Displaying items by tag: Ukraine

Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, runs from 18 to 20 September. Hasidic Jews travel to Ukraine every Jewish New Year in their tens of thousands to worship at Rabbi Nahman's tomb. But Ukraine is keen to avoid a spike in coronavirus infections, and Kyiv has closed its borders to foreigners until late September. However, Ukraine has accused Belarus of encouraging more Jewish pilgrims to go to their shared border, as 2,000 (including children) are camped out at the border of the two countries, where charities and pilgrims are running out of food and medical supplies. ‘We are stuck here with no money, no roof, no food or drink’, said Haim Weitshandler. He urged the Israeli government to resolve what he called a ‘humanitarian catastrophe’. Ukraine said that Belarus was ‘exacerbating tensions’ by claiming that the pilgrims will be able to cross the border.

Forest fires have ravaged several villages in Luhansk in areas held by Russian-backed separatist forces. Water-bombing planes, the national armed forces and hundreds of firefighters are battling high winds and soaring temperatures that are spreading the fires. The governor of Luhansk region suspects the fires were started by arsonists. He hopes that separatists nearby are not attacked as they tackle the blazes but ‘cannot give any security guarantees’. Luhansk is currently divided between Ukrainian control and the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LNR) amid an ongoing conflict in the east of the country. More than 13,000 people have been killed so far. Also, recent heavy flooding hit nearly 300 towns and villages in the west of the country. Climate change, illegal logging, and deforestation have all been blamed.

Ukraine’s police demanded that the Jewish community of Kolommya provide them with a list of all members of their community and of Jewish students, with addresses and phone numbers. The demand was made to the head of the community, Jacob Zalichker, who said he would only comply when presented with a court-ordered warrant for the information. Joel Lion, Israel’s ambassador, brought the document to the attention of Ukraine’s president and two different ministries. He said, ‘I received phone calls from the highest officials of Ukraine strongly condemning this act of anti-Semitism. We will work together to improve education for the police about anti-Semitism’. Ukraine’s first Jewish president, Volodymyr Zelensky, was elected last year.

Wildfires are just over a mile from the defunct Chernobyl nuclear power plant and a disposal site for radioactive waste. Over 300 firefighters are working to contain the blaze. A toxic cloud rises within sight of the carcass of Chernobyl’s Unit 4 nuclear reactor, the site of the worst nuclear disaster in history. Greenpeace said that the fires were larger than Ukraine’s official estimates and could pose a health risk, saying, ‘A fire approaching a nuclear or hazardous radiation facility is always a risk’. Flames could reach abandoned vehicles at the former plant, causing mighty explosions and spreading toxic fumes and unleashing radiation into the ground near the reactors. The fumes could sweep across vast swathes of Poland, Belarus, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Moldova. All are vulnerable: see

On 8 December, a Ukrainian jet bound for Kiev crashed soon after taking off from Tehran. The majority of passengers were from Iran and Canada. Ukraine initially blamed engine failure, but later retracted the statement. President Zelensky warned against ‘speculation or unchecked theories regarding the catastrophe’ until official reports were ready. As a sign of the potential difficulties facing crash investigators, the head of Iran's civil aviation organisation was quoted as saying that the plane's black box would not be handed over either to Boeing or the Americans. An Iranian official blamed an engine fire, adding, ‘Had the accident happened due to a missile strike, the plane would have exploded in the air’.

13,000 people have died since fighting began between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian soldiers in 2014. On 10 December 2019 Russia and Ukraine made progress towards restoring peace in eastern Ukraine, at a Paris summit mediated by Germany and France. A joint communique stated, ‘The sides commit to a full and comprehensive implementation of a cease-fire, strengthened by the implementation of all necessary support measures, before the end of the year 2019’. A prisoner exchange was also agreed. Angela Merkel said the meeting gave renewed momentum to reviving a 2015 Minsk peace agreement that had stalled. Please pray that nothing will prevent the withdrawal of heavy weapons, the restoration of Kyiv's control over its borders, and wider autonomy plus local elections for the separatist regions. The last time the four national leaders gathered in this format was in 2016.

Lithuania’s foreign minister has said that Russia represents the biggest obstacle to the peace process in Ukraine, as it represents itself misleadingly as a ‘neutral party’ in the conflict while actively participating. Ukrainian armed forces have fought Russia-backed separatists in Ukraine since 2014 and killed over 13,000 people. Moscow denies providing weapons, training and personnel to support the separatists, but independent observers, journalists and official monitors have substantial evidence to the contrary. Lithuania, with an ethnic Ukrainian population of 44,000 people, has sent military equipment to back Kyiv’s efforts in the war, and hosts 500 American soldiers to bolster NATO's eastern flank near Russia's borders.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius says Russia represents the biggest obstacle to the peace process in Ukraine, as it misleadingly represents itself as a “neutral party” in the conflict.  “Perhaps the greatest obstacle in this [Ukrainian peace] process is that Russia is positioning itself as a neutral party while it is an active participant of the conflict, although officially they are not being treated as such,” Linkevicius said on November 5 in an interview in Prague with Current Time TV, the Russian-language network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA.

