Ukrainian-born Milla Jovovich ‘heartbroken and dumbstruck’ over Russia invasion, pleads for help


Muri Assunção, New York Daily News
Sat, February 26, 2022, 

Milla Jovovich shared an emotional Instagram post on Friday, urging her near 4 million followers to help her native country of Ukraine against the full-scale military invasion ordered by Vladimir Putin earlier this week.

“I am heartbroken and dumbstruck trying to process the events of this week in my birthplace of Ukraine,” Jovovich wrote. “My country and people being bombed. Friends and family in hiding.”

The 46-year-old actress and supermodel was born in Kyiv to a Serbian father and a Russian mother. According to her IMDb page, her family left the then-Soviet Union for the U.K. when she was 5, and they eventually relocated to Los Angeles.

“My blood and my roots come from both Russia and Ukraine. I am torn in two as I watch the horror unfolding, the country being destroyed, families being displaced, their whole life lying in charred fragments around them,” she wrote, recalling her family’s experiences with brutal and bloody conflicts.

“I remember the war in my father’s homeland of former Yugoslavia and the stories my family tells of the trauma and terror they experienced. War. Always war. Leaders who cannot bring peace. The never-ending juggernaut of imperialism. And always, the people pay in bloodshed and tears,” she wrote, adding the hashtag #helpukraine.

In the post, which received nearly 47,000 likes as of Saturday morning, the star of the “Resident Evil” film franchise added several links to “organizations who can help the people of Ukraine.”

Among them, a link to the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund; the Return Alive Foundation; the Ukrainian Foundation, which helps children living in the war zones of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions; the Kyiv Independent, in support of independent journalism in Ukraine; and link to a site that supports LGBTQ members of the Ukrainian military.

Sean Penn calls Russian invasion of Ukraine 'a brutal mistake' while filming documentary there

Brian Truitt, USA TODAY
Sat, February 26, 2022

Sean Penn, in Ukraine working on a documentary about the ongoing Russian assault, called the invasion "already a brutal mistake of lives taken and hearts broken."

"If he doesn't relent, I believe Mr. Putin will have made a most horrible mistake for all of humankind," Penn said in a statement to USA TODAY early Saturday morning. President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people "have risen as historic symbols of courage and principle. Ukraine is the tip of the spear for the democratic embrace of dreams. If we allow it to fight alone, our soul as America is lost."

The Office of the President wrote in a Facebook post on Thursday that the actor and filmmaker attended news briefings, met with Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk and spoke to journalists and military personnel about the Russian invasion.

Why is Russia invading Ukraine? Could it be the start of WWIII? Here's what we know

"Sean Penn demonstrates the courage that many others, especially western politicians lack," the president's office wrote on Facebook. "The director specially came to Kiev to record all the events that are currently happening in Ukraine and to tell the world the truth about Russia's invasion of our country."

He was also there in late November to work on the project, which is being produced by VICE Studios. Photographs at the time showed him visiting the frontlines of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near the Donetsk region.

Sean Penn is on the ground filming a documentary in Ukraine amid the Russian invasion.

The Oscar winner has been involved in numerous international humanitarian and anti-war efforts over the years and founded the non-profit disaster relief organization CORE in response to the 2010 earthquakes in Haiti, chronicled in the documentary "Citizen Penn."

Contributing: Associated Press

Sean Penn: Putin will be making 'most horrible mistake for all of humankind'

Sat, February 26, 2022

Hollywood actor and producer Sean Penn visits positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near the frontline with Russia-backed separatists in Donetsk region in November

"Milk" actor Sean Penn warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin will be making the "most horrible mistake for all of humankind" if he does not relent and stop Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"Already a brutal mistake of lives taken and hearts broken, and if he doesn't relent, I believe Mr. Putin will have made a most horrible mistake for all of humankind. President Zelensky and the Ukrainian people have risen as historic symbols of courage and principle," Penn said in a statement.

"Ukraine is the tip of the spear for the democratic embrace of dreams," he added. "If we allow it to fight alone, our soul as America is lost."

Penn's comments come as the 61-year-old actor is in Ukraine filming a documentary, which is a Vice Studios production associated with Endeavor Content and Vice World News.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed on Thursday, just two days after Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, that over 100 people had died and over 300 others had been injured, though those estimates have grown since then. The U.N. refugee agency estimated on Saturday that close to 116,000 Ukrainians have been displaced since Thursday.

The development shows the staggering change of events that have transpired in over 48 hours, with a handful of countries, including the European Union, United Kingdom, Canada and the U.S., announcing sanctions against Putin and the Russian foreign minister.

The deputy head of Russia's Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, warned on Saturday that Russia could retaliate in response, including freezing Western assets, restoring the death penalty and removing itself from its nuclear arms deal with the U.S., The Associated Press reported.

