WANNABE HEMINGWAYS

Exclusive: So many Canadian fighters in Ukraine, they have their own battalion, source says

The International Legion for the Territorial Defence of Ukraine says the 550 would-be fighters from Canada are based in Kyiv

Author of the article:

Tom Blackwell

Publishing date:

Mar 09, 2022  •  

A foreign fighter - identified as a member of the Norman Brigade - departs for the front line at the main train station in Lviv, Ukraine, March 5, 2022. At least 550 Canadians are similarly in Ukraine to fight Russian troops. PHOTO BY REUTERS/KAI PFAFFENBACH

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So many citizens of Canada have shown up in Ukraine to fight for the country’s new foreign legion, the organization has set up a separate Canadian battalion, says a Ukrainian government source.

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The news is more evidence of a historic movement by people here to join the armed forces of another nation, and potentially risk their lives in combat against Russian invaders.

Explosions, no gas, visa trouble: How a Canadian-Ukrainian family escaped Kyiv as bombs fell

The 550 would-be fighters that have arrived from Canada so far are part of a battalion based in Kyiv, said the representative of the International Legion for the Territorial Defence of Ukraine, who asked not to be identified for security reasons.

“International legion volunteers are usually kept together for logistics purposes as it is easier for communication, to avoid language barriers,” he said.

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Meanwhile, a Ukrainian-Canadian activist helping in the recruitment of fighters in this country said hundreds more have volunteered to fight in Ukraine.

Members of Ukraine’s Territorial Defence Forces conduct weapons training in a public park on March 09, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. PHOTO BY CHRIS MCGRATH/GETTY IMAGES)

Borys Wrzesnewskyj, a former Liberal MP who is helping Ukrainian diplomats organize volunteers for the International Legion, said his rough estimate is that at least 1,000 Canadians have applied to join the force.

Canadians can sign up for the official Ukrainian-government program through the website defendukraine.ca or by contacting the embassy and consulates directly, but Wrzesnewskyj said many are simply “picking up and going” to Ukraine via Poland.

“What is so heartfelt is that we have so many Canadian ex-military who are stepping forward and understand that this is just so fundamentally wrong,” he said about the response to Russia’s invasion. “They by nature are protectors and … they are willing to step forward, travel to Ukraine.”

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“They also are aware this isn’t just the battle for the freedom and democracy of 44 million Ukrainian citizens. Today, the people on the front lines of Ukraine … are defending the north-Atlantic democratic space.”

Ukrainian diplomats have said that the country would give priority to Canadians with military experience, but welcome anyone interested in joining the fight.

The embassy is vetting those who have applied. At least some Canadians cleared to go to Ukraine will receive training in Poland, according to Wrzesnewskyj and Chris Ecklund, a Hamilton, Ont., businessman who has set up his own group, fightforukraine.ca, to assist those going overseas.

The International Legion source said Ukraine would like to see airlines in Canada and elsewhere provide free passage to Poland for would-be fighters. For now, they must pay their own way or rely on funds raised by churches and other groups, he said.

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“We had a lady write us that her church started this campaign. It’s very sweet,” said the legion spokesman. “But if every airline donated at least five to 10 seats on the plane tomorrow, we could have been able to get all those 20,000 volunteers (from around the world) faster to Ukraine.”

Meanwhile, Ecklund said this week that the fightforukraine.ca website has faced repeated attacks from suspected Russian hackers.

The federal government has sent somewhat mixed messages to Canadians thinking of fighting in Ukraine.

Melanie Joly, the foreign affairs minister, acknowledged that some people will make “individual decisions” to do so.

But the office of Defence Minister Anita Anand said, “Canadians should continue avoid all travel to Ukraine, and those in Ukraine should leave if it is safe for them to do so.”

National Post, with additional reporting from Tyler Dawson

'Heroic spirits': Women rush to Ukraine's defence

Dmitry ZAKS
Fri, 11 March 2022

Iryna Sergeyeva became the first volunteer fighter to get a full military contract in Ukraine (AFP/Sergei SUPINSKY)


Female soldiers represent only a small portion of Ukraine's armed forces, although that number is quickly growing

 (AFP/Sergei SUPINSKY)

Ukrainians are rushing to help out any way they can to defend Kyiv against advancing Russian troops (AFP/Sergei SUPINSKY)

Volunteers of all ages and professions are given basic training before being sent out to defend the streets of Kyiv (AFP/Sergei SUPINSKY)

The woman who was Ukraine's first female volunteer to get a full military contract wants the new recruits in her charge to drop all notions about the romance of war.

Iryna Sergeyeva was accepted as a reservist in the territorial defence forces when Ukraine was still trying to quash a Kremlin-backed insurgency across its industrial east in 2017.

Now, an all-out invasion by Russia on February 24 has turned the battle into an existential fight for Ukraine's very survival as an independent state.

But the 39-year-old media relations professional turned army lieutenant is worried that other women -- as well as many men -- are rushing to enlist in Ukraine's new volunteer army without appreciating the perils of war.

"In the first days, a lot of young women came wanting to get their hands on a rifle so that they could go out and fight," Sergeyeva said at an underground garage that has been transformed into an impromptu military training base.

