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Saturday, January 29, 2022
Ukrainian rebel region residents
can join Russian military
AP , Saturday 29 Jan 2022
A Russian lawmaker is encouraging residents of the rebel-controlled areas of Ukraine to join the Russian army, a sign that Moscow is continuing to try to integrate those territories as much as possible amid Western fears that Russia is planning to invade Ukraine.
Russian soldier attends a military exercise at the Golovenki training ground in the Moscow region, Russia, on Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022. AP
Viktor Vodolatsky said Saturday that residents of the regions controlled since 2014 by Russia-backed rebels fear assaults by Ukrainian forces and that those who hold Russian passports would be welcomed in the military.
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"If Russian citizens residing in the (territories) want to join the Russian Armed Forces, the Rostov regional military commissariat will register and draft them,'' Vodolatsky, deputy chairman of the parliament committee on relations with neighbours, told the state news agency Tass.
Russia has granted passports to more than 500,000 people in the territories. Vodolatsky said the recruits would serve in Russia, but that leaves open the option that they could join any future invasion force.
Russia has massed an estimated 100,000 troops near Ukraine. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Friday that President Vladimir Putin could use any portion of the force of an estimated 100,000 troops to seize Ukrainian cities and "significant territories'' or to carry out "coercive acts or provocative political acts."
Russia denies that it is planning an invasion, but contends that Ukraine poses a security threat and is demanding that NATO promises never to allow Ukraine to join the alliance, as well as stopping the deployment of alliance weapons near Russian borders, and rolling back its forces from Eastern Europe.
The U.S. and NATO formally rejected those demands this week, although Washington outlined areas where discussions are possible, offering hope that there could be a way to avoid war.
The Russian president has made no public remarks about the Western response, but Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said it leaves little chance for reaching an agreement.
"While they say they won't change their positions, we won't change ours,'' Lavrov told Russian radio stations in a live interview. "I don't see any room for compromise here.''
"There won't be a war as far as it depends on the Russian Federation, we don't want a war,'' he added. "But we won't let our interests be rudely trampled on and ignored.''
A senior offical in President Joe Biden's administration said the U.S. welcomed Lavrov's comments that Russia does not want war, "but this needs to be backed up with action. We need to see Russia pulling some of the troops that they have deployed away from the Ukrainian border and taking other de-escalatory steps.'' The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk publicly.
Lavrov said the U.S. suggested the two sides could talk about limits on the deployment of intermediate-range missiles, restrictions on military drills and rules to prevent accidents between warships and aircraft. He said the Russians proposed discussing those issues years ago, but Washington and its allies never took them up on it until now.
He also said those issues are secondary to Russia's main concerns about NATO. He said international agreements say the security of one nation must not come at the expense of others and said he would send letters to Western counterparts asking them to explain their failure to respect that pledge.
Washington has warned Moscow of devastating sanctions if it invades Ukraine, including penalties targeting top Russian officials and key economic sectors. Lavrov said Moscow had warned Washington that sanctions would amount to a complete severing of ties.
NATO, meanwhile, said it was bolstering its deterrence in the Baltic Sea region.
Russia has launched military drills involving motorized infantry and artillery units in southwestern Russia, warplanes in Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea, and dozens of warships in the Black Sea and the Arctic. Russian troops are also in Belarus for joint drills, raising Western fears that Moscow could stage an attack on Ukraine from the north. The Ukrainian capital is 75 kilometres (less than 50 miles) from the border with Belarus.
Poll Shows Majority in US Want Diplomacy, Not War With Russia Over Ukraine
The survey's findings echo the pleas of progressive lawmakers, who assert "there is no military solution" to the crisis involving the world's two foremost nuclear powers.
A Ukrainian man and a girl watch soldiers march past during a welcome ceremony for the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade in Uzhhorod, Ukraine on December 28, 2021.
The survey's findings echo the pleas of progressive lawmakers, who assert "there is no military solution" to the crisis involving the world's two foremost nuclear powers.
A Ukrainian man and a girl watch soldiers march past during a welcome ceremony for the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade in Uzhhorod, Ukraine on December 28, 2021.
(Photo: Serhii Hudak/ Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
BRETT WILKINS
BRETT WILKINS
January 28, 2022
A majority of Americans want the Biden administration to work with Russia toward a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine crisis in order to avert a potentially catastrophic war, according to the results of a new poll published Friday.
According to the Data for Progress survey of 1,214 likely U.S. voters, 58% of overall respondents "somewhat" or "strongly" support the Biden administration "striking a deal with Russia to avoid war over Ukraine."
Among Democrats, support for such a move was 71%, while 51% of Independents and 46% of Republicans agreed with the prospective policy.
The poll's findings echo pleas from U.S. progressives, who urge President Joe Biden to pursue a diplomatic solution to the crisis, in which the world's two foremost nuclear powers are involved.
"There is no military solution," Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) asserted Wednesday.
The new poll comes as U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said during a Friday press conference that conflict with Russia "is not inevitable" and that there was still time for a positive diplomatic outcome.
Common Dreams reported Friday that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that there will be no war if the United States does not escalate the conflict.
"If it depends on Russia, then there will be no war," he stated. "We don't want wars. But we also won't allow our interests to be rudely trampled, to be ignored."
Citing security concerns—including decades of U.S. provocation such as expanding NATO—Russia has reportedly amassed around 100,000 troops near the border of eastern Ukraine, where pro-Moscow separatists have been fighting the Western-backed Ukrainian government since 2014.
Russia is seeking a guarantee that Ukraine will not be admitted into the NATO alliance, which Moscow views as inherently anti-Russian. The U.S. refuses to provide such a guarantee.
Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned that any Russian invasion of Ukraine would be "met with a severe and united response" from NATO. While the Biden administration has suggested that such a response would be primarily economic in nature, the Pentagon announced earlier this week that 8,500 U.S. troops were being placed on alert, ready to quickly deploy to Eastern Europe in the event NATO activates a rapid reaction force.
According to a Kremlin official quoted by Reuters, Russian President Vladmir Putin spoke by phone with French President Emmanuel Macron Friday, telling him that "he wanted to continue dialogue and that we needed to work towards the implementation of the Minsk accords," a reference to the quadrilateral talks between France, Germany, Russia, and Ukraine on the war in eastern Ukraine.
"He said he didn't want an escalation," the Russian official said of Putin, but added that the U.S. and NATO have still failed to address Moscow's primary security concerns.
On Thursday, Biden spoke with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, his Ukrainian counterpart, and "reaffirmed the readiness of the United States along with its allies and partners to respond decisively if Russia further invades Ukraine," according to a White House readout of the conversation.
A majority of Americans want the Biden administration to work with Russia toward a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine crisis in order to avert a potentially catastrophic war, according to the results of a new poll published Friday.
According to the Data for Progress survey of 1,214 likely U.S. voters, 58% of overall respondents "somewhat" or "strongly" support the Biden administration "striking a deal with Russia to avoid war over Ukraine."
Among Democrats, support for such a move was 71%, while 51% of Independents and 46% of Republicans agreed with the prospective policy.
The poll's findings echo pleas from U.S. progressives, who urge President Joe Biden to pursue a diplomatic solution to the crisis, in which the world's two foremost nuclear powers are involved.
"There is no military solution," Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) asserted Wednesday.
The new poll comes as U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said during a Friday press conference that conflict with Russia "is not inevitable" and that there was still time for a positive diplomatic outcome.
Common Dreams reported Friday that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that there will be no war if the United States does not escalate the conflict.
"If it depends on Russia, then there will be no war," he stated. "We don't want wars. But we also won't allow our interests to be rudely trampled, to be ignored."
Citing security concerns—including decades of U.S. provocation such as expanding NATO—Russia has reportedly amassed around 100,000 troops near the border of eastern Ukraine, where pro-Moscow separatists have been fighting the Western-backed Ukrainian government since 2014.
Russia is seeking a guarantee that Ukraine will not be admitted into the NATO alliance, which Moscow views as inherently anti-Russian. The U.S. refuses to provide such a guarantee.
Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned that any Russian invasion of Ukraine would be "met with a severe and united response" from NATO. While the Biden administration has suggested that such a response would be primarily economic in nature, the Pentagon announced earlier this week that 8,500 U.S. troops were being placed on alert, ready to quickly deploy to Eastern Europe in the event NATO activates a rapid reaction force.
According to a Kremlin official quoted by Reuters, Russian President Vladmir Putin spoke by phone with French President Emmanuel Macron Friday, telling him that "he wanted to continue dialogue and that we needed to work towards the implementation of the Minsk accords," a reference to the quadrilateral talks between France, Germany, Russia, and Ukraine on the war in eastern Ukraine.
"He said he didn't want an escalation," the Russian official said of Putin, but added that the U.S. and NATO have still failed to address Moscow's primary security concerns.
On Thursday, Biden spoke with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, his Ukrainian counterpart, and "reaffirmed the readiness of the United States along with its allies and partners to respond decisively if Russia further invades Ukraine," according to a White House readout of the conversation.
Diplomacy and de-escalation remain the most urgent priorities.
We can't risk putting out the fire with gasoline.
A soldier holds his machine gun position on the front line near the village of Spartak, located southeast of the line of demarcation and recently shelled by the Ukrainian troops.
A soldier holds his machine gun position on the front line near the village of Spartak, located southeast of the line of demarcation and recently shelled by the Ukrainian troops.
Valentin Sprinchak/TASS (Photo by Valentin Sprinchak\TASS via Getty Images)
KEVIN MARTIN
KEVIN MARTIN
January 28, 2022
Global crises abound—escalating war in Yemen, potential famine in Afghanistan, rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula, and uncertain prospects for a U.S. return to the Iran anti-nuclear deal. All of these challenges require skillful diplomacy, and that urgently applies to the situation in Ukraine.
Approving a half billion dollars in emergency appropriations for military weapons while failing to pass vital and needed funding for U.S. communities, as in the Build Back Better bill, would be shameful.