"We are being driven out of everywhere, punished and threatened, but we don't feel scared," Medvedev said on a Russian social media platform, according to the newswire.

Sean Penn on Invasion of Ukraine: ‘If We Allow It to Fight Alone, Our Soul as America Is Lost’

Claudia Eller
Sat, February 26, 2022


Sean Penn, who is in Ukraine filming a documentary about Russia’s invasion, released a statement on Friday night after appearing at a press briefing in the capital of Kyiv on Thursday, where he listened to government officials talk about the crisis.

“Already a brutal mistake of lives taken and hearts broken, and if he doesn’t relent, I believe Mr. Putin will have made a most horrible mistake for all of humankind,” Penn said. “President Zelensky and the Ukrainian people have risen as historic symbols of courage and principle. Ukraine is the tip of the spear for the democratic embrace of dreams. If we allow it to fight alone, our soul as America is lost.”

This week, Newsweek reported that “Penn has visited the Office of the President and spoken with deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk, as well as local journalists and members of the Ukrainian military.” The Office of the President issued a statement praising the Oscar-winning actor and filmmaker, noting that the director had come to Kyiv to record events that were unfolding in Ukraine “and to tell the world the truth about Russia’s invasion of our country.”

Scroll back up to restore default view.

The doc is a Vice Studios production in association with Vice World News and Endeavor Content. Penn last flew to Ukraine in November 2021. He started preparing for his documentary by visiting with the country’s military.

Penn’s non-profit organization Community Organized Relief Effort (CORE) was set up in response to the Haiti earthquake of 2010 and also deployed teams to aid with COVID-19 testing and vaccines across the country.

More from Variety

Poland News Channel TVN24 Works 24/7 to Cover Russia's 'Insane and Inhuman Invasion'

Sky News Dedicates Two Daily Specials To Cover Russia's Invasion of Ukraine (TV News Roundup)

AJR Cancels Russian Tour Due to Ukraine Invasion -- Will Others Follow?

Chilling video shows the moment a missile strikes an apartment building in Kyiv, Ukraine

Connor Perrett

Sat, February 26, 2022

An apartment building damaged following a rocket attack on the city of Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022.AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky

• A video verified by The New York Times showed the moment a missile struck an apartment building.

• The video showed the missile hit the building, which is located in southwestern Kyiv.

• There were no fatalities reported in the incident, an official said, according to Reuters.

Chilling video captured early Saturday morning local time showed a missile striking an apartment building in southwestern Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine, according to The New York Times.

The New York Times, which verified the video, said the strike was captured about 1.5 miles from the Sikorsky Memorial Airport.

A report from Reuters early Saturday said the missile strike resulted in zero fatalities, according to Anton Herashchenko, an advisor to the interior in the country. The BBC reported Saturday that officials hadn't yet specified the number of casualties in the incident.

Herashchenko said that Russian officials were lying when it said its military was not targeting civilian infrastructure in Ukraine and said at least 40 civilian sites had been targeted, according to Reuters.

Dmytro Kuleba, the Ukraine foreign affairs minister, in a tweet Saturday shared a photo of the damaged building, writing: "Kyiv, our splendid, peaceful city, survived another night under attacks by Russian ground forces, missiles. One of them has hit a residential apartment in Kyiv."

Kuleba called on other nations in response to "fully isolate Russia," asking them to "expel ambassadors," place embargoes on Russian oil, and "ruin its economy."

"Stop Russian war criminals!" he wrote.

GAZA 2021

Poll: US majority believes no Russian invasion with Trump as president

Edward Helmore
Sat, February 26, 2022

A clear majority of Americans think Vladimir Putin would not have ordered the Russian invasion of Ukraine had Donald Trump still been in the White House, according to a new poll.

Related: Tucker Carlson leads rightwing charge to blame everyone but Putin

The poll, by the Harvard Center for American Political Studies (Caps)-Harris, found that 62% of those surveyed believed Putin would not have sent troops into Ukraine with Trump in the White House.

Photograph: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

In partisan terms, the survey found that 85% of Republicans and 38% of Democrats held the view.

The poll, conducted on Wednesday and Thursday this week among 2,026 registered voters, found that 59% said Putin only ordered the invasion because he saw weakness in Joe Biden. Forty-one percent said the US president was not a factor in Putin’s decision.

Republicans in Congress have attacked Biden for perceived weakness in the face of autocratic leaders abroad. Party figures have been less keen to discuss Trump’s expressions of admiration for Putin during the Ukraine crisis.

The Harvard study’s findings broadly buttressed a Fox News poll, carried out before Russia invaded, that found more Republicans had a negative view of Biden than of Putin and more Democrats had a negative view of Trump than of the Russian leader.

That study said 92% of Republicans had a negative view of Biden while 81% had a negative view of Putin. Among Democrats, 87% had a negative view of Trump and 85% a negative view of Putin.