Chaotic scenes of men and women of all ages and professions urgently preparing to defend their besieged city unfolded around Sergeyeva as she spoke.

A group of silent men with exhausted expressions on their unshaven faces lounged in rows of bunk beds lining one of the cement walls.

A few older women in civilian clothes jotted down the personal details of new volunteers into their laptops.

A young man sat under a bleak neon light getting his mop of hair shaved off by a woman in a trendy beanie.

Sergeyeva stood in the middle of it all with a pensive expression and explained the sensitive nature of her job as chief volunteer forces organiser for her district of Kyiv.

"I understood that many of these young women were romanticising everything a little bit. Their heroic spirits were stirring," she said.

"They were telling themselves they were about to go out and fight without really understanding how it all works. I had to nod my head while gently telling them no, you might not be suited for this."

She paused and smiled.

"But then this was also true with some of the guys," she said.

- Upside down world -

Russia's offensive has pushed its forces to the very edge of Kyiv and created a sense of peril on the streets.

Parts of the capital's outskirts have already been levelled by a punishing air assault that has pushed tens of thousands from their homes.

The bodies of Russian soldiers and Ukrainian civilians lay unattended on the debris-laden parks and streets of Kyiv's northwestern suburbs.

Metal tank traps and sandbagged checkpoints honeycomb the hollowed-out city itself into segments that could be better defended in a guerrilla war.

Their city's sudden transformation has had a profound effect on people such as aspiring artist Natalia Derevyanko.

The 24-year-old historian by training looked shyly at Sergeyeva and quietly defended her decision to try and fight.

"My mum praised me doing this," the 24-year-old said on her second day of combat training at the garage.

"A lot of people are changing their professions because our entire world has turned upside down."

- Disappearing fears -

The nose of Olena Maystrenko's assault rifle swung around her knees as she awaited orders about her new deployment.

But the 22-year-old psychologist said she had overcome her initial reservation and was now girding for the possibility that she may have to shoot someone dead.

"It was frightening -- especially at the start, when you first pick up a weapon and realise that you may have to kill someone," she said.

"But then you overcome it. Life is full of nuances. Your fears disappear."

Ukraine's laws once made it difficult for women to become professional soldiers.

Sergeyeva said the military had to bend its laws to allow her to undergo two years of training and then sign a full contract.

She estimated that women represented only five percent of the country's combat soldiers and military intelligence officers before the Russian assault began.

That number is quickly growing.

Small business owner Natalia Kuzmenko said she came down to the training centre to cook meals for the soldiers and make sure everyone had fresh uniforms.

"But I signed a contract," said the 53-year-old. "That means that I must be ready to pick up a gun and fight."

zak/dc/cdw

Ukrainian embassy draws US citizens seeking to fight in war

By BEN FOX

Major General Borys Kremenetskyi, Defense Attache with the Embassy of Ukraine, listens to Ukraine's Ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova as she speaks during a news conference at the Embassy of Ukraine in Washington, on Feb. 24, 2022. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has given the smaller nation’s embassy in Washington an unexpected role: recruitment center for Americans who want to join the fight. Diplomats working out of the embassy, in a townhouse in the Georgetown section of the city, are fielding thousands of offers from volunteers seeking to fight for Ukraine. 

(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)


WASHINGTON (AP) — Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has given the smaller nation’s embassy in Washington an unexpected role: recruitment center for Americans who want to join the fight.

Diplomats working out of the embassy, in a townhouse in the Georgetown section of the city, are fielding thousands of offers from volunteers seeking to fight for Ukraine, even as they work on the far more pressing matter of securing weapons to defend against an increasingly brutal Russian onslaught.

“They really feel that this war is unfair, unprovoked,” said Ukraine’s military attaché, Maj. Gen. Borys Kremenetskyi. “They feel that they have to go and help.”

U.S. volunteers represent just a small subset of foreigners seeking to fight for Ukraine, who in turn comprise just a tiny fraction of the international assistance that has flowed into the country. Still, it is a reflection of the passion, supercharged in an era of social media, that the attack and the mounting civilian casualties have stirred.

“This is not mercenaries who are coming to earn money,” Kremenetskyi said. “This is people of goodwill who are coming to assist Ukraine to fight for freedom.”

The U.S. government discourages Americans from going to fight in Ukraine, which raises legal and national security issues.

Since the Feb. 24 invasion, the embassy in Washington has heard from at least 6,000 people inquiring about volunteering for service, the “vast majority” of them American citizens, said Kremenetskyi, who oversees the screening of potential U.S. recruits.

Half the potential volunteers were quickly rejected and didn’t even make it to the Zoom interview, the general said. They lacked the required military experience, had a criminal background or weren’t suitable for other reasons such as age, including a 16-year-old boy and a 73-year-old man.

Some who expressed interest were rejected because the embassy said it couldn’t do adequate vetting. The general didn’t disclose the methods used to screen people.

Kremenetskyi, who spoke to The Associated Press just after returning from the Pentagon for discussions on the military hardware his country needs for its defense, said he appreciates the support from both the U.S. government and the public.

“Russians can be stopped only with hard fists and weapons,” he said.

