Postcard from Kiev
Maidan Square: From Queen to Tanks
Year 2012: Queen and Elton John concert, and the European Football Championship. Year 2014: Revolution of dignity. This year: war. And all this on the Maidan, in the center of Kyiv
Year 2012: Queen and Elton John concert, and the European Football Championship. Year 2014: Revolution of dignity. This year: war. And all this on the Maidan, in the center of Kyiv
We are fine. Kiev prepares for defense. Our job is to prepare the defense of the country against attack. Russians are terrorists. I will not leave Kiev
The number of Ukrainian refugees will soon exceed 2 million. Humanitarian corridors through which civilians could safely evacuate cities under siege are being negotiated. It seems that the ground is being prepared for the second act of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in which combat operations will intensify
The Ukrainian prosecutor's office condemned the Russian director Nikita Mikhalkov for threatening the sovereignty of that country. Mikhalkov is surprised, and will not come to the Fest
Russian artists are massively against the war in Ukraine, even though they are being fired. Leading figures of Ukrainian culture demand the world to boycott Russian artists and their works. Many large institutions have listened to them. There are also those who believe that it is against art
Perhaps Tolstoy was right when he wrote that all happy families are the same, and unhappy ones are always unhappy in different ways. But this does not apply to refugees, the refugee tragedy is always, and everywhere, exactly the same. Everyone who is shaken by pictures from Ukraine should remember that
Chinese media reports that "the largest evacuation of Chinese in history" has begun and that around 2500 of its citizens, out of six thousand in Ukraine, have already been transferred to neighboring countries. The evacuation is being carried out with the help of the Ukrainian authorities, which was interpreted in Beijing as another example of good relations between the two countries. But the departure of the Chinese does not encourage hope for a calming of the situation. On the contrary
"Part of joining the Union is full compliance with the Common Foreign and Security Policy. Today, the United Nations General Assembly will vote on the UN resolution on Russia's aggression against Ukraine. Every vote is important. Every vote counts. And we are counting on Serbia."
Media calling for war should be sanctioned. Journalists have the right to reject an editor's order if it violates journalistic ethics. Serbia should provide citizens with quality information
Ukrainians started coming to Serbia via Hungary, which decided that, unlike refugees from Muslim countries, it would open the border for them. Serbia has free capacities for now
In a moment of crisis of historic proportions, the European Union managed to agree on a joint response of all 27 member states to the Russian aggression against Ukraine. No one expected that, least of all Vladimir Putin. We should not rule out the possibility that this new reshuffle of the EU will bring about a change in the current paradigm towards the Balkans
"Prove that you are with us. Prove that you will not leave us in the lurch. Prove that you are truly Europeans. Then life will conquer death and light will conquer darkness". These words of the unshaven, sleep-deprived President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, dressed in an olive shirt over a video link in the European Parliament full of elegantly dressed deputies, brought the war to the heart of Europe. At the end of the speech, the MP was applauded frantically, the simultaneous interpreter could hardly refrain from crying
We see on television how women in Ukraine are preparing Molotov cocktails in case Russian armored vehicles penetrate the cities. I remember the Hungarian Revolution in 1956. I was there as a young journalist. There are some similarities with what is happening before our eyes in Ukraine, where a large column of Russian armored vehicles is heading towards Kiev.
The translator, who lives in the west of Ukraine, did not believe "that an open, cynical attack, a ground invasion, rocketing of the whole of Ukraine is possible." He says that this war is the realization of the plan to create a new Russian empire. He does not foresee its end, he believes that good will defeat evil and says that despite everything, Ukrainians do not seem scared
Currently, the only visible winner of the Ukrainian war is the NATO pact, which, due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, has a permanent justification for its existence, which it has been desperately seeking since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
A forty-kilometer-long column of Ukrainian vehicles on the border with Poland shows the scale of the refugee crisis in Ukraine. The US says that up to 5 million Ukrainian refugees could head for the European Union if the fighting continues
Serbia opted for a formula that should maintain its neutrality: it supports the territorial integrity of Ukraine and considers it wrong to threaten its territorial integrity, but refuses to impose sanctions on Russia. In this way, Serbia positions itself a little more outside the Western bloc, rather than irritating Russia and hoping for understanding from both sides
Ukraine is not only the country where the world's largest nuclear accident occurred 35 years ago, but also a country with an impressive fleet of active nuclear reactors, which in the middle of a war represent a greater hazard than Chernobyl encased in concrete.
In response to the invasion of Ukraine, the European Union and the US are introducing a new set of sanctions against Russia. Although the EU leaders announced the new sanctions yesterday during the day as the harshest ever, the question is how much they will really affect the Russian economy.
While the governments of all other countries have spoken out about the Russian attack on Ukraine, Vučić still hesitates. And this silence at the top of the state says a lot
The European Union and its member states strongly condemn the Russian aggression against Ukraine, which could turn into a war on a wider scale. During the day, they will make a decision on additional sanctions against Russia "with the aim of weakening it and preventing it from developing".
Putin ordered the attack on Ukraine. Russian troops are crossing the Ukrainian border from several sides. While Putin talks about "demilitarization", military aggression is at work, which could soon turn into a bloody war on a wider scale. At the moment, it is not clear how the Ukrainian armed forces will respond
Even if it does not attack militarily, Russia can severely damage Ukraine economically by maintaining tensions permanently. The damage is already enormous, capital is fleeing, investors are avoiding high-risk areas, and Western aid is scarce.
From the "thunderbolt of ready-made sanctions", "atomic" sanctions, "never seen package" of punitive measures "that are ready for use stored in the shale with poisons" and are to be applied in the event of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, nothing is visible so far . And Russia did recognize the independence of the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, its troops are already in Donbass, and Crimea was annexed a long time ago.
In full view of the whole world, Putin can play with Ukraine like a cat with a mouse: he can send "peacekeeping troops" to the newly created pro-Russian independent republics and secure a separation border with the rest of Ukraine; can occupy an additional separation band, purely for the sake of order; can establish a land strip between the already formally annexed Crimea and Donbass; can order the invasion of Kiev and establish a pro-Russian regime. And no one can stop him
After Vladimir Putin recognized the independence proclaimed by Russian separatists in the territory of eastern Ukraine, the US and the EU announced a series of comprehensive sanctions against individuals who participated in the violation of international law and violation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron agreed to take immediate measures to stop the escalation of the conflict in eastern Ukraine, according to a statement from the Elysée Palace late on Sunday, February 20.