Freedom of Information

[DaffyVina]

Ukrainian Olympic rower and wife 'so grateful' after escaping to England
Published15 hours ago

Jack Beaumont with Dmytro Mikhai and Dasha Kutanova
IMAGE SOURCE,JACK BEAUMONT
Image caption, Jack Beaumont contacted Dmytro Mikhai to see how he could help his friend and his wife Dasha

A Ukrainian Olympic rower and his pregnant wife have described how hard it was to leave their home and family in Ukraine after escaping to England.

Dmytro Mikhai and Dasha Kutanova are living in Nettlebed with the family of Team GB rower and former captain of Henley's Leander Club Jack Beaumont.

Mr Beaumont contacted his friend and former competitor to offer his help after the Russian invasion.

"We are very grateful to Jack," Mr Mikhai told the BBC.

Under the government's Homes for Ukraine scheme, the couple are living with Mr Beaumont's father Peter Beaumont and stepmother Eira Parry in the Oxfordshire village.

Mr Mikhai has been able to continue his training at Leander Club and Ms Kutanova has got a job working in a local cafe.

Dmytro Mikhai, Dasha Kutanova and Peter Beaumont
IMAGE SOURCE,EIRA PARRY
Image caption, The couple are grateful to Peter Beaumont (right) and his wife Eira Parry for welcoming them into their home

Mr Mikhai said: "We are very grateful to Jack for introducing us to his family, and to Eira and Peter for their generosity in sharing their home with us.

"Leaving our home and family in Ukraine has been so hard, but they have helped us to settle in to the community and to navigate all the complexities of starting a life in the UK, like opening bank accounts, finding work and applying for a longer term residency permit.

"The community in Nettlebed and Henley have been so welcoming, we feel like we make friends everywhere we go."

He said while the couple love living with their hosts, they worry about having a newborn in someone else's home.

"We would really like to find an apartment nearby where we can start our family life with our new baby, but still be close to our Homes for Ukraine sponsors and our new friends in the area," he added.

When Russia launched its invasion, Mr Mikhai was at a rowing training camp in Turkey while Ms Kutanova was staying with her mother in Kherson in southern Ukraine - the first city seized by Russian troops.

The women spent days locked in the bathroom of their apartment because of the constant shelling.

Ms Kutanova eventually managed to flee in a car with a friend. They put a basket of vegetables on the back seat and at every roadblock told the Russian soldiers they were delivering food to the next village.

Making their way along roads they knew were mined, they eventually made it to the port city of Odessa where they got a boat to Romania before driving to Turkey to meet up with their husbands.

"She's lucky to be alive," said Ms Parry.

[DaffyVina]

Ukraine war: World faces 'dark hour', Biden tells Quad summit
By Zubaidah Abdul Jalil & Tessa Wong
BBC News
Published8 hours ago

Joe Biden at the Quad Summit
IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES
Image caption, Mr Biden made his comments a day after he warned China over the Taiwan issue

The world is "navigating a dark hour in our shared history" with Russia's invasion of Ukraine, US President Joe Biden told key Asian allies.

The war has now become a "global issue" underscoring the importance of defending international order, he said.

Japanese PM Fumio Kishida echoed his comments, saying that a similar invasion should not happen in Asia.

Mr Biden was meeting the leaders of Japan, Australia and India in Tokyo in his first visit to Asia as president.

The four countries known collectively as the Quad discussed security and economic concerns including China's growing influence in the region - and differences over the Russian invasion.

Mr Biden's comments came a day after he warned China that it was "flirting with danger" over Taiwan, and vowed to protect Taiwan militarily if China attacked, appearing to contradict a long-standing US policy on the issue.

It was later reported that Russian and Chinese warplanes had approached Japanese airspace as part of a joint military patrol, prompting Tokyo to announce it had scrambled jets in response.

Russian officials said the flight over the Sea of Japan and East China Sea was part of an annual military exercise.

Mr Kishida told a news conference that planning the exercise to coincide with today's summit was "provocative".

In his opening remarks at Tuesday's summit, Mr Biden said their meeting was about "democracies versus autocracies, and we have to make sure that we deliver".

The Ukraine war, he said, "is going to affect all parts of the world" as Russia's blockade of Ukraine grain exports aggravates a global food crisis.

Mr Biden promised the US would work with allies to lead the global response, reiterating their commitment to defend international order and sovereignty "regardless of where they were violated in the world" and remaining a "strong and enduring partner" in the Indo-Pacific region.

After their meeting, Mr Kishida told reporters that all four countries "including India" agreed on the importance of the rule of law, sovereignty and territorial integrity; and that "unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force will never be tolerated".

India is the only Quad member that has refused to directly criticise Russia for the invasion, and, in what appeared to be a concession to Delhi, there was no mention of Russia in the joint statement issued at the end of the talks.

There was also no direct reference to China or its activities, but the Quad nations announced a new maritime monitoring initiative that is expected to step up surveillance of Chinese activity in the region, along with a plan to spend at least $50bn (£40bn) on infrastructure projects and investment over the next five years.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wave to the media prior to the Quad meeting at the Kishida's office in Tokyo on May 24, 2022.
IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES
Image caption, Australia's Anthony Albanese, US' Joe Biden, Japan's Fumio Kishida and India's Narendra Modi met on Tuesday

Formally referred to as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, the Quad began as a loose grouping of countries following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that banded together to provide humanitarian and disaster assistance. The group fell dormant before it was resuscitated in 2017.

Since then however, the top leaders have gathered four times in less than two years, meeting once in Washington last September and twice virtually.