As PresidentJoe Biden has ordered 8,500 U.S. troops in the region to be on high alert, Congress may rush through, as soon as next week, a massive defense package including a staggering $500 million grant for new weapons for Ukraine, which would make it the third-largest recipient of military aid. Congress is planning on rushing this bill through without committee “markup” and it could be voted on soon.
Throwing a half-billion dollars in military aid at Ukraine will not resolve the conflict—on the contrary, it could escalate it. As one congressional aide put it, "This is how the space for nonmilitary options gets slowly closed off in Washington." The bill also piles sanctions on Russia without fully examining how those sanctions might impact innocent Russian civilians. At the same time, the bill represents yet another half-billion dollars gift to weapons manufacturers that could instead be spent on threats here at home like the pandemic and climate change.
Diplomacy and de-escalation are the urgent priorities; we can't risk putting out the fire with gasoline. While seemingly no one wants war, mis-calculations could lead to catastrophe between nuclear-armed behemoths.
Nobody should oversimplify the current situation. Russia-Ukraine relations and history, as well as post-Cold War triumphalism by the U.S. and NATO toward Russia, have contributed to the crisis. But diplomacy, via the Minsk II process or other means, needs to be the only solution on the table, not militaristic threats or increased weapons transfers. The Minsk II agreement would, if implemented, demilitarize the eastern Donbass region of Ukraine and guarantee meaningful political autonomy to the region while retaining Ukrainian sovereignty over the area and its borders.
It is time to escalate diplomacy, not military aid. Congress and the administration should heed the call issued last summer by over 100 former U.S. officials and leading area experts who called for diplomacy-first approach instead of a "foreign policy arsenal reduced mainly to reactions, sanctions, public shaming and congressional resolutions." This approach would "address the deeper sources of mistrust and hostility" as the means to deter the current aggressive Russian military stance.
I had the honor to represent Peace Action on a citizen peacemaker delegation to Russia in 1997, and while I don't claim to be a Russia expert, it certainly gave me a sense of Russia's history and culture. I loved the people, art, architecture, music, ballet, language and food, and I also met some wonderful Ukrainians while I was there. As the musician Sting wrote poignantly at the height of the Cold War in the early '80s, anyone could see the Russians "love their children, too," as do Ukrainians, Americans, and all peoples.
Members of Congress should remember that and vote against H.R. 6470, the Defending Ukraine Sovereignty Act of 2022 (in the House of Representatives) and S. 3488 (Senate version) next week. Approving a half billion dollars in emergency appropriations for military weapons while failing to pass vital and needed funding for U.S. communities, as in the Build Back Better bill, would be shameful.
KEVIN MARTIN is President of Peace Action and Peace Action Education Fund, the country’s largest peace and disarmament organization with approximately 200,000 supporters nationwide.
Global crises abound—escalating war in Yemen, potential famine in Afghanistan, rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula, and uncertain prospects for a U.S. return to the Iran anti-nuclear deal. All of these challenges require skillful diplomacy, and that urgently applies to the situation in Ukraine.
Approving a half billion dollars in emergency appropriations for military weapons while failing to pass vital and needed funding for U.S. communities, as in the Build Back Better bill, would be shameful.
As PresidentJoe Biden has ordered 8,500 U.S. troops in the region to be on high alert, Congress may rush through, as soon as next week, a massive defense package including a staggering $500 million grant for new weapons for Ukraine, which would make it the third-largest recipient of military aid. Congress is planning on rushing this bill through without committee “markup” and it could be voted on soon.
Throwing a half-billion dollars in military aid at Ukraine will not resolve the conflict—on the contrary, it could escalate it. As one congressional aide put it, "This is how the space for nonmilitary options gets slowly closed off in Washington." The bill also piles sanctions on Russia without fully examining how those sanctions might impact innocent Russian civilians. At the same time, the bill represents yet another half-billion dollars gift to weapons manufacturers that could instead be spent on threats here at home like the pandemic and climate change.
Diplomacy and de-escalation are the urgent priorities; we can't risk putting out the fire with gasoline. While seemingly no one wants war, mis-calculations could lead to catastrophe between nuclear-armed behemoths.
Nobody should oversimplify the current situation. Russia-Ukraine relations and history, as well as post-Cold War triumphalism by the U.S. and NATO toward Russia, have contributed to the crisis. But diplomacy, via the Minsk II process or other means, needs to be the only solution on the table, not militaristic threats or increased weapons transfers. The Minsk II agreement would, if implemented, demilitarize the eastern Donbass region of Ukraine and guarantee meaningful political autonomy to the region while retaining Ukrainian sovereignty over the area and its borders.
It is time to escalate diplomacy, not military aid. Congress and the administration should heed the call issued last summer by over 100 former U.S. officials and leading area experts who called for diplomacy-first approach instead of a "foreign policy arsenal reduced mainly to reactions, sanctions, public shaming and congressional resolutions." This approach would "address the deeper sources of mistrust and hostility" as the means to deter the current aggressive Russian military stance.
I had the honor to represent Peace Action on a citizen peacemaker delegation to Russia in 1997, and while I don't claim to be a Russia expert, it certainly gave me a sense of Russia's history and culture. I loved the people, art, architecture, music, ballet, language and food, and I also met some wonderful Ukrainians while I was there. As the musician Sting wrote poignantly at the height of the Cold War in the early '80s, anyone could see the Russians "love their children, too," as do Ukrainians, Americans, and all peoples.
Members of Congress should remember that and vote against H.R. 6470, the Defending Ukraine Sovereignty Act of 2022 (in the House of Representatives) and S. 3488 (Senate version) next week. Approving a half billion dollars in emergency appropriations for military weapons while failing to pass vital and needed funding for U.S. communities, as in the Build Back Better bill, would be shameful.
KEVIN MARTIN is President of Peace Action and Peace Action Education Fund, the country’s largest peace and disarmament organization with approximately 200,000 supporters nationwide.
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Lavrov Says 'There Will Be No War' Over Ukraine Unless US Escalates
"If it depends on Russia, then there will be no war," said the Russian foreign minister. "We don't want wars."
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov speaks during a plenary meeting of the Russian State Duma on January 26, 2022.
(Photo: Russian State Duma\TASS via Getty Images
JULIA CONLEY
JULIA CONLEY
January 28, 2022
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov asserted Friday that his government has no desire to take military action in Ukraine, contrary to what peace advocates and Ukrainian officials have denounced as the United States' overly heated rhetoric in recent weeks.
"If it depends on Russia, then there will be no war," Lavrov said on a Russian radio program. "We don't want wars. But we also won't allow our interests to be rudely trampled, to be ignored."
Lavrov's remarks came as Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with French President Emanuel Macron in hopes of avoiding through diplomacy what French officials have said would be a "self-fulfilling" military conflict in Ukraine.
"Military solutions, as we saw with the war in Afghanistan and so many other wars—that is not the solution out of this conflict."
The U.S. has for months warned the Ukrainians that military aggression by Russia was imminent. The Pentagon said Friday that more Russian forces had been moved to the country's border with the former Soviet state in the past 24 hours, prompting Ukrainian security council leader Oleksii Danilov to demand the Biden administration dial down its warnings.
"When they start saying that tomorrow, you're going to have war, just take into consideration that the first thing we do not need in our country is panic," Danilov told the New York Times. "Why? Because panic is the sister of failure."
"That's why we are saying to our partners, 'Don't shout so much,'" he continued, adding that the U.S. should provide Ukraine with security assistance but halt its rhetoric regarding imminent violence and a potential deployment of thousands of American troops.
Lavrov suggested a diplomatic resolution could be achieved, considering the U.S. this week signaled that while it is not open to a retreat of NATO forces in Eastern Europe, it could negotiate on a Russian moratorium on deploying missiles in Europe and restrictions on military exercises near Ukraine's borders.
"All this was rejected for the past two or three years" by the U.S., Lavrov said, "and now they are offering to discuss it."
The latest remarks from Russia and Ukraine come as anti-war advocates in the U.S. have been speaking out against the White House's show of aggression and congressional Democrats' reported plan to expedite the passage of a $500 million military aid package. The bill includes new weapons for Ukraine and sweeping sanctions against Russia, both of which, as Peace Action president Kevin Martin wrote at Common Dreams Friday, could escalate the conflict rather than helping to resolve tensions:
Diplomacy and de-escalation are the urgent priorities; we can't risk putting out the fire with gasoline. While seemingly no one wants war, mis-calculations could lead to catastrophe between nuclear-armed behemoths.
Nobody should oversimplify the current situation. Russia-Ukraine relations and history, as well as post-Cold War triumphalism by the U.S. and NATO toward Russia, have contributed to the crisis. But diplomacy, via the Minsk II process or other means, needs to be the only solution on the table, not militaristic threats or increased weapons transfers. The Minsk II agreement would, if implemented, demilitarize the eastern Donbass region of Ukraine and guarantee meaningful political autonomy to the region while retaining Ukrainian sovereignty over the area and its borders.
As Common Dreams reported Wednesday, progressives in Congress are also calling on the Biden administration to approach Russia and Ukraine diplomatically.
"Diplomatic negotiations are still ongoing. We don't want to get in the way of that," Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) told MSNBC host José DÃaz-Balart Friday morning. "We can always act quickly if we need to, but now is the time for diplomacy to play its role and for... us to really work with our NATO allies and show leadership in negotiations, not in war."
"Military solutions, as we saw with the war in Afghanistan and so many other wars—that is not the solution out of this conflict," the congresswoman added.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov asserted Friday that his government has no desire to take military action in Ukraine, contrary to what peace advocates and Ukrainian officials have denounced as the United States' overly heated rhetoric in recent weeks.
"If it depends on Russia, then there will be no war," Lavrov said on a Russian radio program. "We don't want wars. But we also won't allow our interests to be rudely trampled, to be ignored."
