Colombians wake up to the toxic environment in schools.
The study offered solutions to reduce bullying of LGBT students at school such as monitoring the language students use in classrooms. It's impossible ... to build a country at peace, when our educational institutions are favorable settings for war and violence," the survey noted.
Signs are pointing to Russian combat operations accelerating in the southeastern Donbas region, as the invasion in Ukraine nears the three-month mark. The British Ministry of Defence said Friday that more Russian troops are likely to be deployed to Donbas to reinforce operations there once they finish securing the strategic port city of Mariupol, where a growing numbers of Ukrainian soldiers has surrendered this week.
Stay up-to-date with the latest on the Russia-Ukraine war, with our exclusive international coverage.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky told Ukrainian students during a virtual address on Thursday that the war is not over yet, and is entering “the final stage (which) is the most difficult, the bloodiest.” He added that it is not time yet for him to tell Ukrainians abroad to return home.
In a later speech, Zelensky said that Russian forces have “completely destroyed” the southeastern region of Donbas. "It is hell there — and that is not an exaggeration," he said in a late night video address.
Short On Troops, Russia May Allow Over-40s To Enlist
The Russian parliament announced on Friday that, facing an urgent need to boost its war efforts in Ukraine, it would consider a bill to allow Russians over 40 and foreigners over 30 to enlist in the military.
"Clearly, the Russians are in trouble. This is the latest attempt to address manpower shortages without alarming their own population,” said retired U.S. General Ben Hodges, a former commander of U.S. Army forces in Europe.
Russia’s State Duma, parliament's lower house, said the move would allow the military to use the skills of older professionals. For the time being, only Russians aged between 18 and 40 can enter the military.
Air strikes on the port city of Odessa have become more frequent over the past three weeks, with fears rising that it could follow Mariupol as Vladimir Putin’s next principal target.
Ukrainian forces resisting in and around the city of Mykolaiv, 80 miles up the coast, have prevented Odessa from being encircled by Russian forces. But Anna Akage writes that Russia has multiple motivations, both symbolic and strategic, for focusing attacks on the southern city. Chief among these reasons is that Moscow wants to intimidate Moldova, whose border lies only 35 miles away, with its own internal battle with pro-Russian separatists in the breakaway republic of Transnistria. Read more here
China is purchasing record amounts of cheap coal from Russia while Western nations continue to apply heavy sanctions on Moscow since the invasion of Ukraine.
Still, says Lauri Myllyvirta, lead analyst at Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air, a Helsinki-based think tank,China is being careful that even while acting in its own economic interests and maintaining relations with Russia, it doesn’t go to far in antagonizing the West.
"So far,” Myllyvirta said, “the government seems to be walking a line of maintaining friendly relationships with Russia without encouraging or directing Chinese firms to increase business with the country, and discouraging anything that might run afoul of the sanctions imposed on China."
NY Times Finds New Evidence Of War Crimes In Bucha
Footage from @nytimes shows Russian soldiers leading a group of Ukrainian captives to a courtyard where they were executed on March 4 in Ukraine's Bucha. Such an important piece from @malachybrowne & team. Full report: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/19/world/europe/russia-bucha-ukraine-executions.html\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/GaOq7UljuG
The New York Timesconducted a week-long investigation that pieced together witness testimony, video footage of Russian soldiers leading a group of Ukrainian captives to a courtyard in the city of Bucha to find conclusive evidence of cold-blooded executions of civilians, and possible war crimes. The video was captured by a security camera and a witness in a nearby house.
A drone video also obtained by the Times confirms that they were executed on March 4 in Bucha.
Ex German Chancellor Schroeder Stripped Of State Privileges For Putin Ties
The German parliament has announced that former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder will lose his taxpayer-funded office and staff for failing to take distance from his Russian business ties and from Vladimir Putin himself, whom Schroeder still considers a personal friend.
Schroeder is to be stripped of his office and staff, which cost €407,000 in taxpayer funds last year, reports Deutsche Welle.
Germany’s conversative opposition also sought in vain to strip the 78-year-old former chancellor of his €100,000 annual pension too. Both the office and pension are among the privileges that chancellors keep when they step down.
But German Chancellor Olaf Scholf rejected the call for sanctions. “I don’t think anything else is necessary at the moment,” Scholz said during a visit to The Netherlands. “It would be best if Gerhard Schroeder resigned from his positions.”