Analysts say the steady decline in each Quad nation's bilateral ties with China in the past few years appears to have given the grouping more impetus.

There has been mounting discomfort with China's growing assertiveness in the region, with ongoing maritime disputes between China and several countries, and a land boundary conflict with India.

Beijing's heavy investment in strengthening its navy and its recent security pact with the Solomon Islands has stoked fears in Australia, while Japan has become increasingly wary of what it calls routine "incursions" from the Chinese navy in its waters.

On Monday, Mr Biden unveiled the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF), a US-led trade pact aiming to promote regional growth that includes 13 countries, mostly in Asia.

US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said it would provide countries "an alternative to China's approach". Officials said it would set standards in the areas of trade, supply chains, clean energy and infrastructure, and tax and anti-corruption.

The IPEF has been widely seen as a way for the US to re-engage with the Indo-Pacific after former US President Donald Trump's abrupt withdrawal from the Trans Pacific Partnership - a regional trade pact - in 2017.

*****

The Quad: The basics
Who is in the Quad? The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue brings together the US, Japan, Australia and India. It began as a loose grouping to provide aid following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and was relaunched in 2017.
What are its aims? With its focus on the Indo-Pacific, the Quad says it backs the free and open, rules-based global order - it's unstated goal is containing an increasingly assertive China in its backyard. Member nations' ties with China have deteriorated in recent years.
What's at stake? The US must persuade its allies - united by concern at China's rise but differing on other issues - that it's committed to a region seen as key to global security and prosperity. China says the region should beware what it calls the "Asian Nato".

[DaffyVina]

Ukraine war round-up: Fighting in the east and a seaside home for refugees
Published2 hours ago

An elderly local woman reacts in grief upon the exhumation of the body of a man killed in the Mala Rohan village near Kharkiv, Ukraine, 23 May 2022
IMAGE SOURCE,EPA
Image caption, A woman reacts in grief upon the exhumation of the body of a man killed near Kharkiv

Exactly three months after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, fighting raged in the east as its forces sought to take control of more territory there.

Moscow is attempting to encircle two cities in the east of Ukraine, in Luhansk.

The cities, Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, straddle a key river and taking control of them would mean Russia would be closer to its goal of taking the whole of the Luhansk region.

And with no sign of an end to the fighting, two senior Russian officials signalled on Tuesday that Moscow was ready for a prolonged war. "We are not rushing to meet deadlines," one said.

It's worth noting that while Russia invaded the country on three fronts, it has been focusing its attack on Ukraine's east for some time now.

The residents resisting occupation
That Russian advance is being met with fierce resistance.

People in the southern city of Melitopol tried to block armoured vehicles and waved Ukrainian flags when the Russians arrived, the BBC's Abdujalil Abdurasulov reports.

A destroyed bridge near Melitopol, which Russian forces used to transport supplies
IMAGE SOURCE,UKRAINIAN SPECIAL OPERATION FORCE
Image caption, A destroyed bridge near Melitopol that Russian forces used to transport supplies

When the Russians started cracking down on the protesters, the resistance movement was forced to evolve and new groups emerged.

Melitopol, according to the US-based Institute for the Study of War, is an area where partisan warfare has been active since at least the middle of March.

'Food nationalism'
The conflict continues to have far-reaching consequences.

The world faces the worst food crisis in decades following the invasion, the UN has warned. In Asia, an agriculture expert highlighted concerns about the potential rise of "food nationalism".

India has banned wheat exports, Indonesia has blocked overseas sales of palm oil and now Malaysia says it will cut the export of chickens from the start of June because of shortages locally.

"The government's priority is our own people," Malaysia's Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said.

Sonia Akter, an assistant professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore, said "food nationalism" was the result of governments feeling that they have to "protect their citizens first and foremost".

"From the previous experience of the 2007-2008 food crisis, it is expected that more and more countries will follow suit, which will exacerbate the crisis as well as the food price inflation," she added.

The war is also affecting the costs of goods in the UK.

A seaside 'home from home' for refugees
A woman who has run a seafront hotel in Weston-super-Mare, England, for the past 60 years has closed her doors to tourists to provide a "home from home" for Ukrainians.

Nitsa Michael
Image caption, Nitsa Michael said when she saw pictures of the Ukraine invasion she began planning how she could help
Nitsa Michael, 84, who runs the Seaward Hotel, left her home in Cyprus in the 1960s before her family fled in 1974 as Turkey invaded.

Based on her family's experience, she said she wanted to help Ukrainian people.

Could hydrogen ease Germany's reliance on Russian gas?
Since the start of the war Germany has reduced its dependence on Russian oil from 35% to 12% and on Russian gas from 55% to 35%.

Nevertheless, energy trading is a huge source of revenue for Moscow. Over the first two months of the war Germany paid almost €9bn (£7.7bn; $9.6bn) for Russian oil and gas imports according to the Finnish think tank CREA.

Veronika Grimm is an economics professor at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, and currently one of Germany's three special advisers to the federal government, called Economic Sages.

"We need to diversify and decarbonise our energy sources faster than initially planned," she says. To help achieve that goal, Ms Grimm wants the nation to "ramp up" its use of hydrogen.

A war 'built on lies'
Jailed Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny used a court appearance to make a scathing attack on Russian President Vladimir Putin's war, saying it was "built entirely on lies".

He lost an appeal against a nine-year prison term, but not before launching his attack.

Condemning Vladimir Putin's war as stupid, he said it was "like your courts, built entirely on lies".

