Freedom of Information

[DaffyVina]

12:04
World food prices hit new record high - UN

The war in Ukraine has rattled grain and vegetable oil markets, causing world food prices to jump to a new record high in March, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says.

Ukraine and Russia are major exporters of basic foodstuffs, and the war has hit crop production, driving up prices.

Some 30% of the world's wheat comes from Ukraine and Russia, and the conflict has affected exports.

Russia also produces enormous amounts of nutrients, like potash and phosphate - key ingredients in fertilisers, which enable plants and crops to grow.


12:11
Russia denies railway station strike
Russia has denied involvement in the strikes on the railway station in Kramatorsk.

The country's defence ministry said accusations that Russia had attacked the station were "a provocation" and "absolutely untrue".

Moscow has issued similar denials in recent days as evidence has emerged of attacks on civilians around the capital Kyiv.


12:21
Pictured: Crowds at Kramatorsk station earlier this week
Thousands of people - most of them women and children and the elderly - were at the railway station in Kramatorsk when it was hit by rockets, the city's mayor Oleksander Honcharenko has said.
The station, which lies in eastern Ukraine, was being used to evacuate civilians from the Donbas region in the east.

These were the scenes at Kramatorsk train station earlier in the week as people waited for trains. Russia is believed to be stepping up its offensive in Donbas as it withdraws from the north.

A woman wipes her eye as families wait to board a train at Kramatorsk central station
Copyright: Getty Images
Image caption: A woman wipes her eye as families wait to board a train at Kramatorsk central station on Tuesday


Children lay down on luggage on the station's platform
Copyright: Getty Images
Image caption: Also pictured on Tuesday, children lay down on luggage on the station's platform


A man carries a little girl amid crowds at Kramatorsk station
Copyright: Getty Images
Image caption: Kramatorsk was one of the easternmost stations still operating in Ukraine, and thousands of people have been there this week trying to get trains to safety


A man holds his hand up to a train window with a woman and child crying inside
Copyright: Getty Images
Ukraine's deputy prime minister warned earlier in the week that people living in the east should flee while they still can

[DaffyVina]

12:59
'For the children' written on missile that hit station
Missile near Kramatorsk station reading 'for the children'
Copyright: Getty Images
Image caption: Writing on a missile dropped near Kramatorsk station reads: 'For the children'

The remnants of one of the missiles dropped near Kramatorsk station appears to have the words "for the children" written on it in Russian.

The phrase - "za detei" in Russian - suggests it was fired in support of children, or in retaliation to an attack on children, rather than aimed at children.

Ukrainian officials say the railway station strike in Kramatorsk has killed at least 39 people including four children. The station was being used to evacuate civilians from the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, where fighting has intensified in recent days.


Ukrainian forces have retaken Sumy, says regional governor
Elsewhere in Ukraine, the governor of the Sumy region in the north-east of the country says the Ukrainian military has regained full control of the area.

Dmytro Zhyvytskyy wrote on social media that Russian forces had withdrawn from Sumy but he warned residents against returning before mines were cleared.

The city, which is close to the Russian border, was the scene of heavy bombardment and fighting early in the invasion.

Britain's Ministry of Defence said this morning that Russian forces have now fully withdrawn from northern Ukraine.


13:46
EU and US condemn 'horrific' railway station attack
EU and US leaders have been responding to the strike at Kramatorsk railway station this morning, where the latest estimate from Ukraine is at least 39 people have been killed and many more injured.

President of the European Council, Charles Michel, said it was "horrifying" to see the missile hit one of the main stations used by civilians evacuating the region.

EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, strongly condemned this morning's attack and called it "yet another attempt to close escape routes for those fleeing this unjustified war".

And a White House spokeswoman decried the "horrific and devastating images" of the attack in an interview with CNN, cited by Reuters.


14:01
At the station - signs of journeys to safety that ended in tragedy
Joe Inwood
Reporting from Kramatorsk railway station

Just a few hours after the attack and the clear-up operation is already well under way.

The dozens of bodies that were clearly visible in the gruesome videos of the aftermath are gone. Only a few patches of blood remain. Most of the luggage has been removed too, a sign of journeys to safety that ended in tragedy.

The once busy station is almost entirely deserted now, save for a few police officers and the workmen boarding up the broken windows.

There are four burned-out cars in front of Kramatorsk railway station, but step a few dozen metres away from the building and you see a far more remarkable sight.

The back half of a missile lies embedded in the earth. On its side are written the words "for children".

There are conflicting reports about where the missile came from and whether the train station was its intended target. What we do know is that, once again, it is Ukrainian civilians, including children, who have paid the price.