So far, about 100 U.S. citizens have made the cut. They include veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with combat experience, including some helicopter pilots, the attaché said.

They must make their own way to Poland, where they are to cross at a specified point, with their own protective gear but without a weapon, which they will get after they arrive. They will be required to sign a contract to serve, without pay, in the International Legion for the Territorial Defense of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian government says about 20,000 foreigners from various nations have already joined.

Borys Wrzesnewskyj, a former Liberal lawmaker in Canada who is helping to facilitate recruitment there, said about 1,000 Canadians have applied to fight for Ukraine, the vast majority of whom don’t have any ties to the country.

“The volunteers, a very large proportion are ex-military, these are people that made that tough decision that they would enter the military to stand up for the values that we subscribe to,” Wrzesnewskyj said. “And when they see what is happening in Ukraine they can’t stand aside.”

It’s not clear how many U.S. citizens seeking to fight have actually reached Ukraine, a journey the State Department has urged people not to make.

“We’ve been very clear for some time, of course, in calling on Americans who may have been resident in Ukraine to leave, and making clear to Americans who may be thinking of traveling there not to go,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters recently.

U.S. citizens aren’t required to register overseas. The State Department says it’s not certain how many have entered Ukraine since the Russian invasion.

Under some circumstances, Americans could face criminal penalties, or even risk losing their citizenship, by taking part in an overseas conflict, according to a senior federal law enforcement official.

But the legal issues are only one of many concerns for U.S. authorities, who worry about what could happen if an American is killed or captured or is recruited while over there to work for a foreign intelligence service upon their return home, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security matters.

The official and independent security experts say some of the potential foreign fighters may be white supremacists, who are believed to be fighting on both sides of the conflict. They could become more radicalized and gain military training in Ukraine, thereby posing an increased danger when they return home.

“These are men who want adventure, a sense of significance and are harking back to World War II rhetoric,” said Anne Speckhard, who has extensively studied foreigners who fought in Syria and elsewhere as director of the International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism.

Ukraine may be getting around some of the potential legal issues by only facilitating the overseas recruitment, and directing volunteers to sign their contracts, and receive a weapon, once they arrive in the country. Also, by assigning them to the territorial defense forces, and not front-line units, it reduces the chance of direct combat with Russians, though it’s by no means eliminated.

The general acknowledges the possibility that any foreigners who are captured could be used for propaganda purposes. But he didn’t dwell on the issue, focusing instead on the need for his country to defend itself against Russia.

“We are fighting for our existence,” he said. “We are fighting for our families, for our land. And we are not going to give up.”

___

Associated Press writer Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.

IN U.S., RECKONING OVER CHURCH-RUN INDIGENOUS BOARDING SCHOOLS BEGINS

BY JORDAN ANDERSON

MAR 11, 2022


As a child, Cathy Chavers, a member of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, never knew her family suffered in U.S. boarding schools. She only learned after her grandmother's death that she was sent to Minnesota’s Vermilion Lake Indian School. Vermilion was one of hundreds of U.S. boarding schools designed to assimilate Native American children into white culture in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

“She never talked about it when she was alive,” Chavers, now the tribal chairwoman for Bois Forte, said. “That’s a deep, deep part of our history. If it doesn’t get told, it doesn’t exist.”

The U.S. government authorized and funded the schools, with many sponsored or operated by religious organizations. Children were separated from their families, languages, and cultures. Some faced physical and emotional abuse.

Across the nation, Catholic Church leaders are beginning to reckon with their institution’s role in operating Indigenous residential schools and the lasting consequences these schools left on Native American communities. One state seeing growing momentum to address this history is Minnesota, which had 15 boarding schools; Catholic groups operated at least eight of them.

Representatives from the Minnesota Catholic Conference are collaborating with tribal leaders to better understand the experiences of Native American children in Catholic-run boarding schools. Dioceses are looking into their archival records to identify past students and uncover more information about the schools. Jason Adkins, executive director of the state’s Catholic conference, declined to be interviewed for this story.

Bishop Andrew Cozzens of the Diocese of Crookston, Minn., said the effort began after the 2021 report of hundreds of unmarked graves around boarding school sites in Canada.

“I think we were all shocked by the revelations of the Canadian situation,” Cozzens said. “The bishops in the United States in general started to talk about our own history, especially with regard to boarding schools.”

Last November, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Subcommittee on Native American Affairs sent a letter to all U.S. bishops pushing church officials to cooperate with Native communities to act on alleged abuse at schools run by church entities.

Bishops from the Minnesota conference organized a first meeting with local tribal leaders in December to begin working toward reconciliation, Cozzens said.

He described the December meeting as a “significant amount of pain sharing” where tribal leaders shared stories of their family members and ancestors who attended boarding schools.

“[Forced assimilation] wasn’t just a church mindset,” Cozzens said. “It was the general mindset, but it was the wrong mindset, which was to not allow Native people to practice their culture.”

John Morrin, tribal councilman at Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, called the meeting a “historic moment.” Morrin, whose own parents were sent to a boarding school, said he had never seen this kind of conversation happen in Minnesota.

“It was one of the first times that tribal leaders were actually able to be heard in that type of way, facing this institution,” Morrin said.