Japan Backs Security Measures For Ukrainian Nuclear Plants
Two cooling towers are pictured on the premises of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine
Having been victim of both nuclear attacks and nuclear accidents, Japan has pledged $2.1 million euros to the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) for its efforts to ensure the security of Ukrainian nuclear facilities attacked by Russia.
Japan Today reports that Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi made the promise after a meeting with IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, who arrived in Japan at the tsunami-hit Fukushima nuclear power plant. He noted that Japan will finance the sending of IAEA experts to Ukraine and the provision of the necessary equipment for Ukrainian nuclear facilities.
The Economist Front Page
UK-based weekly The Economist has a vivid cover image of what many are warning is a looming hunger crisis sparked by the war in Ukraine. Here is a piece from Carlo Petrini, the Italian founder of Slow Food, urging action on both short and long-term risks around food supply.
Arrest Warrant For Pro-Russia Former Ukrainian President
A Kyiv court has granted permission for the arrest of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. The former president is accused of smuggling 20 people into Russia from Donetsk Oblast in 2014 with the assistance of three helicopters of the Russian Armed Forces, Ukraine’s prosecutor general’s office said in a statement published to its website. Yanukovych was convicted in absentia for treason in 2019 and sentenced to 13 years in prison. He is believed to live in exile in Russia.
Biden In Asia Set To Sign $40 Billion Aid Package To Ukraine
After the Senate voted on Thursday to pass the $40 billion aid package to Ukraine, the bill itself is being flown to South Korea for the signature of President Joe Biden, who is currently on a trip to Asia.
"I applaud the Congress for sending a clear bipartisan message to the world that the people of the United States stand together with the brave people of Ukraine as they defend their democracy and freedom," Biden said in a statement.
Russian Director Calls For End Of Russian Culture Boycott During Cannes Festival
Speaking at the Cannes Film Festival, Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov made a plea to end the boycott on Russian cultural works and artists: “Boycotting Russian culture strikes me as unbearable,” he said during a press conference promoting his most movie, Tchaikovsky’s Wife. “Russian culture has always promoted human values, the fragility of man, the compassion one can have.”
Allowing Serebrennikov’s film in the competition has sparked criticism that is defies a European ban on culture works that may benefit Russian oligarchs.British Film Magazine, Screen Daily, also reported that Serebrennikov has called to end the sanctions imposed on Russian oligarch, Roman Abramovich by the United Kingdom and European Union. Abramovich has long been a major patron of the arts, though he also has had close ties in the past to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
After the fall of Mariupol, Vladimir Putin appears to have his eye on another iconic southern coastal city, with a strong identity and strategic location.
Death rates are down, masks are off, but many who have been infected by COVID have still not recovered. Long COVID continues to be hard to diagnose and treatments are still in the developmental stage.
Central to the tragic absurdity of this war is the question of language. Vladimir Putin has repeated that protecting ethnic Russians and the Russian-speaking populations of Ukraine was a driving motivation for his invasion.
Yet one month on, a quick look at the map shows that many of the worst-hit cities are those where Russian is the predominant language: Kharkiv, Odesa, Kherson.
Then there is Mariupol, under siege and symbol of Putin’s cruelty. In the largest city on the Azov Sea, with a population of half a million people, Ukrainians make up slightly less than half of the city's population, and Mariupol's second-largest national ethnicity is Russians. As of 2001, when the last census was conducted, 89.5% of the city's population identified Russian as their mother tongue.
The martyrdom of Mariupol
Between 2018 and 2019, I spent several months in Mariupol. It is a rugged but beautiful city dotted with Soviet-era architecture, featuring wide avenues and hillside parks, and an extensive industrial zone stretching along the shoreline. There was a vibrant youth culture and art scene, with students developing projects to turn their city into a regional cultural center with an international photography festival.
There were also many offices of international NGOs and human rights organizations, a consequence of the fact that Mariupol was the last major city before entering the occupied zone of Donbas. Many natives of the contested regions of Luhansk and Donetsk had moved there, taking jobs in restaurants and hospitals. I had fond memories of the welcoming from locals who were quicker to smile than in some other parts of Ukraine. All of this is gone.
Putin is bombing the very people he has claimed to want to rescue.