A third poll, released by NPR/PBS/Marist College, will add concern for a Biden administration battling low approval ratings generated by public dissatisfaction on fronts including handling of the pandemic, the Afghanistan withdrawal, a stalled legislative agenda and inflation.

The NPR-Marist poll found that 56% of Americans said Biden’s first year in office was a “failure”. Just 39% called it a success.

Two-thirds of independents said Biden’s first year was a failure, while 91% of Republicans said so. Among Democrats, 80% called Biden’s first year a success – but 15% said it had been a failure.

Trump places fault for Russia invasion of Ukraine on Biden during CPAC speech
By Adam Schrader

President Donald Trump speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC22) in Orlando, Florida on Saturday, February 26, 2022. 

Photo by Joe Marino/UPI | License Photo


Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Former President Donald Trump spoke for 85 minutes during the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, placing fault for the aggression on the policies of President Joe Biden.

Trump seemed to largely downplay the invasion of Ukraine, telling his supporters that "the Biden administration cares more about taking care of citizens of a distant foreign nation than our own citizens."

"Biden has obsessed for months over how to stop the invasion of a foreign country thousands of miles away," Trump said. "You can't defend western civilization if you would not be able to defend our own civilization."

The former president said that Democrats believe "Ukraine sovereignty must be defended at all costs" but that the U.S. has "a border that's a catastrophe."

"Under Joe Biden we are losing our country no different than had we lost it in a war," Trump said.

Trump said that Russia would not have invaded Ukraine if he was president because under his administration "Russia respected America just like every other country respected America and they really respected us a lot."

"Joe Biden is weak," Trump said. "And when you have a weak president who is not respected by other nations you have a chaotic world. And this world has not been as chaotic since World War II."

Trump said that he had "no doubt" that Russian President Vladimir Putin had decided to invade Ukraine because of the "pathetic withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan."

The Afghanistan withdrawal came after the Trump administration had signed an agreement with the Taliban in 2020 promising to fully withdraw troops by May 2021. The removal of troops from Afghanistan was completed under the Biden administration in August 2021.

"Afghanistan was a surrender for no reason whatsoever," Trump said Saturday.

Trump said in his speech that he remains the only U.S. president of the 21st Century under which Russia has not invaded another country.

"Under [former President George W. Bush], Russia invaded Georgia. Under [former President Barack Obama], Russia took Crimea. Under Biden, Russia invaded Ukraine," Trump said. "I stand as the only president in the 21st Century under whom Russia did not invade another country."

Trump also praised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky just moments before calling Putin a "smart" man who was allowed "to get away with the travesty and assault on humanity" by the Biden administration.

"The president of Ukraine is a brave man, he's hanging in, a brave man. During the impeachment ... the president of Ukraine said I did nothing wrong. I called him up to congratulate him on his victory," Trump said.

"Putin is saying, 'Okay, I can take over a whole country and they're going to just sanction me?' ... The problem is not that Putin is smart. The real problem is that our leaders are dumb."

Trump added that the cost of the war for Putin "is very small" compared with the "money they're taking in." It was not immediately clear what Trump meant as Russia has been aggressively sanctioned and excluded from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication network.

Trump also blamed rising energy prices on the cancellation of U.S. oil and gas leases as well as the Keystone XL Pipeline by the Biden administration, rather than on the war in Ukraine.

"He enriched Putin by approving the Russian pipeline which has really been at the core of much of the problem we have right now," Trump said.

Earlier this week, Biden said he would impose sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline connecting Russia and Germany in a reversal of his decision to waive sanctions on the pipeline in May 2021.

"I got along with Putin. ... I'm the one who ended his pipeline. He said, "you're killing me with this pipeline." Nobody was as hard on Russia as I was," Trump said Saturday.

"With respect to what's going on, it would have been so easy for me to stop this travesty from happening. He understood me. Someday I will tell you exactly what we talked about. It's no secret he had an affinity for Ukraine."

During the speech, Trump also ripped Biden for his nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson to be the first Black woman on U.S. Supreme Court. "A radical left zealot has been nominated to the Supreme Court of the United States," Trump said.

He also touted his Truth Social media platform "which is trending at the top all over the place" and expressed support for podcaster Joe Rogan amid his Spotify scandal.

Trump also criticized Canada for "tyranny" for breaking up recent trucker protests over COVID-19 restrictions.

"They have been slandered as Nazis, racists and terrorists. These are the names they've been called. They've been arrested and charged with phony crimes," Trump said.

"You're either with the peaceful truckers or you're with the left-wing fascists. We stand with the Canadian truckers to reclaim their freedom."

He also criticized the January 6 commission for its investigation into the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol last year as Congress worked to certify the votes of the electoral college.

"They're continuing their evil persecution of me, my family, my staff and you," Trump said.

He then repeated false claims that people were stuffing ballot boxes and that hundreds of thousands of votes in swing states were the result of fraud.