While no further meetings are scheduled with the Minnesota Catholic Conference, Morrin said he walked away from the first gathering feeling hopeful about the work to come.

Failing twice

Over 40 percent of boarding schools nationwide were or are associated with the Catholic Church or one of various Protestant denominations, based on 2020 data from National Native Boarding School Healing Coalition, an organization addressing the trauma of the schools. The Catholic Church accounted for the largest number of all denominations, according to their analysis.

Linda LeGarde Grover, a professor emeritus of American Indian studies at the University of Minnesota Duluth and member of the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe, said her family experienced life in boarding schools across several generations.

Grover’s extensive research on Minnesota boarding schools includes the Vermilion school her grandparents attended. She said Native American students often experienced strict discipline, demanding farmwork, and unsanitary conditions that led to spread of disease.

Due to the emphasis on assimilation, Grover said students received the equivalent of a sixth or seventh grade education by the time they completed the program at around age 16; due to inconsistent records on deaths, runaways, and accidents, Grover said it was unclear how many students actually finished the program.

“I always say they failed twice, because they failed at educating and they failed at assimilating,” Grover said. “In the process, they caused tremendous damage.”

READ: How Indigenous Worldviews Offer Hope to a Besieged Planet

The location and final resting place of the children who died while attending the schools remain a lingering question for Grover. While she feels uncertain about invasive measures to recover remains, she said tribes need more information. Cozzens said there is not currently evidence pointing to large number of unmarked graves in Minnesota.

“Native people do want to find out if, God forbid, there are unmarked graves and we’re happy to cooperate with whatever they want to do, but we don’t have any evidence of that,” Cozzens said.

As Chavers learns more about her own grandmother’s boarding school experience, she has struggled to recover the culture her family lost in that time. She has turned to her 90-year-old uncle for answers about her family’s past.

“I really want to learn about that because she never told [us],” Chavers said. “He’s the last survivor, so I need to find out that story.”
Confronting the past in the present

The weight of decades of abuse, family separation, and cultural loss continues to fall heavily on recent generations. Native Americans had some of the highest rates of mental health conditions, along with high rates of PTSD and alcohol dependence.

Some researchers believe historical trauma can contribute to these disparities, though they note the small sample size of research on Indigenous people. The result of this trauma and displacement Native people have faced has led to “dysfunction of the family,” according to Chavers.

“The mental health component, the substance use component, it all intertwines together,” Chavers said.

Chavers recently submitted a proposed memorandum of understanding between Minnesota’s Catholic Church leaders and 11 tribes. It asks the church for physical and electronic copies of any archival materials related to the boarding schools.

The memorandum also asks for “reasonable assistance” to the tribes in locating known and unknown remains on sites. The groups are working to create a committee that will facilitate communication on retrieval of records and information.

The entire effort may take years, according to Chavers.

“We realize that what happened in the past happened in the past, but how can we reconcile and help with the healing process that needs to happen?” Chavers said.

In the recent work with the Minnesota dioceses, Chavers said they have been proactive in addressing community needs. However, Chavers is still troubled by the lack of accountability from the church’s highest official.

“The Pope has not recognized the atrocities that were done to Native American children,” Chavers said. “That’s one thing I think that the tribes are asking for, is that acknowledgement.”

Last year, Pope Francis expressed sorrow after the discovery of unmarked graves in Canada and announced his intentions to visit the country to further the reconciliation process, but has not apologized.

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops apologized for their role in the residential school system last year. In 2018, the group wrote a letter saying the pope could not travel to Canada solely for the purpose of issuing an apology.

The search for greater understanding about what happened at Native American boarding schools has largely been left to researchers and survivors. The U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs has not created a comprehensive index of records.

Rev. Gary Mills, who served in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America before retiring, became familiar with the lack of records as the executive director of the Swift County Historical Society and Museum in Benson, Minn. Mills said much of the responsibility to find and report more information lies with the church.

Mills, who grew up about six miles from the site of the St. Paul Diocese Industrial School of Clontarf, a boarding school that operated from 1878 to 1898, said religious leaders could be more invested in addressing their past, including the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, which ran the Clontarf school. The archdiocese has not made records public despite requests; at least 14 Native American students died while attending the school.

“This is over 120 years ago that the school closed,” Mills said. “They need to let these records out. Who are they protecting? … I know that the church protects itself but, to me, this is a crime.”

Tom Halden, director of communications at the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, declined to comment, pointing to Archbishop Bernard Hebda’s comments to the Catholic Spirit on the topic. According to the report, Archdiocese staff members began reviewing documents related to the Clontarf school in August 2021.
"We believe in confession"

Catholic Church leaders in several states have initiated their own efforts to address the impact of boarding schools, including in Oklahoma where the largest number of schools had existed.

Some work began before the revelation in Canada. According to a 2021 statement provided to Sojourners, the Saint Benedict’s Monastery in St. Joseph, Minn., has worked with the White Earth Nation and Tribal Historic Preservation Office for the past two years.

The monastery statement said it is now in the early stages of repatriation work regarding their role in running the Saint Benedicts’ Mission boarding school. This work involves sharing their archival materials with White Earth. In an email, monastery heritage coordinator Patricia Kennedy said the group is not giving interviews at this time as they “continue this tender work to seek truth and healing.”

