Restitution mechanisms could include both financial compensation and ensuring the return of cultural heritage the regional war crimes unit is steadily assembling its cases for torture and shelling In a half-destroyed church in the village of Mala Komyshuvakha a gaping hole mars the dome of the late 19th century building and snow and rain have ruined the interior with icons lying scattered on the floor.  “If we talk about the value of this church it is Ukraine’s cultural and architectural heritage It was also the heart of the community,” explained Ukrainian serviceman and campaigner Vitalii Tytych who spent the first two years of the full-scale invasion documenting attacks on cultural sites “The entire cultural life of the village revolved around it.”  According to Ukraine’s ministry of culture the church is among more than 1,330 cultural heritage sites have been recorded as damaged or destroyed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion These include both sites of local heritage and those of global significance; most recently Russia struck the historic centre of Odesa a city on the Black Sea coast and a UNESCO world heritage site.  Ukrainian authorities have documented numerous cases of artifact theft from museums and cultural institutions nearly 35,000 artifacts were looted from six museums in territories liberated by the Ukrainian armed forces in 2022 alone.  Other instances have also been reported in regions still under occupation though the full scale of these thefts cannot be assessed without access to the affected areas One of the Ukrainian institutions that suffered significant losses due to Russian looting was the Regional Museum of Kherson in southern Ukraine Tytych - a founder of the Raphael Lemkin Society a Ukrainian NGO campaigning to hold Russia accountable for the destruction of cultural monuments - argues that the large-scale theft of cultural treasures was partly enabled by Ukraine's failure to evacuate artifacts from border regions ahead of the full-scale invasion.  He also noted that the absence of an electronic registry of museum collections will make it hard for Ukraine to prove ownership of particular items and will have direct consequences for future efforts to recover stolen museum collections In addition to taking historical artifacts and artworks Russian forces also seized documentation related to these items.  “The existence of an electronic registry allows to file official claims for these items and take measures against the illegal trafficking of valuables on the black market should such cases arise,” Tytych continued it serves as a basis for assessing damages and facilitating the return of collections through restitution mechanisms.”  in collaboration with representatives of Ukraine’s ministry of culture are currently working to restore collection records and compile a list of stolen items.  When it comes to reparations for lost or damaged cultural landmarks experts are focusing on the possibility of both financial compensation and the co-executive director of the Truth Hounds human rights organisation noted that there were no clearly defined mechanisms for securing compensation from an aggressor state there were international examples that Ukraine could look to for guidance including the special commission that was established in 2001 after Eritrea and Ethiopia signed a peace deal “Both sides submitted requests detailing the damages incurred and the commission determined who owed what to whom,” he noted “Another example is the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where the International Court of Justice (ICJ) The international court was able to determine what Uganda ultimately owed to Congo,”  the ICJ issued a final ruling that Uganda must pay the DRC 325 million US dollars as compensation for loss of life the ruling did not include separate compensation for the destruction of cultural sites or the loss of heritage the model most relevant for Ukraine could the one used after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990 The compensation fund was financed through revenues from Iraqi oil sales selling large amounts of raw materials on the global market.  “There are assets that could be pinched off and used for compensation as Russia is likely to resist such efforts,” Koval said.  There is no expectation among experts that Russia will voluntarily return valuables taken from Ukrainian territory once the fighting ends.  Koval pointed out that forced restitution remained an option if certain artifacts ended up in other countries that adhere to international law and can be traced Ukraine would then have a chance to reclaim them.  Koval also noted that so-called compensatory restitution had been used in previous conflicts particularly after World War II when the Soviet Union carried out large-scale removal of German material assets including everything from industrial equipment to cultural valuables.  a collection of gold found by the German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann in Troy is now still housed in the Pushkin Museum in Moscow this might mean that Russia could return treasures such as the Scythian gold which was taken from Ukraine in 18th and 19th centuries and is now currently held in the Hermitage in St Petersburg Koval cautioned against steps such as the removal of valuables from the part of the Kursk region currently controlled by Ukraine adding that "we would damage our reputation far more than we would gain meaningful compensation for the treasures we have lost" Real work on the return of cultural property can begin only after the end of hostilities when some kind of ceasefire agreement is signed.  The ministry of culture did not respond to questions regarding restitution mechanisms although they noted that they were currently working on developing “a national system for recording damage and losses to the cultural sphere caused by the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine” As for the full-scale restoration of most damaged sites this is not yet possible due a lack of funding and the ongoing hostilities the ministry of culture reported that some restoration or stabilisation work has already been carried out using donor funds the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral in Odesa (which was damaged by a Russian missile strike in the summer of 2023) is being restored,” the ministry said in a statement and thermal insulation systems were installed on the roof The heating system is also being restored.” neither restoration nor financial compensation can truly heal the damage suffered by Ukrainian culture as a result of the war.  Tytych does not believe that the church in the Kharkiv region village will ever be rebuilt like many other cultural sites located in villages and cities devastated by the war “It used to be a place where the community gathered Journalists need training and support to properly cover war crimes trials Activists warn that vulnerable domestic workers risk abuse often returning with serious health conditions sacrifice and luck secured a vital early win in the south-eastern campaign Some women face Adana's male-dominated traffic chaos for a living Recent murder highlights widespread discrimination and violence against LGBTI people Open source intelligence (OSINT) can provide facts – but impatient Tel +44 (0)20 7831 1030 Tel +1 202 393 5641 IWPR is registered as a charity in the United Kingdom (charity reg no: 2744185); in the United States as a not-for-profit organisation with tax-exempt status under IRS section 501(c)(3); and as a charitable foundation in The Netherlands The opinions expressed on iwpr.net are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the Institute for War & Peace Reporting Site design by IWPR. Developed by AG Prime the Catholic Church is marking the ‘Jubilee for the World of Communicators’ The overall theme for the Jubilee Year is 'Pilgrims in hope' and a major question on the agenda at this weekend's Communications Jubilee is what it means to communicate hope in a global context increasingly marked by violent conflict The following transcript has been lightly edited for reasons of style and brevity Vatican News: Could you start us off by introducing yourself and the kind of things that you write and I write mostly about the American military and I've written both fiction and non-fiction about that I've gone on to write about other aspects of American military policy and America's presence around the world I'm not just interested in how military policy plays out at the level of geopolitics but I think that war is a place of extreme urgency – not just moral urgency I've always been interested in looking at the spiritual crises and decisions that people make when confronted with violence one particularly urgent question that we're asking is: What does it mean to try to communicate hope in what is really quite a bleak global context - a context of war There are always reasons for hope and always reasons for despair There is really no time in history where you can't point to mass atrocity and horror and in many ways we're in a better place in that regard than we were in centuries past there are always people encountering the extremes of suffering and evil One of the questions for me is: what do people need at those times of extremity argued that it's not true that “there are no atheists in the foxholes” but rather: the experience of war often forces a moment of choosing for people People either have to decide they must believe in the God who has taken them through such terrible things or they cannot believe in a God who would allow such things I’ve always found that there is a current within Catholicism that is very attuned to that – to moments of extreme pain to confrontation with the universe that does not always bend itself to your prayers I find something very beautiful and powerful about that The Hail Holy Queen is a wonderful prayer in that regard: “To thee do we cry mourning and weeping in this valley of tears” It's reaching out to the divine when you are incapable of prayers that seem to offer false comfort or false hope Another theme of your work is the inhumanity of modern war I remember a scene in Missionaries where there’s a man watching a drone feed of the person he’s about to kill This is also something that the Pope talks about a lot – the danger of the technological increasingly replacing the human I think that there’s always a danger of technology distancing us from our humanity That applies far beyond the realm of drone strikes – it’s a perennial problem one of the interesting things about drone strikes is that people are terrified of the idea of something without a pilot killing you and doing it from a very long distance It seems like a very impersonal way of killing and are often able to look very closely at the people who they’re killing The killing is in many ways more intimate than a pilot dropping a bomb even if the pilot is in a trailer somewhere far away And it’s not like there weren’t dehumanised ways of killing before the modern era – it’s not like a medieval soldier loading a plague-ridden corpse into a trebuchet to launch behind the walls of a city had a deep sense of the humanity of the person they were going to kill in so far as it takes on a new form with the particular types of technology that we have that enable particular