Navalny was already serving a jail term when he was convicted in a fraud case rejected by supporters as fabricated.

Media caption, Watch: Alexei Navalny appeared in court in Moscow via a video link from his penal colony

[DaffyVina]

Ukraine war: 'This is just the beginning, everything is still to come'
By Jeremy Bowen
BBC News, Dnipro
Published2 hours ago
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-61570444

A woman outside her damaged house after it was hit by a missile in Bakhmut in Donbas on 22 May
IMAGE SOURCE,AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Image caption, The town of Bakhmut has been heavily shelled

The Ukrainian army is under more pressure than at any time since the first desperate weeks after the Russian invasion.

It could be fighting a losing battle in Luhansk, the northern part of Donbas region.

The Ukrainian General Staff says the Russians appear to be concentrating their forces for another push.

In the last day the Russians have intensified their attacks across the Donbas front line - getting closer to completing the encirclement of Severodonetsk, a city of 80,000 before the invasion.

The Ukrainians, as usual, are fighting with stubborn determination. Reinforcements are being poured into the battle.

In just a few minutes I saw about 20 armoured personnel carriers, with soldiers riding on them, driving to the front line - along with tanks on transporters and multiple rocket launchers.

Ukrainian servicemen wave as they move towards a checkpoint near the city of Lysychansk in the eastern region of Donbas on 23 May
IMAGE SOURCE,AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Image caption, Ukrainian soldiers have slowed the Russian offensive in Donbas

They have slowed the Russians down but have not stopped the offensive grinding forward. The Russians are inflicting heavy casualties.

A military source in the 57th Brigade told me that one of their units went into the line with 240 men and came out with about 140 - the rest of them killed, wounded and captured.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has said the Russians could be killing up to 100 Ukrainian soldiers a day in Donbas.

Not far from Severodonetsk, Bakhmut is a town getting slowly eaten by the war. This week it is about three miles from the Russians, well within range. Next week it might be much closer.

Civilians with somewhere to go have left. In the ruins in Donbas, the victory in Kyiv in March - the euphoria, glory and sacrifice - feel distant.

Bakhmut has been heavily shelled. Standing in front of his damaged house, a man in his 40s called Mitri showed defiance, apprehension and frustration. He had no idea what to expect in his town.

"I'm not Nostradamus. Why did Putin attack? It's all political games."

Mitri said President Zelensky's predecessor Petro Poroshenko would have reached a ceasefire agreement by now.

"At least there was peace before, they were negotiating. It's a pity about the people who died, the soldiers. It is a real shame."

It was, he said, President Zelensky's fault. He had missed an opportunity.

A building destroyed by shelling in Severodonetsk on 18 May
IMAGE SOURCE,AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Image caption, Thousands of civilians are still in Severodonetsk as Russians encircle the last Ukrainian soldiers in the oblast of Luhansk


Mitri shrugged and sucked angrily on his cigarette when I asked him if he would accept a deal that allowed Russia to control all of Donbas, compared to roughly a third of the territory it controlled before the invasion.

"I don't know. What could it change for me? The main thing is to stay alive. This is just the beginning, everything is still to come. If we survive, we'll see how it goes."

Thousands of civilians are still in Severodonetsk, as the Russians fight to encircle the last Ukrainian soldiers in the oblast of Luhansk, the northern side of Donbas.

At the railway station in Pokrovsk, a safe distance from the battle, I spoke to Lida, an elderly woman who uses a wheelchair. She had just been evacuated from Severodonetsk.

With other disabled and wounded civilians, she was being evacuated to the relative safety of western Ukraine on a special train, turned into an ambulance and intensive care unit by the medical organisation MSF, Doctors without Borders.

Lida, who radiated defiance and cigarette smoke, was rescued by soldiers who took her and other civilians through heavily shelled areas.

"They bombed everything, we barely escaped. Glass is smashed, everything is scattered around. And I am not able to walk at all. Disabled. That's how it is.

"Nine storey buildings, the upper floors are destroyed. All ruined.

"Putin's a scoundrel. We used to live peacefully. There was a Soviet Union and so be it. They divided Ukraine and Russia. So that's why the problems began."

People evacuating Bakhmut in the eastern region of Donbas on 24 May
IMAGE SOURCE,AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Image caption, People have been fleeing the town of Bakhmut


If President Putin's forces can encircle Severodonetsk, their next targets would most likely be the key cities of Kramatorsk and Slovyansk in the Donetsk Oblast, the other side of Donbas.

Then he might declare victory in the battle for Donbas.

I saw lines of freshly dug trenches near the two cities, as the Ukrainians prepared fall back positions. If they fell, and it is no certainty as they are both heavily defended, President Putin would be able to declare his first significant victory of the war.

Russia would control a belt of territory stretching along its border south from Donbas and along most of Ukraine's coastline.

President Zelensky says that only diplomacy can end the war, but he has said that Russia must return to the positions it held before the invasion.

His allies, led by the US and UK, want to weaken Putin's Russia permanently. They have said Russia must not win.

Their critics say they'll fight to the last Ukrainian.

The currency of war is blood. As families bury their dead, more Ukrainians, like Mitri in Bakhmut, will question the blood price they are paying, and ask whether it is better to pay for a ceasefire with land - or lives.

[DaffyVina]

US closes loophole for Russian debt payments
Published1 hour ago

The US is cutting off another financial route for Russia to pay its international debts, a move that could push the country closer to default.

The US Treasury Department said it would end a waiver that had allowed US bondholders to accept payments, tightening sanctions imposed over the war in Ukraine.