READ: Will U.S. Christians Atone for Church Boarding Schools? Indigenous Leaders Are Skeptical

While investigations are underway, the task ahead is challenging, Cozzens said. The church has kept “good records” on baptisms and other church activities, but other records are scattered among different parishes across the state, he said.

“We believe in confession,” Cozzens said. “You have to actually say what your sins are if you want to be forgiven, right? For us, it should be a part of our DNA, and it hasn't always been.”

Chavers, meanwhile, urges the experiences of remaining boarding school survivors be recorded before it’s too late. She also shared her hope that churches nationwide will release their documents and work with tribes “so we know what happened to our kids.”

Grover said she wants Native people to remember their resilience.

“I want our children to know this history, but also to have continuing appreciation for the generations that went through this,” Grover said. “The fact they even continued to exist is a miraculous thing and a credit to their tenacity.”

Jordan Anderson is a reporter for the Medill News Service and Medill Investigative Lab at Northwestern University. She has written for the Tallahassee Democrat, Tallahassee Magazine, and WFSU Public Media.

Russian tank column heading to Kyiv ambushed in artillery attack, forcing it to turn around

National Post Wire Services 

© Provided by National Post

 A Ukrainian soldier directs a Russian tank that Ukrainians captured after fighting with Russian troops, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, outside Brovary, near Kyiv on March 10, 2022.

Ukrainian defence forces today attacked a column of armoured Russian T-72 tanks that were on the move west into Kyiv from the Brovary area, disabling a tank and an armoured vehicle and alarming others enough to force a turnaround.

The convoy of Russian tanks headed toward the capital was ambushed with precision artillery just as it passed through a small residential stretch of a paved four-lane road 25 kilometres from downtown Kyiv. Tanks can be seen erupting into black smoke upon being hit, while the tracks of one could be seen careering in an effort to maintain control. Muddy tracks show that some had entered the fields behind the houses, possibly in an effort to escape being hit.

Colonel Andrei Zakharov, commander of the tank regiment, was killed in the ambush, according to the Ukrainian defence ministry and intercepted Russian field radio chatter. The transmissions suggested the column suffered heavy losses.

The Defence Intelligence of Ukraine said that “during the fighting in the Brovary district of Kyiv region, the battalion tactical group of Russia’s 6th Panzer Regiment (Chebarkul) of the 90th Panzer Division of the Central Command suffered significant losses in personnel and equipment.”

Northwest of Kyiv in Borodyanka, several more tanks were advancing toward Kyiv but were also hit. Their locations indicate the Russians may have been attempting to surround the capital.

“Due to strong Ukrainian resistance, Russian forces are committing an increased number of their deployed forces to encircle key cities. This will reduce the number of forces available to continue their advance and will further slow Russian progress,” Britain’s defence ministry said in an intelligence update posted on Twitter.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko on Thursday said about two million people — half the residents of the Ukrainian capital’s metropolitan area — have left the city, which has become a virtual fortress.

“Every street, every house … is being fortified,” he said in televised remarks and reported by The Associated Press . “Even people who in their lives never intended to change their clothes, now they are in uniform with machine guns in their hands.”

At least 3,000 people were evacuated from the northwest cities of Irpin and Vorzel and taken to Kyiv. On Tuesday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said about 18,000 people had managed to escape from the areas of the heaviest fighting outside of Kyiv, with more leaving by the day.

By late Thursday, Russian troops had yet to capture a city in the north or east but again advanced in the south. Western countries believe that after a planned lightning strike on Kyiv failed in the early days of the war, Moscow has turned its focus to tactics involving far more destructive assaults.

As his town suffered heavy Russian bombardment, Oleksandr Markushyn, mayor of the western Kyiv suburb of Irpin, with a population of 60,000, earlier this week got an offer that might have seemed rather tempting in the circumstances.

At around dinnertime on Monday, his phone beeped with a message from a Russian number. It said he could either fight on and be killed, or take a bribe and surrender.

“Dear Alexander, you have the opportunity to save life and health, and maybe improve your financial situation,” it read. “If you are interested in the offer, send a ‘plus’ sign in a response message. The validity of the message is 24 hours.”

It did not take Markushyn that long to make up his mind. Straight away, he replied with a “minus” sign — and a demand of his own.

“I am making a public counter-offer to the occupiers,” he said on his Telegram channel. “If you leave the territory of Irpin within 24 hours, you can save the lives of several thousand Russian conscript soldiers, whose beloved mothers, sisters, daughters and grandmothers are waiting at home.”

CRASH GO BOOM

Pimco faces potential losses over exposure to more than $1 billion in Russian debt

Pimco's billion-dollar exposure to Russian debt came under pressure as the country, which invaded its neighbor Ukraine amid international outrage, faces risk of a sovereign default.

PIMCO headquarters in Newport Beach, California

Yun Li ,CNBC

The asset manager's $140 billion Pimco Income Fund (PIMIX) held $1.14 billion worth of Russia government international bonds as of the end of 2021, according to the fund's annual report. The fund, co-run by chief investment officer Dan Ivascyn, also had written $942 million of credit-default swaps protection on Russia by the end of last year.

