It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Friday, March 11, 2022
WAIT, WHAT Belarus classifies Deutsche Welle as 'extremist' Belarus has classified all content put out by Deutsche Welle as "extremist." DW Director General Peter Limbourg has criticized the use of "cheap tricks," seeing them as evidence of growing nervousness in Minsk.
DW is not the only media outlet to be targeted by the authorities in Belarus
DW Director General Peter Limbourg has accused Belarus of using tricks to take action against those who want to form an independent opinion, after Belarus' interior ministry classified all DW material as extremist.
Limbourg denounced the decision, which categorizes all DW products and even its logo as extremist. "The blocking of our websites in Belarus in October 2021 was already an unbelievable encroachment on press freedom. The recent announcement of the criminalization of the DW logo proves how nervous the regime there is," he said in a statement.
It goes on to say: "DW is still informing many people in Belarus via tools for bypassing censors. Especially following the attack on Ukraine, the numbers have significantly increased. Now they want to use cheap tricks to create pseudo-legal grounds to take action against people who make use of their right to free speech."
DW Director General Peter Limbourg has condemned the decision by authorities in Belarus
'Extremist products' of DW
On March 9, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus released a statement, saying: "The Minsk Central District Court, based on material from the Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, has classified the information products of the Telegram channel and the DW Belarus chat as extremist material."
It also makes clear that Deutsche Welle's entire media and information network, as well as its logo in the form of the two letters D and W, are now considered extremist in Belarus.
Subscribing to the Telegram channel is not in itself explicitly classified as dissemination. Nevertheless, there are people who have already received heavy fines just for having subscriptions to "extremist channels" in Belarus.
After fleeing Ukraine, South African students arrive home
MOGOMOTSI MAGOME and SEBABATSO MOSAMO
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Ten South African students who fled Ukraine after Russia’s invasion of that country have arrived home Thursday, with 25 more expected over the next few days.
Welcomed by cheering family and friends at O.R Tambo International Airport, the students are among more than 80,000 foreign nationals who have left Ukraine since the Russian invasion, according to the International Organization for Migration.
Returning student Butlhari Mtonga said she's happy to be safely home but she's still worried about those who remain in Ukraine.
“How can South Africa help Ukraine at this moment of crisis? How do we help the people? Because people are being killed," she said. "I know people who have been killed, people are targeted. It is a very serious situation. How can we help bring peace in that land?”
Mtonga said she didn't want to talk about her own experience. "I want to talk about helping South Africa help Ukrainians,” she said.
The South African students were on a repatriation flight organized by the South African government with assistance from the private company, Aspen Pharmacare.
One of the government's first priorities will be to assist students who have been disturbed by their experience in Ukraine, International Relations spokesman Clayson Monyela said.
“It has been a traumatic experience," Monyela said. "That’s why one of the issues and conversations we are currently having now is to attend to the mental health issues, working with partners and departments like social development.”
As relieved families welcomed the returning students, South Africa's government said it deplores the violence in Ukraine, even though it abstained from voting on a U.N. General Assembly resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“We are against conflicts that lead to the loss of life, it is even more disturbing when it costs the lives of children," South African minister in the presidency, Mondli Gungubele said in a press briefing Thursday. “We are against the killing of people for whatever reason. We have always believed in negotiated and peaceful resolutions, so we cannot be comfortable about the bombing of children.”
For Russians in Ukraine, their homeland feels like the enemy
"It would be convenient to say that only Putin is guilty -- that's not true," said Sidorkin. "We have to dismantle this imperial myth of Russia altogether."
Russian citizen Sasha Alekseyeva feels safer living in Ukraine than she does under 'authoritarian' in Russia
(AFP/Ionut IORDACHESCU) (Ionut IORDACHESCU) Ania TSOUKANOVA with Dave CLARK in Kyiv Fri, March 11, 2022
The Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine is a personal tragedy for Russians living in Ukraine, many of whom now see their homeland as an enemy -- and some are ready to fight.
Despite Ukrainian fury and mounting anti-Russian rhetoric, 40-year-old Andrei Sidorkin says the only time he has been rejected by his neighbours is when he tried to join the army.
Sidorkin, who was born in St Petersburg where his parents are buried, moved to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv 15 years ago "for a love story".
He had felt accepted in Ukraine but his Russian passport meant he was blocked on five attempts to join different elements of the Ukrainian armed forces, including the nationalist Azov Battalion.
"If Russian troops ever enter Kyiv, I would like to welcome them with weapons in hand, not empty-handed," Sidorkin said.
He is preparing Molotov cocktails with other volunteers, he added.
As a former Soviet republic where Russian is still widely spoken, and which has seen two democratic revolutions in 2004 and 2014, Ukraine has become a popular exile destination for Russian liberals.