Lavrov's remarks came as Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with French President Emanuel Macron in hopes of avoiding through diplomacy what French officials have said would be a "self-fulfilling" military conflict in Ukraine.
"Military solutions, as we saw with the war in Afghanistan and so many other wars—that is not the solution out of this conflict."
The U.S. has for months warned the Ukrainians that military aggression by Russia was imminent. The Pentagon said Friday that more Russian forces had been moved to the country's border with the former Soviet state in the past 24 hours, prompting Ukrainian security council leader Oleksii Danilov to demand the Biden administration dial down its warnings.
"When they start saying that tomorrow, you're going to have war, just take into consideration that the first thing we do not need in our country is panic," Danilov told the New York Times. "Why? Because panic is the sister of failure."
"That's why we are saying to our partners, 'Don't shout so much,'" he continued, adding that the U.S. should provide Ukraine with security assistance but halt its rhetoric regarding imminent violence and a potential deployment of thousands of American troops.
Lavrov suggested a diplomatic resolution could be achieved, considering the U.S. this week signaled that while it is not open to a retreat of NATO forces in Eastern Europe, it could negotiate on a Russian moratorium on deploying missiles in Europe and restrictions on military exercises near Ukraine's borders.
"All this was rejected for the past two or three years" by the U.S., Lavrov said, "and now they are offering to discuss it."
The latest remarks from Russia and Ukraine come as anti-war advocates in the U.S. have been speaking out against the White House's show of aggression and congressional Democrats' reported plan to expedite the passage of a $500 million military aid package. The bill includes new weapons for Ukraine and sweeping sanctions against Russia, both of which, as Peace Action president Kevin Martin wrote at Common Dreams Friday, could escalate the conflict rather than helping to resolve tensions:
Diplomacy and de-escalation are the urgent priorities; we can't risk putting out the fire with gasoline. While seemingly no one wants war, mis-calculations could lead to catastrophe between nuclear-armed behemoths.
Nobody should oversimplify the current situation. Russia-Ukraine relations and history, as well as post-Cold War triumphalism by the U.S. and NATO toward Russia, have contributed to the crisis. But diplomacy, via the Minsk II process or other means, needs to be the only solution on the table, not militaristic threats or increased weapons transfers. The Minsk II agreement would, if implemented, demilitarize the eastern Donbass region of Ukraine and guarantee meaningful political autonomy to the region while retaining Ukrainian sovereignty over the area and its borders.
As Common Dreams reported Wednesday, progressives in Congress are also calling on the Biden administration to approach Russia and Ukraine diplomatically.
"Diplomatic negotiations are still ongoing. We don't want to get in the way of that," Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) told MSNBC host José DÃaz-Balart Friday morning. "We can always act quickly if we need to, but now is the time for diplomacy to play its role and for... us to really work with our NATO allies and show leadership in negotiations, not in war."
"Military solutions, as we saw with the war in Afghanistan and so many other wars—that is not the solution out of this conflict," the congresswoman added.
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
STOP SABRE RATTLING
Russia says even idea of war with Ukraine is 'unacceptable'
MOSCOW, Jan 27 (Reuters) - A Russian foreign ministry spokesman said on Thursday that even the thought of a war breaking out between Russia and Ukraine was "unacceptable", the latest in a series of official statements aimed at quashing fears of a looming Russian invasion.
"We have already repeatedly stated that our country does not intend to attack anyone. We consider even the thought of a war between our people to be unacceptable," said Alexei Zaitsev, a spokesman for the ministry.
Russia, which seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and has backed an insurgency in eastern Ukraine, has built up forces on its territory near Ukraine as well as in neighbouring Belarus.
Kyiv rejects Russia's version that the separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine is a civil war that has nothing to do with Moscow, saying Russia is supporting the separatists with covert forces on the ground.
Russia says even idea of war with Ukraine is 'unacceptable'
MOSCOW, Jan 27 (Reuters) - A Russian foreign ministry spokesman said on Thursday that even the thought of a war breaking out between Russia and Ukraine was "unacceptable", the latest in a series of official statements aimed at quashing fears of a looming Russian invasion.
"We have already repeatedly stated that our country does not intend to attack anyone. We consider even the thought of a war between our people to be unacceptable," said Alexei Zaitsev, a spokesman for the ministry.
Russia, which seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and has backed an insurgency in eastern Ukraine, has built up forces on its territory near Ukraine as well as in neighbouring Belarus.
Kyiv rejects Russia's version that the separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine is a civil war that has nothing to do with Moscow, saying Russia is supporting the separatists with covert forces on the ground.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by Mark Trevelyan)
Report: US, Ukraine at Odds over Threat of Russian Invasion
TEHRAN (FNA)- Washington and Kiev are at odds over how to interpret reports about Russia’s alleged preparations to invade Ukraine, CNN reported, citing sources.
According to the TV channel, US President Joe Biden and his advisors "have been annoyed by [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky's public downplaying of the threat".
"The questions we have are, why are you picking fights with the US?" CNN quoted an official as saying.
"Why are you leaking and distorting when the US is one of the only real friends you have? And why ask for more weapons if you say the threat hasn't changed?" the official added.
Meanwhile, according to the TV channel’s sources, the Kiev authorities believe that Washington "is inciting panic and economic turmoil inside Ukraine, while at the same time the US refuses to take preemptive deterrence measures such as imposing new sanctions on Russia".
"Kiev would find more value in taking active deterrent measures such as immediate sanctions against Nord Stream than the persistent verbal warnings predicting imminent war for the last couple months that provide no deterrent, and are actually unintentionally negatively impacting the Ukrainian economy," CNN reported, citing an adviser to Zelensky.
The TV channel reported earlier, citing a senior Ukrainian official that Thursday’s phone call between Biden and Zelensky "did not go well".
Meantime, the head of Ukraine’s parliament sent a letter to several US senators outlining specific demands for sanctioning Russia.
Ruslan Stefanchuk, chairman of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada, thanked the senators for supporting Ukraine, and “stressed the importance of already adopted laws to support Ukraine in combating Russian aggression”, according to a statement from the parliament.
Lawmakers are scrambling to put together a bipartisan sanctions package to deter Russia from invading Ukraine — which the Joe Biden administration has warned could happen any day. While deterring Russia from invading Ukraine is a bipartisan point on Capitol Hill, how best to deter an invasion has been a sticking point among senators.
Senators are using legislation introduced by Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as a starting point.
That legislation largely imposes sanctions if the Biden administration determines that Russia invaded or intentionally escalated hostilities against Ukraine.
According to Axios, which first obtained the letter, the request was sent to Menendez and Sen. James Risch (R-Idaho), the ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations panel. The letter was also sent to Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.).
The senators on Monday took part in a meeting over Zoom to try to figure out the details for legislation on sanctioning Russia.
Stefanchuk asked for “expedited and higher-impact security assistance, including air defenses, anti-ship and anti-armor capabilities, and flexible loans and financing mechanisms”, according to Axios, citing the letter.
The chairman also demanded immediate, mandatory sanctions against the operator of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which Ukraine has announced threatened its security. He also called for mandatory pre-trigger and post-trigger sanctions against all of Russia’s “most significant financial institutions".
Further, Stefanchuk asked for a “clear trigger for the instant and unqualified imposition of any sanctions that are not imposed immediately upon enactment of the legislation".
Speculation about an invasion was initiated by Ukrainian and US officials several months ago, and has been actively fueled by both government officials and Western media outlets. The Russian authorities made it clear that it has no plans of this kind.
The Biden administration has also spoken with the country's largest banks about sanctions against Russia amid Washington’s claims that Moscow is preparing to invade Ukraine, according to reports.
Senior Biden administration officials and members of the National Security Council (NSC) talked to Citigroup, Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, Bloomberg reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The officials also reportedly spoke with executives from the major companies.
The NSC told The Hill the Biden administration has been clear that it is assessing a range of options “to deliver severe costs to the Russian economy” if Russia invades Ukraine.
“Assessing potential spillovers and exploring ways to reduce those spillovers is good governance and standard practice. Any details in this regard that make their way to the public only demonstrate the extensive detail and seriousness with which we are discussing and are prepared to impose significant measures with our allies and partners – including actions we did not pursue in 2014,” noted an NSC spokesperson, referring to Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014.
A new poll has found the majority of Americans support diplomacy, not war, with Russia as tensions continue to escalate over Ukraine.
According to the Data for Progress survey of 1,214 likely US voters, 71 percent of Democrats and 46 percent of Republicans said they want the United States to pursue a diplomatic solution with Russia and avoid the path toward military conflict.
Overall, 58 percent of all respondents "somewhat" or "strongly" support the Biden administration "striking a deal with Russia to avoid war over Ukraine".
They said the United States should be prepared to make concessions in the effort to de-escalate tensions and avoid war.
Anti-war activists rallied outside the White House on Thursday, urging Washington to tone down its belligerent war rhetoric with Russia and give peace and diplomacy a chance. The protesters called on the Biden administration to stop antagonizing Moscow, which they warned could trigger a devastating war with global ramifications.
With tensions rapidly escalating in Eastern Europe, Moscow's top diplomat has accused Washington of politicizing the growing standoff over Ukraine's borders to an extent that has taken Kiev itself by surprise.
Speaking to news outlets as part of a broadcast interview on Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov weighed in on the Western nations’ decisions to evacuate staff from embassies and consulates in the former Soviet Republic due to the purported threat of a Russian invasion.
“Now the Americans have begun to use Ukraine so blatantly and cynically against Russia that the Kiev regime itself is already scared,” he claimed, adding, “They are already saying – don't escalate this discussion, let's tone down the rhetoric, why are you evacuating diplomats?”
Lavrov pointed out that it is not only Americans fleeing from Kiev, but “other Anglo-Saxons – the Canadians and the Brits”. According to Lavrov, “they know something the rest of us don't know".
“We are now being told, by both [EU diplomatic chief Josep] Borrell and [US Secretary of State Antony] Blinken … as an incantation: ‘we really hope that Russia will choose the path of diplomacy,’ hysterically hyping the escalation in Ukraine and demanding de-escalation,” he said.
