Private American pilots with a group called “Ukraine Air Rescue” are working to get supplies into Ukraine. VOA Russian met some of them and has the story. VOA footage by David Gogokhia.
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Month: September 2022
MSF Seeks Humanitarian Aid for Malnourished Children in Northwest Nigeria
Medical aid group Doctors Without Borders has called on the United Nations to add northwest Nigeria to its humanitarian response plan, due to high numbers of children suffering from malnutrition. The group, known by its French abbreviation MSF, said it has treated nearly 100,000 children in the region for malnutrition this year.
In a communique Tuesday, MSF warned that malnutrition among children in northwest Nigeria is at catastrophic levels and called for an immediate response from the global humanitarian community.
MSF even proposed that northwest Nigeria be included in the U.N.’s annual humanitarian response plan.
It’s the second time in three months that the medical aid group has raised serious concerns about the malnutrition crisis in Nigeria, following an alarm about northeast Nigeria in July.
Northwest Nigeria has been hard-hit by militant attacks and raids by kidnap-for-ransom gangs since late 2020.
MSF also said climate change and soaring food prices have made matters worse.
“We have scaled our response. We’re almost at a limit basically because we cannot handle this alone,” said Froukje Pelsma, MSF’s head of mission in Nigeria. “This is why we’re asking for more people to come.”
Pelsma said there are more than 30 organizations working in the northeastern part of the country but only three or four agencies in the northwest working on malnutrition.
“We want people, most especially the U.N. and other agencies, to look beyond the northeast,” she said.
MSF said it has admitted 17,000 children into 10 feeding centers across five states in the region.
Zamfara State has been the most impacted, with a 64 percent increase in the number of severely malnourished children this year compared to 2021.
“We’re working now in Kebbi, Sokoto Zamfara, Katsina and in Kano, but we’re still also very much afraid and pretty sure that we only see the top of the iceberg,” Pelsma said. “We can see numbers, but that doesn’t mean that that covers the whole issue, because we cannot be in every location.”
For years, humanitarian responses have been centered around northeastern states, especially Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, where the militant group Boko Haram has been active since 2009.
This week, top officials of the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) met in the capital to highlight problems of food security, with the goal of strengthening responses, using agriculture.
“There’s a lot to be done. This is a country where we have quite a big segment geographically that is affected by different forms of conflict,” said Fred Kafeero, FAO representative in Nigeria. “But how do we intervene in terms of strengthening and responding to that humanitarian emergency and moving towards resilience building? Much of our work is also looking at the root causes and trying to strengthen and build sustainability in the process.”
On Wednesday, MSF is taking part in a high-level humanitarian coordination team meeting with top officials of the United Nations.
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Armenia, Azerbaijan Accuse Each Other of Violating Cease-Fire
Armenia and Azerbaijan accused each other on Wednesday of violating a cease-fire agreement that ended two days of warfare this month – the second such violation in five days.
Azerbaijan’s defense ministry said that at about 6 p.m. (1400 GMT), Armenian units had started firing at Azerbaijani positions in the Kalbajar region, wounding one serviceman, and that Azerbaijani forces had taken “retaliatory measures.”
The Armenian defense ministry gave an opposite account, tweeting that Azerbaijani forces had fired towards Armenian positions near the common border using mortars and large-caliber weapons, and that the Armenian side had retaliated.
After border clashes two weeks ago that killed almost 200 soldiers, the worst bout of fighting since a six-week war between the two ex-Soviet countries in late 2020, the two sides agreed to a cease-fire deal brokered by Russia.
Armenia said then that Azerbaijan had attacked its territory and seized settlements inside its borders; Azerbaijan said it was responding to “provocations” from the Armenian side.
Last Friday, both sides accused each other of breaching the truce by firing across the border.
The fighting is linked to decades-old hostilities over control of the mountainous Nagorno-Karabakh region, internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but until 2020 largely controlled by the majority ethnic Armenian population.
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Ukrainians in South Africa Slam ANC Youth League for Endorsing Russian Referendums
The youth league of South Africa’s ruling ANC party has endorsed Russia’s referendums in occupied parts of Ukraine, which are designed to pave the way for Moscow to annex the territories.
The endorsement came after members of the group accepted invitations from Moscow to act as international observers of the Kremlin-orchestrated votes. The Ukrainian Association of South Africa says it is disappointed in the youth league’s stance while the ANC itself is remaining silent on the issue.
The head of the ANC Youth League’s Subcommittee on International Relations, Khulekani Skosana, has commended Russian President Vladimir Putin on Twitter.
Skosana posted a clip of his interview with the South African Broadcasting Corporation.
“We stand in solidarity with all the oppressed people of the world,” Skosana said. “It’s not just Donbas, we stand with people of Palestine, Western Sahara. We will always stand with those who are oppressed and those who don’t have anyone to defend them. The revolution will not be televised, that’s why we went to see for ourselves as young people of the liberation movement of President Nelson Mandela.”
The president of the Ukrainian Association of South Africa, Dzvinka Kachur, said the youth league members are simply being used by Russia to try to legitimize a process that falls far, far short of international laws on referendums.
Moscow has released vote tallies showing support in all four regions where the referendums were held for five days beginning September 23.
But Kachur said that was a lie because Russia doesn’t control all of these areas.
“Yes, they may be controlling almost completely the territory of one region, of Luhansk but they don’t control Donetsk, they don’t control Zaporizhzhia and they definitely don’t control Kherson,” she said.