14:21
UK 'appalled' after station hit by rockets

UK officials have condemned the strike that hit the packed Kramatorsk train station killing dozens, according to Ukrainian officials.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the striking of civilians and critical infrastructure "is a war crime" and said precision missiles were aimed at people trying to seek humanitarian shelter.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said she was "appalled" by the attack and reiterated that the "targeting of civilians is a war crime".

"We will hold Russia and Putin to account," she added.


14:38
Montenegro announces sanctions against Russia
Montenegro has imposed unspecified sanctions on Russia, according to an announcement by the country's deputy prime minister.

Writing on Twitter on Friday, Dritan Abazovic said: "[The Montenegrin government] has adopted restrictive measures in response to Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.

"Thankful to all the ministers for their cooperation."

Montenegro is a Nato member and a candidate for EU membership, but had previously appeared reluctant to introduce sanctions.

The country attracts a significant amount of investment and tourism from Russia, and many wealthy Russians also have property or keep yachts there.

Montenegro had earlier closed its airspace to Russian planes, and on Thursday expelled four Russian diplomats for violations of diplomatic norms.

On Monday, the US ambassador to the country called on its government to implement all the sanctions imposed by the EU.


14:44
4,000 people were at station when rocket hit - Kramatorsk mayor

The death toll in Kramatorsk has now risen to 40, according to the city's mayor.

Speaking on Newshour, on the BBC World Service, Mayor Oleksander Honcharenko said 40 people had now died, including 10 children after a "huge rocket" hit the city's train station earlier.

"It happened at 10:30am, at that time we had about 4,000 people on the railway station, waiting for the first train," he said.

He added that he was certain it was a Russian rocket, and that there were no Ukrainian military targets around the station where the rocket hit.

It remains unclear whether the train station was the intended target of the missile, or who exactly is responsible for the attack.


15:19
50 dead after Kramatorsk train station attack - governor

Fifty people are now thought to have died after Kramatorsk train station was hit by rockets, according to the region's governor.

Writing on Telegram, Pavlo Kyrylenko said as well as the 38 people who died at the train station, 12 others who were wounded at the scene later died in hospital.

He said 98 people in total were taken to hospital after the attack. Of the 98, 16 were children, 46 were women and 36 were men.

He added that he expected more people to seek medical help within the coming days.

[DaffyVina]

15:30
Are Russia's claims about Tochka-U missiles true?
BBC News Analysis

Firefighters respond to the Kramatorsk station attack
Copyright: DONETSK REGIONAL STATE ADMINISTRATION

Russia has denied the attack on Kramatorsk railway station and claims missile fragments found nearby are from a Tochka-U tactical projectile "only used by the Ukrainian armed forces".

Its ministry of defence announced it had stopped deploying the weapons in 2019 in favour of the more modern Iskander-M missiles, according to Russian media.

Ukraine's Donetsk governor has, however, accused the Russian military of using the Tochka-U to detonate cluster munitions in the attack on Kramatorsk.

Manisha Ganguly, an investigative journalist for the BBC World Service, has been looking into Russia's claims and believes they don't add up.

She says there's evidence Russia used Tochka-U tactical missiles on 24 February during a strike on a hospital in Vuhledar, Donetsk Oblast, which killed four civilians and wounded 10.

An Amnesty International missile investigator analysing photos of the weapon scrap linked to the incident determined a "9M79 Tochka ballistic missile was used in the attack".

These weapons are extremely inaccurate, regularly missing their targets by half a kilometre or more, Amnesty International has said.

Tochka missiles were also used on 19 March in Luhansk, according to the Ukrainian MoD. The Ukrainian military say they shot down one of these missiles with their air defence system.

According to missile expert N.R. Jenzen-Jones, all Tochka missiles come from an old Soviet arsenal.

"All 9M79-1 missiles were assembled by the Votkinsk Machine-building Plant in the Udmurt Republic [in Russia], beginning in the Soviet era," he says.

[DaffyVina]

16:00
'The unthinkable happened here': EU chief visits Bucha
Ursula von der Leyen holds her hand to her heart as she speaks with Bucha Mayor Anatolii Fedoruk
Copyright: Reuters

Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, has been visiting the town of Bucha near Kyiv in northern Ukraine. Bucha was the town where bodies of civilians were found lying in the street after Russia's withdrawal.

Russia denies killing civilians and has accused Ukraine of staging the deaths to discredit its troops. However, there is strong and growing evidence that war crimes have been committed by Russia.

"It is the unthinkable has happened here," said von der Leyen during her visit. "We have seen the cruel face of Putin's army."

