Chilling reason behind mystery symbols tagged in Kyiv as petrified residents flee

Russian forces and pro-Kremlin saboteurs have allegedly been marking buildings with paint to assist Vladimir Putin’s troops.


By Alice Peacock
Peter Diamond

1 MAR 2022


Mystery symbols are being tagged onto Ukrainian buildings which are being reportedly marked for Russian airstrikes, according to sources in Kyiv.

Special Russian forces are already believed to be in the capital of Ukraine with one of their chilling tasks to pinpoint key buildings for air attacks.


Vladimir Putin's troops are continuing their cruel attacks in Ukraine with even more barbaric, catastrophic airstrikes anticipated to come, as a result of the pinpointed markings.

This week Putin ordered his nuclear arms chiefs to be on enhanced combat duty in a worrying escalation of tensions.

Over recent days the alarming images of apartment buildings in Kyiv have been marked with painted red crosses on their roofs, presumably marking them for airstrikes.

Worrying pictures show apartment buildings in Kyiv with red crosses, presumably marking them for airstrike (Image: Twitter)

According to Sun Online reports, footage shared on Twitter allegedly shows a pro-Russian marking the location on a high-rise residential building, to allow Moscow’s forces to target it for maximum impact.

Authorities in Kyiv are urging its citizens to be vigilant for any suspicious symbols or marks, report Mirror Online.

“Residents of high-rise buildings that have access to the roof, please urgently check the roof for signs,” the Kyiv local Government said on social media.

Huge Russian missile attack on Ukraine kills more than 70 in deadliest strike yet

“Tags on wood can be either painted or covered with reflective tape,” another warning said.

Residents are being urged to smear such signs with dirt, knock them down, or otherwise cover the marks up.

Other sinister gadgets believed to be being used by Russian forces included homing transmitters allowing enemy weapons to silently pinpoint specific targets - which Ukrainian authorities say are appearing on significant road intersections.

Markings sprayed on the sides and roofs of buildings are thought to be guiding missile strikes (Image: Twitter)

A video shared on social media depicts a mysterious transmitting item with a green flashing light, which was reportedly captured by Ukrainians from the Russians.

A caption reads: “Footage of the device that is used by Russian saboteur units in Ukraine.

“The light-emitting object has been retrieved by Ukrainian forces.

“These are beacons that are used for either airstrikes, artillery strikes or for the landing of Russian troops.”

Suspicious activity has been reported by Kyiv residents on social media, with footage of people appearing to place marker pins and UV signs being widely circulated.

A Ukrainian news agency has also shared a short video filmed from a high rise, showing a figure appearing to mark a gas pipe on the side of an apartment building.

A caption accompanying the video reads: “Warning! The saboteurs placed many marks around the city.

“In particular, ballistic. And today Kyivans filmed how gas pipes are marked on apartment buildings.
READ MORE

Calls for Vladimir Putin to face war crimes trial as shelling of Ukraine cities intensifies

“Be vigilant! As soon as you see this, contact the police immediately!”

Vitali Klitschko, Kyiv’s mayor, has urged residents to remain vigilant for any potential symbols springing up to guide Russian missiles and report suspicious activity they do see.

He has also accused Ukrainian collaborators of “treason” and threatened to jail anyone who helped Putin’s invaders.

Other suspected markers are small reflective tags, which were believed to have a similar effect to an aircraft transponder, in reflecting and amplifying any radar pulse that hits it to stand out among the rubble.

Police have urged residents in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv to use backlights or UV lights to help them detect fluorescent paint.


These markings were used by Russian agents who had infiltrated the city to direct missile strikes, they said.

Warnings about the old school war tactics come as satellite imagery has highlighted a large deployment of Russian ground forces including tanks moving in the direction of Kyiv.

The images released by Maxar Technologies Inc showed a deployment comprised of hundreds of military vehicles.

The convey was situated northeast of the Ukrainian city of Ivankiv and contained fuel, logistics and armoured vehicles including tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and self-propelled artillery.

Russian artillery bombarded residential districts of Ukraine’s second-largest city Kharkiv on Monday, killing possibly dozens of people, Ukrainian officials said.

Moscow’s invading forces however met stiff resistance from Ukrainians on the fifth day of conflict.

UK Government wins Commons battle to reinstate protest limits despite Tory concerns

The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill contains a wide-ranging raft of measures aimed at overhauling the criminal justice system


By Richard Wheeler
David Lynch
Dave Clark
 1 MAR 2022

The Bill includes plans to give police in England and Wales more powers to impose conditions  on non-violent protests

 (Image: PA)

Boris Johnson has faced criticism from a group of Tory MPs over his Government’s plans to introduce new restrictions on protests. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill contains a wide-ranging raft of measures aimed at overhauling the criminal justice system.

These include plans to give police in England and Wales more powers to impose conditions on non-violent protests judged to be too noisy and thereby causing “intimidation or harassment” or “serious unease, alarm or distress” to the public. In the early hours of Tuesday, MPs voted to reinstate to the Bill the protest restrictions after they were removed by peers – at one stage with the Government’s majority narrowed to 50.

But a handful of Conservatives made clear their frustration at the proposals, warning they went too far. The Bill previously suffered a string of defeats in the Lords as peers rejected the moves to clampdown on noisy protests.

They also ripped out a series of controversial measures designed to combat the tactics adopted by groups including Extinction Rebellion and Insulate Britain. Jesse Norman, a Conservative former minister, said it was “unfortunate” the Government was bringing forward noise-based restrictions on protests when people in Kyiv, Ukraine, are “dying for their beliefs and for the rights of freedom of speech and of association”.

He said: “No case has been made, no serious case have been made, that this is a real and genuine problem. The minister has conceded I think and one understands why that it is not like abuse except in the tiniest minority of cases and therefore one has to ask the question, whether the justification is adequate for the measure.”

Conservative MP Richard Fuller was one of those that criticised the Bill (Image: PA)

Tory former minister Steve Baker said he had “some considerable concerns” over the restrictions as he encouraged colleagues to “get in that rebel lobby” to tell the Government “actually, this is going too far on noise”. The division list showed Mr Baker was the only Conservative MP to rebel as the noise restriction proposals were reinstated by 288 votes to 238, majority 50.