War in World’s Breadbasket Leaves Big Buyers Hunting for Grain



Áine Quinn and Megan Durisin
Fri, February 25, 2022, 

(Bloomberg) -- Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is threatening shockwaves through two of the world’s staple grain markets, prompting countries that rely on imports from the region to seek alternative supplies and heightening concerns about food inflation and hunger.

Grain exports from Russia will probably be on hold for at least the next couple of weeks, the local association said on Friday, after turmoil erupted in the Black Sea. Ukrainian ports have been closed since Thursday.

That means the war has temporarily cut off a breadbasket that accounts for more than a quarter of global wheat trade and nearly a fifth of corn. Major importers are already looking at their options to buy from elsewhere, and prices for both grains swung wildly in the past two days.

The disruptions come at a time when global crop prices have already soared to records, while hunger has surged dramatically in the past two years.

“There will be a big impact with respect to wheat prices and prices of bread for ordinary people,” World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said Friday.

Russia and Ukraine supply crops to a long list of countries around the world, including large volumes to buyers in the Middle East and Africa, who will have to look elsewhere and probably pay more for both the grain itself and the cost of shipping. Egypt, the top wheat importer, had scheduled a tender on Thursday but canceled it after only receiving one offer -- of French wheat.

“It is difficult to plan any transactions at the moment,” said Eduard Zernin, the head of the Russian Union of Grain Exporters. “I think it might take a couple of weeks.”

Demand is beginning to shift to alternative export origins including India and the European Union, according to two people familiar with the matter.

In Tunisia, the agriculture ministry said it’s looking to Uruguay, Bulgaria and Romania for supplies of soft wheat to shield itself from possible supply disruptions, while Indonesian flour mills are also hunting for other origins due to the escalating crisis. A Moroccan millers group said it would turn to Argentina, France and Poland, according to chairman Abdelkader El-Alaoui.

However, the outsized role that the Black Sea plays in global grains markets means that alternatives may be limited. Global grain stockpiles are already declining, making it more difficult to offset lost supply.

“It really does put a squeeze on an already tight market and creates a huge amount of uncertainty for the coming weeks if not months,” said James Bolesworth, managing director at U.K.-based CRM AgriCommodities. “For wheat and corn, it pushes demand to other parts of the world where we know stocks are tight.”

In the U.S., the war in Ukraine may have a modest impact on food costs, though grocery inflation is likely to ease this year regardless of the conflict, said Joseph Glauber, former chief economist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The crisis may have a more severe impact on food prices in the Middle East and Africa, especially if spring planting is disrupted in Ukraine, he said.

The impact on U.S. consumers will be muted because food commodities account for only a small portion of the price Americans pay for groceries--less than 15 cents of each dollar spent, according to USDA. Volatility in global wheat markets have little impact on the supermarket cost of a loaf of bread or a box of cereal.

Where the U.S. will likely be more affected is in the cost of grains such as corn and soybeans used to feed livestock and poultry. It could exacerbate the pressures meat producers are already feeling, with drought in the U.S. plains accelerating the decline of herds.

For Russian grains, in addition to the challenges of shipping in the Black Sea, some of the country’s biggest wheat exporters have links to state-owned bank VTB Group, which is now under sanctions from the U.S.

Overall, the war is likely to have far-reaching effects, the World Food Programme said.

“The food security impact of the conflict will likely be felt beyond Ukraine’s border, especially on the poorest of the poor,” the Rome-based agency said in a statement.“Interruption to the flow of grain out of the Black Sea region will increase prices and add further fuel to food inflation.”

Brazilian Farmers Rush to Secure Fertilizers on Ukraine War Fears

Tatiana Freitas and Tarso Veloso
Fri, February 25, 2022



(Bloomberg) -- Farmers in Brazil, the world’s top fertilizer importer, are rushing to secure crop nutrients as the Russian attack on Ukraine spreads fears of a global shortage.

“Farmers are scared, rushing to buy potash,” said Jose Marcos Magalhaes, president of the Minasul co-operative, Brazil’s second-largest coffee exporter.

The rush to ensure crop nutrients in Brazil illustrates the shock waves the invasion of Ukraine is sending through agricultural, metal and energy markets. Russia is a key supplier of potash and other crop additives, as well as a major exporter of aluminum, grains, crude oil and natural gas. Brazil, an agriculture powerhouse that leads production of soybeans, coffee and sugar, imports around 80% of its fertilizer needs.

Minasul, which has farm-supplies stores in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais, saw its daily sales of agriculture inputs jump to about 20 million reais ($4 million) on Thursday, from the usual 2 to 3 million reais.

“We made half of February sales in the past couple of days,” Magalhaes said, adding it’s so far been able to meet the surge in demand thanks to its stockpiles.