Ursula von der Leyen lights a candle in a church in Bucha
Copyright: Reuters
She joined others in lighting a candle in a church near a mass grave in the town of Bucha


16:13
As fighting intensifies in east Ukraine, a scramble to escape

Tom Bateman
Reporting from Zaporizhzhia

More civilians fleeing the fighting in the south and east have been arriving in the town of Zaporizhzhia.

At a refugee centre helping families and small children, I met Kateryna. Her family managed to get through the front line after fleeing Chernihivka, 150km from here. Holding her little boy Demyd, Kateryna tells me they had to drive through mined areas to escape the town. "It was becoming really tense," she says.

Volunteers are handed out clothes to people arriving here. Another little boy watches us as we film, holding his teddy bear. His dad is shaking as he tells us about the shelling they had to live through in their village, before escaping on Thursday.


16:29
Russia's 'significant' losses may not cause too much of a public stir
Jenny Hill
BBC News, Moscow

Dmitry Peskov said earlier this week that Russia's troop losses in Ukraine were a "huge tragedy"
Russians know that their sons and husbands are dying in Ukraine.

Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov's acknowledgement to Sky News that there have been "significant" losses may not cause too much of a public stir, given that state TV does cover some funerals and the authorities have admitted to more than 1,300 deaths (although the real figure is believed to be much higher).

There may be bereaved families who now question Vladimir Putin's "special military operation".
But they're up against a muscular Kremlin propaganda machine which is parroted by state media - to which there is now virtually no independent alternative - which celebrates its fallen soldiers as heroes who have given their lives defending the motherland against the aggression of Ukraine.

It's a brazen attempt to cast Russia both as the victim and the occupier of the moral high ground.

TV and newspapers feature regular reports of the bravery and courageous exploits of individual soldiers. In one such report the author noted that "the fight between good and evil is not stopping".


17:24
Russian TV airs false ‘dummy’ claim

BBC Monitoring

A still from the footage that a Russian TV station falsely claimed showed Ukranians moving a dummy
Copyright: Rossiya 24

A Russian TV channel aired footage of a dummy, calling it evidence that Ukrainians were preparing a fake incident to discredit its armed forces. But it turned out to be part of a TV drama being filmed near St Petersburg.

State-run rolling news channel Rossiya 24 showed footage of two people moving the dummy yesterday and reported "they are obviously intending to present it as a corpse”.

Rossiya 24’s reporter claimed that the use of dummies is widespread in Ukraine. “Dozens of fakes with similar dummies regularly appear on Ukrainian Telegram channels,” the report said, without offering evidence.

However the footage was quickly debunked. TV director Nadezhda Kolobayeva wrote on Facebook that the footage wasn’t from Ukraine. Instead, she said, it was filmed on 20 March in Vsevolozhsk, just east of St Petersburg.

The director said the two people in the shot were the show’s stunt coordinator and an assistant. The dummy, she said, goes by the name Albertik.

The BBC has contacted Rossiya 24 for comment.


17:54
Ukraine wants to use civilians as human shield - Russia
More now on Russia's denial of accusations that it carried out Friday's deadly missile attack on Kramatorsk railway station.

The defence ministry in Moscow blamed Ukraine's armed forces for carrying out the attack. It said they were trying to stop civilians from leaving so that they could use them as human shields.

The ministry also claimed - without providing any evidence - that the rockets had been fired from the nearby Ukraine-controlled town of Dobropillia.

It insisted it did not use the type of Tochka-U missile that was reportedly fired, whereas the Ukrainian military did.

However, analysts point to images and videos on social media that appear to show the Russian military using the Tochka-U.

Tochka-U rockets are extremely inaccurate, regularly missing their targets by half-a-kilometre or more, according to Amnesty International weapons experts.


18:37
EU offers Ukraine possible fast-track entry
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen shaking hands with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and smiling at camera
Copyright: Reuters

The EU has handed President Zelensky a questionnaire which will lead Ukraine a step further in being granted EU candidate status at a conference in Kyiv.

Speaking to the Ukrainian President, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the EU will support Ukraine to ensure its completion takes "weeks, not years", as the process has been somewhat accelerated due to the war.

"Russia will descend into economic, financial and technological decay, while Ukraine is marching towards the European future, this is what I see," she said.

Receiving the questionnaire in an envelope, Zelensky assured journalists that it would be ready in a week.

Josep Borrell, the EU's foreign policy chief, added that more than €7m had been allocated to support Ukraine in gathering and presenting proof of war crimes to the International Criminal Court.

Borrell also mentioned that EU delegates will soon return to the capital and he believes embassies will follow suit.


19:26
Slovakia sends entire surface-to-air missile system to Ukraine

As President Biden mentioned, Slovakia says it has sent its entire S-300 surface-to-air missile system to Ukraine, to help bolster the country’s air defences from Russian attack.

