Tag: Ukraine

Ukraine moves Christmas to December 25, distancing itself from Russian tradition




CNN
 — 

Ukraine has passed legislation moving its official Christmas holiday to December 25, further distancing itself from the traditions of the Putin-aligned Russian Orthodox Church, which celebrates the holiday on January 7.

The bill was passed by Ukraine’s parliament earlier this month. President Volodymyr Zelensky signed it into law on Friday.

The legislation’s sponsors said its passage would help Ukraine “abandon the Russian heritage of imposing the celebration of Christmas on January 7,” and help Ukrainians “live their own life with their own traditions (and) holidays.”

Ukraine and Russia are both majority Orthodox countries, but since Russia illegally annexed Crimea and began supporting separatists in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region in 2014, a large part of the Orthodox community in Ukraine has moved away from Moscow.

Russia’s war in Ukraine further accelerated the divide between the two branches of Orthodox Christianity, especially given that the head of Russia’s Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, fully endorsed the invasion and framed it as a culture clash between the wider Russian world and Western liberal values.

The new law will effectively formalize what some churches in Ukraine had already begun practicing. A branch of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine allowed its churches to celebrate Christmas on December 25 last year. Ukraine’s main Greek Catholic church said in February it was moving to a new calendar to celebrate Christmas on December 25 as well.

The decision appears to be popular. In December, the Ukrainian government launched a poll asking citizens whether the date for Christmas should be moved to December 25. Nearly 59% of the more than 1.5 million people who voted supported such a move.

Alla and Oksana, two teachers from the Zaporizhzhia region who had been forced to flee their homes, said they supported the decision to change the date. They added that they celebrated Christmas on December 25 last year and felt they would “quickly adapt.”

“Ukraine should be a civilized European country,” Alla said. “This should be the norm for us.”

Vitalina and Pavlo, a couple from Lviv visiting Kyiv, supported the decision but said the transition would be harder for the parents.

“Celebrating December 25 is logical. This is how Europe celebrates. We celebrated in December this year and there was nothing difficult about it. We want to be closer to Europe and to the world,” Pavlo said.

Tetyana, an Orthodox Christian from Kyiv, said the date was not important for her, but was ready to support the move because of its symbolic value.

“If necessary, we will celebrate on December 25. It is no longer about religion, it is more a sign of statehood. Let it be so. I support the president and my country,” she said.

The new law will also change the dates of several Ukrainian holidays that are celebrated on the same day as religious festivities. The Day of Ukrainian Statehood – the country’s independence day – will move from July 28 to July 15, while the Day of Defenders of Ukraine, when Ukraine honors its veterans and war dead, will move forward to October 1 from October 14.



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China defends trade with Russia after the US says equipment used in Ukraine might have been exported


BEIJING (AP) — The Chinese government defended its dealings with Russia as “normal economic and trade cooperation” Friday after a United States intelligence report said Beijing possibly provided equipment used in Ukraine that might have military applications.

The Biden administration has warned Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s government of unspecified consequences if it supports the Kremlin’s war effort. The latest report cited Russian customs data that showed Chinese state-owned military contractors supplied navigation equipment, fighter jet parts, drones and other goods, but didn’t say whether that might trigger U.S. retaliation.

“China has been carrying out normal economic and trade cooperation with countries around the world, including Russia,” said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning. She said Chinese-Russian cooperation “neither targets a third party nor is it subject to interference and coercion by a third party.”

Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin declared before the February 2022 invasion that their governments had a “no-limits” friendship. Beijing says it is neutral in the war, but it has blocked efforts to censure Moscow in the United Nations and has repeated Russian justifications for the attack.

China is an “increasingly important buttress” for Russia, “probably supplying Moscow with key technology and dual-use equipment used in Ukraine,” said the report by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, referring to equipment that can have both civilian and military applications.

China has stepped up purchases of Russian oil and gas, which helps Putin’s government offset lost sales after the United States, Europe and Japan cut off most purchases of Russian energy. Beijing can do that without triggering Western sanctions on its own companies, but Washington and its allies are frustrated that it undercuts economic pressure on Moscow.

China rejects Western trade and financial sanctions on Russia because they weren’t authorized by the U.N. Security Council, where Beijing and Moscow have veto power. However, China has appeared to avoid directly defying those sanctions.

“We have also consistently opposed unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction that have no basis in international law and have not been authorized by the Security Council,” said Mao.



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Ukrainian counteroffensive seeks to regain territory in southern Ukraine


Ukrainian counteroffensive seeks to regain territory in southern Ukraine – CBS News

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On the southern front lines of the war, Ukrainian forces this week retook the small settlement of Staromaiorske in their slow slog to reclaim every inch of land occupied by Russia. Ramy Inocencio reports from Dnipro.