Ahead of the vote, Mr Baker said: “It’s time to say protests are … inherently noisy, they’re inherently annoying and if noise is ever used as a weapon I’m sure there are other instruments of law that can be used.”

Conservative MP Richard Fuller (North East Bedfordshire) said he has yet to see the Government “make enough concessions” over the protest proposals, adding: “I worry that at a time when Conservatives should be promoting freedom of speech, we have created a weapon for our opponents to say we oppose freedom of speech – and we shouldn’t be doing that. I worry that we give the impression that on this side that we think that demonstrations are OK as long as they’re nicely decorous, that they’re barely audible, that they’re easy to miss and we forget that anger and frustration are natural human emotions that find their expression in a democratic society through the ability to protest and, yes, make a noise.”

Conservative former communities secretary Robert Jenrick suggested the measures on noise may be a “step too far”. He added: “I won’t be voting against the Government and opposing the measure, but I do hope that the minister carries forward, or his successors carry forward, their commitment to review this in the years ahead, because I suspect this is a step too far and we are pushing up against the limits of what we as a free society should be doing, particularly in the context of what we see around the world where we want to be a shining light for liberty and freedom.”

MERCENARIES FOR UKRAINE

Team of SAS veterans to join Ukraine's battle against Russian invasion

It is believed that the operation is not being paid for by the UK Government but will instead be funded by a country in Europe, yet to be named, via a private military company.


By Chris Hughes

Defence and Security Editor

Chloe Burrell

Trainee Network Writer
1 MAR 2022


A team of SAS veterans is set to join Ukraine's battle against the Russian invasion.

Retired UK special forces soldiers have volunteered for a variety of missions deep inside Ukraine to help back up the country's defence.

It is believed that former Paratroopers may at some point join the special forces team in Ukraine, alongside other UK military specialists, The Mirror reports.

The veterans, aged between 40 and 60, have had meetings to discuss signing up for the dangerous mission, backing up Ukrainian forces in combat.

Among them, and key to their operation, are highly-trained snipers and experts in the use of anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles.

Ukrainian servicemen patrol during a curfew in Kyiv

 (Image: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)


Snipers will also help in taking out Russian forward air spotters and Moscow’s special forces who are guiding in airstrikes on troops and local communities.

It is believed the operation is not being paid for by the British government but will be funded by a country in Europe, still to be named, via a private military company.

The plan is a way of backing Ukraine militarily but without officially sending serving troops into battle against Vladimir Putin’s forces.

More than a dozen of the veterans have already arrived in Ukraine and another dozen will travel there this week.

Russian President Vladimir Putin visits the National Space Centre construction site in Moscow (Image: SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images)

Among them are warrant officers, sergeants and corporals who have fought all over the world but no Army officers have signed up yet.

It follows Ukraine’s President Zelensky announcing an international call to arms for people to go to Ukraine and help defend his homeland.

So far, according to official Ukrainian figures, his troops have killed 5,300 Russian troops in ferocious battles for cities throughout the country.

The ex-SAS team have fought all over Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere globally.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky makes a speech in Kyiv (Image: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

One ex-SAS man told the Daily Mirror: “This has had to happen very quickly as the situation in Ukraine is now desperate and they need urgent help.

“A lot of ex-parachute regiment colleagues are also very keen to go. Many people are very keen to go and it has had to be organised very quickly.

“It is legal as none of the men going out are still serving and Ukraine has invited people to go in and help the fight militarily.

“It means some of the most experienced veterans in the world will assist Ukraine and link up with Ukraine’s force headquarters.

“And we do know that Putin has a great deal of respect of the SAS.”

A Russian tank burning in Ukrainian city of Sumy (Image: SWNS)

Sources confirmed all of the SAS veterans heading for Ukraine are experts in the use of Javelin and Stinger missiles.

President Zelensky appealed to people to help his country take up arms on social media.

He said: "The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky is addressing all citizens of the world, friends of Ukraine, peace and democracy.

“Anyone who wants to join the defence of Ukraine, Europe and the world can come.”

Today it emerged The French Foreign Legion has given the go-ahead for its Ukrainian members to return to their homeland to help defend it - along with their full battle kit.

A squadron of serving SAS troops is in Poland already, helping to train Ukrainian troops in how to launch sabotage missions in an insurgency against Russia.

Their aim is to teach Ukrainians how to form secret resistance units to undermine an occupying force and even assassinate collaborators and Moscow sympathisers.

The British Ministry of Defence has already said no British troops will be in Ukraine to fight as this would mean Russia confronting a NATO member state directly.

Ukrainian tanks move on a road before an attack in Lugansk region on Saturday (Image: AFP via Getty Images)

It is believed serving SAS teams are in the Baltic States, with one team on standby to support a joint US -UK operation to evacuate President Zelensky by helicopter.

SAS soldiers have been pre-positioned across the Baltic States to support Nato partners and poised to react to any incident inside Ukraine that UK politicians decide needs urgent military intervention.

Operating with an American Joint Special Operations Group the British troops are ready to airlift President Zelensky if he asks for help and react to any other ‘humanitarian emergency’ - that may be approved by Downing Street.

It comes as the UK delivers hi-tech air defence weapons to the Ukrainian military in a move to help them down Russian helicopter gunships attacking Zelensky frontline forces.

A big fire at a petroleum storage depot after a Russian missile attack in Vasylkiv

 (Image: ALISA YAKUBOVYCH/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

NATO countries are coordinating a massive resupply of weapons, ammunition and medical supplies to Ukraine which are being shipped in from outside Ukraine by local troops.

One missile, called Starstreak is a shoulder-launched air defence weapon - designed to target helicopters and fighter aircraft.

The lethal weapon which is feared by helicopter pilots can strike at ranges up to three and a half miles, locking onto aircraft and firing tungsten darts that rip through the fuselage.

The delivery of thousands more missiles comes as Ukrainians say UK-supplied NLAW anti-tank weapons have been smashing Russian tanks.

So far a staggering 191 Russian tanks have been wiped out, according to Ukrainian official figures, many of them by NLAWs.