It is the first known case of a country sending an air defence system to Ukraine since Russia invaded in February, according to Reuters.

Confirming the news, Slovakia's Prime Minister Eduard Heger said: "I believe that this defence system will help save as many innocent lives as possible from the aggression of Putin's regime".

However, Heger emphasized donating the system to Ukraine "does not mean Slovakia has become part of an armed conflict."

Slovakia recently received the American Patriot missile system - another surface-to-air missile - from fellow-Nato members Germany and the Netherlands. Heger said the country would now get a fourth instalment of the Patriot system next week.

In the meantime, German and Dutch Patriot batteries - the units used to fire missiles - have been deployed to Slovakia as part of a temporary bolstering of Nato's eastern flank, and the US said it would put one Patriot missile defence system and troops to operate it in Slovakia.

"[The Patriots'] deployment length has not yet been fixed, as we continue to consult with the Slovakian government about more permanent air defence solutions," US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement.



19:53
'I didn't know whether they were wounded or dead'
Ukrainian woman who witnessed Kramatorsk station attack
Copyright: BBC
Image caption: A Ukrainian woman witnessed casualties from the missile strike

The BBC has been to the scene of the strike in Kramatorsk that left dozens dead. The once busy station is now quiet, and food carried by those trying to flee is lying in the street.

One woman who witnessed the blast recalled those around her panicking, saying “people were screaming and crying”.

“Then I saw a wounded woman who was bleeding heavily, she was taken into a room with several wounded people there," she said.

“I saw people lying in front of the building - I didn't know whether they were wounded or dead.”

A man who also witnessed the attack said “people were panicked and stressed".

“Some of them were badly wounded and we tried to help them," he said.


21:11
'We are defending the right to live' - Zelensky
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainians are "defending the right to live" in an interview with CBS news from Kyiv.

"I never thought this right was so costly. These are human values -so that Russia doesn't choose what we should do and how I'm using my rights," he said.

He said that on a recent visit to Bucha, where Russia has been accused of war crimes, he witnessed "death, just death".


21:40
EU adopts fresh raft of sanctions
The European Union has adopted a new raft of sanctions against Russia and entities with ties to the Kremlin. Details were published on Friday.

They include:

Asset freezes and travel bans for 216 individuals, including Vladimir Putin's two daughters, Ekhaterina Tikhonova, 37, and Maria Vorontsova, 37
Also affected are German Gref, head of Sberbank, Russia's largest bank; arms manufacturer and billionaire Oleg Deripaska; and defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov
Sanctions on 18 more firms, including five of Russia's biggest banks
A ban on coal imports, the first action the EU has so far taken against Russia's energy sector
An import ban on others goods - including wood, vodka and chemical products - estimated to make up at least 10% of all imports from Russia
A ban on the export of goods including jet fuel and transportation equipment
An export ban on technologies including quantum computers, advanced semiconductors and high-end electronics
A ban on Russian ships using EU ports
A ban on Russian and Belarusian trucks entering the EU's territory unless they are carrying medical products, food or humanitarian assistance



22:04
Russia closes 15 human rights offices over 'law violation'

Russia is closing the offices of 15 NGOs, including the two leading rights organisations, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

The Russian Ministry of Justice said the decision was taken due to Russian laws being violated, without providing details.

Amnesty International's director, Agnes Callamard, said it was the latest in a long list of organisations being punished for speaking the truth to the Russian authorities.

She said Amnesty would redouble efforts to expose what she described as Russia's "egregious human rights violations at home and abroad".

“The authorities are deeply mistaken if they believe that by closing down our office in Moscow they will stop our work documenting and exposing human rights violations," she said.

Russia tightened its already restrictive media law after invading Ukraine by introducing a new law which threatens to jail anyone Russia deems to have spread "fake" news about the armed forces.

[Tarian Amgeffyl]

https://www.liberation.fr/checknews/gue ... UJPWT2P6E/
publié le 8 avril 2022 à 19h16, journal Libération.

Guerre en Ukraine: la propagande du Kremlin a-t-elle changé de version sur les frappes de Kramatorsk?
Différents canaux pro-russes ont d’abord affirmé que la frappe sur Kramatorsk était l’œuvre de Moscou, avant de changer de version.

La propagande pro-Kremlin s’emmêle les pinceaux et fait volte-face. Alors que deux missiles ont touché une gare bondée de réfugiés à Kramatorsk, dans la partie du Donbass contrôlée par l’Ukraine, causant, selon un bilan provisoire, la mort de 50 personnes, dont 5 enfants, et plus d’une centaine de blessés, il n’a fallu que quelques heures à la Russie pour nier officiellement son implication dans ce bombardement, comme elle le fait systématiquement quand elle est accusée.