Linkevicius said Moscow tells separatists in Ukraine that "you need to reach agreement, and we will help, while exactly the opposite is happening on the ground.”  Ukrainian armed forces have been fighting Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine in a conflict that has killed more than 13,000 people since April 2014.

Moscow has repeatedly denied that it has provided weapons, training, and personnel to support the separatists. However, independent observers, journalists, and official monitors, have gathered a substantial body of evidence to the contrary.

NATO and European Union member Lithuania, which has an ethnic Ukrainian population of some 44,000 people, has expressed strong support for Ukraine in its battle against Russia and has sent military equipment to back Kyiv’s efforts in the war.

Four-party talks -- with Ukraine, Russia, France, and Germany, and known as the Normandy format -- have sought to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

"These Normandy [format] talks and a search for a compromise are on everyone's lips. I understand that it is very difficult to do all that, but I felt current [Ukrainian] President [Volodymyr Zelenskiy's] sincere intention to resolve this issue. It is hard to say, though, how successful he will be,” Linkevicius said.

Washington Ally

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystayko on November 1 said the timing of a four-way summit aimed at resolving the conflict depends upon Russia.  Prystayko's statement came after he voiced hope on October 29 that Zelenskiy would meet his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, soon for peace talks under the Normandy format.

Putin on October 30 said he was ready to have a meeting with the leaders of Ukraine, France, and Germany. But he added that such a meeting "needs to be well prepared and produce specific results that will help the settlement."

Lithuania remains a close ally of Washington and is temporarily hosting some 500 U.S. soldiers in the Baltic nation to help bolster NATO's eastern flank near Russia's borders.   Russia has accused NATO of destabilizing Europe by moving troops closer to its borders.

More at: https://www.rferl.org/a/lithuanian-fm-calls-russia-biggest-obstacle-to-ukraine-peace-settlement/30254919.html

Pray: for a resolution to this long-running dispute to be achieved diplomatically.
Pray: for an end to the bloodshed.
Pray: for wisdom, honesty and openness to compromise - for those involved in the summits and negotiations.
Pray: that Russia will be transparent in accounting for its involvement in the conflict.

In seven months over 500 congregations have left the Russian-affiliated church to join a newly created Orthodox Church of Ukraine. As a result, the Russian church has lost almost 5% of its congregations, a relatively small fraction of the total but significant given how much resistance the Moscow patriarchate has sought to orchestrate against this movement. The map of the changes is also significant, with most recent changes in the centre and south of the country, not just in the west as was the case at first. Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, seen as ‘first among equals’ in the Orthodox Church, agreed to allow the creation of an independent church in Ukraine, which many had requested in response to Russia’s 2014 annexation of the Crimea from Ukraine. President Trump’s administration supports the new Ukrainian church.

The U.S. charge d’affaires in Kyiv has condemned Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine after reports of deadly attacks on medical personnel and called on Moscow and the “forces it backs” to end the fighting “immediately.”

“Attacks by Russia-led forces on medical personnel show a complete lack of respect for human life, international standards, and the Minsk agreements," William B. Taylor said on July 2 in a statement on the embassy's Facebook page.

“We call on Russia and the forces it backs to end the fighting immediately, protect civilians and humanitarian personnel, and withdraw armed forces and weapons,” he wrote.

Taylor is the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine who was brought back to serve as charge d’affaires in Kyiv last year.

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry on July 1 said one of its soldiers was killed after Russia-backed separatists opened fire at a medical vehicle in the eastern region of Donetsk.

The ministry said two other servicemen -- a soldier and a military physician -- were injured in the anti-tank-missile attack on July 1. Officials said that the medical specialist died later from wounds at the hospital.

The Defense Ministry said on July 2 that separatist fighters violated a cease-fire 25 times in a 24-hour period, using 120- and 82-millimeter mortars that are banned under the Minsk peace agreements.

The ministry said Ukrainian armed forces had killed three separatists and wounded five others.

Separatists in Donetsk said one of their fighters had been killed and another one wounded by Ukrainian armed forces.

Since April 2014, some 13,000 people have been killed in fighting between Kyiv's forces and the separatists who control parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

Cease-fire deals announced as part of the Minsk accords -- September 2014 and February 2015 pacts aimed at resolving the conflict -- have contributed to a decrease in fighting but have failed to hold.

A new cease-fire agreement was reached on March 8, but both sides have accused each other of repeated violations since then.

On July 1, Ukraine's embassy to Britain posted on Twitter the photos of the nine Ukrainian soldiers it said were killed by "Russia-led forces in occupied Donbas" in June, referring to the areas under separatist control.

With reporting by Interfax for Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

More at: https://www.rferl.org/a/u-s-envoy-demands-russia-forces-it-backs-immediately-end-fighting-in-eastern-ukraine/30033542.html?ltflags=mailer

Pray: For a lasting cease-fire agreement.
Pray: For a long term negotiated resolution to the ongoing conflict.
Pray: That Russia would withdraw its support and involvement with the separatist forces.