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Putin tells Africans “fable” that there are no negotiations because of Ukraine and NATO


At the Russia-Africa forum in St Petersburg, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that he is ready for negotiations to end the war. Still, Ukraine, the United States and NATO do not want to talk to him.

Source: Kremlin-aligned RIA Novosti and other Russian propaganda media

Quote from Putin: “All contradictions should be resolved during negotiations, but the problem is that they refuse to negotiate with us. The basis of the conflict is the creation of threats to Russia by the US and NATO, and they refuse to negotiate on issues of ensuring equal security for everyone, including Russia.

And Ukraine itself, or rather, today’s Ukrainian regime, refuses to negotiate. It was officially announced, and the President of Ukraine passed a decree on this issue, which prohibits negotiations.

We are ready for these negotiations. But we cannot impose these negotiations. It is necessary to conduct a dialogue from that side as well.”

Форум Росія - Африка в Санкт-Петербурзі

Форум Росія – Африка в Санкт-Петербурзі

Russia-Africa forum in St Petersburg

Screenshot from video

Background: By negotiating, Putin means that Kyiv and its allies will accept the seizure of Ukrainian territory in the east and south and agree to key Russian demands, such as Ukraine’s refusal to join NATO.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy insists that to start negotiations, Russia must withdraw all its troops from Ukrainian territory.

The Allies also do not believe that Russia will not try to seize territories in the future after reaching any agreements.

In 2014, Russia occupied part of the territory of Ukraine and started a hybrid war, and in 2022, it carried out a full-scale invasion and seizure of new territories.

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Russia threatens civilian vessels in Black Sea, Ukraine says


KYIV (Reuters) -A senior Ukrainian official accused Russia on Friday of threatening civilian vessels in the Black Sea, and urged the international community to condemn what he said were “the methods of terrorists”.

Russia last week quit a U.N.-brokered deal allowing Ukraine, a major global grain producer, to safely export its grain via the Black Sea and warned that ships heading to Ukrainian seaports could be considered military targets.

“Russian warships are threatening civilians in the Black Sea, violating all norms of international maritime law,” Andriy Yermak, head of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office, wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

In a separate statement, Ukraine’s border guard service said it had intercepted a warning communicated by Russia to a civilian vessel passing near a Ukrainian port on Thursday.

It did not identify the name of the ship or the port, but said: “The aggressor’s warships continue to behave brazenly and audaciously in the waters of the Black Sea, violating all the norms of international maritime law”.

The statement quoted the Russian party as saying: “I am warning you about the ban on movement to the ports of Ukraine.”

“Also, the transport of any cargo to Ukraine is considered by the Russian side to be the potential transportation of military cargo,” it was quoted as saying.

The country of the vessel’s flag would be considered a party to the conflict in Ukraine, it said.

Russia did not immediately respond to Yermak’s comments or to the border guard service’s statement.

Russia’s Federal Security Service said on Thursday it had found traces of explosives on board a foreign vessel en route from Turkey to Russia that had previously entered a Ukrainian port. It was the second such announcement this week involving a foreign ship heading to Russia to pick up grain.

Russia, which sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022, has carried out frequent air strikes on Ukrainian grain facilities since Moscow quit the Black Sea Grain Initiative brokered by the U.N. and Turkey in July last year.

Kyiv has suggested the attacks are intended to cut Ukraine off from the Black Sea and to elevate the importance of Russia as a global grain supplier.

(Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka and Kyiv bureau; writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by Timothy Heritage)



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Ukraine uses North Korean rockets to blast Russian forces -FT


(Reuters) – Ukrainian soldiers were observed using North Korean rockets that they said were seized by a “friendly” country before being delivered to Ukraine, the Financial Times reported on Saturday.

Ukraine’s defence ministry suggested the arms were captured from the Russians, the newspaper said.

The United States has accused North Korea of providing arms to Russia, including alleged shipments by sea, but has not offered proof and North Korean weapons have not been widely observed on the battlefields in Ukraine.

North Korea and Russia deny conducting arms transactions.

The North Korean weapons were shown by Ukrainian troops operating Soviet-era Grad multiple-launch rocket systems near the destroyed eastern city of Bakhmut, site of lengthy brutal fighting, the report said.

Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu made a rare visit to Pyongyang this week to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War, the first visit by Moscow’s top defence official since the 1991 break-up of the Soviet Union.

During the visit, Shoigu was photographed viewing banned North Korean ballistic missiles with leader Kim Jong Un at a military expo in Pyongyang, signalling deeper ties between the two countries as they each face off with the United States.