Comme le rapporte l’AFP, le ministère de la Défense russe a ainsi démenti être à l’origine des frappes : «Toutes les déclarations des représentants du régime nationaliste de Kyiv sur le fait que la Russie a mené une attaque de missiles contre la gare ferroviaire de Kramatorsk sont une provocation et ne correspondent pas à la vérité.»

Mais les relais de propagande russe n’ont pas tous été aussi affirmatifs. Dans un premier temps – avant que les images de civils tués ne soient mises en ligne –, de nombreux canaux Telegram pro-Kremlin ont attribué la frappe à la Russie, en revendiquant une frappe sur des cibles militaires.

Des frappes revendiquées... jusqu’à l’émergence de victimes civiles

Comme l’a repéré le journaliste ukrainien Oleh Novikov, les canaux Telegram ouvertement pro russe SIL0VIKI et sowdki ont d’abord partagé une vidéo tournée juste après la frappe, en mentionnant en commentaire que des militaires ukrainiens avaient été touchés dans la gare de Kramatorsk. Des publications alors massivement reprises par la galaxie pro-Kremlin, comme le journaliste russe Dmitry Steshin. Un message similaire a également été publié par un journaliste de l’agence de presse russe Anna, qui citait des «informations vérifiées» sur la présence d’équipements militaires à Kramatorsk.

Peu après la diffusion des vidéos montrant que les victimes de la frappe de Kramatorsk étaient des civils, ces canaux se sont rétractés. Certains ont tout simplement supprimé leurs publications sans plus de commentaires. D’autres ont d’abord affiché leur doute, avant d’expliquer, comme Dmitry Steshin, avoir été berné par cette «provocation».

Le faux argument du missile
L’armée russe, de son côté, avait revendiqué, le matin même, plusieurs frappes sur des gares situées dans cette zone, sans toutefois évoquer Kramatorsk. Selon des déclarations du ministère de la Défense russe, reprises par le canal Telegram de la chaîne télévisée de l’armée russe Zvezda, «des armements et des véhicules à usage militaire [ukrainiens] ont été détruits dans la région du Donbass, dans les gares ferroviaires des villes de Pokrovsk, Sloviansk et Barvinkove par des missiles de haute précision aérobalistiques». Le message a été publié un peu moins d’une heure avant les premières informations sur la frappe de Kramatorsk, dont la gare est située à dix kilomètres à peine de celle de Sloviansk.

Officiels et pro-Kremlin ont depuis unanimement nié la possibilité que la frappe sur Kramatorsk soit russe, en brandissant comme preuve les débris d’une des roquettes retrouvés dans la ville, à savoir ceux d’un missile balistique Tochka-U de conception soviétique. Le ministère de la Défense Russe a déclaré à plusieurs reprises que «les missiles tactiques Tochka-U, dont les débris ont été retrouvés dans les environs de la gare de Kramatorsk et dont les images ont été diffusées par des témoins, ne sont utilisés que par les forces armées ukrainiennes». Des affirmations fausses. L’Ukraine dispose et utilise effectivement ces missiles, mais comme le soulignent Eliot Higgins (vidéo à l’appui), le fondateur de l’ONG d’investigation Bellingcat, ou encore le renommé analyste militaire Rob Lee, l’armée russe dispose aussi de ces équipements.

[DaffyVina]

22:52 8 Apr
Weekend curfew imposed in Odesa after attacks, says military
Authorities have imposed a weekend curfew in the southern port city of Odesa on the Black Sea because of threats of further missile strikes, according to the regional military.

In a Facebook post, the regional military administration said the curfew would be in place from 21:00 (18:00 GMT) Saturday until 06:00 Monday local time.
People are prohibited from leaving their houses without special permission, it said.

The announcement comes after missile strikes in the region last night, resulting in an unknown number of casualties, according to regional spokesman Serhiy Bratchuk.

Despite the attacks, Ukrainian authorities say that they have so far seen no signs that Russian forces are preparing a landing operation from the Black Sea.


23:18 8 Apr
Bodies of 132 people found in Makariv, says mayor
Man walks past building damaged by shelling in Makariv
Copyright: Reuters
A total of 132 dead bodies have been found in the Ukrainian town of Makariv, the Ukrainska Pravda website has reported, quoting the town's mayor.

Speaking in a televised address on Friday, Vadym Tokar said: "As of yesterday, we excavated 132 bodies of civilians who were executed by the Russian orcs."

He said the majority of the bodies were excavated from mass graves, but that some were found in the streets.

Makariv is around 50km (30 miles) west of Kyiv and before the war had a population of around 15,000 people.