Sasha Alekseyeva, a 32-year-old sociologist with multicoloured dreadlocks, moved from St Petersburg to Kyiv four years ago to escape what she saw as the authoritarian regime of President Vladimir Putin.
With Russian forces pressing towards the capital, she has now fled to the relative safety of Lviv in western Ukraine.
"I feel safer here than in Russia." - 'Ashamed' -
There were nearly 175,000 Russians with a residence permit in Ukraine as of late January, the state migration service told AFP, with many more likely living illegally since there is no visa regime between the two countries.
The invasion has caught many of them off-guard, with some finding themselves torn between their homeland and their adopted country.
It is a potentially dangerous situation since a portion of Ukraine's 40 million inhabitants now consider every Russian an enemy.
"I was very ashamed to be Russian," said Galina Zhabina, who spent several days under bombardment in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city in the east.
"Then I was very angry, ready to throw myself on a tank with my bare hands, but there were no tanks, just airstrikes," the 36-year-old copywriter said.
Maria Troushnikova, a 43-year-old English teacher who has lived in Ukraine for 20 years but has always felt Russian, says she is experiencing an identity crisis.
"Shame, rage, pride for Ukraine -- there is all of that in me," she told AFP, describing "a terrible emptiness instead of nationality".
For many, the war has broken relationships with relatives in Russia who support the invasion or are unwilling to condemn Moscow.
"I hardly talk to anyone anymore," said Zhabina.
"My friends hide their heads in the sand, my family invites me to go back to Russia and they don't understand why I don't." - The enemy within? -
Of her family, Alekseyeva only communicates with her 88-year-old grandmother. It saddens her to think that she may never see her again.
"But when you hear that an 18-month-old child has been killed, you don't think about your grandmother anymore," she said.
Yulia Kutsenko, founder of a kindergarten in Kyiv, says her mother and sisters in Moscow support Ukraine but she finds it hard to understand their inaction, even though any protest is brutally suppressed by the Russian authorities.
"I am very afraid for them, but I would still like them to go out on the streets," said the 44-year-old.
She now feels entirely Ukrainian and considers Russia "an enemy".
Some hope that a defeat of their homeland will serve as a useful lesson, or even lead to Russia's disintegration. "It would be convenient to say that only Putin is guilty -- that's not true," said Sidorkin.
"We have to dismantle this imperial myth of Russia altogether."
ant-dc/er
Ukraine Paralympic athletes to help war-torn homeland Lisa MARTIN Fri, 11 March 2022, The Ukraine team raise their fists at the Beijing Paralympics
(AFP/Thomas LOVELOCK)
Biathlon gold medallist Liudmyla Liashenko's Kharkiv home was
bombed while she was at the Paralympics
(AFP/Mohd RASFAN)
Despite reeling from the events back home, Ukraine's Paralympic
athletes have managed 25 podium finishes
(AFP/Mohd Rasfan)
France’s Benjamin Daviet (L) hugs Ukraine’s Grygorii Vovchynskyi (R)
after the men’s cross-country sprint free-standing final
(AFP/LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA)
There will be no welcome parade when Ukraine's most successful Winter Paralympics team returns to its war-torn homeland from Beijing -- some members may not even be able to reach their bombed cities.
But after persevering on the slopes and field, the athletes are now vowing to bolster their country's fight for survival with donations, volunteer work and helping loved ones.
The United Nations estimates more than 2.3 million people have fled Ukraine -- the majority to neighbouring Poland -- since Russia invaded more than two weeks ago.
Despite reeling from events back home, Ukraine's Paralympic athletes managed 25 podium finishes in biathlon and cross-country skiing events, including a team record of nine gold, as of Friday afternoon.
They could add to the tally this weekend in cross-country skiing and relay events.
Previously, the country's seven gold at the 2006 Turin Games had been its most successful Winter Paralympic outing.
But while other competitors will head home with sights set on training for the 2026 Games, the Ukrainian athletes face life in a warzone.
Nine members of the team, including the head coach, are from heavily bombed Kharkiv -- and it could be too dangerous to return to that city.
Biathlon gold medallist Liudmyla Liashenko's Kharkiv home was bombed earlier this week.
After the closing ceremony on Sunday in Beijing, the team will fly to Istanbul and then have a few days rest in Warsaw before travelling by bus to Ukraine. - No place like home -
Biathlete Pavlo Bal, 35 -- a former airborne soldier who had his legs amputated after an injury in 2017 -- knows it will be a long and tough fight ahead for his country.
"I will be a blood donor and help internally displaced people," he told AFP through an interpreter.
"Maybe I will help with logistics."