Ukrainian Territorial Defence fighters wait for an order in the city of Kharkiv (Image: SERGEY KOZLOV/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Russia has lost 29 warplanes since the invasion started, 816 anti-personnel vehicles, 291 trucks and 60 fuel tankers, losses which have badly damaged the Russian onslaught.

The package of weapons includes thousands of grenades, claymore anti-personnel devices, heavy machine guns, 66 mm light anti-tank weapons, high-velocity sniper rifles.

Britain along-with other Nato forces is also providing ‘remote military advice’ to help Ukrainian commanders direct their tactics to counter Putin’s overwhelming forces with intelligence guidance.

A senior source said the Russians have a huge force of helicopters in Belarus, as well as the East which are being used to target the Ukrainians before the ground force arrives.

He said : “If Zelensky presses the ‘get me’ button the SAS and US team will fly in and evacuate him.

“The hope is that the Russians would agree to an air corridor for the airlift, but who knows.

“In the meantime Putin’s people have overwhelming control of the skies and the Ukrainians need air defence weapons and more anti-tank weapons”.

The civilian force has been formed before, secretly training local forces in counter-terror tactics.

In Jordan five years ago British ex-Paras trained up Syrian Defence Force troops to battle Islamic State in a secretive mission to pit better skilled troops against the terror group.

The project went on in secret camps just over the border and was funded via a private military company to avoid the government paying for it directly.

Britain's Foreign Secretary Liz Truss (Image: AFP via Getty Images)

Ukraine’s call to arms from foreigners was backed up by Ukraine's foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba.

He said: "Together we defeated Hitler, and we will defeat Putin too.
British foreign secretary Liz Truss backed Brits who wanted to go to Ukraine to go. 'I do support that,' she said.

"The people of Ukraine are fighting for freedom and democracy not just for Ukraine - for all of Europe. If people want to support that struggle I support that.”

Czechs to join Ukrainian foreign legion, President Zeman is supportive

Other countries like the U.K. and Denmark are giving the nod for volunteers to join the fight in Ukraine, the question is now how Russia will respond

March 01, 2022
editor: REMIX NEWS
author: TEREZA ŠÍDLOVÁ
via: SEZNAMZPRAVY.CZ

Ukrainian soldiers inspect a damaged military vehicle

 after fighting in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Sunday, Feb. 27, 2022.

 (AP Photo/Marienko Andrew)

In what could mark a serious escalation in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, a number of Western countries are authorizing sending foreign volunteers to fight in the war, with Czechia now likely to give consent as well.

According to the Czech Ministry of Defense, the first citizens who want to go with weapons in hand to defend Ukraine are now volunteering. Czech law allows it, but every volunteer needs the president’s consent. The current president, Miloš Zeman, will not prevent Czechs from going to Ukraine to fight if the government authorities approve it, he has stated.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the establishment of an international legion over the weekend. Zelensky is also calling for NATO to implement a no-fly zone over Ukraine and for Ukraine to be granted EU membership.

“The applicants are turning to the Ministry of Defense, which will assess the application together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of the Interior, and only then will it go to the military officials and President Zeman. Therefore, it will undoubtedly depend on the recommendations of the government ministries that the president would hear,” said the President’s spokesman, Jiří Ovčáček.

The matter is currently being dealt with by lawyers from the ministries involved.

“The Czech Republic should allow its citizens to fight in Ukraine. If our people are brave and determined to go and fight for our freedom, they should have the opportunity,” said Martin Dvořák, deputy minister of foreign affairs, in an interview for the Seznam Zprávy news outlet podcast.

From the EU and NATO countries, Latvia has already legally allowed its citizens to fight in Ukraine. The United Kingdom and Denmark have also reportedly given the nod for foreign volunteers to join the fighting in Ukraine.

“If I see a precedent in other countries, I think it could happen very quickly. But legislation needs to be adjusted. We are already in that war, and Putin has already declared it. We are still trying to comply with international law. However, entering NATO into the war is beyond the bounds of the law,” Dvořák added.

‘It’s my duty to go’: the volunteers leaving the UK to help Ukraine

British, Ukrainian and other nationals prepare to fight the Russian invasion or provide humanitarian aid

Petro Symchych and Viadimir Bucoros, outside the Ukrainian social club in London. Photograph: Matthew Weaver


Matthew Weaver
Mon 28 Feb 2022 

Some of the many British-based volunteers heading to fight in Ukraine say they are willing to die to protect the country from invading Russian forces.

“I’ve spent most of my life enjoying myself, so if I die tomorrow I’ve had a good life,” said one man, 57, who would only give the name Konch. He is planning to drive to Ukraine this week in a convoy of vehicles from the UK.


Konch, a security contractor who grew up in the Midlands, added: “A lot of the other guys I’m going with are ex-forces, but there some that have never fired a water pistol in their lives. Anyone with half an ounce of integrity can’t help feel moved by what’s happening. If Ukrainians are willing to stand up and fight, then so can we.”

Vincent Barnett from Leicester.

Vincent Barnett, 54, from Leicester, fought in Afghanistan and is under no illusions about the dangers of going. “It’s a one-way trip, but I’m prepared for that. I just need to sort out my finances first,” he said.

The senior bus mechanic added: “My wife doesn’t want me to go, but I’m so passionate about it. I just feel sorry for those people who haven’t got the fighting skills of people who have served. I watch it every day on the news.
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“I’ve made my decision, I want to go, and if someone sponsored me I’d go tomorrow. My daughter thinks I’m a nutter.”

But for a Ukrainian lorry driver, Petro Symchych, 48, volunteering to fight is a “duty to our homeland”. He was speaking outside the Ukrainian social club in London before heading off in a car laden with donated supplies. He insisted he was not scared despite the overwhelming military might of the Russians. “Sooner or later we all die,” he said.

Symchych has been reassured by defiant video messages posted by Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. “At the beginning I wasn’t sure we could trust him, but his videos mean we have started to trust him and he’s proved himself by his actions.”

Symchych is travelling with Viadmir Bucoros, 44, a friend from his home town of Kolomya in western Ukraine. Bucoros, who has been working as a welder in London, said: “You can’t sit still and not do anything. Even British guys are helping, so as a Ukrainian it is my duty to go back and defend my homeland.”