Tokar said that fighting in recent weeks had seen the figure fall as low as 1,000, and that around 40% of Makariv had been damaged, with many buildings beyond repair.

"The occupiers destroyed almost all infrastructure, bombed [homes] and apartment buildings, completely destroyed hospitals and kindergartens," he said.


1:16 9 Apr
Russians 'leaving booby-traps' in their wake
A Ukrainian soldier searches a home for survivors or booby traps
Copyright: Getty Images

Ukraine's Minister of Internal Affairs has said that efforts to estimate the number of dead civilians in formerly occupied areas have been complicated by Russian booby-traps.

In a briefing on Friday, Denis Monastyrsky said that many buildings were mined, and that the buildings where Russians allegedly tortured people were blown up as they departed.

"The cases are horrendous," he said, adding that sappers had found explosives under helmets, ammo boxes and cellar entrances.

He estimates that it would still be a number of weeks before authorities have a complete estimate of how many died in the battle for Kyiv.

Though the BBC cannot verify the specific claims by Monastyrsky, there is growing evidence to contradict Russian denials that they killed civilians in parts of Ukraine they occupied.



3:18 9 Apr
Japan bans Russian coal imports
Fumio Kishida speaking at a press conference in Tokyo on Friday
Copyright: Getty Images

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida held a news conference on Friday in which he announced the expulsion of eight Russian diplomats and a total ban on Russian coal imports.

"Russia has repeatedly violated international humanitarian law by killing civilians and attacking nuclear power plants. These are unforgivable war crimes," Kishida told reporters.

Japan has been continuing to levy sanctions against Russia in co-ordination with the US and European countries.

"Japan stands together with Ukraine," Kishida said.

Japan is the world's third-largest importer of coal after India and China. Russia accounts for 11% of Japan's coal import.

[DaffyVina]

3:49 9 Apr
Russia has replaced war commander, says Western official

A Western official has confirmed Russia has reorganised the command of its operations in Ukraine, with the new general having had extensive experience in battle operations in Syria.

The source said the commander of Russia’s southern military district, Gen Alexander Dvornikov, now leads the invasion.

“That particular commander has a lot of experience of operations of Russian operations in Syria. So we would expect the overall command and control to improve,” the source said.

The new instatement was done in an attempt to improve coordination between various units, as Russian groups had previously been organised and commanded separately, the official said.

Russia has so far struggled to achieve its war aims 44 days into the invasion, failing to capture major cities such as Kyiv before eventually turning its sights to the Donbas region in the east.

The official said Russian tactics had seen them held back by smaller numbers of Ukrainian units acting more intelligently and with surprise - despite Russia being thought to have a "substantial" force of slightly fewer than 100 operational battalion tactical groups,

“Unless Russia is able to change its tactics, it's very difficult to see how they succeed in even these limited objectives that they've reset themselves," the official said.

The official added political imperatives might take precedence over military priorities, with Russia pushing forward to get some kind of success ahead of 9 May, when the country marks victory in World War Two.


11:25 9 Apr
Ammunition depot destroyed in central Ukraine – Russia’s defence ministry
Russian forces have destroyed an ammunition depot at the Myrhorod Air Base in central Ukraine, the Interfax news agency reported, quoting Russia's defence ministry.

A Ukrainian air force MiG-29 fighter and a Mi-8 helicopter were also destroyed in the attack on the base in the Poltava region, according to ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov.

Governor of the Poltava region, Dmytro Lunin, said on social media that two people had been wounded and "significant damage" was caused to the site.

[DaffyVina]

Inside Chernobyl: We stole Russian fuel to prevent catastrophe
By Yogita Limaye
BBC News, Chernobyl, Ukraine
Additional reporting by Imogen Anderson.
Published19 hours ago

Media caption, WATCH: The BBC's Yogita Limaye at Chernobyl nuclear power plant, now back under Ukraine's control

The former nuclear power plant at Chernobyl in northern Ukraine was taken over by Russian forces on the first day of the invasion. It's now back under Ukraine's control. The BBC's Yogita Limaye is among the first journalists to look inside it since the Russians left.

On the afternoon of 24 February, Russian forces surrounded Chernobyl with tanks and armoured vehicles, entering Ukraine from the Belarusian border, just about 16km (10 miles) away.

About 170 Ukrainian national guards who secured the plant were taken to the basement and held captive there. Then Russian soldiers searched the premises for weapons and explosives.

Engineers, supervisors and other technical staff were allowed to continue working. In the next two days, teams from Russia's atomic energy agency Rosatom were brought in.