TEHRAN (FNA)- Washington and Kiev are at odds over how to interpret reports about Russia’s alleged preparations to invade Ukraine, CNN reported, citing sources.
According to the TV channel, US President Joe Biden and his advisors "have been annoyed by [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky's public downplaying of the threat".
"The questions we have are, why are you picking fights with the US?" CNN quoted an official as saying.
"Why are you leaking and distorting when the US is one of the only real friends you have? And why ask for more weapons if you say the threat hasn't changed?" the official added.
Meanwhile, according to the TV channel’s sources, the Kiev authorities believe that Washington "is inciting panic and economic turmoil inside Ukraine, while at the same time the US refuses to take preemptive deterrence measures such as imposing new sanctions on Russia".
"Kiev would find more value in taking active deterrent measures such as immediate sanctions against Nord Stream than the persistent verbal warnings predicting imminent war for the last couple months that provide no deterrent, and are actually unintentionally negatively impacting the Ukrainian economy," CNN reported, citing an adviser to Zelensky.
The TV channel reported earlier, citing a senior Ukrainian official that Thursday’s phone call between Biden and Zelensky "did not go well".
Meantime, the head of Ukraine’s parliament sent a letter to several US senators outlining specific demands for sanctioning Russia.
Ruslan Stefanchuk, chairman of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada, thanked the senators for supporting Ukraine, and “stressed the importance of already adopted laws to support Ukraine in combating Russian aggression”, according to a statement from the parliament.
Lawmakers are scrambling to put together a bipartisan sanctions package to deter Russia from invading Ukraine — which the Joe Biden administration has warned could happen any day. While deterring Russia from invading Ukraine is a bipartisan point on Capitol Hill, how best to deter an invasion has been a sticking point among senators.
Senators are using legislation introduced by Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as a starting point.
That legislation largely imposes sanctions if the Biden administration determines that Russia invaded or intentionally escalated hostilities against Ukraine.
According to Axios, which first obtained the letter, the request was sent to Menendez and Sen. James Risch (R-Idaho), the ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations panel. The letter was also sent to Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.).
The senators on Monday took part in a meeting over Zoom to try to figure out the details for legislation on sanctioning Russia.
Stefanchuk asked for “expedited and higher-impact security assistance, including air defenses, anti-ship and anti-armor capabilities, and flexible loans and financing mechanisms”, according to Axios, citing the letter.
The chairman also demanded immediate, mandatory sanctions against the operator of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which Ukraine has announced threatened its security. He also called for mandatory pre-trigger and post-trigger sanctions against all of Russia’s “most significant financial institutions".
Further, Stefanchuk asked for a “clear trigger for the instant and unqualified imposition of any sanctions that are not imposed immediately upon enactment of the legislation".
Speculation about an invasion was initiated by Ukrainian and US officials several months ago, and has been actively fueled by both government officials and Western media outlets. The Russian authorities made it clear that it has no plans of this kind.
The Biden administration has also spoken with the country's largest banks about sanctions against Russia amid Washington’s claims that Moscow is preparing to invade Ukraine, according to reports.
Senior Biden administration officials and members of the National Security Council (NSC) talked to Citigroup, Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, Bloomberg reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The officials also reportedly spoke with executives from the major companies.
The NSC told The Hill the Biden administration has been clear that it is assessing a range of options “to deliver severe costs to the Russian economy” if Russia invades Ukraine.
“Assessing potential spillovers and exploring ways to reduce those spillovers is good governance and standard practice. Any details in this regard that make their way to the public only demonstrate the extensive detail and seriousness with which we are discussing and are prepared to impose significant measures with our allies and partners – including actions we did not pursue in 2014,” noted an NSC spokesperson, referring to Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014.
A new poll has found the majority of Americans support diplomacy, not war, with Russia as tensions continue to escalate over Ukraine.
According to the Data for Progress survey of 1,214 likely US voters, 71 percent of Democrats and 46 percent of Republicans said they want the United States to pursue a diplomatic solution with Russia and avoid the path toward military conflict.
Overall, 58 percent of all respondents "somewhat" or "strongly" support the Biden administration "striking a deal with Russia to avoid war over Ukraine".
They said the United States should be prepared to make concessions in the effort to de-escalate tensions and avoid war.
Anti-war activists rallied outside the White House on Thursday, urging Washington to tone down its belligerent war rhetoric with Russia and give peace and diplomacy a chance. The protesters called on the Biden administration to stop antagonizing Moscow, which they warned could trigger a devastating war with global ramifications.
With tensions rapidly escalating in Eastern Europe, Moscow's top diplomat has accused Washington of politicizing the growing standoff over Ukraine's borders to an extent that has taken Kiev itself by surprise.
Speaking to news outlets as part of a broadcast interview on Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov weighed in on the Western nations’ decisions to evacuate staff from embassies and consulates in the former Soviet Republic due to the purported threat of a Russian invasion.
“Now the Americans have begun to use Ukraine so blatantly and cynically against Russia that the Kiev regime itself is already scared,” he claimed, adding, “They are already saying – don't escalate this discussion, let's tone down the rhetoric, why are you evacuating diplomats?”
Lavrov pointed out that it is not only Americans fleeing from Kiev, but “other Anglo-Saxons – the Canadians and the Brits”. According to Lavrov, “they know something the rest of us don't know".
“We are now being told, by both [EU diplomatic chief Josep] Borrell and [US Secretary of State Antony] Blinken … as an incantation: ‘we really hope that Russia will choose the path of diplomacy,’ hysterically hyping the escalation in Ukraine and demanding de-escalation,” he said.
Ukraine tells West not to 'panic' over Russia tensions
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the way the West and the media were playing up its conflict with Russia would "cost Ukrainians dearly." He said President Biden was making a "mistake" with his strong rhetoric.
Ukraine's president questioned the volume and frequency of recent Western warnings about a possible Russian incursion when speaking to international media
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a press conference with international media on Friday and called on the West not to create "panic" over tensions with Russia, saying it had further damaged Ukraine's long-fragile economy by prompting capital outflows.
"We don't need this panic," Zelenskyy said. "It cost Ukrainians dearly."
While he did not dismiss the possibility of military conflict with Russia, the Ukrainian president said the White House was making a "mistake" in highlighting excessively the risk of a large-scale war, saying he had told President Joe Biden as much in a telephone call the previous evening.
"There are no tanks in the streets. But media give the impression, if one is not here, that we have a war, that we have army in the streets... That's not the case. We don't need this panic," Zelenskyy said, adding that "I don't consider the situation now more tense than before," though, "I am not saying an escalation is not possible."
Russia: US offers better proposals than NATO
Earlier on Friday Russia signaled some approval of US proposals received in writing, in response to a series of ultimatums it had issued.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the counterproposals sent by the United States were better than those sent by NATO. The responses were to the ultimatums Russia had issued earlier this week over NATO expansion since 1997.
Russia has over 100,000 troops amassed near its border to Ukraine. The US and Europe have threatened "massive consequences" should Russia invade Ukraine.
It is unclear exactly what the US offered or said that NATO did not, but the US has held to its obligation to NATO allies and said NATO expansion and force posture were nonnegotiable.
John Sullivan, the US ambassador to Russia, said Washington's counterproposals included curbs on military exercises and missiles in Europe. Sullivan said the US was now awaiting written responses from Moscow, adding that he considered the troops stationed near Ukraine to be an unacceptable part of a negotiating strategy.
"If I put a gun on the table and say that I come in peace, that's threatening," he said.
Lavrov said the US proposal had "grains of rationality" on what he termed "secondary issues." He called it "almost an example of diplomatic propriety," while describing the NATO response as "idealized."
"I was a little ashamed for the people who wrote these texts," Lavrov said, referring to the NATO response.
What else has Russia said?
Lavrov has cautioned against sanctions targeting Russian leader Vladimir Putin or plans to sever the country from the international banking transactions system known as SWIFT, saying it would be the equivalent of cutting diplomatic ties.
Additionally, Lavrov said he would be speaking with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock later on Friday.
He also expects to meet with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in the next few weeks.
What else have European leaders said?
French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with President Putin on Friday in an attempt to urge him toward a diplomatic path, Paris said. The Kremlin repeated Russia's grievance that NATO had not taken Russia's demands seriously whereas the Elysee Palace emphasized consequences or diplomacy, leaving a path for the latter open.
UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace is in Brussels to shore up support for Ukraine. Wallace previously penned an article in support of Ukraine, and the UK has also sent weapons.
Germany's foreign intelligence chief Bruno Kahl said in an interview with Reuters that he did not believe Russia had yet decided whether to invade.
"The crisis can develop in thousands of ways," Kahl said.
Speaking on Friday, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said war was only possible if Belarus or Russia were attacked. Belarus is currently hosting Russian troops and conducting war games with Russia.
In central Europe, Hungary's Viktor Orban said his country would seek more Russian gas as the country faces a supply crunch. Hungary's foreign minister, Peter Szijjarto, said on Friday in a news briefing broadcast on his Facebook page that the US had offered to temporarily deploy more troops in the country. He said Hungary's Defense Ministry was discussing the issue.
Slovak Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok confirmed in an op-ed for the liberal daily Sme media reports that Slovakia, which borders Ukraine, was in talks to receive NATO troops "in order to strengthen its defense."
Russian warships were also conducting exercises in the Black Sea.
ar,es/msh (AFP, Reuters)
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the way the West and the media were playing up its conflict with Russia would "cost Ukrainians dearly." He said President Biden was making a "mistake" with his strong rhetoric.
Ukraine's president questioned the volume and frequency of recent Western warnings about a possible Russian incursion when speaking to international media
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a press conference with international media on Friday and called on the West not to create "panic" over tensions with Russia, saying it had further damaged Ukraine's long-fragile economy by prompting capital outflows.