Bucoros, a keen hunter, added: “I’m a good sniper.” He said his 20-year-old daughter was also keen to return to Ukraine and join up with a paramedic group. But he added: “She should stay and finish her education, otherwise she would be coming with me.”

Symchych and Bucoros are just two of the dozens of British-based Ukrainians being supported by the Ukrainian social club. The venue in Holland Park usually hosts social gatherings for the Ukrainian diaspora and Saturday language classes for their children, and has now become a makeshift supply depot.

James Fern, who is planning to drive an ambulance from London to Ukraine.

“We are supplying them with rucksacks, body armour, helps and first aid kits,” said Iryna Estevez, 39, who has turned her skills as a travel company director to arranging journeys for volunteer fighters. “There are over 50 people on the list of people going this week,” she added. They include Anzhela Razina, 47, a former female athletics champion who has been working in the UK as an electrician. She is returning to Ukraine with a group of 10 on flight via Poland on Monday. “When you see your family needing help you have to go and help. I will try to fight if I can,” she said.

Not everyone travelling from the UK was going to fight. Tom Dutton, 42, who runs a carpet business in Morecambe, was planning to drive a borrowed van filled medical aid in the next two weeks. Once he arrives he plans to help as many people as he can to leave the country. Dutton, who spent time in the navy, said: “I’m not going to fight, but I will if I have to – I just want to help get as many people as I can.”

Dutton said he made the decision to go after watching news footage of a young girl in Ukraine crying for help. “She was a similar daughter’s age and you could just see the fear in her eyes. I never cry but I was bawling my eyes out and I just messaged my missus to say: ‘I’m going to Ukraine.’”

James Fern, 38, an ex-army medic who runs a medical support company, is raising funds to drive a donated ambulance from London to Ukraine. He plans to arrive by the middle of next week.

“It just something I do,” he said. “I’m on autopilot right now. I imagine I’ll be staying there and assisting with the administration.”

Nevertheless, he is wary of volunteer foreign fighters. Fern said: “I’m tired of war tourists. I had to deal with many of those in Iraq and they are just a pain. I’ll be there for medical assistance – it’s a humanitarian instinct.”

Ukraine conflict: Satellite images show Russian military convoy ‘40 miles long’ heading to Kyiv

A Russian military convoy around 40 miles long is north of Kyiv and there are fears that the city will face a barrage of rockets and shells which could inflict devastating civilian casualties.

By Stephen Mcilkenny
Tuesday, 1st March 2022

Satellite images from the Maxar company showed the extent of the Russian forces massing around Kyiv, with a column of armoured vehicles, tanks, artillery and support vehicles stretching 40 miles.

That force was 17 miles from the capital with heavy shelling ongoing in the city.

Why the direction of human history is at stake in Ukraine

Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko tweeted the image with the caption: “Putler’s horde moving on Kyiv. 27 km long. 17 miles of tanks moving to destroy my beautiful capital. Just because it wants to be free”

Western officials fear that the slow progress of the Russian invasion will lead Mr Putin and his commanders to adopt more brutal and indiscriminate tactics to achieve the Kremlin’s goals.

There had been increased use of artillery north of the capital.

The MoD also said that Russia had been forced to shift to more night operations due to the failure to gain air superiority.

Ukraine has already accused Russia of war crimes during the invasion over the bombardment of civilian areas in the second city Kharkiv with social media footage showing an explosion aimed at civilians in Freedom Square.

This Maxar satellite image taken and released on February 28, 2022 shows a military convoy along a highway, north of Ivankiv, Ukraine. A Russian military convoy around 40 miles long is north of Kyiv and there are fears that the city will face a barrage of rockets and shells which could inflict devastating civilian casualties.

According to the Ministry of Defence Russian forces have made “little progress” in their advance on Kyiv over the past 24 hours.

In an intelligence update posted to Twitter on Tuesday morning, MoD stated that this was likely due to “logistical difficulties”.

The Department added: “Russian forces have increased their use of artillery north of Kyiv and in vicinities of Kharkiv and Chernihiv.

“The use of heavy artillery in densely populated urban areas greatly increases the risk of civilian casualties.

“Russia has failed to gain control of the airspace over Ukraine prompting a shift to night operations in an attempt to reduce their losses”.

Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab, a former Foreign Office lawyer, said it must be clear “both to Putin but also to commanders in Moscow and on the ground in Ukraine that they will be held accountable for any violations of the laws of war”.

He told Sky News: “Those that engage in war crimes will be held to account.”

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, said he plans to open an investigation “as rapidly as possible” into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine.

Mr Raab told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We can expect, for every stutter and stumble, him to try and come back for even more heavy-handed tactics, but that is a sign that the initial phase at least – and this is going to be a long haul – has not lived up to his expectations.”

Speaking LBC Rabb also said “nothing is off the table” in support for Ukraine in response to a question about whether the UK would supply fighter planes.

But the Ukrainian air force largely flies jets from the former Soviet bloc so it is unlikely that British planes would be helpful due to a lack of pilots trained in their use.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is visiting Poland and Estonia to help show the UK’s support for its eastern Nato allies.

Mr Johnson said: “We have shared values that are more important than ever to protect, as the humanitarian situation gets worse.

“Alongside all our international allies the UK will continue to bring maximum pressure to bear on Putin’s regime to ensure he feels the consequences of his actions in Ukraine. We speak with one voice when we say Putin must fail.”

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss was in Geneva addressing the United Nations Human Rights Council, where she was due to accuse Mr Putin of “violating international law”.

“He is violating human rights on an industrial scale and the world will not stand for it,” she will say.

Mr Johnson’s visit to Poland, one of the main destinations for people fleeing from Ukraine, came as the UK Government faced pressure to do more to address the refugee crisis.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “At the moment, what the Home Office is doing is trying to just tweak the existing system.

“They’re trying to carry on with a version of business as usual, with a version of asking people to apply for traditional work visas or traditional visitor visas or traditional family visas that are still narrowly drawn.

“And the normal system just doesn’t work when you are facing war in Europe, when you’re facing a crisis on this scale.”