types of killing But the fundamental problem remains the same as it always has been which is those elements of human nature that enable killing to take place My impression is that one of the reasons Pope Francis chose to dedicate this Jubilee Year to the theme of hope is his concern over the rise in conflicts worldwide Something he mentions quite a lot in this regard is his idea of ‘Third World War fought piecemeal’ It strikes me that this is really quite similar to what you’re talking about when you write about modern warfare It's funny that you mention that. I was lucky enough to be part of a literary conference on the Catholic Imagination in Rome, and we got to briefly speak with the Pope. I specifically thanked him for that encyclical and his comments on a new World War fought piecemeal because I think that’s a very apt way of describing what I see happening around the world Sometimes people ask: what makes someone a Catholic writer I don't always know exactly how to answer that question but one thing that I do think is important is that if I’m writing as a novelist who’s Catholic I cannot luxuriate in the false comfort of despair I don’t think that we’re allowed to do that I think you have to write with a sense of hope It may be a steely hope in the face of a very difficult world but you have to write with a sense of hope nonetheless Thank you for reading our article. You can keep up-to-date by subscribing to our daily newsletter. Just click here This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Russian leader Vladimir Putin prepared for an offensive on Zaporizhzhia but abandoned his plans, Ivan Fedorov, Head of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration, says in a comment to RBC-Ukraine's YouTube channel "I believe that Putin was preparing and later abandoned the idea of an offensive on Zaporizhzhia because we prepared very well thanks to their request and the mutual understanding and cooperation," Fedorov said According to the Head of the Regional Military Administration there is currently no significant threat to the Zaporizhzhia front line predicting what may happen in the next two or three months is difficult "We can state the current situation as it is today we are building a multi-layered defense in the Zaporizhzhia region which includes not only defensive lines directly at the front but also circular defenses for Orikhiv with three lines of defense," Fedorov explained Fedorov also noted that everything is currently being done to protect the Zaporizhzhia region with concrete structures in fortified positions information about Russia's preparations for a large-scale offensive on the Zaporizhzhia region began circulating there were also reports of a potential threat to the city of Zaporizhzhia In November, the Defense Forces reported that Russian occupiers had become more active in the Zaporizhzhia region. However the enemy lacks the strength for a large-scale offensive According to RBC-Ukraine's sources, the Russian offensive operation in the Zaporizhzhia region was expected to start around December 5. Read our material for more details Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Ukrainian police say workers were at scene of attacks on village near frontline when Russia launched another strike Two first responders have been killed by rocket attacks in the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine Ukrainian police said Russia fired a series of rockets at the village of Komyshuvakha, close to the frontline in Zaporizhzhia, which Russia annexed last year. “As a result of the first two strikes, four local residents were injured and a fire broke out in a residential building,” they said. “When the police and rescuers arrived at the scene, Russians conducted another strike. Two emergency service workers were killed and three more were injured.” Russia carried out a major drone attack on Ukraine on Friday night, hitting infrastructure facilities and causing power outages in more than 400 towns and villages in the south, south-east and north of the country, Ukrainian officials said. Ukraine air defences shot down 29 out of 38 Iranian-made Shahed drones launched from Russian territory, the air force said, according to Reuters. One of the drones that got through struck an energy infrastructure facility in the southern Odesa region, leaving 2,000 homes without power. Meanwhile, Ukrainian troops were working to push back Russian forces positioned on the east bank of the Dnipro River on Saturday, the military said. It came a day after Ukraine claimed to have secured multiple bridgeheads on the side of the river that divides the country’s partly occupied Kherson region. Ukraine’s establishment of footholds on the Russian-held bank of the Dnipro represents a small but potentially significant strategic advance in the midst of a war largely at a standstill. The general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said its troops had repelled 12 attacks by the Russian army between Friday and Saturday. The Ukrainians now were trying to “push back Russian army units as far as possible in order to make life easier for the [western] bank of the Kherson region, so that they get shelled less”, said Natalia Humeniuk, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s southern operational command. In response, the Russian military had used “tactical aviation”, including Iranian-made Shahed exploding drones, to try to pin down Ukraine’s troops, Humeniuk said. The wide river is a natural dividing line along the southern battlefront. Since withdrawing from the city of Kherson and retreating across the Dnipro a year ago, Moscow’s forces have regularly shelled communities on the Ukrainian-held side of the river to prevent soldiers from advancing toward Russia-annexed Crimea. Elsewhere, hundreds of people gathered in Kyiv to oppose corruption and to demand the reallocation of public funds to the armed forces. The demonstration was the 10th in a series of protests in Kyiv amid anger over municipal projects. On Saturday, protesters held Ukrainian flags and banners bearing slogans such as “We need drones not stadiums”. “I’ve organised demonstrations in more than 100 cities protesting against corruption in Ukraine and for more money, which should go to the army,” said Maria Barbash, an activist with the organisation Money for the Armed Forces. “The first priority of our budget – local budgets and the central budget – should be the army.” The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has called on the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to take the first step towards a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Ukraine. “He must withdraw troops,” Scholz said during a visit to Nuthetal in Brandenburg state. However, there were no signs of this happening, he said in response to a question about whether peace negotiations were possible. Putin must not succeed in his goal of using force to annex parts of a neighbouring country, Scholz said. The chancellor once again assured Ukraine of Germany’s help in its defence against the Russian invasion for as long as necessary You don't have permission to access the page you requested. What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed. Embed on your websiteClose×Copy the code below to embed the WBUR audio player on your site<iframe width="100%" height="124" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="https://player.wbur.org/hereandnow/2023/02/23/ukraine-war-kharkiv-resident"></iframe> The news analyst made the decision early on not to leave her home in Kharkiv — even as she watched entire neighborhoods, landmarks and public spaces decimated, acquaintances injured or killed her community forced underground for safety From her perch in Kharkiv, Avdeeva has documented those horrors, as Kharkiv gained the sad distinction of being the city with the second-highest number of casualties in the country Host Robin Young talks to Avdeeva about the year and the future Ukrainian army driven out of Velyka Komyshuvakha and Zavody Russian forces have captured several villages in eastern Ukraine in their offensive to fully control Donbas, Kyiv has said, while Moscow reported blasts on its side of the border and fears mounted that the war may spill over into neighbouring Moldova The Ukrainian defence ministry said on Wednesday Russian forces had pushed Kyiv’s army out of Velyka Komyshuvakha and Zavody and gained control over Zarichne and Novotoshkivske in Donetsk The Kremlin said this month it was pulling its forces out from around Kyiv to focus on capturing the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in Donbas which have been controlled by pro-Russia separatists since 2014 A defiant Vladimir Putin vowed on Wednesday that Russia would achieve its military goals. “All the tasks of the special military operation we are conducting in the Donbas and Ukraine, launched on 24 February, will be unconditionally fulfilled,” the Russian president told parliament in Moscow. Pavlo Kyrylenko, the governor of the Donetsk region of Donbas, said on the Telegram messaging app that Russian forces “continue to deliberately fire at civilians and to destroy critical infrastructure”. Read moreThe interior ministry of Moldova’s pro-Russia breakaway region of Transnistria said on Wednesday that shots were fired overnight from Ukrainian territory towards a village housing a large Russian ammunition depot The ministry also said drones were observed over the village, and it claimed they too had been launched from Ukraine. Its statement came after a series of explosions in the unrecognised region that authorities there referred to as terrorist attacks Russia’s foreign ministry has refused to rule out Transnistria – occupied by Russian forces for decades – being drawn into the war saying Moscow was “concerned” by the explosions targeting the state security ministry It was not clear who was behind the blasts in Transnistria but the attacks gave rise to international alarm that Moldova could be Russia’s next target or that Moscow could try to use the breakaway region as another launching point to attack Ukraine on Wednesday accused Russia of preparing to use Transnistria as a bridgehead while president Volodymyr Zelenskiy claimed Russian “special services” were working to “destabilise the situation” The UN and US have expressed alarm but have not yet backed Kyiv’s claim that Moscow was responsible for the incidents blasts were heard on Wednesday in three Russian provinces bordering Ukraine and an ammunition depot near Staraya Nelidovka in Belgorod province caught fire Russia earlier this month accused Ukraine of attacking a fuel depot in Belgorod but Kyiv has not confirmed responsibility for incidents reported on Russian territory The Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said it was natural that Russian regions where fuel and weapons were stored were learning about “demilitarisation” – a pointed reference to Moscow’s stated objective for the nine-week-old war in Ukraine which it calls a special military operation to disarm and “denazify” its neighbour “If you [Russians] decide to massively attack another country massively crush peaceful people with tanks and use warehouses in your regions to enable the killings then sooner or later the debts will have to be repaid,” Podolyak said Russia’s defence ministry said its Kalibr