In Brazil’s far west, farmers haven’t been so lucky. Some grain producers in Mato Grosso state, the nation’s biggest soybean grower, haven’t even been able to get price quotes and delivery estimates from their fertilizer dealerships in the past three days. Importers haven’t received price lists from their overseas suppliers either, according to Jeferson Souza, fertilizer analyst for Agrinvest Commodities.

“Fertilizer prices in the Brazilian market were thrown into uncertainty by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and may remain unstable into early March,” Marina Cavalcante, an analyst for Bloomberg’s Green Markets, wrote Friday in a report.

Following price increases early in the week, fertilizer suppliers suspended price lists, according to Cavalcante. Market participants are cautious about new negotiations, concerned that further trade restrictions may be imposed, she said.

Brazilian soybean farmers are buying fertilizers for planting that starts in September and are likely to pay higher prices than U.S. producers who have already bought their nutrients, according to Souza.

The group representing fertilizer companies in Brazil, known as Anda, says it’s monitoring the risks of disruptions in the global fertilizer supply chain, including in Brazil.

“Any economic sanctions on Russia will affect fertilizer pricing and availability,” Cavalcante said.

UPDATE 1-Brazil farmers brace for potential fertilizer pinch due to Ukraine crisis

Thu, February 24, 2022,
(Adds statement from local association)
By Ana Mano

SAO PAULO, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Brazilian agricultural exports may lose their competitive edge due to a scarcity of fertilizer and soaring prices for the key material if Russia's invasion of Ukraine triggers Western sanctions on Russian fertilizer exports, according to analysts.

Brazil relies on imports for about 85% of its fertilizer needs. Russia is its biggest supplier of the NPK mixture of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.

Even before the Ukraine conflict, fertilizer prices were climbing due to global logistics issues, U.S. sanctions on Belarus and China's absence from the market since October.

The Ukraine crisis means Brazilian growers of soybeans and other agricultural commodities are potentially in for a rough time.

"It is the perfect storm," said Jeferson Souza, an analyst with Agrinvest Commodities.

"Brazil has the most to lose among the world's largest producers of soy," he said, adding that competitors such as the United States and Argentina do not use as much potassium fertilizer as Brazil.

The situation raises doubts about whether Brazil can expand its area planted with soy for the 2022/2023 crop, as costs may become prohibitive, Souza said.

ANDA, an association representing fertilizer companies in Brazil, said in a statement it is early to assess the impact of international sanctions stemming from Russia's attack on Ukraine, adding it is still evaluating the effects on the fertilizer market and on the food supply chain as a whole.

ANDA acknowledged risks regarding the lack of inputs to produce fertilizers as the conflict develops, and said it will work to create alternatives to ensure supplies.

Brazil bought about 40 million tonnes of fertilizer products in 2021, a record high, with Russia accounting for some 9 million tonnes of imports, according to data compiled by Agrinvest.

There is a real possibility of Brazil having an immediate "potassium supply crisis," said Marcelo Mello, head of the fertilizer desk at StoneX, referring to the commodity that has farmers the most worried.

He said simultaneous sanctions on Russia and Belarus would leave farmers without enough of the fertilizer.

"The impact can be felt already, as the supply of fertilizers has been hampered by the low availability of maritime transport," said agribusiness lawyer Frederico Favacho.

Favacho noted that other areas of trade will also be affected by an escalation of the Ukraine conflict, as Russia is a big buyer of Brazilian meats.

Potential financial sanctions against Russia would hamper that trade too, he said. (Reporting by Ana Mano; Editing by Brad Haynes, Bill Berkrot and Cynthia Osterman)

Pentagon Official: Russia Has Lost ‘Momentum’ in Ukraine Invasion

Zachary Evans

Fri, February 25, 2022, 

A senior Pentagon official told reporters on Friday afternoon that Russian forces have lost “momentum” in their invasion of Ukraine, although Russia has not yet deployed all available military forces.

“The Russians have lost a little bit of their momentum. No population centers have been taken. Russia has yet to achieve air superiority,” the official said. “They are not moving on Kyiv as fast as they anticipated it going.”

The official noted that “Ukrainian command and control is intact.”

Pentagon officials said Russia has only deployed about 30 percent of the forces currently stationed on Ukraine’s borders, estimated in total between 150,000 and 190,000 troops.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said he spoke with U.S. President Biden on Friday. The White House confirmed that the call lasted for 40 minutes.

“Strengthening sanctions, concrete defense assistance and an anti-war coalition have just been discussed with POTUS,” Zelensky said in a Twitter post. “Grateful to [the U.S.] for the strong support to [Ukraine]!”

For the first time ever, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization activated the NATO Response Force in response to the invasion. The Response Force is a multinational contingent consisting of 40,000 soldiers designed to be deployed speedily, although NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance would not deploy the entire force.

“These deterrence measures are prudent and enhance our speed, responsiveness and capability to shield and protect the one billion citizens we swore to protect,” Stoltenberg said after a virtual NATO summit.