According to the latest data from the local authorities, 80% of the port city has been destroyed by Russian bombs, artillery fire and missile attacks, with particularly egregious targeting of civilians, including a maternity hospital, a theater where more than 1,000 people had taken shelter and a school where some 400 others were hiding.
The official civilian death toll of Mariupol is estimated at more than 3,000. There are no language or ethnic-based statistics of the victims, but it’s likely the majority were Russian speakers.
So let’s be clear, Putin is bombing the very people he has claimed to want to rescue.
Putin’s Public Enemy No. 1, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, is a mother-tongue Russian speaker who’d made a successful acting and comedy career in Russian-language broadcasting, having extensively toured Russian cities for years.
Rescuers carry a person injured during a shelling by Russian troops of Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine.
Yes, the official language of Ukraine is Ukrainian, and a 2019 law aimed to ensure that it is used in public discourse, but no one has ever sought to abolish the Russian language in everyday life. In none of the cities that are now being bombed by the Russian army to supposedly liberate them has the Russian language been suppressed or have the Russian-speaking population been discriminated against.
Sociologist Mikhail Mishchenko explains that studies have found that the vast majority of Ukrainians don’t consider language a political issue. For reasons of history, culture and the similarities of the two languages, Ukraine is effectively a bilingual nation.
"The overwhelming majority of the population speaks both languages, Russian and Ukrainian,” Mishchenko explains. “Those who say they understand Russian poorly and have difficulty communicating in it are just over 4% percent. Approximately the same number of people say the same about Ukrainian.”
In general, there is no problem of communication and understanding. Often there will be conversations where one person speaks Ukrainian, and the other responds in Russian. Geographically, the Russian language is more dominant in the eastern and central parts of Ukraine, and Ukrainian in the west.
A daughter of Kyiv
Like most central Ukrainians I am perfectly bilingual: for me, Ukrainian and Russian are both native languages that I have used since childhood in Kyiv. My generation grew up on Russian rock, post-Soviet cinema, and translations of foreign literature into Russian. I communicate in Russian with my sister, and with my mother and daughter in Ukrainian. I write professionally in three languages: Ukrainian, Russian and English, and can also speak Polish, French, and a bit Japanese. My mother taught me that the more languages I know the more human I am.
At the same time, I am not Russian — nor British or Polish. I am Ukrainian. Ours is a nation with a long history and culture of its own, which has always included a multi-ethnic population: Russians, Belarusians, Moldovans, Crimean Tatars, Bulgarians, Romanians, Hungarians, Poles, Jews, Greeks. We all, they all, have found our place on Ukrainian soil. We speak different languages, pray in different churches, we have different traditions, clothes, and cuisine.
My mother taught me that the more languages I know the more human I am.
Like in other countries, these differences have been the source of conflict in our past. But it is who we are and will always be, and real progress has been made over the past three decades to embrace our multitudes. Our Jewish, Russian-speaking president is the most visible proof of that — and is in fact part of what our soldiers are fighting for.
Many in Moscow were convinced that Russian troops would be welcomed in Ukraine as liberating heroes by Russian speakers. Instead, young soldiers are forced to shoot at people who scream in their native language.
Starving people ina street of Kharkiv in 1933, during the famine
Putin has tried to rally the troops by warning that in Ukraine a “genocide” of ethnic Russians is being carried out by a government that must be “de-nazified.”
These are, of course, words with specific definitions that carry the full weight of history. The Ukrainian people know what genocide is not from books. In my hometown of Kyiv, German soldiers massacred Jews en masse. My grandfather survived the Buchenwald concentration camp, liberated by the U.S. army. My great-grandmother, who died at the age of 95, survived the 1932-33 famine when the Red Army carried out the genocide of the Ukrainian middle class, and her sister disappeared in the camps of Siberia, convicted for defying rationing to try to feed her children during the famine.
On Tuesday, came a notable report of one of the latest civilian deaths in the besieged Russian-speaking city of Kharkiv: a 96-year-old had been killed when shelling hit his apartment building. The victim’s name was Boris Romanchenko; he had survived Buchenwald and two other Nazi concentration camps during World War II. As President Zelensky noted: Hitler didn’t manage to kill him, but Putin did.
Genocide has returned to Ukraine, from Kharkiv to Kherson to Mariupol, as Vladimir Putin had warned. But it is his own genocide against the Russian-speaking population of Ukraine.