These CDS enable investors to swap credit risk and Pimco, who sold these securities, will have to pay out should Russia default on its debt.

The fund is off by 5.1% so far this year, slightly more than a Bloomberg benchmark bond index.

Pimco's Total Return bond fund and Emerging Markets bond fund also held similar positions tied to Russia.

The Financial Times first reported on Pimco's Russia exposure earlier Thursday. Pimco declined to comment.

These positions could inflict huge losses on Pimco as Russia could be edging closer to a sovereign debt default amid massive sanctions by the U.S. and other countries over the war in Ukraine.

Earlier this week, rating agency Fitch downgraded Russia's sovereign rating by six notches further into junk territory to a C grade, saying a default is "imminent."

Moody's and S&P have also slashed the country's sovereign rating to "junk" status, saying Western sanctions could undermine Russia's ability to service its debt.

Russia's war in Ukraine could be bad news for Moldova's energy ambitions

Ukraine's neighbor to the west has been building ties with the European Union's energy grid. But the war could hurt Moldova's efforts to wean itself off Russian gas.

Moldova's energy ambitions are entwined with Ukraine's

As Russia wages war in Ukraine, ties between Moscow and nearby Moldova could also deteriorate, with the energy sector becoming a dangerous battlefield of its own.

While the Russian government was preparing for its recent military aggression, Ukrainian authorities were making the first moves to prepare for the synchronization of its local energy grid with the European continental network. This technical procedure would allow both Moldova and Ukraine to import electricity from the EU. Currently, Moldova is heavily dependent on Russian gas.

These initial steps ran smoothly, Valeriu Pasa, president of WatchDog.MD, a Moldovan think tank, told DW. "The system is very stable. The frequency is okay. It was a successful test."

Government sources concurred and stressed that the project was not linked to Russia attacking Ukraine.

"We should not seek to politicize everything here," a government source told DW. "So far, electricity trading will not be allowed for a year, and even that will have to be confirmed."

Entwined with Ukraine

Still, the war has had repercussions on the region's energy sector. Ukraine and Moldova have decided not to reconnect to the Russian and Belarusian grid. For now, things are going well. But risks loom. The Russian military could keep targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructures.

"If the electricity system of Ukraine is affected and is not stable, we will have shortages," said Pasa. "More importantly, our [Moldova's] electricity system cannot work if isolated from the Ukrainian one."

In the Moldovan case, there is no shortage of critical factors to consider.

"Also the power plant in Kuchurgan, in the Transnistria region, needs to adapt to the European standards. But this requires difficult negotiations," said Pasa.

The Kuchurgan Power Station, also known as the Moldovan State Regional Power Station (MGRES), provides around 75% of the electricity consumed in the entire country. Moscow-based Inter Rao is a co-shareholder of MGRES. Kuchurgan facilities run on gas delivered by Russia's Gazprom. Cheap gas to Transnistria has provided Moldova with relatively low electricity prices over the last years, especially in comparison to neighboring countries.

"People in Transnistria have not paid market prices for the last 30 years," said Pasa.

TRANSNISTRIA — LOST IN MOLDOVA

A fight for recognition

In 1991, the Soviet Union broke into pieces from which 15 new sovereign countries were born. Yet Transnistria, the Russian-speaking region in the easternmost part of Moldova, was not among them. The self-proclaimed "presidential republic" has its government, army, flag, emblem, anthem and even passports, which are valid in only three countries in the world.

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Then, last week, Transnistria's separatist government declared independence.

"They already did so in the 1990s, and last week's announcements do not change anything," said Pasa, adding that Moscow dictated Tiraspol's decision. "Just a month ago, the separatist leader Vadim Krasnoselsky wrote letters to Moldovan President Maia Sandu saying he was ready to embark on political discussions."

The rest of Moldova also imports Russian gas. Last October, Gazprom and the government signed a new five-year contract. In January, the price was over $640 (€578) per thousand cubic meters. Now European gas spot prices have become extremely volatile, reflecting war-related uncertainties. Price levels remain high, recently hitting over $2,500 per thousand cubic meters.

According to Bucharest-based energy analyst Cristian Tataru, the price of gas will increase significantly in Moldova, too, as a function of the pricing formula.
Reverse flows to the rescue?

PAS, Moldova's pro-European party, won an absolute majority in July 2021 elections. The country, now led by two women, showed an unprecedented level of openness. An example: The presidential palace, traditionally closed to visitors, now keeps its gates open.

That openness is reflected in the country's more diversified energy strategy. Reverse flows of gas to Ukraine, which started in 2015, are also available for Moldova. The country can import gas from Romania or Poland through the Trans-Balkan pipeline and the Iasi-Ungheni-Chisinau gas pipeline. Were Russia to halt deliveries, it's likely the government would combine these options.

But it wouldn't come cheap. According to experts, at the very least energy prices would double, likely followed by political and social consequences. When tensions between Moldova's ruling party and Russia caused prices to double in September 2021, the ruling party's popularity rating went down by a third.