Russian troops advanced into the outskirts of Ukraine’s capital Kyiv on Friday, with reports of street clashes between Russian and Ukrainian forces. Ukraine’s Defense Ministry urged Kyiv residents to make Molotov cocktails in preparation for the arrival of Russian troops, and instructions for making the explosives were broadcast on television and radio.

China's Didi reverses course, will remain in Russia

WHEN YOU HAVE THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE ON THE BOARD OF  DIRECTORS

Sat, February 26, 2022

Didi headquarters in Beijing

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Global said on Saturday that it would continue to operate in Russia, reversing a decision announced on Monday that it was leaving that country as well as Kazakhstan.

No explanation was given. Didi did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.

On Monday, Didi said it was leaving Russia on March 4, about a year and a half after launching services there. It has been in Kazakhstan for about a year.

"Unfortunately, due to changing market conditions and other challenges, it has become clear at the moment we will not be able to provide the best results in Russia and Kazakhstan," it said on Monday.

Neither statement mentioned geopolitical factors in the decision, but some critics online said the timing of the move opened Didi to accusations of succumbing to U.S. pressure on Russia, which invaded neighbouring Ukraine on Thursday.

Saturday's statement did not mention Kazakhstan.

The Chinese government has called for dialogue on Ukraine but has refrained from condemning Russia's attack or calling it an invasion.

Didi has had a turbulent time since it went public last summer in New York. Under pressure from Chinese regulators concerned about data security, Didi in December said it will delist from the NYSE and pursue a Hong Kong listing.

(Reporting by Tony Munroe and Brenda Goh; Editing by William Mallard)

Thousands of African students who went to Ukraine to train to become doctors and engineers scramble to escape the Russian offensive

Alia Shoaib
Sat, February 26, 2022

People wait to board an evacuation train from Kyiv to Lviv at Kyiv central train station, Ukraine, February 25, 2022.

Umit Bektas/Reuters


Ukraine is home to thousands of African students who come to study at affordable prices.


Now they are trapped by the lightning Russian military invasion.


Some embassies told the students to "save themselves" as they could not help.

As Russian forces invaded Ukraine on Thursday, thousands of African students across the country found themselves trapped by the fighting and afraid for their safety.

Korrine Sky, a 26-year-old second-year medical student in Dnipro, told Insider that she has coordinated hundreds of African students across the country as they scramble to find a way out.

"I'm very, very afraid," Sky said. "We're not getting any help from any of the embassies. They have pretty much just said, 'save yourselves.'"

Ukraine is home to thousands of African students who study medicine, engineering, and other technical fields at affordable prices compared with the rest of Europe and the United States.

Morocco, Nigeria, and Egypt are in the top 10 countries with students in Ukraine, in total sending over 16,000 students to the country, according to the education ministry.

Vukile Dlamini, a South African student in Vinnytsia, told Insider that when Russia launched its offensive on Thursday, she awoke to the sounds of sirens and bombs.

"When the sirens would go off, we would run to the bomb-proof bunkers until the coast was clear," she said.

Dlamini said that she was now making her way to the Romanian border with other South African students to try and leave the country.

"We are several hours away from the border, and we are trying to stay calm," Dlamini said. "Right now, we are only traveling with our emergency bags that have our documents and we have small bags with non-perishable goods and small water bottles."

She said that African students are traveling in buses with flags so that Russians would not mistake their movements at night as a threat.

As cities across Ukraine are attacked, many African students are feeling desperate and abandoned.

Some African embassies have urged their citizens to try and keep safe in Ukraine but have provided no plans to evacuate them.

Nigerian student unions in Ukraine told Al Jazeera that they have tried to contact their embassy in Kyiv but have received no response.

With little help from their home countries, Sky and other students are crowdsourcing resources to help each other find ways out of the country.

Sky said she has located around 442 African students and added them to WhatsApp and Telegram group chats, and the numbers continue to grow.

She said that the community mobilization among African students had been "heartwarming to witness."

With flights out of the country grounded, the most common route to leave is to cross the border into countries like Poland and Romania.

According to Sky, some African students have struggled to get on buses heading to the border.

"Some people have gone to get buses, but they're not allowing Black people basically onto the buses. They're prioritizing Ukrainians. That's what they say," Sky said.

Sky, a British citizen of African heritage, has not been able to organize a visa for her fiancé. Many African students face additional difficulties that come with not having European citizenship.

The Polish government has said that foreigners without a valid visa are permitted to enter the country and remain for up to 15 days. due to the ongoing conflict

With the uncertainty of what the future holds, on Friday afternoon Sky and her fiancé packed their bags and began the 580-mile journey to Poland by car.

"We were supposed to get married tomorrow, actually, but then all of this happened," Sky said. "This has been an absolute shock."