Chernobyl's staff were keen to keep control of the plant's maintenance. It's not a working power station, but radioactive waste is stored at the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster. Billions of dollars have been spent since the accident in 1986 to clean up and contain further contamination. If conditions at the site are not monitored properly, there is a major risk of the release of nuclear material.

"They wanted to know how the facility was managed. They wanted information about all the procedures, documents and operations. I was scared because the questioning was constant, and sometimes forceful," said Oleksandr Lobada, a radiation safety supervisor at the station.

Valeriy Semonov is pictured in a thick coat and lanyard
Image caption, Engineer Valeriy Semonov, who works at Chernobyl's former nuclear plant, said he scrambled to find fuel to keep the generator running

On the top floor of the main building of the power station are key rooms from where the site is controlled, located on both sides of a long, narrow passage. Some of the rooms were locked. When the Russians didn't find the keys, they broke into the rooms, cutting out the portion of the door in which the lock was embedded.

"We had to constantly negotiate with them, and try hard not to offend them, so that they allowed our personnel to manage the facility," said engineer Valeriy Semonov.

When the power to the station was cut off for three days, Valeriy said he scrambled to find fuel to keep the generator running, even resorting to stealing some from the Russians.

"If we had lost power, it could have been catastrophic," Oleksandr explained. "Radioactive material could have been released. The scale of it, you can well imagine. I wasn't scared for my life. I was scared about what would happen if I wasn't there monitoring the plant. I was scared it would be a tragedy for humanity."

The area behind the plant called the "Red Forest" is one of the most radioactive places on earth. Drone footage released by the Ukrainian military shows that Russian soldiers dug trenches and even stayed there. This was also confirmed to the BBC by officials at the station.

It's evidence of how little the soldiers knew about nuclear safety.

Energoatom, Ukraine's state-run nuclear power agency, has said Russian soldiers were exposed to "significant doses" of radiation.

A dosimetrist measures the level of radiation around trenches dug by the Russian military in an area with high levels of radiation, called the Red Forest
IMAGE SOURCE,REUTERS

Just outside the sarcophagus which protects the damaged nuclear reactor, Russian soldiers piled up sandbags behind which they could hide if attacked. Valeriy scoffed at this, saying the Ukrainian military wouldn't dream of firing at a nuclear reactor.

Down in the basement of the main building, are dormitory style rooms which have been completely ransacked. The floor is littered with rugs, mattresses, clothes, shoes and other personal belongings of the Ukrainian national guard who were held there. Officials at Chernobyl say Russian soldiers looted what they could when they left, and they also took the captive members of the national guard with them.

A chaotic room with a pale green floor covered with items like clothes, mugs, chairs, plastic bags
Image caption, These rooms, where members of the Ukrainian national guard were held captive, are littered with rugs, mattresses, clothes, shoes and other personal belongings

"We were able to keep the site safe. But it's upsetting that they took 169 of our military," said Valeriy.

It's not confirmed where the men are being held, but Chernobyl's staff believe they are in Russia.

Petro Poroshenko, Ukraine's former president, visited Chernobyl on Friday with food and other supplies for the plant's personnel. Access to it has only just opened up through an off-road track. The bridge to Chernobyl was blown up to stop Russia's advance.

Petro Poroshenko, Ukraine's former president, in a weatherproof jacket, speaks seriously to a man inside the Chernobyl plant
Image caption, Petro Poroshenko, (left), Ukraine's former president, visited the site soon after access opened up again

President Poroshenko has a warning for the world.
"Are we sure that tomorrow Russian troops cannot appear here? My answer would be no. Putin is completely unpredictable. And nuclear smoke is not limited by borders. It can reach Eastern Europe, Central Europe, and even Great Britain. The danger of nuclear contamination of Europe is very high, while Russia continues this war."

[DaffyVina]

11:06 9 Apr
Increasing concern to get people out of areas where there's still heavy Russian shelling
Emma Vardy
Reporting from Lviv

A Red Cross member stands in front of a destroyed building in Irpin
Copyright: Reuters
Image caption: A Red Cross member delivers food and first aid to Irpin residents

There is a real effort to evacuate people from the east and south of Ukraine while Russian forces are re-grouping and re-focusing their efforts.

We heard from the deputy prime minister of Ukraine today that there are these 10 humanitarian corridors opening up today.

One of them there'll be a lot of focus on, which it's hoped will help people escape from Mariupol.

There have been a few thousand people who've got out from there under their own steam and led by the Red Cross in the past week, but that's really just a fraction of people who've been trapped there for so many weeks.

Tens of thousands of people trapped in a humanitarian crisis on the ground.

We'll have to wait and see if these new humanitarian corridors are successful.

We've seen humanitarian corridors agreed in the past and then fall down, we've seen accusations of shelling of those humanitarian corridors.