"We don't need this panic," Zelenskyy said. "It cost Ukrainians dearly."
While he did not dismiss the possibility of military conflict with Russia, the Ukrainian president said the White House was making a "mistake" in highlighting excessively the risk of a large-scale war, saying he had told President Joe Biden as much in a telephone call the previous evening.
"There are no tanks in the streets. But media give the impression, if one is not here, that we have a war, that we have army in the streets... That's not the case. We don't need this panic," Zelenskyy said, adding that "I don't consider the situation now more tense than before," though, "I am not saying an escalation is not possible."
Russia: US offers better proposals than NATO
Earlier on Friday Russia signaled some approval of US proposals received in writing, in response to a series of ultimatums it had issued.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the counterproposals sent by the United States were better than those sent by NATO. The responses were to the ultimatums Russia had issued earlier this week over NATO expansion since 1997.
Russia has over 100,000 troops amassed near its border to Ukraine. The US and Europe have threatened "massive consequences" should Russia invade Ukraine.
It is unclear exactly what the US offered or said that NATO did not, but the US has held to its obligation to NATO allies and said NATO expansion and force posture were nonnegotiable.
John Sullivan, the US ambassador to Russia, said Washington's counterproposals included curbs on military exercises and missiles in Europe. Sullivan said the US was now awaiting written responses from Moscow, adding that he considered the troops stationed near Ukraine to be an unacceptable part of a negotiating strategy.
"If I put a gun on the table and say that I come in peace, that's threatening," he said.
Lavrov said the US proposal had "grains of rationality" on what he termed "secondary issues." He called it "almost an example of diplomatic propriety," while describing the NATO response as "idealized."
"I was a little ashamed for the people who wrote these texts," Lavrov said, referring to the NATO response.
What else has Russia said?
Lavrov has cautioned against sanctions targeting Russian leader Vladimir Putin or plans to sever the country from the international banking transactions system known as SWIFT, saying it would be the equivalent of cutting diplomatic ties.
Additionally, Lavrov said he would be speaking with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock later on Friday.
He also expects to meet with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in the next few weeks.
What else have European leaders said?
French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with President Putin on Friday in an attempt to urge him toward a diplomatic path, Paris said. The Kremlin repeated Russia's grievance that NATO had not taken Russia's demands seriously whereas the Elysee Palace emphasized consequences or diplomacy, leaving a path for the latter open.
UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace is in Brussels to shore up support for Ukraine. Wallace previously penned an article in support of Ukraine, and the UK has also sent weapons.
Germany's foreign intelligence chief Bruno Kahl said in an interview with Reuters that he did not believe Russia had yet decided whether to invade.
"The crisis can develop in thousands of ways," Kahl said.
Speaking on Friday, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said war was only possible if Belarus or Russia were attacked. Belarus is currently hosting Russian troops and conducting war games with Russia.
In central Europe, Hungary's Viktor Orban said his country would seek more Russian gas as the country faces a supply crunch. Hungary's foreign minister, Peter Szijjarto, said on Friday in a news briefing broadcast on his Facebook page that the US had offered to temporarily deploy more troops in the country. He said Hungary's Defense Ministry was discussing the issue.
Slovak Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok confirmed in an op-ed for the liberal daily Sme media reports that Slovakia, which borders Ukraine, was in talks to receive NATO troops "in order to strengthen its defense."
Russian warships were also conducting exercises in the Black Sea.
ar,es/msh (AFP, Reuters)
'Why should I leave?' — expats in Ukraine not rushing to depart
As the United States and other Western countries pull diplomatic staff out of Ukraine over fears of Russian intervention, foreigners working in the Ukrainian capital tell DW life is going on largely as normal — for now.
Daily life continues, with Kyiv's typical frigid winters
Jens Daessler is not in a hurry. "I have a phone full of messages," says the German business coach with a weary smile, most of them from friends and relatives asking if he plans to leave his home in Kyiv. It's a familiar story to many foreigners living and working in Ukraine's capital.
While tensions between Russia and Ukraine are nothing new, it was the recent decision by the United States and other Western countries to withdraw embassy staff that really cut through internationally, signaling that war is now a very real possibility.
"Usually I would speak to my parents every month or so; at the moment, I'm speaking to them every two days," says Ken Herbert, who moved to Ukraine from Sydney two years ago.
With Australia also flying out its diplomats and encouraging citizens to steer clear of Ukraine, Herbert received a call from his embassy asking if he was planning to leave. It was a question, he tells us, that caught him off guard.
But like most people DW has spoken to, Herbert is staying.
The COVID-19 pandemic continues in the background, also in Ukraine, as political tensions simmer
Ukraine hopes for Western support
In this moment of confusion, many expats are seeing their Ukrainian friends look to the West for reassurance that their country will not be left alone to face Russia.
Berlin's reluctance to send Kyiv defensive weapons is a sore point, and something many German expats say has negatively impacted ordinary Ukrainians' view of Germany. Daessler wishes that "German politicians would step up and give a clear message [of support] for Ukraine."
Recent deliveries of ammunition and anti-tank missiles from the United States have gone down very well with the Ukrainian public, not surprisingly. US President Joe Biden's advanced age, often cited as a weakness, could now be playing out to his advantage, says Hiepko-Odermann.
"He's familiar with how to do Cold War politics."
Nearly 3 million people make their home in Kyiv, a combination of old and new
People in Ukraine are reminded that border crossings, like here with Belarus and Poland, may not be easily accessible if Russia invades
But not everyone in Kyiv is packing emergency bags and practicing their first aid skills; some members of Kyiv's expat community have chosen a very different route.
"The more you follow the German news or even the American news, the more scared you are," says Daessler.
The answer for him and many others right now is simple: to try to take a break from the news.
Edited by: Sonya Diehn
As the United States and other Western countries pull diplomatic staff out of Ukraine over fears of Russian intervention, foreigners working in the Ukrainian capital tell DW life is going on largely as normal — for now.
Daily life continues, with Kyiv's typical frigid winters
Jens Daessler is not in a hurry. "I have a phone full of messages," says the German business coach with a weary smile, most of them from friends and relatives asking if he plans to leave his home in Kyiv. It's a familiar story to many foreigners living and working in Ukraine's capital.
While tensions between Russia and Ukraine are nothing new, it was the recent decision by the United States and other Western countries to withdraw embassy staff that really cut through internationally, signaling that war is now a very real possibility.
"Usually I would speak to my parents every month or so; at the moment, I'm speaking to them every two days," says Ken Herbert, who moved to Ukraine from Sydney two years ago.
With Australia also flying out its diplomats and encouraging citizens to steer clear of Ukraine, Herbert received a call from his embassy asking if he was planning to leave. It was a question, he tells us, that caught him off guard.
But like most people DW has spoken to, Herbert is staying.
Invisible threat
Taking the decision to pack up and leave is made all the harder by the fact that in normal times, Kyiv is a very safe city in terms of crime. "I generally feel safer here than I do in Australia, in Sydney I wouldn't walk down an alleyway in the night," says Herbert, something he would have no worries doing in Kyiv.
The threat posed by Vladimir Putin's troops is, for now, still hundreds of kilometers away.
"You don't see soldiers, you don't see aircraft flying, you don't see anything that feels like war or danger," agrees Daessler.
Instead, everyday life continues, and news of new restaurant openings is just as likely to appear in people's social media feeds as updates from the border.
Jens Daessler says he struggles to recognize the picture of his adopted home painted by international media. For him "the sun is still shining, there's pizza and there's sushi, there's everything."
As Russian troops build up on the border, life in Kyiv goes on largely as normal
Taking the decision to pack up and leave is made all the harder by the fact that in normal times, Kyiv is a very safe city in terms of crime. "I generally feel safer here than I do in Australia, in Sydney I wouldn't walk down an alleyway in the night," says Herbert, something he would have no worries doing in Kyiv.
The threat posed by Vladimir Putin's troops is, for now, still hundreds of kilometers away.
"You don't see soldiers, you don't see aircraft flying, you don't see anything that feels like war or danger," agrees Daessler.
Instead, everyday life continues, and news of new restaurant openings is just as likely to appear in people's social media feeds as updates from the border.
Jens Daessler says he struggles to recognize the picture of his adopted home painted by international media. For him "the sun is still shining, there's pizza and there's sushi, there's everything."
As Russian troops build up on the border, life in Kyiv goes on largely as normal
Worldwide attention
"The situation has changed for people outside Ukraine — they're suddenly more aware of what's going on here," says American communications specialist Kari Hiepko-Odermann, who moved to Kyiv with her husband and children in 2018.
For locals, Hiepko-Oldermann points out, Ukrainians have long been living with the threat of conflict with Russia, as this began nearly a decade ago in 2014 when Moscow annexed Crimea and supported pro-Russian separatists in the east.
"Ukrainians have been sitting in this hot water for more than eight years," as she phrases it. This is part of the reason, she adds, as to why outsiders are more likely than locals to be alarmed by the current situation.
Hiepko-Odermann admits that while she and her family are staying in Kyiv for now, she has already noticed the impact of the tensions, with her children's classmates disappearing as expat families ditch her Kyiv neighborhood.
Some expats, especially those able to work remotely, are taking extended trips away in the hope they can sit out the tensions in safety and return once they subside.
Mixed messages
Mixed messages coming from the very top of Ukraine's government in recent weeks have added to the confusion.
In a recent video message, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy downplayed the threat of escalation and called upon Ukrainians to stay calm and avoid panic-buying.
But the very next day, he told a reporter from The Washington Post that Ukraine's second-biggest city, Kharkiv, just 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the Russian border, was a likely target for Russian occupation.
This was seen as a gaffe in Ukraine, given Zelenskyy's attempts to play the situation down.
A top Ukrainian general recently singled out February 20 as a likely date for a Russian incursion, coinciding as it does with the end of the Winter Olympics in China.