(Reporting by Josh Smith and Soo-hyang Choi; Editing by William Mallard)



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Putin thanks North Korea for ‘unwavering support’ for Ukraine war


Vladimir Putin lauded North Korea’s “unwavering support” for the “special military operation” in Ukraine as Russia joined China in Pyongyang to celebrate the hermit kingdom’s 70th anniversary of the Korean War truce.

Mr Putin sent defence minister Sergei Shoigu who was seen alongside North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and held one-on-one talks with him, reported the Korean nation’s state media.

Mr Putin sent his congratulatory message wherein he lauded “the DPRK’s unwavering support for [Russia’s] special military operation” in Ukraine.

The Russian president lamented “Western policies” for “undermining the supremacy of international law, the indivisibility of security and the establishment of a truly multipolar and just world,” the state media reported.

Mr Putin accused the West of disregarding “respect for the sovereignty and national interests of states”.

Kim Jong-un was joined by his two staunch ally nations Russia and China as he brandished his newest nuclear-capable missiles and spy drones at the grand military parade in Pyongyang, where the three anti-US rivals gathered for North Korea’s “Victory Day” celebrations.

The North Korean leader flexed his military muscle by displaying the latest Hwasong-17 and Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missiles which are capable of wide-range strike anywhere in the United States, reported Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The missiles have been banned by the United Nations Security Council resolutions with support from China and Russia.

Brand new attack and spy drones were also displayed in a flyover in the event.

Mr Kim was also joined by Chinese Communist Party Politburo member Li Hongzhong. The trio were seen talking, laughing, posing for photographs, and saluting as the North Korean troops marched.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, center, Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu, left, and China’s Vice Chairman of the standing committee of the country’s National People’s Congress Li Hongzhong, right, attend a military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the armistice that halted fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War, on Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang

(AP)

North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-n (C in black suit) watching as the new model of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the solid-fuel Hwasong-18, goes past in a military parade

(KCNA VIA KNS/AFP via Getty Image)

New model of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the solid-fuel Hwasong-18, being paraded at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang to mark a key anniversary of the Korean War

(KCNA VIA KNS/AFP via Getty Image)

Mr Shoigu said North Korea’s “solidarity with Russia on key international issues” highlights the two nation’s common interest to “confront” the common rival West, while delivering the remarks at the conference to mark the armistice anniversary.

Russia’s defence minister Sergei Shoigu attends a reception for the Russian military delegation hosted by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as part of the 70th anniversary celebration of the Korean War armistice in Pyongyang

(via REUTERS)

The three nations displayed the first sign of revival of their Cold War-era coalition and a show of solidarity, just weeks after powerful summits and gatherings of US and Nato nations in the first half of this year, including the Group of Seven Summit in May, where Ukraine’s war-time president Volodymyr Zelensky was also invited, and Nato summit in Lithuania this month.

Mr Putin claimed several of his Soviet pilots “carried out tens of thousands of combat flights” for contributing to “annihilating the enemy”, reported KCNA.

Reminiscing the Cold War-era ties, Mr Putin in his relayed message said: “The historic experience of combative friendship has noble values, and is serving as a reliable foundation to further develop the connection between Russia and North Korea in the field of politics, economy and safety.”

Mr Shoigu praised the North Korean military as the strongest in the world, as he discussed strategic security and defence cooperation with the North Korean leader.

This was Russia’s first such visit to North Korea involving Moscow’s top defence official since the 1991 break-up of the Soviet Union, while China’s delegation is the first such to arrive after the Covid-19 pandemic.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attends a military parade to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Korean War armistice in Pyongyang

(via REUTERS)

Beijing and Moscow have previously maintained their distance from North Korea’s nuclear activities but marked a distinct support this year as Russia’s full-scale invasion in Ukraine grinds on with consistent and powerful military aid from the Western allies of Kyiv, much to the anguish of the Kremlin.

Soldiers participate in a military parade to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Korean War armistice in Pyongyang

(via REUTERS)

The North Korean leader also hosted a reception and lunch with Mr Shoigu as he promised solidarity with Russia and its military.

Watching the high-level gathering from the ring-side view, the US expressed concern about the coming together of the three nations, which have increasingly been critical of the West, and particularly the growing US influence, in the recent times where tensions are rife.

The US Department of State spokesperson Vedant Patel said the US was “incredibly concerned” about their ties. The US has previously accused North Korea of supplying weapons to Russia for fuelling the 17-month long war in Ukraine.

Both Russia and North Korea have rejected charges of carrying out any arms transactions.