So it's always quite touch-and-go when it comes to these evacuations but there's increased concern now, increased urgency to get people out of areas where there's still heavy Russian shelling.

That attack on the train station yesterday just underlines the urgency of that.

[DaffyVina]

From the Independent newspaper - https://www.independent.co.uk/news/worl ... 54312.html

Huge majority of Russians believe Putin propaganda ‘and cannot be reached’, says head of shut-down TV station

Exclusive: Natalia Sindeeva, founder of Dozhd TV, says Putin is winning the Russian information war because of his brutal crackdown on independent media

Adam Forrest
17 hours ago

<p>Natalia Sindeeva, founder of Dozhd TV </p>
Natalia Sindeeva, founder of Dozhd TV

Vladimir Putin is keeping the support of a large majority of Russians thanks to increasingly powerful state propaganda, said the head of an independent TV channel that was shut down by the regime.

Natalia Sindeeva, founder of the Dozhd TV station, told The Independent that a draconian censorship law introduced last month had destroyed any chance of reaching a large Russian audience with the truth about the Ukraine invasion.

Sindeeva said that the 20 per cent or so of Russia’s population that was already opposed to Putin still had ways of finding out what was happening in Ukraine – but the rest are now fully absorbed in messaging from state-controlled media.

“These people watch propaganda. They have completely opposite footage, they think it is Ukrainians who bomb Mariupol, they believe that Ukrainians killed people in Bucha,” she said.

“The problem is the audience of the state propaganda. We cannot reach them, and, to be honest, they do not have any demand for independent information. It is a majority of the people – they support the war, they support Putin, they make it easier for him.”

The Dozhd channel, set up in 2008, was forced to shut at the beginning of March after the Kremlin pushed through a media censorship law that punishes what it terms “fake” information about the war with up to 15 years in prison.

“Passing this law made impossible live reporting on TV online,” said Sindeeva. “We could not report on news relating to Ukraine, or we would have to use only Russian state official sources, which do not give a real picture.”

Sindeeva is the focus of a new documentary, F@ck This Job – renamed Tango with Putin for its appearance on BBC iPlayer – about the prominent socialite’s efforts to run a truly independent TV channel that was willing to challenge Putin’s government.


She had hoped that Dozhd, also known as TV Rain, could mix serious news and “glamorous television”, building an audience of young Russians eager for reform. But the Ukraine war brought an end to the regime’s willingness to tolerate autonomous media outlets.

Dozhd staff were swamped with threatening emails and calls soon after the invasion began, even before the censorship law made it impossible to continue.

Despite the crackdown in March, the minority of Russians already opposed to Putin – some of whom have been arrested for protesting against the war – are still able to get accurate information about Ukraine online.

“The core of our audience knows how to use VPN to open some blocked sources, or how to find our reporters or Ukrainian sources. It’s our bubble,” said Sindeeva.

Dozhd is not the only independent outlet to have been forced to stop reporting on the invasion. The Novaya Gazeta newspaper has suspended its activities until the end of Putin’s “special military operation” in Ukraine.

The newspaper’s editor, Dmitry Muratov, a co-winner of last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, was attacked in Moscow earlier this week by someone who threw a mixture of red paint and acetone over him.

Some who work for state-controlled media have paid the price for speaking out. Channel One news presenter Marina Ovsyannikova was detained after shouting “Stop the war” on air, and is now facing charges for holding an “unauthorised public event”.

Campaign groups like Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation hope that the overwhelming pressure of international sanctions might lead to an overthrow of the government.

But Sindeeva is pessimistic about the idea that the squeeze on the Russian economy will lead significant numbers to turn against the president. She said the Russian public would be willing to “endure the hardships” that arise due to the crumbling economy.

“For now, Putin’s propaganda is painting the picture that the worsening economic conditions are part of the west’s plan to weaken Russia. So Russians might even become more united against this outside enemy.”

<p>Natalia Sindeeva, founder of Dozhd TV</p>
Natalia Sindeeva, founder of Dozhd TV

Vera Krichevskaya, a former producer at the network and director of Tango with Putin, has predicted that Putin will remain in power past the 2036 date his term is supposed to end. “Putin will be there now until the physical end of his life: 2036? 2045? Dates don’t matter now.”

Sindeeva does not hold out much hope of democratic change in the years ahead. “Right now, it’s hard to imagine any reforms,” she said.

But the former TV channel boss, who does not disclose her location, said that many independent Russian journalists would find a way to keep working.

“I am sure it has a future,” she said of her media company. “I am now actively exploring new options to continue reporting on what is happening in Russia. I am thinking about how to restart the project, but I cannot give you any details now.”