A typical Capricorn, so stubborn, says his wife, Sveta. It was 2015, the war in Donbas was growing in intensity. I heard someone on TV complaining that Roma aren't defending their homeland. This pissed me off, and so I volunteered, says Ilchak. In the territorial recruitment centre in Uzhhorod the Ukrainian soldiers were surprised, but they had to take him.
Ukrainian officials have left for Geneva, Switzerland, where another round of negotiations aimed at ending the war with Russia is set to take place. On the way to Geneva. The next round of negotiations is ahead. Along the way, we will discuss the lessons of our history with our colleagues, seek the right conclusions, Ukraine's Chief of Staff Kyrylo Budanov posted on his Telegram channel on Monday,
UNESCO expressed "serious concern" about recent Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities "that have caused damage to civilian infrastructures, including heritage sites" in Odesa, Lviv, and Kyiv.
The most conservative figures around half a million deaths on the Ukrainian side are five times higher than those of the Balkan War (1992-1995), which totaled 100,000, of whom 13,500 were civilians.
A 52-year-old woman died in hospital after being injured by Russian shelling in the Dniprovskyi district of Ukraine's Kherson region, the regional prosecutor's office wrote on the Telegram messaging app. Ukraine's Ukrinform news agency said Russian forces dropped 768 guided missiles and high-explosive aerial bombs over the past 10 days in areas of Ukraine's Donetsk region still controlled by Ukrainian authorities, destroying almost all remaining infrastructure, according to the head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration, Vadym Filashkin.
Taras always resented his dark-red Russian passport and was happy to replace it with a blue Ukrainian one. But it was a process that took him 11 years and two trials. He is one of more than 150,000 Russian nationals living in Ukraine as the war with Russia continues. Most are relatives or spouses of Ukrainians or were born in Ukraine. Some are dissidents seeking refuge or volunteers with the Ukrainian army.
At least four people were killed in a Russian drone attack on a passenger train in Ukraine's Kharkiv region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Telegram. Zelenskyy added that four people were still missing, and that two people were injured in the attack. In Ukraine's Odesa region, three people were killed, and 25 others were injured in a Russian attack on a building, the head of the regional military administration, Serhiy Lysak, said on the Telegram messaging app.
There is nothing quite as eerie as living in a city with no power. Outside, ice and snow, Inside, there is no water from the tap, no electricity, not even the background noise of normal life. The city goes quiet, unnaturally quiet, until the low growl of generators breaks the silence. In that moment, everything stops. It feels apocalyptic, not because of panic or chaos, but because of what's missing.
Alexei clears his throat without showing the slightest expression on his face. Squatting and wearing gloves, he shakes the military uniform that once belonged to a man. The jacket and trousers still hold their shape, but inside there is nothing. Just air. Alexei pulls out a worn, stained piece of paper from one of the pockets. Andrei. Moscow, he reads aloud. There's a phone number written here. Good. It helps us trace his origin. Whoever he was, he was a Russian soldier.