Russia, which is rich from its oil and gas supplies, has the funds to pay.

It has already signalled plans to contest any declaration of default.

The country has almost $2 billion worth of payments that will be due up to the end of the year on its international bonds.

While the new rules only apply to people in the US, they will make it difficult for Russia to make payments elsewhere given the role of US banks in the global financial system.

The US had already barred Russia from using US banks to transfer payments.

In comments last week, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned the waiver for investors was likely to expire. She said the exemption had been intended to allow an "orderly transition".

Analysts have said they do not expect major ramifications from the move outside of Russia, with IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva saying in March that exposure to the holdings was "not systemically relevant".

Russia's debt was already downgraded to"junk status" by major ratings agencies in March, a move that disqualifies it from purchases by major investors, making it difficult for Russia to raise money on international markets.

Professor Philip Nichols of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania said it's not clear what Western holders of Russian bonds have done in the weeks since the invasion, whether rushing to offload them or holding on in hopes the situation will eventually normalise.

A default would mark the first time Russia has failed to pay its government debt since 1998 - the economic crisis at the end of then President Yeltsin's term in office.

It would likely trigger a court case, opening up Russia to recovery proceedings from creditors.

Inside Russia, any impact would be felt only over the long term as part of the country's wider economic isolation, Prof Nichols said.

"Russia just has a lot of oil and gas and that translates into a lot of money, but in the long-run, this is part of a web of instruments that are designed to make it far, far more difficult for Russia to wage war on its neighbours," he said.

"It's going to be really interesting to see what happens," Prof Nichols said.

[DaffyVina]

3 Months of War

After the Russian military (with support from Belarus) attacked Ukraine, I started posting the News here
My aim was largely to ensure that people with restricted access to the news, especially those whose access is limited by totalitarian regimes, might have a way to know accurately what was happening in the war.
This is not a long-term solution to free access to this information, for that access to information without state censorship and propaganda (or indeed large scale corporation censorship/ propaganda) is needed. A starting point is reducing internet based restrictions:

To Access the BBC News in Russia:
• Download the Psiphon app from the AppStore or Google Play Store
• Look for the dedicated BBC site on the Tor Browser www.bbcnewsd73hkzno2ini43t4gblxvycyac5aw4gnv7t2rccijh7745uqd.onion Note that this URL only works using the Tor Browser or the Onion Browser (on iPhones).
• If access to the apps is restricted then send a blank email to get@psiphon3.com or gettor@torproject.org. An email will be sent in response with a direct and safe download link

The BBC has also launched two new shortwave frequencies broadcasting World Service English news for four hours a day to Ukraine and parts of Russia:
• 15735 kHz from 14:00 GMT to 16:00 GMT
• 5875 kHz from 20:00 GMT to 22:00 GMT

To Access Twitter’s onion service:
https://twitter3e4tixl4xyajtrzo62zg5vztmjuricljdp2c5kshju4avyoid.onion while using Tor Browser or a similar tool.
While you could already access Twitter’s ordinary website via Tor, the newly launched version adds more layers of protection.

From account: @torproject There are specific guides:
Russian users, you can defeat Tor censorship by getting a Tor bridge from our official Telegram bot: https://t.me/GetBridgesBot. Or use Snowflake. We wrote a step-by-step guide for you.

Здравствуйте! Похоже, ваш Интернет-провайдер блокирует Tor. Подробнее об этом см. OONI reports of Tor blocking in certain ISPs since 2021-12-01 - Russia - NTC 2.6k

Tor Browser включает инструменты обхода блокировок. О том, как использовать мосты Tor, можно прочесть здесь (на русском языке):

МОСТЫ | Как стать переводчиком для Tor Project 7.8k
TOR ДЛЯ МОБИЛЬНЫХ УСТРОЙСТВ | Как стать переводчиком для Tor Project 4.1k

Если у Вас заблокированы вебсайты Tor Project, получить доступ к документации и другим ресурсам проекта можно, воспользовавшись следующими зеркалами:

Поддержка Tor 1.1k
Руководство пользователя Tor Browser 512
Сервис GetTor 863 - только по-английски
Запуск собственного моста Tor 1.5k - только по-английски
Блог Tor Project 160 - только по-английски
Основной вебсайт Tor 953
(НОВОСТИ НА 22 ДЕКАБРЯ) В настоящее время мосты, встроенные непосредственно в Tor Browser, в России заблокированы. Вам нужно получить работающий мост.
Это можно сделать пятью способами:

отправить сообщение Telegram-боту Tor;
запросить мост, используя инструмент Tor Browser - Moat,
отправить email по адресу bridges@torproject.org;
посетить страницу https://bridges.torproject.org 12.5k.
или подключится с помощью Snowflake.

(НОВОСТИ) Как получить мост с помощью Telegram-бота
Подключитесь к @GetBridgesBot 7.6k в Telegram.

Наберите /bridges

Скопируйте всю строку полностью. Ниже рассказано, как вручную добавить мост в Tor Browser.

Как получить мост, используя инструмент Tor Browser - Moat

Российские пользователи могут запрашивать мосты через механизм “запросить мост с torproject.org 1.2k”, встроенный в Tor Browser. Просто выполните следующие три шага:



Как получить мост с веб-сайта Tor Project 10.7k
Зайдите на страницу BridgeDB 10.7k

Решите капчу.

Скопируйте все строки полностью. Ниже рассказано, как вручную добавить мосты в Tor Browser.