His wife and two-year-old son are safe with his brother in a village and although he keeps in touch with frequent video calls he wants to see them in person.
"I cannot wait to get back home and hug my family. I'm looking forward to that the most," he said.
A Ukrainian poem that his mother taught him -- about home being the best place -- has brought him solace while competing in China, he said.
While Bal plans to take up hand-cycling have been disrupted by the conflict, he still hopes to make it to the next Winter Paralympics. - Family reunion -
Teammate Grygorii Vovchynskyi, 33, is desperate to be reunited with his 10-year-old daughter, who is staying in a village with his parents.
"I tell her that I love her every day," he said.
Vovchynskyi won gold, silver and bronze in his men's standing biathlon races and a bronze in a cross-country event and aims to lift the spirits of family and friends.
"Those who are sheltering underground, those who are under fire and those who are so afraid when they hear the sirens and run to the basements, I want to tell them that this hour is not for you. This is not your story and this is not how it will end," he said.
He plans to donate clothes and give shelter to people escaping the fighting.
"The main task will be to do what I can to help Ukraine. I want to help my friends who are in the cities where there is a lot of fighting, in places where there is a need for humanitarian aid," he said.
The Ukraine team's grit has won plaudits from fellow athletes and games organisers.
International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons said the team's journey was an extraordinary sports story.
"The fact they are competing here, knowing what is going on in their nation, and are still focused on competition -- it's incredible," he said.
There were always examples of resilience at any Paralympic Games -- but this was next level, Parsons added
"This is beyond what I thought was possible," he said.
lpm/lb
Ukraine team equals best ever Winter Paralympics performance Ukraine's Liudmyla Liashenko celebrates after winning the women's individual standing para biathlon final event on Mar 11, 2022.
(Photo: AFP/Mohd RASFAN)
11 Mar 2022
ZHANGJIAKOU: Days after learning her Kharkiv home was bombed, Ukrainian athlete Liudmyla Liashenko steeled herself on Friday (Mar 11) for a gold medal performance on day seven of Beijing's Winter Paralympics.
Her success was one of six biathlon podium finishes on the day for the Ukraine team, which is reeling from the trauma of Russia's invasion of the Eastern European nation more than two weeks ago.
"I dedicate this medal to the Ukrainians, to the army who protect us and to my family," Liashenko, 28, said. It was a hat trick of gold on Friday for Ukraine, with Oleksandr Kazik and Oksana Shyshkova's also victorious in their visually impaired events.
Shyshkova has bagged five medals at the games - three gold and two silvers across biathlon and cross country skiing events.
"We (want to) protect the honour of our country," she said.
"That is maybe what is motivating us to focus and do all the best that we can during the race. Maybe that is the secret."
The United Nations estimates that 2.5 million people have fled Ukraine, the majority to neighbouring Poland.
Despite grappling with immense uncertainty and fears for the safety and welfare of loved ones back home, as of Friday afternoon the Ukraine team had equalled their previous best-ever Winter Paralympic performance.
They are second on the overall medal tally, behind China, with a 25 medal haul including a record nine gold.
The country's 25 medals and seven gold haul in Turin at the 2006 games had been its most successful Winter Paralympic outing until now.
Team veteran Vitalii Lukianenko, was unable to win his third gold for the week, placing second to Kazik, 25, in the men's visually impaired biathlon on Friday.
"At my age, 44 years old, even bronze is a gold medal," he joked.
For Kazik, the success was a confidence boost and he said it was humbling to beat his legendary teammate.
"Vitalii is a great athlete and at every Paralympic Games he is one of the leaders," he said.
In Yanqing, there were three Austrian sisters on the podium in the women's visually impaired giant slalom alpine skiing event.
Veronika Aigner, 19, achieved a Paralympic title guided by her sister Elisabeth, 23, while younger sister Barbara, 16, claimed bronze.
"We are so happy that I and my sisters are on the podium. It's crazy," Veronika said.
Their brother Johannes, 16, has also won four medals at the games including two gold. The three siblings have the same congenital cataract condition as their mother.
At the para-snowboarding, China's Wu Zhongwei, 26, outclassed the competition in the LL1 banked slalom category and Sun Qi, 22, won the LL2 race, with the host nation also picking up two silvers and two bronze medals in the women's event and men's category for upper limb impairments.
American Brenna Huckaby won the women's para-snowboarding banked slalom while France's Maxime Montaggioni triumphed in the men's UL race.
Meanwhile, a bronze medal is up for grabs in the wheelchair curling later Friday night when Slovakia plays Canada.
Reigning champs China will face Sweden in the gold medal match on Saturday.
Source: AFP/mi
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
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.
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.
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.
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
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.”
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.”
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
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.”