'I’m realising this is the new reality': How life has changed for Ukrainians on the ground

'Nowadays the routine consists of checking the news 24/7 – it’s just my new job, to read the news and to share some information

'
Liza Chernobay. Picture: PA

TUE, 01 MAR, 2022 - 
ALISTAIR MASON, PA

IRISH EXAMINER

Sleeping in the basement, struggling to eat and keeping an eye on the news 24 hours a day.

That is the “new reality” for many Ukrainians, according to one student living just outside of the capital Kyiv.


Liza Chernobay, 19, spent the last six years studying at a school in Gloucestershire in England but was living with her parents in central Kyiv when the Russian invasion began.

Now they have moved outside of the city to stay with friends, where they are continuing to “monitor the situation” before deciding what to do next.

“At the moment to travel is probably more dangerous than to stay where you are,” she said.

Liza Chernobay said the last few days in Ukraine have ‘felt like a dream’

 (Liza Chernobay/PA)

“If things will start to get worse… but it’s just, the word ‘worse’ – what is good and what is bad is quite relative at the moment.

“Everything seems quite horrible.”

Ms Chernobay said the last few days have felt unreal.

She said: “It all felt like a dream – like I’m gonna go to sleep, then wake up the next morning and everything’s gonna be just fine, but it never happened.

“And now I’m realising that it is this new reality.

And very often I start thinking about what could have been, what life could have been, what’s not gonna happen anymore, what’s not possible anymore, and think about the bad things.

“I try not to think about it because it doesn’t help, but to be completely honest, it does pop into my mind quite often nowadays.”

Ms Chernobay is due to return to the UK later this year to go to university but is now uncertain whether it will happen.

“First of all, even though it sounds very morbid, but I don’t know if I’ll still be alive,” she said. “Hopefully, I will.


“But I currently don’t have a visa to the UK. If I managed to get to another country, I suppose that won’t be a problem.

“But also there is a factor which is a very, very big concern, which is the economic impact of this war on Ukraine.”

For now she remains in her friends’ house, waiting to see what happens next.

And while the initial shock has lessened, Ms Chernobay is still struggling to come to terms with what is happening.

“I think things are a little bit more calm,” she said.

“Well, again, the word calm here is used very relatively – calmer than before.

“So I feel less shocked – still afraid, but not as intensely afraid.

“Nowadays the routine consists of checking the news 24/7 – it’s just my new job, to read the news and to share some information.”

Liza Chernobay is now living with friends outside the Ukrainian capital Kyiv 

(Efrem Lukatsky/AP)

Her family and their friends are sleeping in the basement of the house, which she described as the “best solution” in the absence of a bomb shelter.

Many are struggling to eat and sleep though, and nearly all semblance of normal life is gone from her daily routine.

She said: “It starts with checking the messages and asking my friends who are still in areas most affected whether they are OK – likewise my grandmother, she’s still in Kyiv.

“And I check the news.

“And as a person living in 2022… I think it’s one of my small duties to spread truthful information so I do a lot of my own little media campaign on Instagram.”

Ms Chernobay said they “try to do some exercise and go outside” when they can.

And she added: “I was lucky to bring a book with me, but I haven’t touched it.

“I just can’t do anything normal – it just doesn’t seem right.”



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Russian capture of Chernobyl nuclear plant threatens research on radioactivity and wildlife

Russia's occupation of the Chernobyl site raised fears of possible ecological disaster. Photo: Getty

Carmel Mothersill

Shortly after Russia launched its attack on Ukraine, both governments said that the Russian military had taken over the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster.

In a tweet, the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs raised fears of possible ecological disaster.

On April 26, 1986, a nuclear reactor at the plant near the city of Pripyat, Ukraine, exploded.

The fire burned for 10 days, spewing a radioactive plume that stretched across Europe, as far as Ireland and Greece.

The immediate area around the reactor was evacuated, and a 30-kilometre radius exclusion zone has remained in place for almost 36 years

The Chernobyl nuclear power plant three days after the explosion in 1986. Photo: Getty

Access to the Chernobyl exclusion zone has been strictly controlled. The Ukrainian army typically allows only those associated with scientific expeditions or more recently, dark tourism – visiting sites associated with death and suffering – into the area.

I’ve visited the area six times, most recently in 2018, to study the impacts of long-term low-dose radiation on animals.

These impacts, in humans and other animals, are of great concern and highly controversial.

Much of the uncertainty is caused by the difficulty of working at sites such as Chernobyl, and the variability and complexity of the ecosystems in contaminated areas. The scientific uncertainty naturally leads to concern about whom to trust.

Elevated radiation, but still safe

Wildlife has thrived within the zone in the absence of humans.

Thick forests grew up and attracted lynx, bison, deer and other animals. Wolves and Przewalski’s horses, animals that neared extinction from overhunting and land use practices, were reintroduced, and have been thriving.

The prospect of armies bringing heavy equipment, including tanks, through an ecosystem that remains highly contaminated in some places is not good.

There have already been reports of spikes in radiation readings, possibly from the heavy military vehicles churning up contaminated soil.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said on February 25 that the readings are low and don’t pose a danger to the public.

Still, with heavy fighting nearby, there’s always the danger of an accidental strike on the concrete shelter that contains the radiation still leaking from the reactor core.

The forest surrounding Chernobyl remains highly contaminated. 

Photo: Carmel Mothersill

The risks to human and ecosystem health are difficult to estimate.Given that it’s winter, most plant and animal species are hibernating, dormant or, in the case of birds, have flown south.By the time nature awakens, any elevated levels of radiation caused by vehicular movement will likely have settled down.

Russian army personnel are probably passing through the area – it’s the fastest route from Belarus to Kyiv – except for a core number of troops who will likely secure the zone, much as the Ukrainian army did.

Russia suffered major contamination in areas east of the reactor, and will likely exercise extreme caution.

Effects of chronic radiation

The area is one of the few sites worldwide where scientists can collect field-based data on the effects of chronic exposure to radiation on wildlife.

My own group’s work in Chernobyl seeks to understand the long-term effects of chronic exposures to low levels of radiation, as well as how these effects may be passed on from one generation to the next.

Prior to the pandemic, we were part of a multidisciplinary team monitoring levels of radioactivity and associated health effects – anemia, cancer, cataract or immune compromise – in wild vole populations.