Как получить мост по email (только для владельцев аккаунтов Gmail и Riseup)

Отправьте email по адресу bridges@torproject.org с почтового аккаунта Gmail или Riseup.

Оставьте поле темы пустым. В теле сообщения напишите “get transport obfs4”.

Скопируйте все строки полностью. Ниже рассказано, как вручную добавить мосты в Tor Browser.

Если эти мосты не работают, обратитесь за новыми мостами по адресу frontdesk@torproject.org.

Полученные мосты нужно вручную добавить в Tor Browser.

Использование Snowflake
На компьютере
Чтобы использовать Snowflake, выберите “Настройки сети Tor”, когда вы запускаете браузер Tor в первый раз.

В разделе “Мосты” поставьте галочку в поле “Использовать мост” и выберите опцию “Выбрать встроенный мост”.

В выпадающем меню выберите “Snowflake”.

После того, как вы выбрали эту опцию, вернитесь на верх страницы и нажмите “Соединиться”, чтобы сохранить новые настройки.

Android
Чтобы использовать Snowflake, нажмите на значок настроек при первом запуске Tor Browser.

На первом экране вы узнаете о состоянии сети Tor.

Нажмите на пункт меню ‘Конфигурация моста’.

Нажмите на опцию “Использовать мост” и выберите “Snowflake”.

Тем, кто пользуется Tor Browser на компьютере
При запуске Tor Browser выберите «Настройки сети Tor». Откроется соответствующее окно.

Перейдите к разделу «Мосты». Поставьте галочку в поле «Использовать мост».

Выберите «Указать свой мост». Введите полученные мосты (по одному мосту в строке).

Для сохранения изменений нажмите «Соединиться».

Если Tor Browser уже запущен:

В меню с тремя полосками (≡) выберите «Настройки».

В левом столбце выберите «Tor».

Выберите «Указать свой мост». Введите полученные мосты (по одному мосту в строке).

Для сохранения изменений нажмите «Соединиться».

Пользователям Tor Browser для Android
На стартовом экране Tor Browser нажмите значок настроек. Вы увидите текущее состояние сети Tor.

Нажмите «Конфигурация моста».

На следующем экране можно выбрать между использованием встроенного моста или настройкой имеющегося моста. Включите опцию «Использовать мост» и выберите «Указать мост».

Добавьте полученные мосты.

Если вам нужна помощь в установке или устранении неполадок браузера Tor, или вы хотите проверить достоверность источника загрузки браузера Tor, мы запустили в Telegram канал поддержки русскоязычных пользователей Tor: @TorProjectSupportBot 278.

This guide and other discussions are on: https://forum.torproject.net/

There is more support from @TorProjectSupportBot


On a similar theme, I found this article from: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-censorship-vpn-reporting/31737775.html
https://www.svoboda.org/block

Russia has recently joined the ranks of other authoritarian countries in blocking RFE/RL local news sites. We encourage readers in Russia to subscribe to the Telegram channels of RFE/RL's Russian and Ukrainian services or this website's Telegram channel in English, as well as to our newsletter, The Week In Russia, for continued access to our reporting.

Here are some other ways to continue to access RFE/RL's reporting not only in English but also in Russian, Chechen, Tatar, Ukrainian, Belarusian, and other languages:

VPNs

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a tool that allows a person to mask their location and identity by linking up with a computer server in a different location. It also is an encrypted or secure tool, meaning once a user activates a VPN it’s very difficult (though not impossible) to intercept the data and information that goes back and forth.

VPNs have exploded in popularity around the world amid concerns about Internet security. The result is a plethora of options -- some sophisticated, some simple, some costly, some inexpensive or free -- that people can download and use. One thing to keep in mind: In some countries like Russia, VPNs are being increasingly outlawed as authorities try to crack down on the free flow of information.

Readers can use a VPN, such as nthLink or Psiphon, which are free solutions supported by the Open Technology Fund. VPNs will give readers access to blocked social media platforms. Here are some more detailed instructions in Russian that also include a few other free VPN alternatives. https:// www. current time. tv/ block

The Open Technology Fund is a U.S.-based nongovernmental organization that was set up to “increase free expression, circumvent censorship, and obstruct repressive surveillance as a way to promote human rights and open societies." It was originally established by Radio Free Asia, a sister organization of RFE/RL. In 2019, the fund was spun off into its own nonprofit corporation. It receives funding from the U.S. Agency for Global Media, a federal agency that also provides funding to RFE/RL, which is also an independent nonprofit corporation.

TOR ONION SITES

The Onion Router is free and open-source software that allows people to use the Internet, send e-mail, or do just about anything online anonymously. The software directs Internet traffic through a so-called overlay network scattered around the world, making it difficult to trace Internet activity to the user.

The software was originally developed by U.S. government scientists in the 1990s to help protect intelligence communications. Its license was later released to the public and taken over by private sector Internet freedom advocates, with funding from the U.S. government, Human Rights Watch, and others. The nonprofit that maintains the TOR software is now headquartered in Seattle.

Readers should consider downloading the Tor browser to anonymously and securely access RFE/RL's onion sites.

English website: https://www.rferlo2zxgv23tct66v45s5mecftol5vod3hf4rqbipfp46fqu2q56ad.onion/

Current Time: https://www.currtv242aqatxhyqfyh3mtq2ubzxz7crvj7aon3zccrnwatc5gugvqd.onion/

RFE/RL's Russian Service: https://svobod7mjzb3hwxhgcnx7ui2ffd4p5zulftzkzdlmpaztuuoxnlpwhyd.onion/

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RFE/RL's Belarusian Service: https://svabodmmmsdce3rmzoor5cw3byj6rqss4q6bh2yfhux2dbmobnpg5ead.onion/

How to download the Tor browser:

On Windows, MacOS, Android, Linux: https://www.torproject.org/download/

On iOS: https://onionbrowser.com/

If the sites are blocked, you can send an empty e-mail to gettor@torproject.org and you will be sent a browser bundle via e-mail.

