Kherson

“It’s funny. Nobody voted, yet the results are in,” laughed Lyubomir Boyko, 43, from Golo Pristan, a village in Russian-occupied Kherson province as he waited on Wednesday outside a United Nations aid office with his family at a refugee reception centre. As Russia prepares to annex a swathe of Ukrainian territory the size of Portugal after staging what it calls referendums in four occupied provinces, Ukrainians who have been able to escape describe an exercise that would be funny if it were not so menacing. “They can announce anything they want. Nobody voted in the referendum except a few people who switched sides. They went from house to house, but nobody came out,” Boyko said. He, his wife and their two children had arrived at the aid centre in the parking lot of a home improvement store in Ukrainian-held Zaporizhzhia city the previous day, after waiting for two days before Russian forces abruptly allowed them out through the last checkpoint. Those fleeing Russian-held … [Read more...] about Entire Villages Empty Out as Ukrainians Flee from Russian Annexation, Refugees Say

Retired U.S. General Ben Hodges predicts that the Ukrainian military will liberate Crimea and all other Russian-occupied territory by the middle of 2023. Hodges, the former commanding general of United States Army Europe from 2014 to 2017, told Lithuanian media outlet LRT that he has "great confidence" in Ukraine's Armed Forces. "I hope that by the end of this year, Ukrainian forces will push Russian forces to the positions of February 23," Hodges told LRT, "and that by the middle of next year, the Ukrainians will be in Crimea." In July he expressed a similar sentiment , saying the Russians "don't have much they can do right now" due to the morale of the Ukrainian military and a proliferation of weapons provided by ally nations. Since then, Russia has conscripted about 300,000 reservists to join the fight against Ukraine— many of whom have fled , or attempted to flee, the country to avoid the mobilization. Lithuanian Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas is among those who … [Read more...] about Retired U.S. general predicts Ukraine will take back Crimea by mid-2023

Amid Russia's claims that the results of an internationally disputed referendum held in four regions in Ukraine under partial Russian military control have produced near-unanimous support for their annexation to become part of the Russian Federation, reactions from Kyiv, Moscow and Washington have detailed their next steps in the conflict still raging in Eastern Europe. Preliminary results were released late Tuesday by election commissions established under Russian military administration in the four contested eastern and southern regions. The reported results included 99.23% in favor in Donetsk and 98.42% in favor in Luhansk — two regions partially under pro-Moscow separatist control since 2014 — as well as 93.11% in favor in Zaporizhzhia and 87.05% in favor in Kherson, according to Russia's state-owned RIA Novosti. The results were rejected outright Wednesday by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, which referred to the vote as a "propaganda show" in a statement shared with … [Read more...] about Ukraine, Russia, U.S. react to disputed vote approving Putin’s annexation

Russian President Vladimir Putin may be stress-testing the limits of his friendship with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping this week after taking the first steps in formally annexing pro-Russian regions in eastern and southern Ukraine . Each of the occupied regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia declared landslide victories on Tuesday after holding controversial referendums to become Russian federal subjects. The pro-Kremlin leaders of Luhansk and Donetsk—whose independence was recognized by Putin in February as a pretext for a full invasion—have asked the Russian president to begin accession procedures. The voting, which began last week, was called a "sham" by the United States and slammed as "illegal" by the European Union . The United Nations also dismissed the results, saying it remained "fully committed to the sovereignty, unity, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine, within its internationally recognized borders." Putin's move could … [Read more...] about Putin is testing the limits of China’s friendship

Moscow’s foreign ministry said Wednesday that Russian-occupied regions in Ukraine made a “conscious and free choice” to join Russia after Kremlin proxies organised so-called referendums in the territories they control. “The results of the plebiscites speak for themselves: the people of the Donbas, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions do not want to go back to their old lives and have made a conscious and free choice in favour of Russia,” the ministry said in a statement. The statement came after the Moscow-installed leaders in the three regions asked President Vladimir Putin to formally annex the territories. The statement said that an “overwhelming majority” had backed joining Russia, claiming an almost one hundred percent backing in the Donetsk region — “99.23 percent.” Moscow said the voting was “carried out in full accordance to the norms and principles of international law”, even though the territories were captured by force and the votes hastily organised in a race against … [Read more...] about Moscow Says Occupied Ukraine Regions Made ‘Free Choice in Favour of Russia’

Russia's failure to secure a quick victory against Ukraine forced Vladimir Putin to adapt. Over the past six months, Russia has been fighting an information war alongside its military campaign. How Moscow rerouted the internet On 30 May the internet connection in occupied Kherson dropped. It returned within hours, but people could no longer access sites like Facebook, Twitter and Ukrainian news. The internet had been rerouted to Russia. The online activity of those in Kherson was now visible to Moscow and was subject to censorship. Internet traffic in Kherson was originally routed from network hubs elsewhere in the country and passed through Kyiv. As Russia gained strength in southern Ukraine, reports emerged that it was taking over control of local internet providers in Kherson – either through cooperation or by force. Once in control, Russia could reroute the internet to Moscow via a state-owned internet provider in Crimea. This briefly happened on 1 … [Read more...] about How Putin used internet censorship and fake news for six months to push the Ukraine war agenda

Iranian “kamikaze” drones are being used by Russia to launch attacks on Ukrainians in a worrying escalation of the war. Kyiv confirmed that it recently shot down a number of unmanned Shahed-136 drones after they were used in attacks over the weekend. Serhiy Bratchuk, spokesperson for Odesa's regional administration said: "The enemy is trying to save on missiles... these Shaheds are much cheaper, they can be used much more frequently and in pairs. "We are seeing that the enemy can even launch several of these kamikaze drones for one attack." These low-flying weapons, dubbed suicide drones, have been called "evil’" by Ukraine who has broken off diplomatic contact with Iran since they discovered the new weapons were being used. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), what Ukrainian authorities consider to be Iranian made ( Image: REUTERS) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky withdrew the Iranian ambassador's accreditation and cut its diplomatic staff in Kyiv. … [Read more...] about Russia unleashes Iran’s terrifying suicide drones as war in Ukraine escalates

British police have become concerned that weapons from the Ukrainian war could reach the UK and find their way into the hands of terrorists . Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said that whatever the outcome of this "awful conflict", it is clear that "there will be huge amounts of weapons and ammunition in the region, which will take some time to stabilise and normalise when the phase of outright war ends". Despite the risk, Mr Twist said police and security partners, are doing everything they can to ensure that weapons "from this or any other conflict zone do not find their way to the UK.” Metropolitan Police deputy assistant commissioner Matt Twist said the conflict was one of several “international challenges” affecting security in the UK. Deputy Assistant Commissioner of Counter Terrorism Policing Matt Twist ( Image: met Police) He noted that Russian aggression is not the only international challenge and the senior officer warned of … [Read more...] about UK police fear weapons from bloody Ukraine war could reach terrorists in Britain