#ukraine-war

#ukraine-war

The air raid sirens screamed first, their wail cutting through the nighttime hush, keening danger. Then came the low whine of drones. Over cities of sleeping people, the Iranian-designed Shahed drones swarmed, their dark bellies crammed with explosives. At their approach, Ukraine's air defenses fired up, a stream of bullets disappearing into the stars, rat-tat-tat, followed by the bang of explosions. But still the drones came, too many to shoot down.

After the drama of Donald Trump's meetings with Vladimir Putin in Alaska and Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington, DC, the prospect of a summit between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders remains elusive. Trump had once hoped to broker one, with himself as master of ceremonies. To his dismay, Putin has refused to commit to it. Recently, Trump seemed to push the idea that Zelensky and Putin ought to work it out between themselves.

Backed by the populist rightwing opposition Law and Justice party, which ruled Poland between 2015 and 2023, Karol Nawrocki unexpectedly won Poland's presidential election after running a campaign under a Trumpesque slogan of Poland first, Poles first. The historian turned politician had met the US president before the election, securing his highly prized endorsement and presenting himself as someone who could safeguard Poland's interests with the conservative US administration.

After setting out to follow a family in Ukraine for an independent film the brothers were producing, Brent and Arredondo were gunned down by Russian soldiers on 13 March 2022. Arredondo was heavily wounded; Brent was shot in the neck and did not survive. According to the driver, [the ambush] wasn't more than five minutes, said Arredondo. But for me, it just felt an eternity.

The First Lady penned a very touching letter that was hand-delivered to President Putin, calling for an end to the war, essentially because of the children and their future.

Ukrainian military claimed it struck the Syzran oil refinery in Russia's Samara region, resulting in fire and explosions at one of Rosneft's largest refineries.

I was motivated by ethnicity, history, philosophy, and a deep intuition of where all signs in my life were pointing.

The EU has agreed to lower the cap on seaborne oil exports to $47.60 from $60 a barrel as part of one of the strongest sanctions packages against Russia to date.

A Ukrainian version is designed to fire from a NATO rifle and spread pellets to kill drones from afar, giving troops a safer option against drones.

Valery Gergiev, a close ally of Putin since the early 1990s, is scheduled to perform in Italy for the first time since the invasion of Ukraine.