Where Tor is blocked, bridges help readers access the Tor network. Readers need to request a bridge via one of the following ways:

-- Sending "/bridges" to the dedicated Telegram channel @GetBridgesBot and then adding the bridges lines received manually via copy and paste in the Tor browser [Settings > Tor > Bridges > Provide a bridge]

-- Requesting a bridge via e-mail at bridges@torproject.org and then adding the bridges lines received manually via copy and paste in the Tor browser [Settings > Tor > Bridges > Provide a bridge]

-- Connecting through Snowflake from within the Tor browser [Settings > Tor > Bridges > Select a built-in bridge > Snowflake]

To input requested bridges on:

Desktop: Settings > Tor > Bridges > Provide a bridge

Android: Config Bridge > Provide a bridge I know

iOS: Bridge Configuration > Custom Bridges

The Tor Project maintains a Telegram channel for user support in English and Russian: @TorProjectSupportBot.

Mirror Sites: In case you've noticed any strange links on our Russian sites:

You might have noticed longer, unusual links on our Russian-language sites. We use so-called “mirrors” of our sites distributed across multiple locations to make it much harder for the authorities to block access.

A mirror site is pretty much what it sounds like: an exact replica of a website or a set of files on a computer server that is housed on another computer server. Mirror sites are used when governments or regulators order a site to be blocked or censored so that readers can still access the original content.

If you would like to share our content with colleagues or friends who do not use a VPN, we recommend using these longer mirror links.

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RFE/RL App

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The text from https:// www. currenttime.tv/ block is copied below:

Как обойти блокировку?
В некоторых странах власти начали блокировать наши сайты. Если это произошло в вашей стране, то без инструментов для обхода блокировок вы не можете заходить на наш сайт напрямую и открывать ссылки на наши материалы из соцсетей.

Вот что можно сделать, чтобы читать нас и после блокировки:
Воспользуйтесь VPN-клиентом. Это поможет вам обезопасить себя, ваш провайдер будет считать, что вы находитесь в другой стране, а ссылки будут открываться как обычно. Бесплатные сервисы, которым мы доверяем – nThlink и Psiphon, которые предоставляются бесплатно при поддержке Фонда открытых технологий. VPN даст доступ к заблокированным платформам социальных сетей.
Подписывайтесь на наши страницы в телеграме, твиттере, инстаграме, фейсбуке и тиктоке – там можно смотреть наши видео, читать истории и узнавать новости, не переходя на сайт.
Подписаться на утреннюю новостную рассылку 7:40, чтобы она приходила вам емейлом, или читать телеграм-канал этой рассылки.
Смотрите нас в прямом эфире на ютубе и подписывайтесь на наш канал.
Установите приложение Настоящего Времени в App Store или Google Play – в нем доступны все материалы нашего сайта и уже встроен VPN. ​
Скачайте напрямую файл-установщик нашего приложения для устройств с операционной системой на базе Android (преимущественно SmartTV). Этот файл предназначен для тех, кто не может получить его через магазины приложений от производителей устройств.
Найдите нас в брайзере Tor. Подробная инструкция – здесь.
Воспользуйтесь зеркальной копией нашего сайта.
Как работает зеркало?
Мы используем зеркальные копии сайтов, чтобы властям было сложнее заблокировать доступ к нашим публикациям. Если вы хотите поделиться нашими материалами с коллегами или друзьями, которые не используют VPN, советуем использовать ссылки на зеркальные сайты.

К сожалению, не все функции сайта могут правильно работать на зеркальных сайтах. Мы перестроим редакционную работу с материалами так, чтобы максимальное количество функций, доступных на сайте (ссылки, эмбеды, спецпроекты), корректно отображались и в зеркале. Иногда зеркальные ссылки могут перестать работать, потому что власти заблокировали и их. На всякий случай скачайте это расширение для Chrome и Firefox



I'm not going to be able to continue to update posts regularly, so I wanted to give anyone still reading a chance to continue to access free internet.

Solidarity with all who suffer & Strength to all peacemakers.

[DaffyVina]

Ukraine war: Bodies of dead Russian soldiers abandoned near Kyiv
By Sarah Rainsford
Eastern Europe correspondent, Kyiv
Published5 hours ago

Video
Media caption: The bodies of many dead Russian soldiers abandoned in areas around Kyiv

When their dogs started digging insistently at a spot in the woods, villagers in Zavalivka called in the authorities.

A Ukrainian military team were soon at the scene in white protective suits, carefully removing the topsoil.

They uncovered a man's body, face down with his legs oddly twisted beneath him. It was clear from his uniform that he was a Russian soldier.

Weeks after they failed to seize Ukraine's capital, the remains of Russian troops are still being discovered in and around the villages they passed through or occupied near the capital, Kyiv. But Ukraine says Russia shows little interest in getting them back.

From the grave in the woods, the body was removed to a refrigerated train on the outskirts of Kyiv that now operates as a mobile morgue for the Russian dead.

The white plastic sacks are marked with numbers rather than names and there were at least 137 stacked inside two carriages on the day we visited.