Radiation levels in the area are variable but can lead to high doses, and some voles experienced radiation rates 40 times higher than unexposed control voles.Yet we could not say with any certainty that the health effects we detected were due to radiation exposure. This is because of all the other stressors in the environment, including predators, parasites, disease and starvation.

The health effects of low-dose radiation in ecosystems are highly controversial.

Tim Mousseau, a biologist at the University of South Carolina, has reported multiple abnormalities in a variety of species, and Rosa Goncharova, a radiation geneticist at the Institute of Genetics and Cytology, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, has found that the descendants of animals that experienced the early high-dose radiation continue to show many chromosomal abnormalities.

But others, including Mike Wood, an environmental scientist at the University of Salford and Nick Beresford, a radioecologist at the Institute for Hydrology and Ecology at the University of Lancaster, find no evidence of such effects.

Nuclear power and wildlife risks

Our own data gathered in Chernobyl in 2018 are still being analysed, but preliminary findings reveal enormous individual variation and fail to show any clear statistically significant correlation between negative health effects and radiation dose.

We consider low-dose radiation effects to be highly uncertain and influenced by other factors, such as predation or disease. This is not to say radiation is having no effect, just that assigning a level of effect to radiation is not possible.

Resolving the controversies and deciding how to interpret the results are of considerable importance.

Many countries plan to expand nuclear energy production by siting small modular reactors in remote areas, and it is important to understand what the risks to wildlife might be if there were a nuclear accident or from nuclear fuel processing, uranium mining and the radioactive discharges that result from operating a nuclear power plant.

Whatever the outcomes of these studies, it is important to recognise that no one can work in the Chernobyl exclusion zone without collaborators from Ukraine who provide local knowledge, laboratory facilities, transport and sustenance, as well as help with permits.

None of us knows what will happen to these collaborations that have lasted for years.

Carmel Mothersill, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Environmental Radiobiology, McMaster University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for CHERNOBYL 

Russia defends invasion during emergency UN General Assembly

A clear majority of UN member states are expected to vote to condemn Russia's actions as Moscow becomes increasingly isolated internationally.


Protesters gathered outside the UN headquarters in Manhattan during the emergency General Assembly session

The 193 members of the UN's General Assembly held a minute's silence on Monday for the victims of the war in Ukraine as delegates met for an emergency session to discuss a resolution condemning Moscow's "aggression."

Russia found itself increasingly isolated but defended its "military operation," blaming the violence on Kyiv during only the 11th special session in the UN's 77-year history.

The members of the assembly are set to vote on a symbolic denouncement of Russia's actions, but one that is seen as an important barometer not just for its condemnation of Moscow aggression, but also for the global stance against creeping authoritarianism around the world.

Also, unlike the more prominent Security Council, where a single vote against from veto holder Russia can thwart any motion or resolution, as it did in Friday's emergency session, the General Assembly can move on a two-thirds majority vote rather than a unanimous one.

Certain countries, such as Syria, China and India, are expected to vote against or abstain from condemning Moscow on Wednesday, while those behind the resolution are hoping for more than 100 votes in favor.

What did the Ukrainian representative say?

Ukraine's ambassador to the UN, Sergiy Kyslytsya, was unsurprisingly critical of Russia in his address to the assembly, calling Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to increase his country's nuclear readiness "madness."

Sergiy Kyslytsya, the Ukrainian ambassador to the UN, compared Russia's invasion of Ukraine to the invasion carried out by the Nazis during World War II

He accused Moscow of targeting residential buildings and civilian infrastructure, which he condemned as "war crimes."

Kyslytsya went on to warn the other delegates of the consequences of Russia's invasion.

"If Ukraine does not survive, international peace will not survive. If Ukraine does not survive, the United Nations will not survive. ... If Ukraine does not survive, we cannot be surprised if democracy fails," Kyslytsya said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also condemned the violence. "Enough is enough. Soldiers need to move back to their barracks. Leaders need to move to peace. Civilians must be protected," he said.

How did Russia defend its invasion?

Russia's UN ambassador, Vasily Nebenzya, reiterated claims made by Putin when he launched the invasion last week.

He blamed Kyiv for the war, claiming that it had violated the Minsk agreements and repeating the line that Moscow wants to "demilitarize and de-nazify" Ukraine.

Russia also claimed that it had acted in "self-defense," in line with Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, but other UN members have rejected this account, saying Russia violated Article 2, which says states should not use force to resolve a crisis.

Nebenzya's speech came directly after that of his Ukrainian counterpart
Nebenzya also told the assembly that "the Russian army does not pose a threat to the civilians of Ukraine, is not shelling civilian areas." This goes against multiple reports of Russian strikes hitting residential areas and killing civilians from officials in Ukraine.

The ambassador of China, Zhang Jun, told the assembly that "nothing can be gained from starting off a new Cold War." Beijing has refused to condemn Russia's actions but has called for negotiations to end the violence.

ab/msh, jsi (Reuters, AFP)

Russian President, Putin gives conditions to end war with Ukraine

Published on March 1, 2022
By John Owen Nwachukwu



Russian President, Vladimir Putin has laid out his conditions for stopping the ongoing war with Ukraine.

Russian forces have shelled Ukraine’s second city and Western nations are preparing even more sanctions.

A peace talk was held between Moscow and Kyiv in the Belarusian borders on Monday, being the first meeting since last Thursday when the war broke out.

The meeting ended with both sides merely agreeing to hold a second round of negotiations “soon”.

However, the Russian leader was able to pass the message on the only conditions under which he would consider withdrawing his troops from the neighbouring country during a phone conversation with France President, Emmanuel Macron on Monday.

“Putin stressed that a settlement is possible only if Russia’s legitimate security interests are unconditionally taken into account, including the recognition of Russian sovereignty over Crimea, the demilitarisation and denazification of the Ukrainian State and ensuring its neutral status,” CNN quoted a Russian statement via UK medium, PA News agency after the telephone conversation between the two leaders.

The war started on Thursday when President Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine over some political reasons.

Even as the dialogue was underway on Monday, at least 11 people were killed by Russian attacks in Ukraine’s second largest city of Kharkiv.

