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Enduring the Onslaught: Ukraine’s people refuse to surrender amid Russia’s relentless attacks

Enduring the Onslaught: Ukraine’s people refuse to surrender amid Russia’s relentless attacks

AS the grim milestone of 1,000 days since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine approaches, the plight of Ukrainian civilians has only intensified. With Russia's systematic destruction of the country's energy infrastructure, the people of Ukraine now face a deepening humanitarian crisis, struggling to survive the onslaught amid the looming hardships of another brutal winter. "The intense attacks on critical infrastructure and civilian sites – and constant air-raid warnings – are exacting a grave toll on physical and mental health," lamented Kelly T. Clements, UN Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees, during her recent visit to the war-torn nation. The devastation is…
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Amid the West’s wavering aid to Ukraine, North Korea backs Russia in a mutually beneficial move

Amid the West’s wavering aid to Ukraine, North Korea backs Russia in a mutually beneficial move

UKRAINIAN President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently accused North Korea of plans to send 10,000 soldiers to fight for Russia in Ukraine. South Korean intelligence later gave credence to Zelenskyy’s assertion, as the country’s legislators noted that North Korea has already dispatched 3,000 soldiers to Russia. North Korea lending a helping hand to Russia is nothing new. The country has already provided Russia with significant munitions to supplement its depleted reserves. North Korean soldiers, in fact, are likely already fighting in the conflict. North Korea’s alleged decision to send additional soldiers to fight demonstrates the inadequacy of the West’s actions. Wavering western…
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South Sudan’s oil and water give it bargaining power – but will it benefit the people?

South Sudan’s oil and water give it bargaining power – but will it benefit the people?

SOUTH Sudan has long been one of east Africa’s most unstable states. But surging external interest in its resources and the diplomatic agility of its rulers are again underlining how pivotal the country remains to regional energy and water politics. Much of Africa has spent 2022 facing sharp increases in the costs of energy and food driven by the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the strengthening of the US dollar. Authors HARRY VERHOEVEN, Senior Research Scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy, Columbia University FRANCOIS SENNESAEL, DPhil Candidate, Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford For states that have…
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Explainer: How could Russia’s Putin be prosecuted for war crimes in Ukraine?

Explainer: How could Russia’s Putin be prosecuted for war crimes in Ukraine?

JACQUELINE THOMSEN and MIKE SCARCELLA UKRAINE has accused Russia of war crimes in the town of Bucha just outside Kyiv, with Germany, France and others expressing outrage at the images of dead civilians. The mayor of Bucha said on Saturday that 300 residents had been killed by Russian troops during a month-long occupation. Victims were seen by Reuters in a mass grave and lying in the streets. Russia's defence ministry denied the Ukrainian allegations, saying footage and photographs showing bodies in Bucha were "yet another provocation" by the Ukrainian government. Russia has previously denied targeting civilians and rejected allegations of…
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In tears at border, Ukrainians say they held on until they had to flee

In tears at border, Ukrainians say they held on until they had to flee

JOANNA PLUCINSKA and ANNA VOITENKO VALERY Petrovich Sorokin, 66, didn't want to leave his home outside of Kharkiv. He suffers from arthritis and struggles to move. But, a month into the war, as Russian bombs fell around him, his family told him he had to go to Poland with them. "There are planes all the time and the sound of bombing all the time, it's very loud," he told Reuters tearfully as his family huddled under green tents set up to protect refugees from the rain as they waited at the Shehyni border crossing in Ukraine. "They did it, they…
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Russia’s war with Ukraine: Five reasons why many African countries choose to be ‘neutral’

Russia’s war with Ukraine: Five reasons why many African countries choose to be ‘neutral’

IN early March the United Nation’s General Assembly voted on a resolution demanding Russia immediately stop its military operations in Ukraine. Out of 193 member states, 141 voted in support of the resolution, five voted against, 35 abstained and 12 didn’t vote at all. Of the 54 African member states, Eritrea voted against the resolution, 16 African countries including South Africa abstained, while nine other countries did not vote at all. Author OLAYINKA AJALA, Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, Leeds Beckett University In all about half (26) of the 54 member states in Africa chose the path of neutrality…
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‘Please close the sky’ say Ukrainian refugees

‘Please close the sky’ say Ukrainian refugees

ALAN CHARLISH UKRAINIANS fleeing into central Europe pleaded for Western nations to take tougher steps against Russia following Moscow's invasion that has created more than 1 million refugees. At the Medyka crossing, Poland's busiest, along its roughly 500-kilometre (310-mile) border with Ukraine, refugees called for a no-fly zone over Ukraine -- something NATO powers have so far ruled out on the grounds it would risk escalating the conflict beyond Ukraine. "Please close the sky," said Solomiya Zdryko, 18, who fled from Lviv in western Ukraine. "I know that it's not possible for us to join NATO but at least close…
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Kremlin says the West is behaving like a bandit

Kremlin says the West is behaving like a bandit

THE Kremlin said that the West was behaving like a bandit by cutting economic relations over the conflict in Ukraine but that Russia was far too big to be isolated as the world was much larger than just the United States and Europe. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the West was engaged in "economic banditry" against Russia and that Moscow would respond. He did not specify what response there would be but said it would be in line with Russian interests. "As you understand, there must be a corresponding response to economic banditry," Peskov said. "This does not…
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Russia seizes Ukraine nuclear power plant as forces lay siege to cities

Russia seizes Ukraine nuclear power plant as forces lay siege to cities

PAVEL POLITYUK and ALEKSANDAR VASOVIC RUSSIAN forces in Ukraine seized Europe's biggest nuclear power plant in an assault that caused alarm around the world and that Washington said had risked catastrophe, although officials said later that the facility was now safe. Fighting also raged elsewhere in Ukraine as Russian forces besieged and bombarded several cities in the second week of an invasion launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin The capital Kyiv, in the path of a Russian armoured column that has been stalled on a road for days, came under renewed attack, with explosions audible from the city centre. The…
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A tale of two refugee crises

A tale of two refugee crises

RACHAEL REILLY and MICHAEL FLYNN RUSSIA's brutal and devastating invasion of Ukraine has triggered the largest and fastest refugee movement in Europe since World War II. After only a single week, more than one million people had already fled the country. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) initially predicted that as many as four million people would flee; the UN now thinks that some 10 million will eventually be displaced. While the EU calls this the largest humanitarian crisis that Europe has witnessed in “many, many years,” it is important to remember that it was not so long ago that the…
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