The Kremlin, the argument goes, would not want to anger its allies in Beijing by launching a military campaign that overshadows coverage of the games — as was the case during the 2008 Beijing Games, which coincided with Russia's intervention in Georgia.
At the same time, in briefings of journalists, top Zelenskyy allies have been dismissing Russia's troop buildup as little more than political bluff.
Little wonder, then, that pundits and ordinary Ukrainians alike have been left scratching their heads, trying to understand exactly what is happening in their country.
"The situation has changed for people outside Ukraine — they're suddenly more aware of what's going on here," says American communications specialist Kari Hiepko-Odermann, who moved to Kyiv with her husband and children in 2018.
For locals, Hiepko-Oldermann points out, Ukrainians have long been living with the threat of conflict with Russia, as this began nearly a decade ago in 2014 when Moscow annexed Crimea and supported pro-Russian separatists in the east.
"Ukrainians have been sitting in this hot water for more than eight years," as she phrases it. This is part of the reason, she adds, as to why outsiders are more likely than locals to be alarmed by the current situation.
Hiepko-Odermann admits that while she and her family are staying in Kyiv for now, she has already noticed the impact of the tensions, with her children's classmates disappearing as expat families ditch her Kyiv neighborhood.
Some expats, especially those able to work remotely, are taking extended trips away in the hope they can sit out the tensions in safety and return once they subside.
Mixed messages
Mixed messages coming from the very top of Ukraine's government in recent weeks have added to the confusion.
In a recent video message, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy downplayed the threat of escalation and called upon Ukrainians to stay calm and avoid panic-buying.
But the very next day, he told a reporter from The Washington Post that Ukraine's second-biggest city, Kharkiv, just 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the Russian border, was a likely target for Russian occupation.
This was seen as a gaffe in Ukraine, given Zelenskyy's attempts to play the situation down.
A top Ukrainian general recently singled out February 20 as a likely date for a Russian incursion, coinciding as it does with the end of the Winter Olympics in China.
The Kremlin, the argument goes, would not want to anger its allies in Beijing by launching a military campaign that overshadows coverage of the games — as was the case during the 2008 Beijing Games, which coincided with Russia's intervention in Georgia.
At the same time, in briefings of journalists, top Zelenskyy allies have been dismissing Russia's troop buildup as little more than political bluff.
Little wonder, then, that pundits and ordinary Ukrainians alike have been left scratching their heads, trying to understand exactly what is happening in their country.
The COVID-19 pandemic continues in the background, also in Ukraine, as political tensions simmer
Ukraine hopes for Western support
In this moment of confusion, many expats are seeing their Ukrainian friends look to the West for reassurance that their country will not be left alone to face Russia.
Berlin's reluctance to send Kyiv defensive weapons is a sore point, and something many German expats say has negatively impacted ordinary Ukrainians' view of Germany. Daessler wishes that "German politicians would step up and give a clear message [of support] for Ukraine."
Recent deliveries of ammunition and anti-tank missiles from the United States have gone down very well with the Ukrainian public, not surprisingly. US President Joe Biden's advanced age, often cited as a weakness, could now be playing out to his advantage, says Hiepko-Odermann.
"He's familiar with how to do Cold War politics."
Nearly 3 million people make their home in Kyiv, a combination of old and new
To go or to stay
While international diplomacy continues — often enough without Ukrainian representatives at the table — Ukrainians and expats are being encouraged to prepare to make a hasty exit, should the situation escalate.
Keeping an "emergency case" packed and ready with documents, cash and a first-aid kit could just make the difference between leaving in time and getting stuck. From vodka to disinfect wounds to emergency flares to attract attention, Ukrainian media and forums are full of conflicting advice on what exactly people should try to take with them.
All that is assuming that people would actually be able to leave their hometowns in time if an escalation were to take place. Analysts warn that gridlock on the roads, communication outages and military checkpoints may mean that even the most carefully laid plans end up proving unworkable.
While international diplomacy continues — often enough without Ukrainian representatives at the table — Ukrainians and expats are being encouraged to prepare to make a hasty exit, should the situation escalate.
Keeping an "emergency case" packed and ready with documents, cash and a first-aid kit could just make the difference between leaving in time and getting stuck. From vodka to disinfect wounds to emergency flares to attract attention, Ukrainian media and forums are full of conflicting advice on what exactly people should try to take with them.
All that is assuming that people would actually be able to leave their hometowns in time if an escalation were to take place. Analysts warn that gridlock on the roads, communication outages and military checkpoints may mean that even the most carefully laid plans end up proving unworkable.
People in Ukraine are reminded that border crossings, like here with Belarus and Poland, may not be easily accessible if Russia invades
But not everyone in Kyiv is packing emergency bags and practicing their first aid skills; some members of Kyiv's expat community have chosen a very different route.
"The more you follow the German news or even the American news, the more scared you are," says Daessler.
The answer for him and many others right now is simple: to try to take a break from the news.
Edited by: Sonya Diehn
Tennessee family's pet pig might be world's oldest
Jan. 27 (UPI) -- A Tennessee family said their pet pig might be the oldest in the world after reaching 24 years of age.
Trey Hunt, 28, of Knoxville, said he was only 4 years old when his parents got him a pet pig named Snort for his birthday.
"When he was younger, he acted a lot like a dog. He'd be out roaming around the yard and he was never in a pen or nothing," Hunt told WBIR-TV. "He just lived underneath the porch, and I'd come outside and lay with him and act just like a dog."
The Hunt family said Snort is now 24 years old -- older than Baby Jane, a pig that died at age 23 and is listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest-ever pig in captivity.
Hunt and his mother, Karla Hunt, applied to have Snort recognized by Guinness World Records, but they said the application might be in jeopardy due to their lack of evidence.
"It's not like we have a birth certificate," Trey Hunt said. "So all we have is pictures of when we when I got him and pictures of, you know, me and him, you know, different ages."
The family is in communication with Guinness about verifying Snort's age.
"If we could prove it, I know we could get in," Karla Hunt said. "But you know, there again, I don't know how we're gonna prove it."
The Hunts said Snort is now blind and deaf, and his front legs sometimes give him trouble, but he is otherwise still in good health.
"I never expected him to live as long as he's lived, but he's always been a healthy pig," Karla Hunt said. "He's been to the vet one time in his life, and that was when he was neutered as a young pup."
Jan. 27 (UPI) -- A Tennessee family said their pet pig might be the oldest in the world after reaching 24 years of age.
Trey Hunt, 28, of Knoxville, said he was only 4 years old when his parents got him a pet pig named Snort for his birthday.
"When he was younger, he acted a lot like a dog. He'd be out roaming around the yard and he was never in a pen or nothing," Hunt told WBIR-TV. "He just lived underneath the porch, and I'd come outside and lay with him and act just like a dog."
The Hunt family said Snort is now 24 years old -- older than Baby Jane, a pig that died at age 23 and is listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest-ever pig in captivity.
Hunt and his mother, Karla Hunt, applied to have Snort recognized by Guinness World Records, but they said the application might be in jeopardy due to their lack of evidence.
"It's not like we have a birth certificate," Trey Hunt said. "So all we have is pictures of when we when I got him and pictures of, you know, me and him, you know, different ages."
The family is in communication with Guinness about verifying Snort's age.
"If we could prove it, I know we could get in," Karla Hunt said. "But you know, there again, I don't know how we're gonna prove it."
The Hunts said Snort is now blind and deaf, and his front legs sometimes give him trouble, but he is otherwise still in good health.
"I never expected him to live as long as he's lived, but he's always been a healthy pig," Karla Hunt said. "He's been to the vet one time in his life, and that was when he was neutered as a young pup."
How species manage to thrive in polluted ecosystems
The devastating damaged caused by environmental pollution is well-known. Yet some creatures have managed to adapt to live with, and even thrive in, imperfect environments.
Industrial pollution of a lagoon in Argentina: A small number of animals can thrive
under unlikely conditions like this
In a world where human-made pollution in the form of smog, industrial sewage, fertilizer runoff, dense blankets of ocean plastic and much more pervades the planet, many animal and plant species are up against it.
But there are some species that have found ways to live with, and indeed adapt to the pollution that has come to characterize their once clean surroundings.
Plastic-eating microbes adapt to pollution
A team of researchers from Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden, made a surprising discovery last year, when they found that microbes living in oceans and soils worldwide can evolve to eat plastic — especially if they live in ecosystems with a high level of plastic pollution.
In analyzing microbial DNA samples collected from hundreds of locations across the globe, the researchers found over 30,000 different enzymes that could degrade 10 kinds of plastic.
A lot of our plastic ends up in the oceans and washed up on beaches
While some of these enzymes had already been identified in bacteria living in rubbish dumps, the vast majority were unknown. Even more impressive was the finding that the amount and type of enzymes discovered in the samples matched the volume and type of plastic pollution in the locations they were taken from.
The microbial DNA collected in oceans, for example, showed more plastic-degrading enzymes at deeper sea levels where the degree of plastic pollution is generally higher. According to the study, this suggests "that the Earth's microbiome might already be adapting to current global plastic pollution trends."
With millions of tons of the stuff being dumped in the environment every year, the microorganisms apparently face "sufficiently strong selective pressures" to develop those plastic-digesting enzymes.
Adapting to early industrial pollution: A moth turns black
Last year's findings are not the first to show species adapting to environmental pollution.
In the mid-1800s, a decade before Charles Darwin's evolutionary theory was published, residents in increasingly industrial English cities like London and Manchester observed an unexpected color change in the peppered moth.
The insect had been characterized by its mottled white body and wings — a pattern used to camouflage the nocturnal animal during daylight hours when it would rest on tree trunks and walls. But as industrialization and resulting air pollution intensified, a genetic mutation that produced an entirely black version of the peppered moth began to spread within the species.
The distinctive pattern of a peppered moth — one which did not evolve to be black
Known as "carbonaria," these moths were able to hide from hungry birds more easily in the blackened industrial landscapes.
While the white peppered moth remained the common form in the countryside, the carbonaria moth had become the dominant variant in the Manchester region by 1900.