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Putin’s grain offer not enough, Ukraine ceasefire needed


(Reuters) – The chair of the African Union, Azali Assoumani, said on Friday that proposals by Russian President Vladimir Putin to provide grain to Africa were not sufficient, and that a ceasefire in Ukraine was needed.

In a closing address to a Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg, he also said Putin had shown readiness to negotiate with Ukraine, and that “the other side” now needed to be persuaded.

Putin had told the African leaders that Russia was ready to supply Africa with grain, some of it for free, after refusing last week to extend the Black Sea grain initiative, which had permitted Ukraine to export grain safely from its seaports despite the war.

That, and Russia’s subsequent bombing of Ukrainian grain export facilities and stores, has sent the global price of grain soaring.

“The President of Russia demonstrated that he is ready help us in the field of grain supply,” Assoumani said. “Yes, this is important, but it may not be quite enough. We need to achieve a ceasefire.”

“President Putin has shown us that he is ready to engage in dialogue and find a solution,” he added. “Now we need to convince the other side.”

Putin had told the African leaders that it was Kyiv that was refusing to negotiate with him under a decree it passed shortly after he claimed last September to have annexed four Ukrainian regions that Russia partly controls.

Russia has long said it is open to talks but that they must take account of these “new realities” on the ground.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has rejected the idea of a ceasefire now that would leave Russia in control of nearly a fifth of his country and give its forces time to regroup after 17 grinding months of war.

(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Kevin Liffey, Editing by Louise Heavens, Kirsten Donovan)



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Explosion rocks Russian city close to Ukraine border



An explosion rocked the center of the Russian city of Taganrog near the border with Ukraine Friday, injuring several people, state media reported.

The cause of the blast was not immediately known, and there were conflicting reports about how many people were injured.

Alongside images of rubble and a damaged building posted on it’s Telegram channel, the state-owned news agency RIA Novosti quoted Rostov Regional Governor Vasily Golubev as saying four people had been injured.

However, in a separate post it quoted unnamed emergency service officials as saying seven people had been injured.

Elsewhere, prominent Russian lawmaker Alexander Khinshtein said on his Telegram channel that an explosion rocked a major oil refinery in Russia’s Samara region, around 850 miles north of Taganrog.

Preliminary information suggested it was caused by an explosive device, he said, adding that no one was injured and the damage was not serious.

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

Henry Austin





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Russia urged to renew Ukraine grain deal at Africa summit


Russian President Vladimir Putin and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi talking as they pose for a photo at the Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has urged Russia to renew its deal with Ukraine

Egypt’s president has urged Vladimir Putin to renew the deal allowing Ukraine to export grain at a summit the Russian president is hosting.

Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said it was “essential” the deal be revived and called for an urgent solution to supply the poorest African countries.

Russia quit the deal last week and has since bombed Ukraine’s Black Sea ports.

Mr Putin says the West was not keeping its side of the bargain and has offered Russian grain to six African countries.

He said Russia would deliver the grain for free.

Egypt is a key buyer of grain via the Black Sea route and is particularly vulnerable to global food price shocks.

In response Mr Putin insisted that rising food prices were a consequence of Western policy mistakes that predated the war with Ukraine.

He also claimed the grain deal had not been getting grain to the poorest countries and said Russia was ready to provide its own grain to help avoid a “global food crisis”.

Russia could provide Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, Central African Republic and Eritrea with 25-50,000 tonnes of free grain each in the next three to four months, he said.

These six countries are all Russian allies apart from Somalia, which is suffering a severe humanitarian crisis.

Since withdrawing from the deal, Russia has repeatedly bombarded Ukrainian ports and depots, destroying thousands of tonnes of grain.

African leaders also used the second day of the summit to press Mr Putin to move ahead with a peace plan they are proposing to end the war resulting from Moscow’s full-scale invasion of its neighbour last year.

The plan calls for Russia and Ukraine’s sovereignty to be recognised, urgent peace talks and continued unhindered grain exports.

Congo Brazzaville President Denis Sassou Nguesso insisted it “mustn’t be underestimated”.

Mr Putin said Moscow was looking at the plans, though Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has ruled out any plan that leaves Russia in control of territory it has seized.

Russia’s invasion led to a blockade of the country’s Black Sea ports – trapping 20 million tonnes of grain which were meant for export.

This caused world food prices to soar, and threatened to create shortages in Middle Eastern and African countries which imported significant amounts of food from Ukraine.

The deal was struck in July 2022 between Russia and Ukraine – brokered by Turkey and the UN – allowing cargo ships to sail along a corridor in the Black Sea 310 nautical miles long and three nautical miles wide.

Ukraine is one of world’s biggest suppliers of crops such as sunflower oil, barley, maize and wheat.



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