missiles had struck an arms depot in Ukraine’s southern-central Zaporizhzhia region storing “foreign weapons and ammunition supplied to Ukrainian troops by the US and European countries” The ministry said Russia’s air force destroyed 59 Ukrainian military targets overnight said Russian forces hit the Azovstal steel plant there where about 2,000 Ukrainian fighters and 1,000 civilians are still holed up Despite the collapse in ties between Russia and the west Moscow and Washington carried out a prisoner swap on Wednesday who had been jailed on drug trafficking charges while Russia released former US marine Trevor Reed Zelenskiy has been pleading for heavier firepower to push back the Russian advance in Donbas but western allies are wary of being drawn into an outright war with Russia With Moscow’s potentially critical eastern offensive under way, however, Washington pledged on Tuesday to move “heaven and earth” to enable Ukraine to win. Germany announced on Tuesday it would send self-propelled anti-aircraft guns to Ukraine, reversing its much-criticised cautious stance on heavy weapon supplies. The UN refugee agency UNHCR has said it expects more than 8 million Ukrainians to eventually flee their country, with nearly 5.3 million having already left, and that $1.85bn will be needed to host them in neighbouring countries. Surviving Winter in a Decimated Ukrainian Village Visuals by Emile Ducke Text by Thomas Gibbons-Neff Nov Winter in Ukraine’s eastern steppe brings an inescapable cold the chill in your bones — it feels as if it will be permanent For a handful of families who live in a string of destroyed villages along what was once the front line near the city of Izium these dwindling fall days are all the time they have to prepare for seasonal survival Brazhkivka and Sulyhivka were ravaged from relentless artillery barrages and airstrikes after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion early last year Families who have returned after Ukraine’s liberation of these enclaves lack basic amenities such as electricity So they prepare for the long cold by gathering essential supplies: food trudged toward the pickup point for firewood in neighboring Brazhkivka he hoped that one of his neighbors would help him move the aid that is provided by volunteers Firewood is essential to survive the winter months but with forests still littered with landmines gathering the vital material can be deadly Their day ends at sunset — which comes increasingly earlier now They heat water for tea and their meals on their gas stove What lies ahead for these residents is a complicated puzzle of resource management perseverance and faith that will get them through the coming days and freezing nights The ground underneath power lines must be cleared of mines before they’re restrung Damaged roofs and windows are in dire need of tarps The destruction of these villages is generational They were cleaved apart during World War II when Nazi and Soviet front lines surged over them hugging the same terrain used by Russian and Ukrainian forces last year Residents here use the earlier war as a barometer of their current sacrifices Stories passed down in yesteryears are now lessons of survival Kaliberda and his friend Zhenia live a short walk from each other past destroyed farm equipment plastered with Russian graffiti and homes overgrown by vegetation they sell the scrap metal that now litters their village and the sounds of scurrying mice make sleep difficult Even the cats require warmth and care They serve as the first line of defense against a rampant mice population that has overrun the villages at a level not seen since World War II “People have lived here for 80 years and have not seen mice like this,” said Vitalii a local resident helping split firewood in the village of Topolske many tasks require help from those residents who have returned or those who stayed behind during the Russian occupation shepherding animals; they trade tactics on how to combat mouse infestations we weathered through occupation like a family,” said Liuba Nilabovych overshadowed by the war’s destruction and an approaching winter chill More Stories about the Russia-Ukraine War In Ukraine’s Slowed-Down War, Death Comes as Quickly as Ever Russia Glorifies Its World War II Dead. He Tries to Give Them Decent Burials. Ukraine’s Secret Plan to Save a City Trapped in Purgatory Ukraine (AP) — More than 100 Ukrainian prisoners of war have been released as part of a major Easter exchange with Russia as Orthodox Ukrainians marked the holiday for a second time since Moscow unleashed its brutal full-scale war last February While celebrations were subdued due to security risks with a curfew barring the faithful from customary all-night services Ukrainian authorities and ordinary people shared messages of hope linking the story of Jesus' resurrection to their longing for peace and a Ukrainian victory Dozens of families had special reasons to rejoice as presidential adviser Andriy Yermak announced that 130 soldiers border guards and others captured by Moscow were on their way back home following a "big Easter prisoner exchange." Yermak said in a Telegram post Sunday that those released included troops who fought near Bakhmut the eastern mining city which has for months been the focus of Russia's grinding offensive "The lives of our people are the highest value for us," Yermak said adding that Kyiv's goal was to bring back all remaining POWs There was no immediate information on how many Russian prisoners were released but the press service of the founder of the Wagner Group the Kremlin-affiliated paramilitary force whose fighters are prominent in eastern Ukraine also released a video Sunday showing Ukrainian prisoners of war being readied for an exchange published on the Telegram messaging service features Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin instructing a soldier to prepare the Ukrainian captives to leave Russian-controlled territory "by lunchtime" on Sunday The POWs are then shown boarding trucks and walking along a road In his Easter address released on Sunday morning Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the holiday as marking "the victory of good the victory of life," and he stressed what he said was Ukrainian unity in the face of Russian aggression likewise drew parallels between the Christian message of resurrection and renewal and Ukraine's hopes for victory people gathered in the courtyard of the landmark St Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery on Sunday morning to have their Easter eggs and baskets of food blessed by a priest A curfew had prevented most from attending the traditional all-night service there hours earlier with many tuning into a live stream instead Ukrainian churches are usually crowded on Orthodox Easter Sunday and the line of people waiting for the priest to sprinkle holy water on their adorned baskets was moving briskly Moscow's brutal war has interrupted holiday routines Ukraine's main security service this week issued a statement urging residents not to linger in churches on Sunday in order to avoid crowding and minimize security risks Michael's with baskets containing Easter cakes and multi-colored eggs said that the restrictions were "very hard" on residents' morale "You constantly recall how it used to be before the war," she told The Associated Press She said that she and her family would nevertheless follow the security recommendations and go straight home after receiving the blessing Others in the line echoed Zaluzhnyy's words about a wartime Easter being a symbol of hope said she was praying for Ukrainian troops "who defend us and make it possible for us to have this holiday." She added she had come to the monastery with her "personal pain and personal requests to God for victory Russian shelling and missile attacks continued to sow destruction in Ukraine according to social media statements from Ukrainian regional officials Officials in the country's south and east said that churches had not been spared The governor of the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region claimed in a Telegram update that Russian forces stationed at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant shelled a church in a nearby town the head of the local military administration in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia province reported that Russian shelling overnight hit an Orthodox church in the town of Komyshuvakha Photos showed local residents rescuing icons from the church its gutted frame visible in the background At least four civilians were killed and eight others were wounded on Saturday and overnight Ukrainian officials reported on Sunday morning in Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine's industrial east the Kremlin-appointed head of the Donetsk region claimed that a Ukrainian strike killed one civilian and wounded six others in the province's namesake capital Denis Pushilin wrote in a Telegram post that shelling hit the center of the city Neither Pushilin's claim nor those from Ukrainian authorities regarding the civilian death toll could be independently verified Home page » Topics » War » “New fire from Kholodnyi Yar.” How the 93rd Brigade fights I will scrub them off.” Reportage on how the 93rd Mechanized Brigade Kholodnyi Yar fights is driving over the potholes in the combat zone of Slobozhanshchyna — The brigade’s name Kholodnyi Yar is linked to Ukraine’s history Kholodnyi Yar is a relict forest which became home to Ukrainian national resistance National liberation movements were constantly raging there the press officer of the 93rd Separate Mechanized Brigade Kholodnyi Yar Kholodnyi Yar [the Cold Ravine — ed.] became a concept that goes beyond geography and history We are going to the brigade’s position to see how this tradition continues The Brigade dates back to the Independence of Ukraine and within a few hours the Russian military columns started entering Our infantry and anti-tank units smashed them One young lad was shouting: “I killed a Russian officer!” As a matter of fact there was a dead body lying there… Not only was he a Buryat wearing the Russian pixel camouflage but also a lieutenant — so that was a real combo The dead bodies were simply dragged to the side of the road and covered with soil while we are taking a bumpy ride on the damaged road The brigade distinguished itself in the most horrendous moments of the Russo-Ukrainian War since as early as 2014 Triohizbenka… After a full-scale invasion the Kholodnyi Yar members reached the Sumy and Kharkiv areas of the front Sumshchyna was soon completely cleared of the invaders; it all worked out well And so we are heading to the positions around Izium City [in Kharkiv Oblast — ed.] During our entire journey Ryba does not let go of her phone She is constantly in touch — the news people call her one of the best press officers for good reason Back in the old days Ira used to work as a journalist she was a volunteer fighter in the Carpathian Sich Battalion — The Brigade [stems] from the 93rd division Already by the Independence of Ukraine it had become a brigade and in 2018 it was awarded the honorary title [Kholodnyi Yar — ed.] and cover the remaining part of our trip on foot The brigade’s positions could resemble a summer camp if it hadn’t been for the background noise of constant incoming missile strikes socks on the washing lines — all form an almost peaceful summer landscape A fighter with the call sign Iroquois [Mohawk — tr.] does not allow us to take pictures of his face And not because he has some top secret role but because he doesn’t want to get busted by his Mum Even though he has been fighting since 2015 — I have been wearing a mohawk haircut since my freshman year Before the war I studied at the university In the second year I realised that I wasn’t coping well with this whole thing — when organic chemistry started those formulas were like a full page of mumbo jumbo I took back my documents and entered the agricultural university to become an engineer technologist I graduated from the agricultural university following extramural study Member of the 93rd Brigade Iroquois Mohawk — tr.] At first he fought in the OUN (Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists) volunteer battalion and one day the platoon commander invited the fellow: “Go ahead and join the army but you are getting paid!” “Holy cow!