Read the original article on Business Insider

Vitali Klitschko, an outspoken Putin critic, may have signed his own death warrant

Kevin Iole

·Combat columnist

Fri, February 25, 2022, 

The image of Vitali Klitschko, bullhorn in hand, mayhem all around him, is unforgettable. In November and December 2013, the Hall of Fame boxer had just ended his career, and was leading what became known as the Euromaidan protests in Kyiv, Ukraine.

A partially burned bus, its windows broken, sits still behind him, evidence of the danger in the streets.

As Klitschko begins to speak into the microphone, a man steps up with a fire extinguisher and sprays him in the face. Klitschko briefly disappears behind the cloud of white.

Seconds later after security pushes him out of danger, he emerges, an angry look on his face. His face is covered with soot, as if someone had thrown a handful of flour on him.

For those who knew and admired Klitschko during his epic run as one of boxing’s great heavyweights, it was a frightening, worrisome time.

Yet, more than eight years years later, those protests seem mild compared to what Klitschko faces today. Russia invaded Ukraine and attacked it on Thursday, starting a war.

Vitali Klitschko never has run from a fight before, and isn’t about to now. This one, though, is one that may well kill him.

He is the mayor of Kyiv, but he’s become the leader of Ukraine’s defensive efforts against Russia. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a one-time stand-up comedian, spent the past several weeks condemning Russia’s military building up and asking for a diplomatic solution. He accomplished little to nothing.

Klitschko has made it clear he wants peace. The difference in him with most is that he’s willing to do whatever it takes to ensure that peace.

Klitschko is going to lead out front. Asked Thursday by "Good Morning Britain" if he’d take up arms and fight himself, Klitschko never hesitated.

“I don’t have another choice,” he said. “I have to do that.”

He does have another choice. He could work with other political leaders in Ukraine to develop strategies and to seek assistance from NATO and other allies.

Vitali Klitschko said he was ready "to take up arms" defending Ukraine against a Russian invasion. (Photo by SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP via Getty Images)

He’s a brilliant man with the courage to match his fearsome size and strength, and he knows how important he is to his fellow citizens.

But once a fighter, always a fighter. Klitschko, who was born in the former Soviet Union, believes Ukraine should be free and independent. He believes it would help the country economically and culturally to become part of the European Union.

If Ukraine joins the EU and prospers, it’s likely going to make several other former Soviet states follow suit. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who organized and launched the attack on Ukraine, does not want that.

“Our eastern neighbor is not happy with our decision to become part of the European family,” Klitschko told the U.K.'s Channel 4 News last month. “We do not want to return to the USSR. We were in the USSR and we see our future as part of a European family. Mr. Putin disagrees. They have an idea to rebuild the Soviet Union, but we do not want to return to the USSR. We see our future as a free democracy.

“As a former officer, I spent a lot of time in the army. As a former soldier, I am ready to defend my country, to defend the independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine. Will I fight in the war against Russia? Yes, of course. I will fight in the front lines.”

A leader on the front lines in a war zone is almost unthinkable in today’s world. But that decision to risk everything to rally his fellow citizens and defend his country’s sovereignty has had to make him a primary target of Putin and may mean he signed his own death warrant.

As an athlete, Klitschko has shown boundless courage in the face of extreme adversity throughout his career. He showed that in a boxing ring in 2003 when he fought Lennox Lewis in Los Angeles and suffered a gaping wound over his eye. He wanted to continue and protested vehemently when the referee decided the cut was too severe.

But that was nothing in comparison to what he’s doing now. He and his younger brother, Wladimir, who joined the Ukrainian Army reserves and will fight shoulder-to-shoulder with him, will be more remembered for what they’ve done in these days than for all the glory they ever attained in boxing.

So many of Putin’s critics have died since he assumed office that a leading Russian scholar, Amy Knight, wrote a book that was published in 2017 called, “Orders to Kill: The Putin Regime and Political Murder.”

The Klitschko brothers know this, and they know that as outspoken critics of Russia in general and of Putin in particular, they could be among the next of his detractors who Putin looks to silence.

There is an immense amount of bravery required to slip between the ropes and fight another man who has trained for months to defeat you. It’s child’s play compared to the fight the Klitschkos face today.

They’ve never backed down from a challenge previously and, sadly, they’re not backing down this time.

Even if the end is near for them, they’re heading into battle full of heart and determination.

It’s all they know.

Boxing-Klitschko brothers to take up arms and fight for Ukraine

Thu, February 24, 2022,

(Reuters) - Former heavyweight boxing champion Vitali Klitschko said he would take up arms alongside his brother and fellow Hall of Famer Wladimir Klitschko to fight in what is a "bloody war" following Russia's invasion of their country Ukraine.

Russia launched its invasion by land, air and sea on Thursday following a declaration of war by President Vladimir Putin. An estimated 100,000 people have fled as explosions and gunfire rocked major cities. Dozens have been reported killed.