Fish in toxic waters
Genetically adapting to highly polluted habitats can clearly be an evolutionary advantage. But evolving the ability to exist in a polluted environment often comes at a cost. While certain changes in the genome may help a species withstand a specific pollutant, they can make the species more vulnerable to other environmental stressors.
This is the case for the killifish — a small, silvery fish found thriving in toxic waters along the northern Gulf of Mexico and North America's Atlantic coast.
High concentrations of heavy metals, dangerous chemicals released from industrial waste and residuals from the production of herbicides like the infamous Agent Orange have turned these waters deadly for vertebrates. The polluting substances can disrupt embryo development, causing deformations and heart defects, or prevent them from hatching at all.
Although killifish are generally sensitive to brackish water, a study on the Atlantic killifish led by Andrew Whitehead from the University of California Davis suggests that "even at the most contaminated of these sites, where killifish are not expected to persist, they appear to thrive."
Some killifish species are now used to living in highly polluted waters
The populations living in the contaminated areas along the Atlantic and the Gulf coasts carry a genetic variation that makes them resistant to the disastrous effects of the toxic chemicals. Thanks to their genome, the fish can withstand a chemical pollutant concentration that is thousands of times higher than the normally deadly dose.
While this genetic change has made the killifish more resistant to toxins, it has also reduced the species' tolerance to low oxygen levels. That's a problem as oxygen levels in the sea vary, and as global temperatures rise, ocean oxygen is expected to decline drastically. Once water has been cleaned of pollutants, the adapted fish may have greater difficult surviving than those without the variation.
Few species able to adapt
Most animal and plant populations will not be able to adapt genetically to their polluted surroundings at all. It has only worked for a few out of millions of species.
What allowed the microbes, moths and killifish to adapt to high pollution levels is a rapid reproduction rate as well as incredibly large population sizes — the killifish, for example, is the most populous animal species with a backbone in many urban estuaries.
A species with a large population is much more likely to develop genetic mutations that happen to increase resistance to environmental stressors. But most species under threat from toxins don't have the population size to develop adequate mutations. Cleaning up polluted sites and avoiding pollution in the first place is the only way to save them.
Peru bans Repsol director from leaving country after oil spill
New estimates show that the oil spill was almost twice as big as previously thought. Repsol is facing a potential $34.5 million fine.
Peru declared an environmental emergency and said 21 of its beaches had been contaminated
A Peruvian judge on Friday banned Repsol's Peru director and three other executives from leaving the country for 18 months while the government investigates an oil spill that occurred on January 15.
Peru authorities are investigating the Spanish firm Repsol following the oil spill, which was reported after surging waves caused by the eruption of an underwater volcano near Tonga.
Oil spill twice as big as previously thought
Environment Minister Ruben Ramirez told reporters that Peru had a "figure so far of 11,900" barrels, almost twice the 6,000 reported earlier.
Repsol's estimate puts the spill at 10,396.
Last week, Peru declared an environmental emergency and announced that 21 of its beaches had been contaminated by the spill.
The spill occurred when an Italian-flagged tanker was unloading oil at the La Pamilla refinery, 30 kilometers north of the Peruvian capital Lima.
Repsol said the tanker was hit by freak waves caused by a tsunami after an underwater volcano erupted in Tonga.
Prosecutors said the oil slick has been dragged by ocean currents about 140 kilometers north of the refinery, adding that this has caused the death of an undetermined number of fish and seabirds.
What are the charges against the Repsol execs?
Judge Romualdo Aguedo imposed the ban after considering there's a "potential risk" that Repsol's Peru director and three executives would leave the country.
Repsol has said that it's cooperating with the authorities in the investigation and working on cleaning affected beaches.
Peru has demanded compensation from Repsol, which faces a potential $34.5 million (€31 million) fine, Peru's Environment Ministry said.
Repsol's Peru director is accused of the crime of "environmental pollution to the detriment of the state," and the three executives are accused of being "accomplices."
On Friday, Peru's judicial authority authorized the seizure of the Italian-flagged tanker involved in the spill after a request was filed by the environmental branch of the Peruvian fiscal authority.
Repsol has said that the exact number of barrels spilled can only be confirmed after ascertaining the volume of oil still remaining in the tanks of the ship.
sdi/ (AP, AFP, Efe, Lusa)
New estimates show that the oil spill was almost twice as big as previously thought. Repsol is facing a potential $34.5 million fine.
Peru declared an environmental emergency and said 21 of its beaches had been contaminated
A Peruvian judge on Friday banned Repsol's Peru director and three other executives from leaving the country for 18 months while the government investigates an oil spill that occurred on January 15.
Peru authorities are investigating the Spanish firm Repsol following the oil spill, which was reported after surging waves caused by the eruption of an underwater volcano near Tonga.
Oil spill twice as big as previously thought
Environment Minister Ruben Ramirez told reporters that Peru had a "figure so far of 11,900" barrels, almost twice the 6,000 reported earlier.
Repsol's estimate puts the spill at 10,396.
Last week, Peru declared an environmental emergency and announced that 21 of its beaches had been contaminated by the spill.
The spill occurred when an Italian-flagged tanker was unloading oil at the La Pamilla refinery, 30 kilometers north of the Peruvian capital Lima.
Repsol said the tanker was hit by freak waves caused by a tsunami after an underwater volcano erupted in Tonga.
Prosecutors said the oil slick has been dragged by ocean currents about 140 kilometers north of the refinery, adding that this has caused the death of an undetermined number of fish and seabirds.
What are the charges against the Repsol execs?
Judge Romualdo Aguedo imposed the ban after considering there's a "potential risk" that Repsol's Peru director and three executives would leave the country.
Repsol has said that it's cooperating with the authorities in the investigation and working on cleaning affected beaches.
Peru has demanded compensation from Repsol, which faces a potential $34.5 million (€31 million) fine, Peru's Environment Ministry said.
Repsol's Peru director is accused of the crime of "environmental pollution to the detriment of the state," and the three executives are accused of being "accomplices."
On Friday, Peru's judicial authority authorized the seizure of the Italian-flagged tanker involved in the spill after a request was filed by the environmental branch of the Peruvian fiscal authority.
Repsol has said that the exact number of barrels spilled can only be confirmed after ascertaining the volume of oil still remaining in the tanks of the ship.
sdi/ (AP, AFP, Efe, Lusa)
Ethiopia: The daunting task of reporting the Tigray conflict
Ethiopia's Tigray conflict erupted in November 2020 and later spread to neighboring regions. Yet covering the war is a huge challenge, with press freedom severely constrained and journalists facing intense pressure.
A media blackout in Tigray has made it difficult to verify news coming out of the country
Since the beginning of this year, Ethiopia's National Defense Forces allegedly carried out airstrikes that killed at least 108 civilians in Tigray.
As medical and food supplies run dangerously low, the World Food Program (WFP) has warned of a "humanitarian disaster." About 50,000 children are believed to be severely malnourished, though the figure is likely much higher.
Despite the scale of the crisis, comprehensive reporting on the conflict has been made nearly impossible. No foreign journalist has set foot in Tigray for more than six months.
Verifying facts and collecting testimonies from residents on the ground is further prevented by an all-out communications blackout.
Instead, information trickles out of Tigray through aid agencies and the scarce satellite communication points in the regional capital Mekelle.
DW regional reporters remain active
DW correspondents in the region have dealt with these challenges firsthand since the beginning of the conflict, with security being another major issue preventing reporting on the front lines.
DW maintains a network of eight correspondents across Ethiopia, who regularly cross-check claims and counter-claims by the parties involved in the conflict. A resident correspondent remains in Tigray to verify claims by the federal government.
Witnesses to the violence living in and around the conflict zone have intermittently provided anonymous accounts to DW on the rare occasions that messages were able to get out.
Since the declaration of a countrywide state of emergency on November 2, 2021, a climate of media repression has further deepened the information vacuum.
"We have a situation where there is no due process, no fair trial," said Angela Quintal, head of the Africa Program at the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
"Journalists are detained arbitrarily and aren't appearing in court, so this has a chilling effect on the broader media community," Quintal told DW, adding that two journalists had been killed in the past year. "That is the ultimate form of censorship."
Jailed journalists
In early 2022, the CPJ recorded at least 14 journalists behind bars. The government recently released six of them, but the country remains "the second-worst jailer of journalists in sub–Saharan Africa," according to Angela Quintal.
Ethiopia has a long history of media repression, notably under the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF). But some journalists say the current situation is even worse.
"Back in the day, we feared the government might arrest you. But now the whole atmosphere has changed. You fear not only the government. You fear the mobs, the youth. It affects your personal life," explained the journalist in Addis Ababa.
Foreign reporters, too, have faced intimidation and even deportation. Some have had their license suspended temporarily or even permanently.
The government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed forced Simon Marks, a freelance reporter working for The New York Times, to leave the country.
"There was a strongly held but misplaced belief that there was an agenda against the government," Marks told DW.
He was brought directly to the airport after being summoned to the immigration office in early May 2021. "I asked if I could stay an extra night to pack and pick up my belongings, my passport. That was denied," he recalled.
Ethiopia's National Defense Forces have stepped up airstrikes in Tigray
Fleeing into exile
Scared for their safety, dozens of Ethiopian journalists have decided to go into exile. Some face the double jeopardy of being targeted as media practitioners and ethnic Tigrayans.
Recent months have seen a massive crackdown on Tigrayan residents, especially in the capital Addis Ababa. Thousands have reportedly been forcefully detained without a trial — a procedure rendered possible by the state of emergency stipulations.
"For me, [the situation] becomes more acute because of the persecution my ethnicity is facing," a journalist who fled to a neighboring country told DW.
"[Currently], the government is not even using the law. It's like a mafia state. It can just take your freedom, your property, your everything," he added.
The information war has gone beyond Ethiopia's borders to places like London
Propaganda from all sides
The trend of journalists leaving the country has widened the information gap.