Gay, non-binary Afghan stabbed 18 times and left for dead by Taliban

EMILY CHUDY FEBRUARY 28, 2022

Afghan refugees flee Kabul in August 2021 (ARMEND NIMANI/Getty Images)

A gay, non-binary Afghan has said they feel “hopeless” after they were stabbed by the Taliban 18 times in a horrific attack.

Sara, who did not want to disclose their surname, claimed members of the Taliban “wanted to kill them” when they were attacked last week.

The 23-year-old told the PA news agency they heard the Taliban saying: “Shame on you, it is our time to finish people like you.”

They were left with 18 wounds, including injuries to their legs, stomach and back, which needed stitches.

“I’m really hopeless”, they told PA.

Nemat Sadat, a gay Afghan-American activist, has helped to pay for Sara’s hostel and food since the attack. Sadat has been fundraising via a GoFundMe page to rescue LGBT+ Afghans since the Taliban took over in August 2021.

Sadat, who lives in California, said: “Before the Taliban came to power, you had so many people that were transgender and non-binary.

“They were working as celebrity make-up artists on Afghan television; people had fashion shows, concerts – it was so visible.”

He added that the queer community in Afghanistan “feel that they’re so defeated, they can’t do anything because even their allies have abandoned them and turned their back”.

Demonstrators in London protest outside the Home Office demanding a safe passage to the UK for Afghan refugees (Wiktor Szymanowicz/Barcroft Media via Getty Images)

A report by Human Rights Watch and OutRight Action International said in January that LGBT+ Afghans are facing an “increasingly desperate situation” since the Taliban takeover.

The 43-page report, entitled “Even If You Go To The Skies, We’ll Find You”, features interviews from 60 queer Afghans conducted between October and December last year, and details horrific instances of threats, violence, and sexual assault.

“It is difficult to overstate how devastating – and terrifying – the return of Taliban rule has been for LGBT+ Afghans,” said J Lester Feder, senior fellow for emergency research at OutRight Action International.

“We spoke with LGBT+ Afghans who have survived gang rape, mob attacks, or have been hunted by their own family members who joined the Taliban, and they have no hope that state institutions will protect them.

“For those LGBT+ people who want to flee the country there are few good options; most of Afghanistan’s neighbours also criminalise same-sex relations.”

Queer Rebels

How Ukraine’s LGBTQ+ community is rallying to resist Russian invasion

The crisis threatens to derail years of progress for marginalised groups, but activists are determined to stand firm.

Asiya Ahmed
TODAY

“Please don’t panic but they’ve started bombing Kyiv,” Cay*, a non-binary queer activist with Queer Rebels, recalls hearing their partner tell them over the phone at 6:30am on Friday morning, as they awoke in their hometown of Kyiv in a state of total shock.

The previous day on 24 February, the world watched the news unfold as Russia launched a full-scale invasion into Ukraine. After months of rising tensions, the worst case scenario was underway. Russia – well prepared for the moment – unleashed terror from the north, east and south, targeting Ukraine by air, land and sea. By the early hours of Friday morning, Ukraine’s capital Kyiv was under attack. Shortly after that troubling phone call, Cay heard an explosion.

“I don’t think I can express with words what I felt at that moment,” they said. “I think that the reason why they started bombing at night is because when you wake up to bombing, you’re more prone to panic.” Their first reaction was to get dressed, grab their “go-bag” and rush to the subway to travel to stay with their father. But upon arriving at the subway station, they had more clarity, and decided to turn back.

As Russian President Vladimir Putin pushes his deadly invasion forward, ordinary people from all walks of life are facing devastating consequences. On 27 February, the Ukrainian Ministry of Health said that Russia’s invasion had already killed 352 civilians, including 14 children with numbers expected to rise as more cases are confirmed. A further 1,684 people, including 116 children, have been injured. A day later, the head of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said that since the start of the conflict, 500,000 people had fled Ukraine.

Despite the particular dangers faced by LGBTQ+ communities if Russian forces lay prolonged claim to Ukrainian territory, Cay and many other queer activists have decided to stay in Kyiv. They’re there to fight until the end.

Consequences of a shelling during Russian invasion of Ukraine, 28 February – State Emergency Service of Ukraine viaWikimedia Commons

Fearing the future

In recent years, Russia has gained notoriety for its treatment of gay people. The country passed a near-unanimous homophobic “gay propaganda” law in 2013 that bans LGBTQ+ expression – outlawing pride marches, detaining activists and cultivating a climate of hate. Five years after the bill’s introduction, hate crimes against LGBTQ+ people had doubled (though many cases are believed to have gone unrecorded). Amnesty International also condemned the “failure of the Russian state to provide justice” for victims of a wave of homophobic crimes in Chechnya.

Yevhen Trachuk, a 25-year-old non-binary activist known as Zhenya, points to Chechnya, a semi-autonomous Russia region – where there have been terrifying lethal purges against dozens of men perceived as gay or bisexual in 2017 and 2019. Putin’s ally Ramzan Kadyrov made a number of horrific statements in 2017 referring to gay people as the “devil”.

Zhenya explains why stories like these from the neighbouring region have made them afraid of the outcome of an invasion. “People were taken away, tortured and kept as prisoners. I’m afraid this could happen to Ukraine, after so many years of fighting for change,” they add.

“People were taken away, tortured and kept as prisoners. I’m afraid this could happen to Ukraine, after so many years of fighting for change”Zhenya

Over the last few years, young queer people in Ukraine have been laying the foundations for a brighter future for the country’s LGBTQ+ community by organising large-scale Pride marches, hosting queer parties, and fighting for equal marriage and adoption rights. Although the atmosphere was still tense amidst threats from the country’s organised far-right, young people felt a shift was taking place.

“It’s hard to believe that all that I’ve been doing and everyone has been doing could just land us in prison,” Zhenya says, considering the possibility of prolonged Russian presence in the country.

Zhenya has been involved in organising successful Pride marches in the capital that have attracted thousands. While heavy police presence was necessary to protect the marchers, 7,000 people hit the streets with the ‘March for Equality’ last year, in comparison to a few hundred far-right counter-demonstrators who mobilised.

Cay took trips around Kyiv to graffiti queer messages onto the city’s walls and participated in bold actions like hanging a rainbow flag in front of Kyiv National University. They were also involved in organising a “queer-anarchist” block at Kyiv Pride and had plans to host a queer party at the end of March.