This week provided a glimpse of how the energy problem might get worse. Russia said it would shut down Nord Stream 1 — its main gas pipeline to Germany — if Western countries were to proceed with a threatened ban on Russian oil. On Wednesday, the US made good on this threat, banning imports of Russian oil, coal and gas. The European Union, which is far more reliant on Russian energy supplies, said it would phase out this dependence in the coming years, but stopped short of a ban.

Many ideas, no clear solution

Government sources point to many options for how to increase Moldova's energy security and political stability, despite high inflation, security concerns and a potential refugee crisis.

For one, Moldova could take part in programs organized by European institutions to test the resilience of EU energy infrastructures. "Ukraine was involved in these tests and likewise we should do so as well," a government source said.

The country is also developing two 400 kilovolt electricity interconnections with Romania: Isaccea to Vulcanesti and Suceava to Balti. "The one to Vulcanesti aims to ultimately bring a link to Chisinau by 2024," said the government source. The Suceava-Balti line will take at least two years to complete, another government source said.

Moldova is also trying to increase gas stores in Romania to use next winter. It could also proceed with an audit on the debts that Moldovagaz, the country's gas distributor, has towards Gazprom.

But the government sources say that may prove difficult. It's possible Gazprom wouldn't accept the outcome.

"Gazprom delivered gas to Moldovagaz and did not receive payments. They accumulated $750 million dollars in 20 years, including the penalties," said Pasa. Moldovagaz took control of the Moldovan part of the Trans-Balkan pipeline "simply for free, when the asset's value was around half a billion of dollars."

As is often the case, the future will come down to a matter of technicalities and legal issues. But in those details experts see a relevant geopolitical and political dimension, one that could close the doors of the presidential palace once more, or open them even further.

Edited by: Kristie Pladson

Radioactive fuel, contaminated water: the Fukushima clean-up

by Sara Hussein

Thousands of workers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant are involved in

 the complex and decades-long process of decommissioning the Fukushima 

nuclear site.

Eleven years after a devastating tsunami hit Japan's northeast, thousands of workers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant are involved in the complex and decades-long process of decommissioning the site.

Here are some facts about the situation at the plant, which AFP visited this month:

The damage

Three of Fukushima's six reactors were operating when the tsunami hit on March 11, 2011. They went into meltdown after their cooling systems failed when waves flooded backup generators.

There was no fuel in the three other reactors, but hydrogen blasts at units 4, 1 and 3 caused extensive damage.

Evidence of the blasts' power is still visible at the top of unit 1, where the warped metal framework remains exposed to the air, and on unit 3 damaged walls stripped of paint sit under a new roof cover.

Cranes tower over several units, while workers in coveralls and wearing dosimeters, full-face respirators, and helmets operate machinery nearby.

Elsewhere, abandoned administrative buildings stand empty, while green lanes along roads show where workers can walk without protective gear.

Fuel rods

Fuel rods have been removed from two units and the process is ongoing at 5 and 6, which were undamaged in the accident.

But at unit 1, large amounts of radioactive rubble must be cleared to access the rods. To avoid spreading radioactive dust, workers are installing a new roof and hope to begin removing rubble in 2027.

Evidence of the blasts' power is still visible at the top of unit 1, where the warped metal

 framework remains exposed to the air, and on unit 3 damaged walls stripped of paint sit 

under a new roof cover.

At unit 2, radiation levels are so high that plant operator TEPCO plans to access the rods by sending in robots from two platforms, one of which has been built so far.

Fuel rod removal is expected to start there from around spring 2024.

Fuel debris

In units 1-3, fuel and other material melted and then solidified into highly radioactive "fuel debris".

TEPCO has spent years assessing the location and scale of the problem, Keisuke Matsuo, a risk communicator at the plant, told AFP.

"We started investigating the inside of reactor 1 in February, hoping to understand the condition of debris and sediment," he said.

"We plan that reactor 2 will be the first from which we remove fuel debris, and we plan to start this year."

A robotic arm for the process was delivered in July after a pandemic delay, and is being tested.

This picture taken on March 5, 2022 shows unit 3 (L) and unit 4 (C) reactor buildings and 

storage tanks for contaminated water at the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO)

 Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.

Contaminated water

The site produces 140 cubic metres of contaminated water a day—a combination of groundwater, seawater and rainwater that seeps into the area, and water used for cooling.

TEPCO has paved over areas, installed pumps and built an ice wall to keep out water, but the problem keeps growing.

The water is filtered to remove various radionuclides and moved to storage tanks, with 1.29 million tons on site already and space expected to run out in around a year.

The white, grey and blue tanks dominate much of the site, between a few pine and cherry trees that survived the accident and decontamination.

TEPCO says the water treated by its ALPS system meets national standards for radionuclide levels, except for tritium.

It plans to dilute the water to reduce tritium levels and release it offshore over several decades via a kilometre-long underwater pipe.

Despite backing from the UN's watchdog, the plan is controversial, and TEPCO faces opposition from local communities and some neighbouring countries.

Boxes containing irradiated waste at the Fukushima plant.

"We believe the ALPS-treated water is safe," said Matsuo.

"It will be essential that we have public understanding of the water as safe."