The dead Russian bodies are placed in refrigerated train carriages
Image caption: The bodies of dozens of dead Russian soldiers discovered near Kyiv have been placed in refrigerated train carriages


The Ukrainians attempt to identify the dead: on the body just brought in, the forensics team turned up two bank cards, as well as badges for a Russian motorised rifle brigade.

"At least this one has a chance of getting home," the man in charge announced, displaying the finds, including a soiled fragment of T-shirt printed with the Army of Russia logo.

Moments later, I confirmed that the man I had just seen exhumed had been a young, married soldier from Siberia. Next to his body bag, a carefully posed black-and-white photograph from his social media profile stared out from my phone.

Russia has a proud slogan: "We don't abandon our own." It's a big part of President Vladimir Putin's supposed justification for invading Ukraine, where he falsely claimed Russian-speakers needed protection.
That pledge appears not to apply so much to Russia's own soldiers.

"The bodies we've found show they treat people as rubbish, as cannon fodder," Col Volodymyr Liamzin told the BBC. "They don't need their soldiers. They throw them here, retreat - and leave the bodies."

A Ukrainian forensic team remove a Russian soldier from a shallow grave on the outskirts of Kyiv
Image caption, A Ukrainian forensic team remove the body of a young Russian soldier from a shallow grave on the outskirts of Kyiv


We don't actually know how the young soldier in the woods came to be abandoned. The villagers in Zavalivka say they were mostly hiding in their cellars from shelling at the time - they assume he was injured and got lost as his unit was forced to retreat.

From what we've learned of the Russian troops fighting around Kyiv, many were young and inexperienced. It's likely they were fleeing under fire.

"We did do one swap," Col Liamzin says, explaining that the Russian side provided a shortlist of the dead soldiers it wanted returned.

"We're ready to give them all back, we want our own dead returned too. We knock on every door there is, but there is no response, no dialogue," the colonel says.

The delay in collecting bodies isn't unique to Russia.

Neither side in this war is open about the number of casualties suffered. We've spoken to several Ukrainian families who say their own government has been less than helpful in recovering the remains of Ukrainian soldiers from the battlefield.

One woman, who was told of her husband's death by the men in his unit, said she had been trying to recover his body for almost three months.

But the Russian dead are being discovered here all the time.

Just up the road from Zavalivka in Sytnyaky, the village elder told us at least 10 Russian soldiers were killed and left behind in March, probably more.

Their column was ambushed after they lost their way: the locals had removed and switched the traffic signs.

The battle was fierce. What was once a roadside restaurant at the spot is now a heap of rubble, a bit of wall and a giant aquarium that somehow survived the assault.

Leaflets in the ruins call on Russian soldiers to surrender and save their lives, and spare the blood of Ukrainian children.

The village elder says he and others buried the Russians after the battle "for sanitary reasons". When I look quizzical, he says most were blown to pieces.

He wasn't allowed to show us the graves: they constitute a crime scene until Col Liamzin's team can get round to visiting and exhuming the site. But his dig-list is already long.

A local man planting beetroot confirms that the Russians were killed along the main road.

"It's not humane to abandon a soldier, not to bury them," Mikola says, leaning on his spade. His own son is in Ukraine's army.

"My wife felt sorry for the Russians at first, but then we found out what they did here," he adds, referring to the shooting of unarmed civilians in places like Bucha and Irpin.
"No-one feels sorry for the Russians after that."

The burned wrecks of Russian tanks still line all the main roads into Kyiv. Every few seconds, cars stop and families spill out to take photographs, children clambering over the top.

It seems somehow cathartic. The other day, I watched a man working out by lifting a tank barrel up and down, over his head, as though he was doing weights.

But that same day, just a few steps across the road, we spotted human remains on a scorched patch of verge - a charred piece of spine and a fragment of foot - and a sweet, deathly smell when the wind dropped. It was most likely one of the men killed in one of the nearby tanks.

So the refrigerated train in Kyiv is still filling up, and there are more in other cities close to the fighting. For the Ukrainian military who recover and store the bodies, there is little sympathy: the dead are enemy soldiers - invaders.

But in Russia, someone, somewhere must be looking for each one of them.

Additional reporting by Dariya Sipigina and Marianna Matveichuk

[DaffyVina]

20:08
What's happened today?
If you're just joining our coverage of the invasion of Ukraine, here's what's been happening so far today:

• The situation in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine is grave, with the deputy defence minister saying fighting is at maximum intensity as the Russians storm Ukrainian positions in several areas at the same time

• Ukrainian officials tell the AFP news agency the Russians have attacked more than 40 settlements in their drive to take the strategic towns of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk

• There's been shelling in the north-eastern city of Kharkiv and the overall death toll from that has risen to eight civilians killed, including a baby, and 17 people, including a child, wounded

• As difficulties in getting grain out of Ukraine continue, Russian President Vladimir Putin says Moscow can make a "significant contribution" to avoiding a global food crisis if the West lifts sanctions on Russia

• Ukraine’s chief prosecutor says she’s investigating almost 14,000 cases of alleged war crimes by Russian forces. Iryna Venediktova is in London on her first trip out of Ukraine since the invasion began and says between 100 and 200 new cases come in each day

• The assembly of the World Health Organization, the UN's health agency, approves a resolution to condemn Russia's military aggression against Ukraine, including attacks on facilities like hospitals

[DaffyVina]

21:40 26 May
Donbas battle could be a pivotal moment
James Waterhouse
Kyiv correspondent, BBC News

What we are seeing from the Russians are very slow, very deliberate and very familiar tactics, where they are trying to encircle an increasing number of locations in the Donbas, which is their priority.