A Pride march in Kyiv in September 2021, with a banner reading ‘Marching together to protect equality’ – image courtesy of Victor Vysochin

While the efforts of queer activists have made headway, same-sex marriage and adoption remain banned. In 2018, the queer community in Ukraine was fearful of a turn for the worse with the proposed anti-gay “propaganda” bill, but the law was thrown out when a Kyiv court found that the local authorities’ push for the law was “discriminatory”.

Karla believes that it was precisely the growing visibility of the LGBTQ+ community that was contributing to the shift in society. “People were feeling safer to openly share their beliefs and saw the future positively.”

Zhenya explains that back in their hometown they were the victim of a homophobic assault and that police failed to support them. They also found out that members of the far-right were circulating their photos and videos from Instagram on a Telegram channel. This type of backlash and far-right information exchange through Telegram chats is no isolated incident.

Queer resistance

“We’ve lost a lot of lives. Not just the lives of the soldiers, but also the lives of ordinary people,” says Karla*, a queer Belarusian activist based in Dnipro, a city in the east of the country. “The invasion must stop.” Like Karla, Cay and other activists are ramping up efforts to support their community and country having seen the devastation unfold.

“I have only slept a total of four hours since the war started,” Cay tells gal-dem, speaking on Saturday. “After spending most of the first two days in a bomb shelter with my friend, I’m now starting to find the energy to do something.”

After finding that so many people had already volunteered with the Territorial Defence Forces, including their partner, they decided to put their skills elsewhere. From their apartment, Cay is calling on the international community to take action, and supporting those fleeing their homes to find temporary accommodation. But, they’re also ready for more. “I’ll also be making Molotov cocktails with my friends to use against the Russian army.”

That sense of readiness is widespread among the community. “This is our capital and we need to show it’s ours,” proclaims Zhenya, who has been involved in organising Kyiv Pride. Their organisation sent a message of defiance to Vladimir Putin on Twitter as the invasion was launched. “Putin will break all his teeth trying to bite us. We have left far behind the past to which he seeks to draw us,” they wrote.

“This is our capital and we need to show it’s ours”  Zhenya

Zhenya describes how Ukraine’s queer community is mobilising in the resistance against Russia’s invasion. “Some of the queer community is fighting in the war, while others are helping with supplies and donating blood to medical centres.” Gay men only gained the right to do this in 2016 in Ukraine.

They also point to the importance of psychological support networks that have been set up, as well as transport and accommodation networks to help those fleeing. “Being silent and doing nothing is an awful way to be in this situation,” they say. “Everyone is playing their part.”

Battles are not just taking place on the ground. NPR has reported that a Ukrainian cyber-security executive has recruited hackers from around the world to engage in the cyber-warfare taking place. With phishing attacks rolling in against Ukrainians, Karla joined the combat against digital threats. As part of a wider operation, her role is to check and verify the IP addresses of those sending the phishing emails, while others work to block the ‘phishers’.

The activists expressed that the international response, which has taken place in the form of financial sanctions on Russia and military support for Ukraine, has been too slow. “The international community needs to respond more quickly to the war. That should happen not only with Ukraine, but also with other countries facing war,” says Karla.

Graffiti by Queer Rebels in Kyiv – images courtesy of Queer Rebels

Standing firm

Tens of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets around the world to demand an end to Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine and call on the international community to take action. In Russia too, anti-war protesters have turned out across 48 cities, facing crackdowns and arrests by security forces.

Back in Ukraine, imagining life after the war is close to impossible for people on the ground. “I still can’t believe that the war is happening right now. It’s very complicated to imagine and plan how I’ll live afterwards,” says Karla.

While acknowledging the blocks and threats faced by the LGBTQ+ community in Ukraine before, Zhenya stresses that a Russian takeover would mean a bleak fate for queer people and significant set back their struggle for rights and dignity.

“I’m staying in Kyiv and not going anywhere. We’ll keep fighting for our freedom”Cay

Cay, Karla and Zhenya are standing firm and ready to do whatever it takes to support the ongoing resistance. While Karla confronts the digital threats from her apartment in Dnipro, Cay is ready for the battle on the streets. “I’m staying in Kyiv and not going anywhere. We’ll keep fighting for our freedom,” says Cay.

On 28 February, Zhenya left Kyiv temporarily, but they’re committed to staying in Ukraine and ready to keep queer culture alive no matter what happens – even if it takes “going underground” to avoid repression. “People before me did it, so why not? I want to support the country and the culture,” they say as they look towards a new future.

*Names have been changed to protect identities

Microsoft Finds FoxBlade Malware Hit Ukraine Hours Before Russian Invasion

March 01, 2022Ravie Lakshmanan


Microsoft on Monday disclosed that it detected a new round of offensive and destructive cyberattacks directed against Ukraine's digital infrastructure hours before Russia launched its first missile strikes last week.

The intrusions involved the use of a never-before-seen malware package dubbed FoxBlade, according to the tech giant's Threat Intelligence Center (MSTIC), noting that it added new signatures to its Defender anti-malware service to detect the exploit within three hours of the discovery.

"These recent and ongoing cyberattacks have been precisely targeted, and we have not seen the use of the indiscriminate malware technology that spread across Ukraine's economy and beyond its borders in the 2017 NotPetya attack," Microsoft's President and Vice Chair, Brad Smith, said.

Additional technical specifics pertaining to FoxBlade, including the mode of initial access, are not known, but Microsoft in a Security Intelligence advisory stated that "this trojan can use your PC for distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks without your knowledge."

What's more, the delivery of the trojan appears to be facilitated by means of a second "downloader" module that's capable of retrieving and installing the malware on the compromised machines.

The disclosure comes as cyber assaults ranging from malicious data wipers to DDoS attacks have continued to rain down on Ukrainian government and banking websites, even as the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) warned of such attacks employed beyond the country's borders.

"Destructive malware can present a direct threat to an organization's daily operations, impacting the availability of critical assets and data," CISA said. "Further disruptive cyberattacks against organizations in Ukraine are likely to occur and may unintentionally spill over to organizations in other countries."