Cost

Around 4,000 people work at the plant each day, generating enormous amounts of waste in protective gear alone, including multiple socks, gloves and masks that must be worn on most parts of the site.

The decommissioning is currently expected to take 30-40 years and cost eight trillion yen ($69 billion), which TEPCO says it will cover.

But that figure does not include the cost of treating and disposing of contaminated water.

11 years later, fate of Fukushima reactor cleanup uncertain

© 2022 AFP

Russian activists defy Putin to protest war in Ukraine

Russia has seen anti-war demonstrators take to the streets from the day the invasion of Ukraine began. So far, more than 13,000 protesters have been arrested. They won't be silenced.

Russian police are known for handling protesters roughly


Countless Russians have taken to the streets to protest the invasion of Ukraine — and they have done so at considerable risk to their lives and livelihoods. Svetlana, a St. Petersburg-based illustrator who asked that her real name not be used, told DW that she remains undeterred by the thousands of arrests of protesters in the past two weeks. In more peaceful times, she used to share pastel-colored pictures and examples of her work on social media. Ever since Russia invaded Ukraine, she has shared deeply political messages on a black background.

Svetlana is not a political activist per se. She did once attend a rally in support of the jailed Russian dissident Alexei Navalny. She said she witnessed National Guard officers using brute force against detained protesters. She did not let the experience deter her from attending a recent anti-war rally.

"In Russia, we have no conventional notion of marches or mass protests," Svetlana said. Demonstrations are more like massive chases, she said, with protesters as the prey. "You head out onto the street and then spend all your time running through the city, escaping the police," Svetlana said. She follows a few rules to avoid arrest. One is that she tries to remain at the center of large crowds as protesters leading marches, as well as those at the rear, are more likely to get detained. She also tries hiding from police in narrow allies and cafes.

Fines and incarceration

About 13,000 protesters have been arrested in more than 140 cities since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, according to OVD-Info, an independent human rights media project aimed at combating political persecution. There have been reports of authorities' using excessive force against protesters — including the use of truncheons and stun guns. Anti-war activists have been heavily fined and charged with serious offenses for taking to the streets. This includes individuals who have stood on public squares, all by themselves, holding anti-war placards.

Russian police have never shied away from using brute force to quell protests

On March 4, the Duma adopted a law making it illegal to knowingly spread "false information about the activities of the armed forces of the Russian Federation." Authorities now have the final word in determining what constitutes fake news. People found guilty of spreading misinformation face fines of up to €10,000 ($11,070) and jail terms ranging from three to 15 years. Recent marches where activists have chanted "no war" could therefore be classified as actions designed to discredit Russian troops.

The sociologist Grigoriy Judin fears that Russia is transforming from an authoritarian state into a totalitarian state — with further repressive measures in the works. He said the new misinformation law could be instrumentalized to force anti-war protesters into exile.

Hospitalized himself with a concussion after police officers beat him at an anti-war protest on February 24, Judin said Russian society was divided over the invasion of Ukraine. The thousands of anti-war protesters who have been arrested prove that many Russians really do reject the assault. Nevertheless, he said, the marches are not generating sufficient momentum to bring about change. Russians, he said, have lost faith in their own political power after years of demonstrations have led to naught. Moreover, he said, the latest wave of protests lacks proper organization and leaders.

'Russians are scared'

A Moscow-based civil rights activist who asked that she be called Anastasia told DW that she has participated in numerous anti-war marches, but was disappointed with the latest gathering on Moscow's Pushkin Square. "It was a catastrophe," Anastasia said. "I have never seen such a feeble protest in Moscow." The frightened protesters had been quickly dispersed, chased away or arrested by police officers, she said.

Anastasia does not blame ordinary Russians for fearing the police. "Moscow controls a powerful security apparatus, and Russians are scared to lose their jobs now that sanctions have been imposed," she said. Many people have families and other responsibilities that keep them from protesting publicly, she added. All Russians are deprived of basic civil rights, she said: All Russians are vulnerable. Anastasia, however, said she had nothing to lose, which is why she continues protesting. "There are few like me," she said.

What depresses Anastasia most is the feeling that the entire world now opposes Russia. She is convinced that "sanctions, which punish ordinary people, will have no effect." Anastasia also notes that from the outside it is hard to comprehend why ordinary Russians feel so powerless in what she calls a "totalitarian" system. "Now, we are not even allowed to voice opposition to the war," she said. Still, she added, the current conflict is unwinnable for Russia's leadership: "This is the demise of Putin's reign no matter the price the people of the country have to pay."

Anastasia said she could have secured a residency permit for another country and moved away, but she wants to stay in Moscow.

Svetlana, from St. Petersburg, however, is saving up money to leave Russia for good. It has been a difficult decision, but one she finds unavoidable. "In Russia you are faced with the choice of either risking your own future," Svetlana said, "or being called a coward by all those who keep taking to the streets."

This article was originally written in German.

STANDING UP FOR UKRAINE: ANTI-WAR PROTESTS AROUND THE WORLD

Protests in Mosco

A few brave souls staged an anti-war protest in Moscow, outside the Ukrainian Embassy. Police forces were quick to arrest and whisk them away.

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