…” the guy wondered most of Iroquois’ life has been military service Now he is an acting platoon commander as the commander has been wounded — Or they might pour in some shells for us too We are discussing the beginning of the full-scale invasion — The Armed Forces have set off in advance in order to protect the state border — now And there goes the most vivid memory: we are driving an infantry fighting vehicle all around — the cars of [fleeing] civilians are mixed in and [Russian] missiles are flying above us The conversation is interrupted by the command: “F*cker in the sky!” This magic chant is passed up the chain this means that an enemy drone is circling above the strip of a planted forest The guys explain that we’re invisible from here: they’ve specifically checked it themselves while launching their own UAV But it is not advisable to leave the “greenery.” the members of the 93rd Brigade took two prisoners who later became the characters of numerous memes from Military Unit 91701 of Yampolsky Motorised Rifle Regiment in an extraordinary battle the Brigade liberated Husarivka Village in the Kharkiv region In Sumshchyna they won back a number of villages around Trostianets The territorial defence fighters and local partisans helped them The war has been fought not only in the fields but also online: the civilian men and women of Sumshchyna through a chatbot reported [to the Ukrainian military] the enemy troops’ movements But military success has a flip side to it — casualties — It is hard to lose those whom you have known for years One of the most painful losses is Roman Ratushnyi is also fighting here; his call sign is Dredd He was the one who gave a final ruling that allowed for the protection of Protasiv Yar After that case Judge Mishchenko and Ratushnyi stayed in touch and when the invasion started they went to war together Another great loss is an intelligence officer Oleksandr Feshtryha — He was missing seventeen of his teeth and an eye; he had a piece of shrapnel in his brain that had not been removed; a part of a muscle was also missing in his leg… And yet he used to run marathons The only thing he did not do was sparring: he used to say that if he was hit on the head That is why he only participated in competitions as a referee He was appointed as a Sergeant Major of the brigade’s intelligence troop The 93rd Brigade was forced to retreat from the villages of Velyka Komyshuvakha and Zavody It is a few kilometres westward from Izium — Between us and the enemy now are only Velyka Komyshuvakha Village and a small swampy river and now they do not have either strengths or means to proceed with active combat right here The fighting at the moment is mostly artillery duels The battle for Zavody in April is a separate page of the war epic two mechanised platoons of the Ukrainian Armed Forces held back the attack of as much as two Russian mechanised companies for four days — We took up positions in the wooded area at the edge of the village The fact that there was a ditch across that wooded area helped us a lot either our tank shows up and knocks their one out they’d hit us quick and hard with their artillery for two hours At night they just kept shooting to keep us awake and it also managed to hold its positions for four full days — All the things were exactly the same for them (that they) realised that there’s no need to go at us head-on and started trying to outflank us from the right The Russian company commander made a mistake The Russians accidentally got stuck between factories and Komyshuvakha and thus blocked the way for the 9th Company That’s why the guys had to retreat by crossing the river Rybakova recalls those events from her perspective She controlled the retreat of another company which also found its way through the waterway She says there was almost no information about the guys — Sid was leading seventy people from the encirclement so that the guys were not blasted by our artillery Since they got themselves into a “wedge” between the fighting parties they pushed their luck and risked getting under friendly fire… In my car seven people were rescued who had been travelling on foot since 6 a.m someone grazed his knee so hard that he had to have his joint replaced They simply made their way onto the Komyshuvakha–Barvinkove ​​road It appears he’s questioning why he was called the acting commander is trying to introduce the guy to the journalists How many people have you bandaged and pulled out — Erm… Four severely wounded… And eight in total He turns everything into a joke and tries to carry out a “tactical retreat.” The voice recorder and the camera cause him more discomfort than the dull “boom He’s been serving for a year and eight months but only after the full-scale invasion did he see the wounded — Within three days there were seven wounded The first one to be wounded was the deputy company commander Iroquois had just brought me to the position and then literally within half an hour there already was an incoming strike The aid I gave was minimal — my mission was to keep him conscious The first experience inspired the guy to get a tattoo on his neck How shall I say… the rethinking of my entire life has happened I think the war changed me for the better — I became more cautious And it has removed unnecessary people from my life Kyrylo has no plans on staying either in the army or in the medical profession I will take over my parents’ business so that they may retire a more senior fighter is intently digging a trench and picking on Aibolit: — There’s such a cavern there that one can open a nightclub The generation gap does not get any closer: and as soon as the battering starts they run to hide where someone has sweated his guts instead of two hours on the Internet… where they neither learned anything nor did they improve their knowledge of the language but they are just sitting — TikTokers!… So then perhaps we would have already won… So maybe Elon Musk [and his Starlinks] has a downside as well he’s just an “Old Man.” He knows nothing about new technology He’s more connected to a shovel than to a phone! “Tank crews are the most arrogant of all.” We are talking to Iroquois about weapons and manpower we begin to contemplate what should we use to fire at it the acting commander enumerates with gusto The major challenge for Ukrainian forces is Russian artillery Since they’re not very impressive shooters they rely on the quantity to achieve their goals They remove the artillery units from one of their BTGs [battalion tactical group — ed.] and throw it in the direction in which they want to advance And it doesn’t take a great deal of courage You just make a swift move and quickly take on the enemy The fact that we are a mechanised unit does not mean that we just jump into our armoured vehicles and pop at them and start a shooting battle… There [in close action — ed.] the artillery’s capabilities are considerably limited: you either destroy your own people or you shoot over both your own troops and the foes There are many conscripts in the 93rd brigade Among them are both battle-hardened people and new recruits Iroquois shares his observations: older soldiers adapt more easily It is necessary to suppress their artillery I’m not speculating — it has been learned first-handedly Their infantry does not demonstrate any remarkable courage at all Tank crews are the most arrogant and overconfident of all Perhaps it’s because of those grill racks they’ve been fixing on their turrets Yet another series of explosions silences the conversation after the victory he is unlikely to remain in the Armed Forces I’ve been offered a book deal — I can hold lengthy talks full of vivid details “Prince” joined the Armed Forces intentionally having graduated from a military high school And after the victory he does not plan to leave the service He has been serving for two and a half years so far — I chose the army as a lifetime profession Because this is one of the strongest brigades in Ukraine Prince gained his first combat experience in Hranitne Village last year Military personnel received an order to restore operations of a civil-military institution in one of the villages in the so-called grey zone The administration got their work done and left — This is about when Bayraktar was introduced in Ukraine for the first time The enemy was forced to cease all fire because they did not know what had happened The D-30 Howitzer’s range is up to thirty kilometres and yet they were attacked — out of nowhere Prince says: “Any and all types of weapons are used in the war in Ukraine Except the enemy has used chemical weapons in the Mariupol area.” — Personnel feel the most motivated when they see the enemy guts on trees Prince recalls the battle against the Russian 200th brigade in the Derhachiv area when the Russians marched in two columns to besiege Kharkiv The occupiers were so overconfident that they simply sat atop the armour — There was a wooded area perpendicular to the road The commander of the 8th company [93rd Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine] reported: they could see the vehicle movements in front of them He made a decision to let the enemy come nearer It was obvious that the enemy did not expect anything 11 [Ukrainian] IFVs (infantry fighting vehicle) were standing there The enemy’s column moved out in front of the barrels of the 8th company’s IFVs reached the end — and the company commander ordered to open fire The Russians dumped the bodies of their soldiers on the battlefield They were in no rush to pick up their casualties — In the nearby village one can see that pigs just eat up their corpses schools and kindergartens were “denazified.” There are carcasses of destroyed vehicles on the roads The ones of the invaders and the defenders Roses blossom on the ruins of the village huts — We are moving forward little by little these days — Sometimes we arrive at the guys’ positions and they have already packed and say that we have to move to the new location We are moving forward… in the finest traditions of Kholodnyi Yar Editor-in-Chief of Ukraїner International: Involved in the preparation of the material 7 volunteers Project support: Fundacja Euromaidan-Warszawa Use of materials is only permitted upon providing the source: Ukrainer.net Дизайн — Артем Зубкевич Розробка — Deluxcode At least three Orthodox churches in Ukraine were hit by Russian projectiles and missiles during the Easter weekend (by the Julian calendar) In Komyshuvakha, a village near Zaporizhya, a missile exploded near the local church, wounding two villagers and damaging the church and neighboring houses by the blast wave, according to the Zaporizhya Oblast Military Administration head Another rocket hit a fuel bricks warehouse in the village Russia carried out 101 strikes at Zaporizhya Oblast over Easter night “There is nothing sacred [for the Russians],” Malashko wrote on his Telegram channel The city of Nikopol in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast was shelled by Russian heavy artillery on Sunday The shelling damaged a church and five residential buildings A 57-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman were injured “The Russians once again confirmed that there is nothing sacred for them,” said Serhiy Lysak head of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Military Administration As a diversion, the Russian troops also struck a church in Donetsk, the oblast center they have been occupying since 2014, right during the Easter service, RIA-Melitopol reported the Kremlin’s propaganda blamed Ukraine for the crime committed by Russia Photo: The church in Komyshuvakha after the missile strike. Zaporizhya Oblast State Administration [email protected] [email protected] FB: @uwcongress Gerrard joined Newsweek in 2021 and had previously worked at Express Online You can get in touch with Gerrard by emailing g.kaonga@newsweek.com either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content New maps have shown how much territory the Russian army has lost in Ukraine in the past few days as foreign intelligence agencies say that Russia clearly underestimated the resistance they would face from Ukrainians a researcher for the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) shared multiple maps on his Twitter page on Tuesday showing some changes in Ukraine in terms of territory control "Putin's war -- The May 10th Map briefing, relatively few changes," he said in a tweet alongside the pictures "Ukrainian troops advanced into five abandoned villages near Kharkiv Russian troops captured the town of Velkya Komyhuvakha near Izyum Clean-up ops continue on the company of Russian troops that cross the Donets." Putin's War -- The May 10th Map Briefing Relatively few changes.Ukrainian troops advanced into five abandoned villages near Kharkiv.Russian troops captured the town of Velkya Komyshuvakha near Izyum.Cleanup ops continue on the company of Russian troops that cross the Donets. pic.twitter.com/VsYPvXpYQp The maps indicate that the blue areas are under the control of Ukraine and the red areas are in control by Russian forces Newsweek has not been able to independently confirm the veracity of the maps @War_Mapper, a Twitter account that has been mapping the Russian invasion of Ukraine since February 24 using drone and satellite images of Ukraine reported on Tuesday that Ukraine launched two offensives near Kharkiv where Ukrainian troops took the settlements of Slobozhanske Rus'ki Tyshky and Cherkas'ki north of the city A map of the approximate situation on the ground in Ukraine as of 00:00 UTC 10/05/22. pic.twitter.com/l5EhEvend3 Updates:🇺🇦 carried out two offensives in the Kharkiv area.North of Kharkiv 🇺🇦 captured the settlements of Slobozhanske, Borshchova, Rus'ki Tyshky, and Cherkas'ki. Lyptsi is contested.Northwest of Kharkiv 🇺🇦 captured Bairak, Rubizhne, Verkhnii Saltiv, and Zamilivka. pic.twitter.com/DbexCXAzug "Russia's underestimation of Ukrainian resistance and its 'best case scenario' planning have led to demonstrable operational failings," the Twitter post said "Russia's invasion plan is highly likely to have been based on the mistaken assumption that it would encounter limited resistance and would be able to encircle and bypass population centres rapidly." The assumption that Russian forces would be met with little resistance reportedly led the nation to carry out the opening phase of the invasion with a "light precise" approach meant to achieve a quick win without a significant loss the Kremlin changed its goals to a reduced operational focus Newsweek reached out to Russia's Ministry of Defense and Ukraine's Armed Forces for comment Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground Newsletters in your inbox See all The relevant statement was made the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook Russian troops continue to conduct full-scale armed aggression and offensive operations in the Eastern Operational Zone the Russian military were launching air and artillery strikes on the city of Kharkiv Russia’s separate units of the 1st Tank Army and the 20th Combined Arms Army of the Western Military District the 35th Combined Arms Army and the 68th Army Corps of the Eastern Military District and airborne troops are attempting to advance in the Izium-Barvinkove and Izium-Sloviansk directions Russian troops continue to concentrate forces and resources both in the temporarily occupied territories of Kharkiv Region and in Russia’s Belgorod Region in the immediate vicinity of the state border with Ukraine Russian invaders moved the units of the 55th Independent Motorized Rifle Brigade of the 41st Combined Arms Army of the Central Military District to Volokhiv Yar and the units of the 5th Independent Tank Brigade of the 36th Combined Arms Army of the Eastern Military District to Izium The enemy is increasing the air defense system conducting air reconnaissance of the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in such settlements as Velyka Komyshuvakha Russian occupation forces continue to carry out illegal actions within the occupied areas of Kharkiv Region Russian invaders are forcibly deporting civilians to the territory of the Russian Federation Russian occupiers are spreading misinformation about the seizure of Kharkiv Russian troops are conducting active hostilities all over the contact line The enemy is launching continuous air and artillery strikes on Ukrainian positions Russian invaders are focusing on offensive operations in the direction of Lyman Popasna and Kurakhove to gain full control over such settlements as Rubizhne and Popasna and Russian troops continued to launch air strikes on the city The enemy is focusing efforts to block the Ukrainian defense units within the Azovstal plant Russian invaders were regrouping and expanding artillery units in order to continue the offensive the enemy continues to take demonstrative actions to prevent the Ukrainian Army from transferring its units to other areas Russian occupation forces of the 8th and 49th Combined Arms Armies the coastal units of the Black Sea Fleet of the Southern Military District and airborne troops are fighting to improve their tactical position Russian troops are making preparations to carry out the offensive and reach the administrative border of Kherson Region Russian invaders continue to fire on the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Russian occupiers are spreading misinformation about the threat to the population of Transnistria from Ukraine the Belarusian Armed Forces continue to perform tasks to strengthen the Ukrainian-Belarusian border in Brest Region and Gomel Region While citing and using any materials on the Internet links to the website ukrinform.net not lower than the first paragraph are mandatory citing the translated materials of foreign media outlets is possible only if there is a link to the website ukrinform.net and the website of a foreign media outlet Materials marked as "Advertisement" or with a disclaimer reading "The material has been posted in accordance with Part 3 of Article 9 of the Law of Ukraine "On Advertising" No 1996 and the Law of Ukraine "On the Media" No 2023 and on the basis of an agreement/invoice Online media entity; Media identifier - R40-01421 (General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine)“It is not considered a war crime if you had fun,” reads graffiti left by Russian soldiers in the backroom of a bar in the village of Velyka Komyshuvakha located in the Izium district of Kharkiv Oblast Before being liberated, the area was occupied by Russian forces for six months between April and September 2022, during which Russian troops set up a network of torture chambers and carried out a systemic organized effort to terrorize the local population The message is just one of around 650 inscriptions translated and verified by members of the Wall Evidence project an open-source digital archive of graffiti and other markings left behind by Russian forces in previously occupied territories The inscriptions documented by the project span historical references revealing a wide spectrum of attitudes from fear and confusion to enjoyment The trail of graffiti uncovered in liberated territories leads the way into Russian soldiers’ minds speaking volumes about their culture and psyche It also provides evidence of Russian war crimes in Ukraine as markings are at times accompanied by identifying information Some of the messages left by Russian soldiers served a practical purpose such as informing civilians of their imposed curfew times Ukraine trembled when Russia entered!!!" on a house in Sviatohirsk in Donetsk Oblast Roksolana Makar, one of the project’s researchers, says another large number of the inscriptions reference the Soviet narrative of World War II of the USSR’s victory over the Nazis reflecting the idea that Russian soldiers are “continuing the deed of their Soviet ancestors.” or ones linked to Russian minorities (the project has identified Chechen and white nationalist rhetoric with swastikas and slogans like "Russia for Russians," have also stained walls in Ukraine Other cynical messages left in people’s homes read like a guest log from hell: "Your home is our home,” “Thank you for the hospitality Z” and “Sorry for the mess V.” The letters “Z,” “V,” and “O” are commonly used by the Russian military to signal their presence some of the graffiti found in homes betrays shades of jealousy: “Lucky you,” reads one message Unearthing and documenting the painful evidence of Russian occupation has taken a toll on the project’s members "The first challenge was psychological and destruction just to find one image,” Anastasiia Olexii “Graffiti is a projection of a person’s mind,” says Anna Samchuk the sociologist tasked with analyzing the wall inscriptions Samchuk has been able to distill the inscriptions into three main categories: projections of culture Many of the inscriptions refer to Russian pop culture – literature “This is very significant for us,” says Makar “because it signifies that the inscription is not a particular thought by a singular person but something more broad that belongs to Russian culture.” Scholars Timothy Snyder and Serhii Plokhy have both written about the legacy of contradiction in Russian culture particularly in the context of political and social dynamics one of the most striking characteristics of the Russian army’s inscriptions is the prevalence of these contradictions In a diary entry discovered in Kyiv Oblast a Russian soldier reflects on the invasion with mixed emotions expressing both doubt about the invasion and regret for his actions all while carrying on with violently interrogating Ukrainians and labeling them "Nazis." While Russian propaganda narratives paint Ukrainians as Nazis and Russia’s “special military operation” as Ukraine’s “denazification,” another diary entry reveals a Russian soldier comparing his own actions to that of the Nazis: “We “Lots of Russian soldiers have this total mess in their heads,” says Makar we are sorry that we made a mess and destroyed your houses and killed your people it’s your government or NATO.’ They have this very interesting outlook where everything is possible and you can do anything and you will find a justification.” the words “We really didn't want this we were forced," were written on a blackboard "Sorry we left a little mess in here; It's ok.. Amerikosy (pejorative term in Russian for Americans) will help you clean up.” one graffiti found in Kharkiv Oblast reads: "There are two answers to all questions about Ukraine: 1 Samchuk points to the irony of the many "apologies" spray painted on hallway walls or lipsticked on mirrors of defiled homes “They are apologizing for the destroyed house on the wall of the same destroyed house,” she says crudely carved into a wooden door (causing further damage) reads Despite frequently using the word “sorry,” Samchuk hypothesizes that these messages do not reflect genuine guilt it is linked with the avoidance of responsibility,” she says and Samchuk all found the initial stages of this project very difficult psychologically “It was hard to see these messages and know that these are places where our fellow Ukrainians suffered or died,” says Samchuk In addition to the psychological toll documenting Russian soldiers' violent words has taken on the group they say they also face criticism inside of Ukraine for taking on this work "Some people say it's wrong to talk so much about Russia and what they do in Ukraine but we want to tell the story about us through these images.” "To explain is not to justify," Makar emphasizes underlining their intention to collect and analyze the inscriptions in support of Ukraine's cause a desire to honor the memory of those affected and unearth the criminal roots to reveal the often-overlooked dark side of Russian culture motivates the team to continue Their culture is about conquering and exterminating those who do not want to be conquered because they can,” Samchuk said Residents of the towns and villages where these inscriptions were left are eager to forget Most of the graffiti documented in the archive has been removed as residents rebuild their communities Getting rid of them is also a way of moving on in the wake of occupation the bloodstains are recorded before they are washed away Although many of these blatant and remorseless admissions of crimes remain anonymous some of the inscriptions are verifiably incriminating Olexii and Makar explain that some soldiers have left sensitive information “There are also some inscriptions that could be evidence of torture,” explains Makar one of the oldest Ukrainian Baroque masterpieces was targeted during the occupation of Kharkiv A sign reading “mines” in front of the cathedral indicates the area was mined. According to the International Criminal Court damaging and endangering cultural heritage sites constitutes a war crime The Wall Evidence team is collaborating with military lawyer consultants who serve in the Armed Forces to undertake forensic documentation related to the loss of cultural heritage This documentation is being carried out within the Ukrainian Heritage Monitoring Lab “Every word written by Russian soldiers on Ukrainian walls will be used against them in an international court,” Makar states in her text contribution to the Wall Evidence project Alexandra Keeler is a social strategy consultant at the Kyiv Independent She is the former manager of the lifestyle social media team at Corus Entertainment Inc She received a BA in English Literature from Trent University in Peterborough and a graduate certificate in Publishing from Centennial College in Toronto She is also a freelance writer and has been published in Atlas Obscura The Guardian’s picture editors select photo highlights from around the world • This article was amended on 17 April 2023 to remove some personal information Photograph: Jeffrey Groeneweg/ANP/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Moscow and all Russia Patriarch Press-Service/EPA Photograph: Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Coachella Photograph: Joaquín Sarmiento/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Andrew Schwartz/Sipa/Shutterstock Photograph: Nasser Ishtayeh/Sopa Images/Shutterstock Photograph: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Coachella Photograph: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images The head of the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office, Oleksandr Filchakov, and the head of the investigative department of the National Police in Kharkiv Oblast, Serhii Bolvinov, talked about the investigation and identifying the suspect during a briefing in Kharkiv MediaHub The Follow me documentary film tells the story of a couple from Donetsk Oblast who tried to escape the war last summer They were going to Bakhmut by car to evacuate their elderly parents Civilians came under Russian shelling near the village of Velyka Komyshuvakha in the Izium district in Kharkiv Oblast The Ukrainian military watched them from a drone they attached a “Follow me” note to the drone The woman followed the quadcopter and saved her life threw the wounded man’s body into a trench on the side of the road The rain and the cold weather brought the civilian to consciousness and reached the positions of the Ukrainian defenders The real recording from a drone camera was used in the film the investigator of the district department registered criminal proceedings under the article on violation of the laws and customs of war Law enforcement officers received many intercepts of conversations of Russian soldiers in the occupied territory then “We saw a conversation where a man bragged to his wife that he shot a civilian car: the man died The wife asks: “Have you killed hohol?” [hohol khokhol – an ethnic slur for Ukrainians popular in Russia] but we began to compare where and when these events took place The events voiced during radio interceptions and June 23 last year coincided I personally called the serviceman who reported this crime,” Serhii Bolvinov said The defender provided the National Police investigators with a drone video It shocked them because they had not had access to such evidence before the law enforcement officers began to analyze social networks to establish the unit which was located near the village of Velyka Komyshuvakha and commander of the first motorized rifle squadron of the 15th motorized rifle regiment of the 22nd motorized rifle division of the 1st tank army of the Western Military District of the Russian Federation Kirzhaev Klim numerous forensic examinations were conducted to determine the car’s location and understand from where and with what it was fired Investigators found 10 shell casings of 30-millimeter caliber and mechanized infantry combat vehicles at the scene Bolvinov notes that it was then that the picture of the crime began to emerge They gathered enough evidence for future justice It remained to make sure that Klim Kirzhaev was the person who shot the civilian car the law enforcement officers found a Russian prisoner of war who was in the same position in the summer of 2022 He recognized the senior lieutenant of the squadron commander by the photo and voice With the help of a phonoscopic examination the investigators made sure that it was Klim Kirzhaev Investigators gathered all the evidence and prepared a report of suspicion “Russian soldiers kill Ukrainian civilians for money And this is the price of Ukrainian life; this is what they do on our land and they shot the cars that passed them like at a shooting range These were civilian cars with our citizens We have identified this scoundrel,” Serhii Bolvinov recounts the interception of the suspect’s conversation with his friend In the personal photos of the Russian military there were shells with the inscription “Bucha.” Allegedly some units were transferred to Kharkiv Oblast after evacuation from Kyiv Oblast Investigators will apply to the court to conduct a special pre-trial investigation This will make it possible to prosecute the Russian in absentia He faces up to 15 years in prison for the crimes committed foreign law enforcement officers are obliged to arrest him and hand him over to Ukraine Subscribe to news from Kharkiv, UkraineMost important stories from the frontline region Google Facebook Or Register from Google Register from Facebook Or Website materials are permitted only with an active link to “GWARA MEDIA,” not lower than the third paragraph The use of digital platform content is allowed with textual attribution Content for documentary films and integrated products is permitted The site was modernized with the support of the European Endowment for Democracy in 2023 ' + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.webview_notification_text + ' " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_title + " " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_text + " People attempt to save icons as they clear the rubble after a Russian rocket destroyed an Orthodox church last Sunday in Komyshuvakha PATRIARCH KIRILL of Moscow has praised the Russian Orthodox Church’s ever closer links with the State, but denied “receiving orders” from President Putin, as religious communities in Russia and Ukraine celebrated their second Easter while at war with each other “Today, there is indeed a kind of symphony of secular and ecclesiastical power, which was dreamed of in Byzantium but never fully realised; what is happening in Russia today is unique, and runs counter to the general apostasy movement,” Patriarch Kirill told a congregation in the Ugresha Monastery “Some of our opponents point fingers and say the Patriarch acts on orders from the President I tell you the President has never given orders to the Patriarch — as a believing churchgoing Orthodox person The Primate of Ukraine’s independent Orthodox Church (OCU) said that Easter festivities had shown how Orthodox Christians were rejecting the “false ideas of the so-called Third Rome” and concluding that dependence on the Moscow Patriarchate was just “one of many tools” being used “to restore the imperial yoke” The Metropolitan made the appeal as Easter was celebrated by his Church (according to the Julian calendar a week later than in the Western Church) for the first time in Kyiv’s disputed 11th-century Pechersk-Lavra monastic complex and as Russian forces continued to attack civilian targets after rejecting an Easter truce Ukrainian government sources said that services had taken place at 13,000 churches across the country — 163 in the capital — attracting record congregations despite a weekend curfew on overnight vigils and warnings of Russian strikes President Zelensky said that Easter symbolised the “victory of good and was being celebrated by Ukrainians “with unshakeable faith in the irreversibility of these victories” Ukraine’s flag represented the “yellow-hot sun in a peaceful blue sky” and it would fly again on “all the territories temporarily occupied by devils” and robbed” answered “both to the International Tribunal and to God’s judgement” In his Easter address in Christ the Saviour Cathedral Patriarch Kirill said that he hoped that “peace and love” would soon restore “fraternal relations” between peoples living in one vast “historical Russian land” Nicholas Reed Langen examines the Supreme Court ruling on gender We are a partnership of six diverse and welcoming congregations in the northern districts of Milton Keynes offering a rich tapestry of worshipping traditions – Anglican This is an exciting full time stipendiary role Two thirds of your time will be spent as Incumbent of St Mary’s and one third (two days a week in term time) in your work as Assistant Chaplain to Harrow School London N6 seek to appoint an Assistant Director of Music from September run jointly by Sarum College and The Church Times tickets available This online seminar, run jointly by Modern Church and The Church Times discusses the theology underpinning the drive for growth tickets available Non-subscribers can read four articles for free each month where Ukrainians likely control a smaller part of the city Ukrainian Armed Forces continue to hold the front south of Lysychansk in the area of ​​Ustynivka – Toshkivka This is a very important sector because the breakthrough here will open for Russians a direct path to Lysychansk as a result of which the Ukrainian group in Sievierodonetsk will be encircled The Bakhmut-Lysychansk route remains under Ukrainian control and all Russian attempts to cut it off near the villages of Bilohoruvka-Nahirne have failed To the north of the Popasna fighting continues on the outskirts of Komyshuvakha and near Vrubivka For an idea of exactly how much more elevated Lysychansk is… pic.twitter.com/rmv8ne41hg — Nathan Ruser (@Nrg8000) June 8, 2022 Fighting continues along the entire line of contact the largest Russian success was to make wedges into the Ukrainian front north of Avdiivka As the Russians were unable to capture the latter despite three months of frontal attacks there is a suspicion that they will now try to surround it Russians likely continue preparation for a big assault on Sloviansk although they are still about 30 kilometers from the city There is periodic news about mutual activity in the Kherson Oblast in the area of ​​Davydiv Brid: about Ukrainian offensives and Russian counter-offensives What is known for sure is that Ukrainian Armed Forces are in positions in front of Bruskynske Russians have turned this Bruskynske into a powerful stronghold and a Ukrainian frontal assault unpromising both sides are accumulating forces for further operations mutual artillery shelling and air raids continue Information from the General Staff as of 06.00 09.06.2022 supplemented by its [18:00 assessment] is in the drop-down menu Russian forces continue to provide enhanced protection of the Ukrainian-Russian border and fire mortars at civilian infrastructure in the border areas of Chernihiv and Sumy regions they fired mortars at civilian infrastructure in the areas of Khodyne Ryzhivka and Velyka Pisarivka in the Sumy Oblast Russian forces carried out provocative flights of army aircraft along the state border of Ukraine.] Russian forces concentrated their efforts on maintaining the occupied frontiers they fired on civilian infrastructure in the areas of the settlements of Udy in addition to using artillery along the line of contact fired a missile near the city of Kramatorsk [The situation in the Pivdennyy Buh direction remained without significant changes Russian forces are trying to hold their ground and prevent the regrouping and strengthening of units of the Defense Forces.] Russian forces used artillery of various calibres in the areas of the settlements of Lyubymivka the defenders of Ukraine in the Donetsk and Luhansk areas repulsed seven enemy attacks and destroyed three tanks two armoured combat vehicles and four units of enemy vehicles Air defence units shot down six Orlan-10 unmanned aerial vehicles the personnel of the 15th separate motorized infantry brigade of the 2nd Combined Arms Army of the Central Military District suffered significant losses in the fighting on the territory of Ukraine Approximately 800 dead and about 400 wounded about 1,800 servicemen from the brigade took part in the hostilities on the territory of Ukraine more than 90% of the region is temporarily under Russian occupation Lysychansk is completely under Ukrainian control Street battles are ongoing in Sievierodonetsk Ukraine controls industrial area – RegHead Haidai Russians scorch ground with artillery & then try to assault; if Ukraine gets western artillery, it can retake city in "2-3 days" https://t.co/Ziiw2pJepY — Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) June 9, 2022 The situation in Mykolaiv is now more dangerous than two weeks ago, Ukrinform reports “Now the situation is even more dangerous than it was two weeks ago because the city is under non-stop shelling We advised two districts of the city to move to another area But I don’t know how many people listened to that head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration,] said more than 3,700 civilian facilities in the city have been damaged or destroyed one of the largest terminals in Ukraine was destroyed a fire broke out there and it was extinguished for two days Kim also said that more than 300 civilians had been killed during the war including two of them in the last 24 hours.” the Russian aggressors have deployed an Iskander-M missile system in the area near the town of Milkovodne [8 km away from the administrative border with Kherson Oblast].” the approximate losses of weapons and military equipment of the Russian Armed Forces from the beginning of the war to the present day: Russian enemy suffered the greatest losses (of the last day) in the Bahmut direction Millions of refugees from Ukraine have crossed borders into neighbouring countries, and many more have been forced to move inside the country. The escalation of conflict in Ukraine has caused civilian casualties and destruction of civilian infrastructure, forcing people to flee their homes seeking safety, protection and assistance the UNHCR reports Individual refugees from Ukraine recorded across Europe: 4,816,923 Refugees from Ukraine registered for Temporary Protection or similar national protection schemes in Europe: 3,204,047 Border crossings from Ukraine (since 24 February 2022): 7,270,939 Border crossings to Ukraine (since 28 February 2022): 2,313,717 OHCHR recorded 9,444 civilian casualties in Ukraine as of June 7 (no update as of 7 June) 4,266 were killed (including 272 children) and 5,178 injured (including 436 children) As the hunger crisis grows, Russia attacks the grain terminal in Mykolaiv, The Maritime Executive reported on Monday Russian forces have damaged a giant grain terminal complex at the port of Mykolaiv Europe’s top diplomat confirmed on Monday The Nika-Tera port complex at Mykolaiv is a private terminal about 30 nm inland from the Black Sea on the Bug estuary The port’s silos have a capacity for up to 500,000 tonnes of grain at a time and it is equipped with three bulk loading machines to move up to 1,500 tonnes of grain per hour it has handled up to six million tonnes of grain Ukraine has more than 20 million tonnes of grain stuck in silage due to the Russian naval blockade and any damage to the port could slow exports – if and when UN negotiators can convince Russian President Vladimir Putin to allow commercial food shipping to resume Status of foreign citizens and stateless persons participating in hostilities іn the territory of Ukraine as part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, a statement from the General Staff of Ukraine “All foreign citizens and stateless persons who take part in hostilities in the territory of Ukraine as part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are admitted voluntarily to military service under a contract in accordance with the 1992 Law of Ukraine “On Military Duty and Military Service” Such persons are servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine who in accordance with the provisions of the Geneva Conventions for the Protection of Victims of War of 1949 and the Additional Protocols thereto gives such persons the right to be treated as prisoners of war in the event of falling into enemy hands We want to recall that the 1949 Geneva Conventions prohibit all illegal acts intimidation or inaction against prisoners of war and oblige the humane treatment of prisoners of war Failure to comply with the relevant recognized norms of international humanitarian law is a serious violation of the Convention.” Top US general: Ukraine will keep getting ‘significant’ support, Military Times reports “The United States and its allies will keep providing “significant” support to Ukraine out of respect for the legacy of D-Day soldiers whose victory over the Nazis helped lead to a new world order and a “better peace,” Army Gen In an interview with The Associated Press overlooking Omaha Beach in Normandy Milley said Russia’s war on Ukraine undermines the rules established by Allied countries after the end of World War II He spoke on the 78th anniversary of the D-Day invasion of Allied troops onto the beaches of France which led to the overthrow of Nazi Germany’s occupation One fundamental rule of the ”global rules-based order” is that “countries cannot attack other countries with their military forces in acts of aggression unless it’s an act of pure self-defense,” he stressed “But that’s not what’s happened here in Ukraine “It is widely considered to undermine the rules that these dead — here at Omaha Beach and at the cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer — have died for They died for that order to be put in place so that we would have a better peace,” Milley said speaking at the American Cemetery overlooking the shore in the northwestern French village at Colleville-sur-Mer are supporting Ukraine with lethal and nonlethal support in order to make sure that that rule set is underwritten and supported,” Milley explained.” Germany has committed 50 Gepard anti-aircraft self-propelled guns (expected in July) and seven Panzerhaubitze 2000 howitzers and has delivered anti-tank and portable anti-aircraft missile systems (Stinger and Panzerfäuste) Germany also supplied night vision devices the Chancellor announced sending a modern IRIS-T air defence system and surveillance radars to Ukraine it will supply Mars II multiple rocket launchers to Ukraine in close coordination with the United States Germany has refused to supply Ukraine with Leopard and Marder Poland signs a $650M defence contract with Ukraine, the Ukrinform reports Poland has signed a defence contract with Ukraine worth PLN 2.7 billion (about $650 million) for the sale of Krab self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for State Assets Jacek Sasin and National Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said this during a joint press conference at the Huta Stalowa Wola steel mill on Tuesday “Right now we are signing one of the largest export defence contract in the last 30 years He stressed that these weapons will be “very important” on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine He noted that Ukraine receives funds for the purchase of these weapons partly from the EU and partly from