"Domestically, what we have now is either state media propaganda or sycophants from the private media," lamented the journalist who had fled. "It has made it impossible not only to cover the Tigray conflict but also the expanding conflict in Oromia."
Independent reporting is a daily struggle of risk-taking, bureaucracy, and accusations for those journalists who stayed. Many are labeled biased, even though obtaining official government reactions to news events is a daily challenge.
As post-conflict territories become more accessible, especially in Amhara, some feel they can cover only those areas when and where the government is willing to allow them.
Others vow to continue working to their best.
"You know what you are doing and that what you are reporting on is more important," said the anonymous journalist in Addis Ababa. "So you face the risk, and you do your job."
Ethiopia's Tigray conflict erupted in November 2020 and later spread to neighboring regions. Yet covering the war is a huge challenge, with press freedom severely constrained and journalists facing intense pressure.
A media blackout in Tigray has made it difficult to verify news coming out of the country
Since the beginning of this year, Ethiopia's National Defense Forces allegedly carried out airstrikes that killed at least 108 civilians in Tigray.
As medical and food supplies run dangerously low, the World Food Program (WFP) has warned of a "humanitarian disaster." About 50,000 children are believed to be severely malnourished, though the figure is likely much higher.
Despite the scale of the crisis, comprehensive reporting on the conflict has been made nearly impossible. No foreign journalist has set foot in Tigray for more than six months.
Verifying facts and collecting testimonies from residents on the ground is further prevented by an all-out communications blackout.
Instead, information trickles out of Tigray through aid agencies and the scarce satellite communication points in the regional capital Mekelle.
DW regional reporters remain active
DW correspondents in the region have dealt with these challenges firsthand since the beginning of the conflict, with security being another major issue preventing reporting on the front lines.
DW maintains a network of eight correspondents across Ethiopia, who regularly cross-check claims and counter-claims by the parties involved in the conflict. A resident correspondent remains in Tigray to verify claims by the federal government.
Witnesses to the violence living in and around the conflict zone have intermittently provided anonymous accounts to DW on the rare occasions that messages were able to get out.
Since the declaration of a countrywide state of emergency on November 2, 2021, a climate of media repression has further deepened the information vacuum.
"We have a situation where there is no due process, no fair trial," said Angela Quintal, head of the Africa Program at the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
"Journalists are detained arbitrarily and aren't appearing in court, so this has a chilling effect on the broader media community," Quintal told DW, adding that two journalists had been killed in the past year. "That is the ultimate form of censorship."
Reporters killed
Unidentified gunmen murdered Dawit Kebede in Mekelle on January 19, 2021. He was a reporter for Tigray TV, the state-owned broadcaster.
According to the AFP news agency and the Addis Standard news website, security officers were responsible for the murder. Kebede's case is still under investigation. He was only 41 years old when he was gunned down.
Another journalist, Sisay Fida, who worked for the Oromia Broadcasting Network, was killed in Dembi Dollo on May 9, 2021. The CPJ believes he was targeted because of his journalism.
The climate of repression, especially against Ethiopian journalists, has led to widespread fear and sometimes self-censorship.
"I've had meetings with media authority officials. They were saying, 'It's your country. You have to defend the national interest,'" a journalist based in Addis Ababa who wished to remain anonymous told DW.
He complained about harassment on social media, saying it is the worst form of pressure: "I receive threats almost daily. They DM you on Twitter or send you a message on Facebook, sending death threats."
Unidentified gunmen murdered Dawit Kebede in Mekelle on January 19, 2021. He was a reporter for Tigray TV, the state-owned broadcaster.
According to the AFP news agency and the Addis Standard news website, security officers were responsible for the murder. Kebede's case is still under investigation. He was only 41 years old when he was gunned down.
Another journalist, Sisay Fida, who worked for the Oromia Broadcasting Network, was killed in Dembi Dollo on May 9, 2021. The CPJ believes he was targeted because of his journalism.
The climate of repression, especially against Ethiopian journalists, has led to widespread fear and sometimes self-censorship.
"I've had meetings with media authority officials. They were saying, 'It's your country. You have to defend the national interest,'" a journalist based in Addis Ababa who wished to remain anonymous told DW.
He complained about harassment on social media, saying it is the worst form of pressure: "I receive threats almost daily. They DM you on Twitter or send you a message on Facebook, sending death threats."
Jailed journalists
In early 2022, the CPJ recorded at least 14 journalists behind bars. The government recently released six of them, but the country remains "the second-worst jailer of journalists in sub–Saharan Africa," according to Angela Quintal.
Ethiopia has a long history of media repression, notably under the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF). But some journalists say the current situation is even worse.
"Back in the day, we feared the government might arrest you. But now the whole atmosphere has changed. You fear not only the government. You fear the mobs, the youth. It affects your personal life," explained the journalist in Addis Ababa.
Foreign reporters, too, have faced intimidation and even deportation. Some have had their license suspended temporarily or even permanently.
The government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed forced Simon Marks, a freelance reporter working for The New York Times, to leave the country.
"There was a strongly held but misplaced belief that there was an agenda against the government," Marks told DW.
He was brought directly to the airport after being summoned to the immigration office in early May 2021. "I asked if I could stay an extra night to pack and pick up my belongings, my passport. That was denied," he recalled.
Ethiopia's National Defense Forces have stepped up airstrikes in Tigray
Fleeing into exile
Scared for their safety, dozens of Ethiopian journalists have decided to go into exile. Some face the double jeopardy of being targeted as media practitioners and ethnic Tigrayans.
Recent months have seen a massive crackdown on Tigrayan residents, especially in the capital Addis Ababa. Thousands have reportedly been forcefully detained without a trial — a procedure rendered possible by the state of emergency stipulations.
"For me, [the situation] becomes more acute because of the persecution my ethnicity is facing," a journalist who fled to a neighboring country told DW.
"[Currently], the government is not even using the law. It's like a mafia state. It can just take your freedom, your property, your everything," he added.
The information war has gone beyond Ethiopia's borders to places like London
Propaganda from all sides
The trend of journalists leaving the country has widened the information gap.
"Domestically, what we have now is either state media propaganda or sycophants from the private media," lamented the journalist who had fled. "It has made it impossible not only to cover the Tigray conflict but also the expanding conflict in Oromia."
Independent reporting is a daily struggle of risk-taking, bureaucracy, and accusations for those journalists who stayed. Many are labeled biased, even though obtaining official government reactions to news events is a daily challenge.
As post-conflict territories become more accessible, especially in Amhara, some feel they can cover only those areas when and where the government is willing to allow them.
Others vow to continue working to their best.
"You know what you are doing and that what you are reporting on is more important," said the anonymous journalist in Addis Ababa. "So you face the risk, and you do your job."
Nearly 40 percent of Tigrayans face 'extreme lack of food', UN warns
Nearly 40 percent of people in Ethiopia's Tigray are suffering "an extreme lack of food" in the face of an extended de-facto blockade of the war-hit region, a UN agency said Friday.
The dire assessment published by the World Food Programme (WFP) comes as humanitarian groups are forced to increasingly curtail activities because of fuel and supply shortages, with aid having to be delivered by foot.
Fresh fighting in northern Ethiopia, which has been gripped by deadly conflict for almost 15 months, is also limiting avenues for getting in aid.
The data was included in what the WFP described as the first reliable food security assessment conducted since a UN report more than six months ago, which estimated that hundreds of thousands of people in Tigray faced "famine-like conditions."
The new assessment found 4.6 million people in Tigray -- or 83 percent of the population -- were food-insecure, two million of them "severely" so.
"Families are exhausting all means to feed themselves, with three quarters of the population using extreme coping strategies to survive," WFP said in a statement.
"Diets are increasingly impoverished as food items become unavailable and families rely almost exclusively on cereals while limiting portion sizes and the number of meals they eat each day to make whatever food is available stretch further," it added.
WFP also sounded the alarm about rising hunger in neighbouring Amhara and Afar regions, which have been hit hard by fighting in recent months.
"WFP is doing all it can to ensure our convoys with food and medicines make it through the frontlines," said WFP's East Africa director, Michael Dunford.
"But if hostilities persist, we need all the parties to the conflict to agree to a humanitarian pause and formally agreed transport corridors, so that supplies can reach the millions besieged by hunger," Dunford said.
Renewed fighting
Fighting broke out in Tigray in November 2020 after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops to topple the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the region's former ruling party, saying the move came in response to TPLF attacks on army camps.
After initially losing control of Tigray's cities and towns, the TPLF regrouped and retook the region in June, then launched offensives into Afar and Amhara.
In November 2021 the rebels claimed to be within roughly 200 kilometres (125 miles) of the capital Addis Ababa, prompting hasty evacuations as countries including the US and France urged their citizens to leave.
The government launched a counter-offensive, however, retaking lost territory in Amhara and Afar.
This week the TPLF said it had begun "robust" military operations in Afar, describing the move as a response to attacks by pro-government forces on its positions.
Delivering aid on foot
Tigray itself has for months been subject to what the UN says is a de-facto blockade.
Washington accuses Abiy's government of blocking aid, while Addis Ababa blames rebel incursions.
The UN's humanitarian coordination office OCHA on Friday said all international aid groups in the region were completely out of fuel and had been reduced to delivering assistance to malnourished civilians on foot.
Local groups were also struggling to reach people in need because of fuel and cash shortages, it said.
OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke said without aid delivery picking up, "we will be unable to provide anything by the end of February."
"That is the very stark warning we are getting now," he told reporters in Geneva on Friday.
Malnutrition continues to soar, OCHA said, with 4.2 percent of screened children diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition during the latest week for which data is available -- "a seriously alarming level".
Last week, the UN said food distribution in Tigray had reached an all-time low.
Tigray's pre-war government said this week it had recorded 369 deaths of children under five that it attributed to the blockade, up from nearly 200 in November.
The figure could not be independently verified.
(AFP)
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