They are trying to take territory around the city of Bahkmut in the Donetsk region.

They are increasingly launching assaults in the Luhansk region too.

In Severodonetsk, there is a single bridge allowing people to get out and supplies to get into the city, and the Russians have been targeting it directly.

But also, missiles landed today in Ukraine's second largest city Kharkiv, which has been left alone for the past couple of weeks as the Russians pulled back. While their focus is on the eastern Donbas region, these strikes suggest they might not be curbing their greater ambitions in the long term.

Russia now occupies around a fifth of Ukraine's territory, and they’re not stopping there. We're also seeing how they're consolidating, for example in the southern regions of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, where they have increased their land and air presence.

The secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council has warned of really tough times ahead in the coming weeks and said the Russians should not be underestimated.

I think this is a reminder that while it was seen as a good thing when the Russians pulled back from their greater ambitions in trying to encircle Kyiv, over in east they have now improved supply lines and have artillery and air dominance.

This could be a pivotal moment in this conflict, because should the whole Donbas region fall, that would be the first marker for Vladimir Putin to claim something as a victory.

6:41
Welcome back
We're restarting our coverage of the war in Ukraine - good morning and thanks for joining us. Here are some of the latest headlines:

• President Zelensky has said the Russian assault could leave Ukraine's eastern Donbas region uninhabited. The cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk are currently under attack

• The Ukrainian leader again said Russia's actions amounted to genocide - because of forcible deportations and killings of civilians

• In his nightly video address, Zelensky criticised the European Union for failing to impose further sanctions on Russia

• Ukraine has also stepped up its call for heavy weaponry in the east - with the foreign minister saying the situation there was even worse than people understood

• The death toll in Ukraine's second city Kharkiv has risen to nine following Russian shelling yesterday, says the regional governor

Zelensky accuses Russia of carrying out genocide in Donbas
Joe Inwood
Reporting from Kyiv

A Russian BMD-4M infantry fighting vehicle is seen in front of an apartment building heavily damaged during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the town of Popasna in the Luhansk Region
Copyright: Reuters
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Moscow of carrying out a "genocide" in the eastern region of Donbas, where the city of Severodonetsk is suffering an onslaught of Russian shelling.

“They want to burn the Donbas – to make it uninhabitable.” President Zelensky’s nightly address was downbeat – representing his country’s increasingly difficult position in the east.

Russian forces are closing in on the twin strategic cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk – attempting to encircle and then destroy their Ukrainian defenders.

But – it is not just his armed forces Ukraine’s president accused Russia of wanting to wipe out. He suggested their invasion was genocidal – with civilian populations killed or deported.

He also accused the European Union of failing to act decisively on sanctions. A sixth package of measures is currently being held up – most notably by Hungary – a long time Russia ally.

Every day, the EU sends Moscow nearly €1bn for oil and gas – money that President Zelensky says directly fuels the invasion of his country.

6:59
Explosions heard in Dnipro region and more incoming, says governor
We're hearing reports of three explosions overnight in the southern Dnipro region of Ukraine, and the region's governor says there are "several more incoming".

Valentyn Reznichenko says rescuers are going through the debris and looking for people.

The region faced a “restless night and restless morning”, Reznichenko says in a Facebook update.

We'll bring you more details on the situation as we have them.

7:25
Extremely dangerous for people escaping Severodonetsk, says mayor
More now on the intensifying attacks in eastern Ukraine as Russia drives to take over key cities in the region.

The mayor of Severodonetsk says the city is under almost continuous shelling - 60% of the housing stock is completely destroyed and up to 90% of buildings are damaged and will need major repairs, Oleksandr Stryuk says.

He says the route out of the city is extremely dangerous due to shelling making it difficult for people to leave, but Ukraine's military are doing "everything necessary to make the route safe".

About 12,000-13,000 people remain in the city, Stryuk says, adding at least 1,500 have been killed there so far.

9:20
Russia has planted up to 500 mines in Black Sea, says Ukraine

Ukraine claims that Russia has scattered between 400 and 500 old soviet mines in the Black Sea, which are being ripped off their anchors during storms and drifting - making it impossible to export goods from Ukraine's ports.

Odesa regional military administration spokesman, Serhiy Bratchuk, says Russia has "created a food crisis in the world" by blocking ports, adding that Russia is using an "information alibi" by blaming Ukraine for the food crisis.

Ukraine's Black Sea ports have been blocked since the beginning of the war on 24 February, suspending vital grain exports and officials say 20 million tonnes of grain are now stuck in the country.

The UN says some countries could face long-term famines if Ukraine's exports are not restored to pre-war levels. Russia has offered to open a corridor through the Black Sea for food shipments, in return for an easing of sanctions.

The BBC has not been able to independently verify these claims.

[DaffyVina]

8:58 28 May
Welcome back to our live coverage
Good morning and welcome to our coverage of the war in Ukraine. Here are some of the latest headlines:

• President Zelensky has said the situation in Donbas is “very difficult”

• In his nightly address, the Ukrainian leader said Russia is concentrating maximum artillery and forces in a bid to gain the eastern region

• Ukraine has warned it may have to withdraw its forces from Luhansk to avoid them being captured by Russian forces

• The governor of the region, Serhiy Haidai, says there are some 10,000 Russian troops in Luhansk

• Russian forces are targeting the city of Severodonetsk where fighting has broken out on the outskirts, the official says

• The Moscow-backed branch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has declared its independence and severed all ties with Russia