its own budget Kyiv asks for more rocket systems as Kremlin warns of potential strikes in Russia, The Washington Post reports “Ukraine says it needs 60 multiple-launch rocket systems to have a chance at defeating Russia suggesting the number pledged by the West so far may be inadequate along with access to sophisticated air defenses to help protect vulnerable citizens from relentless shelling Why long-range Western MLRS can become a game-changer for Ukraine Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, told the Guardian that 60 launchers would stop Russian forces “dead in their tracks.” Forty would slow them down with heavy casualties while 20 would increase Russian casualties but leave the battlefield outcome little changed Poland’s MFA: Seventh package of sanctions must include a complete ban on Russian gas imports, Ukrinform reports “The EU should work together to approve the seventh package of sanctions a complete ban on Russian gas and petrochemicals imports Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland Zbigniew Rau made a corresponding statement at a joint press conference with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Austria Alexander Schallenberg in Warsaw on Tuesday the adoption of the sixth package of EU sanctions against Russia last week is an important step towards ensuring Europe’s independence from Russian energy resources Rau called it an insufficient step and urged to immediately start working on the seventh package of sanctions it must include imposing a complete ban on Russian gas and petrochemicals imports and cutting off all Russian and Belarusian banks from the SWIFT system.” The Pentagon Has a Supply-Chain Problem, The Washington Post reports The war has already consumed as much as one-third of the US military’s inventory of Javelins the Pentagon will be unable to deliver new ones without emptying out its own supply The war has also consumed one-quarter of the US inventory of Stinger shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles; Raytheon says it could take up to a year to restart production (The Army has issued a $625 million contract to Raytheon to do so.) At the current usage rate supplies could be nearly exhausted by next year A $40 billion spending package passed by Congress last month aims to replenish these stockpiles But the problem goes deeper than short-term supply disruptions Military planners and defense contractors have long prioritized spending on big-ticket “platforms,” such as aircraft carriers and fighter jets Pandemic-related disruptions in the supply chain for microchips have made the problem worse And the erosion of the military’s industrial base has made it harder for the Pentagon to accelerate production and a shortage of skilled workers have slashed the number of companies in the business A 2020 Pentagon report found that in an alarming number of cases “often fragile” supplier to make critical components The weakness of the Pentagon’s supply chain threatens not only aid to Ukraine but also America’s ability to respond to future crises — including a potential conflict over Taiwan whose military depends on US-made hardware President Joe Biden should consider invoking the Defense Production Act which requires manufacturers to prioritize delivering goods for defense-related needs over orders from other industries The Institute for the Study of War has made the following assessment as of Wednesday 8 June: “Russian forces are escalating the use of psychological and information operations to damage the morale of Ukrainian soldiers The Ukrainian Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) reported on June 8 that Russian forces are sending threatening messages to the personal devices of Ukrainian servicemen calling on them to betray their service oaths The GUR reported that Russian forces are sending messages on a variety of platforms including SMS and WhatsApp and that the messages use location information to threaten to harm Ukrainian soldiers or their family members Russian military commanders continue to face force generation challenges The Ukrainian Southern Operational Command reported that Russian military enlistment offices in Crimea are falsifying the results of mandatory medical exams administered during the summer conscription period to maximize the number of recruits Russian police also arrested a man who threw a molotov cocktail and set fire to a local Crimean administration building in protest of the Russian invasion of Ukraine likely indicating growing discontent with Russian war efforts in Crimea ISW has previously reported that forced mobilization in the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DNR and LNR) is exacerbating social tensions and sparking protests in Donbas The Ukrainian General Staff also reported that unspecified elements of the 106th and 76th Guards Airborne Assault Divisions refused to participate in combat in Luhansk Oblast and returned to Russia The 76th Guards Airborne Assault Division previously participated in assaults on Kyiv which has likely led to the demoralization of troops Ukraine’s strategic dilemma in Sievierodonetsk: Stand and fight, or pull back, The New York Times asks Ukrainian soldiers run a gantlet of Russian artillery shells zeroed in on the only access route: a bridge littered with the burned husks of cars and trucks that didn’t make it And once inside the city in eastern Ukraine the focus of both armies for the past several weeks Ukrainian soldiers battle Russians in back-and forth combat for control of deserted Ukraine’s leaders now face a key strategic decision: whether to withdraw from the midsize city and take up more defensible positions or to remain and risk being boxed in if the bridge is blown up It reflects the choices the country has had to make since the Russian invasion began between giving ground to avert death and destruction in the short term and holding out against long odds in hopes it will later pay off that calculation has taken on significance beyond the city’s limited military importance President Volodymyr Zelensky referred to Sievierodonetsk and its neighbor across the river as “dead cities” ravaged by Russian attacks and nearly empty of civilians And yet he insisted there was a compelling reason to stay and fight: Ukraine’s position throughout the war has been that it intends to hold onto its sovereign territory Retreating now to better positions on higher ground across the Siverskyi Donets River and then fighting to retake the city later would be harder and carry a higher price in bloodshed than holding on Zelensky on strategic decision-making in the war providing a window into the goals of his government and its military Sievierodonetsk is the last major city in the breakaway region of Luhansk that the Russians have not taken; capturing it would give them near-total control of that enclave Falling back could be demoralizing to Ukraine’s forces And some Ukrainian soldiers said it is worth drawing out the phase of urban combat to inflict more casualties on the already depleted Russian forces Zelensky was aiding the military with misdirection by signaling one intention while quietly pursuing an opposite course of action The government has not said how many military casualties Ukraine has suffered overall since the Russian leader Vladimir V Zelensky said last week that in the recent each day his country was losing 60 to 100 soldiers killed and 500 wounded said Tuesday that 6,489 Ukrainian service members had been captured Ukraine’s Interior Ministry this week estimated civilian casualties at 40,000 killed or wounded though some government officials say the true figures are higher Ukrainian officials said Tuesday that ruptured sewer and water pipes in the southern city of Mariupol seized by Russia after a devastating siege have created a risk of severe disease outbreaks that would raise the civilian toll part of Luhansk and the broader Donbas region in the east and some Ukrainian soldiers have questioned why the army has not ordered a tactical retreat rises in a prominent hill that provides commanding views and firing positions Ukrainian soldiers were surrounded in Mariupol and fought for weeks eventually retreating to hold just a tiny pocket of ground in a steel factory complex where they sheltered in bunkers Zelensky ordered the holdouts to surrender rather than be killed the 250-mile-long Northern Crimean Canal had channeled water from Ukraine’s Dnipro River to the arid peninsula of Crimea Built by thousands of construction workers from across the Soviet Union dropping about an inch for every mile for the first half of its length to keep the water flowing Ukraine responded by damming the canal with bags of sand and clay to prevent the now Russian-occupied peninsula from benefiting from the valuable freshwater […] Ukrainian officials said that cutting off the water was one of the few levers at their disposal to inflict pain on Moscow after the annexation without using military force the blockage of the canal was a vexing and expensive challenge Crimea’s residents began to suffer chronic water shortages and occasional shut-offs at the tap.” You can also highlight the text and press Ctrl + Enter Please leave your suggestions or corrections here We are an independent media outlet that relies solely on advertising revenue to sustain itself We do not endorse or promote any products or services for financial gain we kindly ask for your support by disabling your ad blocker Your assistance helps us continue providing quality content The digital development of this website has been supported by the Strategic Media Support Program implemented by Lviv Media Forum and National Endowment for Democracy  This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings we will not be able to save your preferences This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again Post Courier kyiv: The Ukrainian military reported on Thursday that Russian forces trying to break through to Sloviansk Despite artillery and missile attacks by Russian forces on a wide front over the past 24 hours there are no signs they have taken new territory “The enemy conducted battle activity in Velyka Komyshuvakha area with the support of artillery; had no success suffered significant losses in some areas and was forced to withdraw to previously occupied positions,” the General Staff of the Ukrainian armed forces claimed in its daily update There has been fighting in the Velyka Komyshuvakha area since late April — since the Russians took control of Izium and tried to push toward Sloviansk — but the front lines have changed little Ukrainian defenses were holding around the industrial city of Severodonetsk and Russian assault operations in the Zolote area had been unsuccessful head of the Luhansk military administration said Severodonetsk had suffered the most in the latest attacks and confirmed that four civilians were killed on Wednesday Elsewhere: Other regions also reported Russian artillery and missile strikes overnight the city military administration in Kryvih Rih said “there was enemy shelling along the entire line of contact during the night.” It said there had been heavy shelling of residential areas of Velyka Kostromka a town that lies some 20 miles south of Kryvih Rih that has been on the front lines for more than a month Get the latest news delivered straight to your inbox!