Vitali Klitschko, who has been the mayor of Ukraine's capital Kyiv since 2014, said he was ready to fight.

"I don't have another choice, I have to do that. I'll be fighting," the 50-year-old, known as "Dr Ironfist" during his fighting days, told broadcaster ITV's Good Morning Britain.

Vitali Klitschko said Kyiv was under threat and the main priority was to work with police and military forces to support critical infrastructure including the delivery of electricity, gas and water for its citizens.

He added civilians were ready to defend Kyiv as soldiers.

"I believe in Ukraine, I believe in my country and I believe in my people," Vitali Klitschko said.

Former heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko enlisted in Ukraine's reserve army earlier this month, saying that the love for his country compelled him to defend it.

"The Ukrainian people are strong. And it will remain true to itself in this terrible ordeal. A people longing for sovereignty and peace. A people who consider the Russian people their brothers," he wrote in a post on LinkedIn on Thursday.

"It knows that they basically do not want this war. The Ukrainian people have chosen democracy.

"But: Democracy is a fragile regime. Democracy cannot defend itself; it needs the will of the citizens, the commitment of everyone. Basically, there is no democracy without democrats."

(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)

Viktor Postol still plans to fight as Russian invasion shakes the lives 

of Ukrainian boxers

Kevin Iole

·Combat columnist

Thu, February 24, 2022, 

Russia invaded Ukraine and began a war on Thursday, the biggest nightmare for boxer Viktor Postol. The super lightweight contender is slated to fight Gary Antuanne Russell Saturday (10 p.m. ET, Showtime) at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas.

Postol is from Ukraine and left his wife, Olga, and twin sons Timothey and Lukyam, at their home in Brovary, near Kyiv.

He had told Yahoo Sports earlier in the week that he’d been trying to avoid the news so he could focus on his fight, while also hoping that a diplomatic solution was found.

But Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his military to attack Ukraine and reports quickly emerged that the Russians had taken the airport in Kyiv, as well as the former nuclear power plant in Chernobyl.

Postol said he spoke to his wife on Thursday.

“Everything is good for them at this time,” Postol told Yahoo Sports Thursday after learning of the onset of the hostilities. “Obviously, it is not good and, mentally, it’s difficult [to prepare for the fight]."

At this stage, there isn’t much Postol can do so he plans to go forward with the fight. Going home is a different story. He said he wasn’t sure, but said he thought he’d fly to Poland and then either drive or walk across the border into Ukraine.

He said he didn’t feel in jeopardy from Russian military because of his status as a prominent athlete and a former world champion boxer.

“I honestly don’t think so,” he said. “I’m just a regular Ukrainian person. I don’t live in a fancy villa and have crazy expensive stuff, so I don’t think they’ll look at me any differently than anyone else.”

Ukraine's Viktor Postol, shown here in 2015, says he'll fight Saturday in Las Vegas despite the invasion of his native country. (Photo by NurPhoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Klitschko: 'Destruction and death come upon us'

One former boxer who clearly is in jeopardy is ex-heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko, who is the mayor of Kyiv. In an interview with Good Morning Britain, Klitschko said he was going to join the armed conflict himself.

Asked if he’d take up arms and fight in the streets to defend his country, Klitschko said, “I don’t have another choice. I have to do that.”

His younger brother, Wladimir, has said he, too, will join the fight. He made a post on various social media outlets in which he criticized Putin and said he knows the Russian people don’t want war.

“Putin makes it clear that he wants to destroy the Ukrainian state and the sovereignty of its people,” Wladimir Klitschko wrote. “Words are followed by missiles and tanks. Destruction and death come upon us. That's it, blood will mix with tears. The Ukrainian people are strong. And it will remain true to itself in this terrible ordeal. A people longing for sovereignty and peace. A people who consider the Russian people their brothers. It knows that they basically do not want this war.

“You can do something by mobilizing and organizing huge demonstrations. Make your voice heard. Make the voice of democracy heard. Say it loud and clear that international law and democracy are under attack, that war is the greatest evil and that life is sacred.”

IBF-WBA-WBO heavyweight champion Alexander Usyk left Glasgow, Scotland, where he was prepared to watch the undisputed super lightweight title fight on Saturday between Josh Taylor and Jack Catterall, and flew to Ukraine.

He released a video on social media of himself speaking in Russian with the caption on the post in all caps, “NO WAR.”

Former world champion Vasiliy Lomachenko, a two-time Olympic gold medalist for Ukraine, posted a heartfelt message on his Instagram account.

He entitled his post, “Prayer for the peace of the whole world and the enlightenment of the peoples of the Earth.”

He wrote, “Lord, grant Your peace to Your people. Lord, grant to Your servants Your Holy Spirit, so that He warms their hearts with Your love and guides them into all truth and goodness.”