Kachur said they’ve heard the international media reports of Russian soldiers going door-to-door to get people to vote at gun point.
“A lot of our community members have had their relatives still in the occupied territories,” she said. “We understand people being tortured and how people are hiding.”
Kachur added that the Ukrainian Association is disappointed in the ANC government for not reacting to the Youth League’s statements. The government has repeatedly said it is neutral in this conflict but the Ukrainian Association says Skosana’s comments are anything but.
“As the ANC Youth League is connected to the government, if the government is supporting that silently I think it’s a big challenge for South African democracy and all South Africans living in this country because it says that the ruling party does not understand what democracy is,” Kachur said.
Requests for comment from the ANC’s main body went unanswered. The party’s spokesperson, Pule Mabe, simply sent two text messages saying: “May I please revert back.”
Political analyst Ralph Mathekga said he was perplexed.
“It is strange that the ANC Youth League could actually send observers to Russia on a very controversial referendum actually,” he said. “A referendum that has been referred to as a sham referendum by the global community. So, for the ANC Youth League to be sending members there, it is very strange. I don’t know what exactly does the youth league aim to achieve. I don’t know whether this will give them traction in South Africa’s politics.”
Mathekga said he wonders who paid for the trip and whether the decision to go was taken within the ANC and where the decision was taken.
Reuters reports that the United States is preparing a new round of sanctions to punish Russia for any annexation move and a new $1.1 billion arms package for Ukraine that will be announced soon.
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Russia ‘Tentatively’ Approves Oil, Grain Exports for Afghanistan
Russia has approved a provisional agreement with the Taliban government to supply oil products, gas and wheat to war-torn Afghanistan, both sides said Wednesday.
The Russian Sputnik news agency quoted Zamir Kabulov, the special presidential envoy for Afghanistan, as confirming the deal hours after Taliban authorities reported details of the document.
“Yes, [the deal is tentatively approved],” Kabulov told the state-owned media outlet in Moscow but shared no details.
A spokesman for the Taliban-led Afghan ministry of commerce and industry, Akhundzada Abdul Salam, said its top officials had traveled to the Russian capital last month, where they negotiated and signed the import agreement. Kabul “hopes and is waiting for Russia to implement it soon,” Salam told VOA.
Minister of Commerce and Industry Nooruddin Azizi, who led the negotiations, said the pact would allow Kabul to annually buy 1 million metric tons of gasoline, 1 million tons of diesel, 500,000 tons of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and 2 million tons of wheat from Russia.
Azizi said Moscow had offered the Taliban a discount to average global commodity prices that would be delivered to Afghanistan by road and rail. He did not elaborate on the pricing or payment methods.
The Afghan minister, during his Moscow visit, had said his “priority is to import these Russian goods on a barter basis.” Aziz said at the time, though, that Afghanistan could pay to buy the oil and grain from Russia “if the barter plan does not work.”
No foreign government has yet granted legitimacy to the Taliban, who waged a 20-year insurgency against the United States and NATO troops defending Afghan government security forces. The insurgents eventually seized power from the U.S.-backed Kabul administration in August 2021 as foreign troops withdrew from the country.
The Taliban’s curbs on women’s rights to work, education and political participation, however, are among key concerns preventing the international community from recognizing their government.
The Taliban takeover has pushed the war-shattered Afghan economy to the brink of collapse as Western donors halted development assistance to the largely foreign aid-dependent South Asian nation and isolated its banking sector. The sanctions have worsened an already bad humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.
Washington and European countries also have blocked the Taliban from accessing Afghan central bank reserves worth about $9 billion, mostly held in the U.S. The Islamist group has been demanding the release of all the frozen funds back to Afghanistan.
U.S. officials have been holding talks with the Taliban on finding ways to prevent the collapse of the country’s economy and to facilitate delivery of much-needed humanitarian aid to millions of Afghans facing acute hunger.
Earlier this month, Washington announced the creation of a Swiss-based trust fund for the disbursement of $3.5 billion out of the $7 billion held in the U.S without involving the Taliban. The group has denounced the move as “illegal and unacceptable.”
In July, the Taliban also sealed a deal with neighboring Iran to purchase 350,000 metric tons of oil, and they have boosted trade ties with Pakistan, which shares the longest border with Afghanistan.
Pakistani traders have increased coal imports from Afghanistan and Central Asian countries through Afghan territory, enabling the Taliban to generate much-needed revenue to govern the country.
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US Voices Terrorism Concerns in Afghanistan, Opts for Taliban Engagement
Al-Qaida’s former leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, had freedom in the Taliban-controlled Afghan capital before he was assassinated in a U.S. drone strike, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday.
“He was unquestionably a threat to the United States and he had greater freedom to operate in Kabul than from wherever he came from,” Thomas West, U.S. special representative for Afghanistan, said at an event at the Center for International and Strategic Studies.
Al-Zawahiri was targeted on July 31 at a house in downtown Kabul. Taliban authorities have not confirmed his death.
In the aftermath of the drone strike in Kabul, both the U.S. and Taliban have accused each other of violating the February 2020 U.S.-Taliban agreement, widely known as the Doha Agreement, that commits the Taliban to prevent terror threats to the U.S. and its allies from territories under Taliban control.
West said the U.S. is deeply concerned about a number of other terrorist groups active in Afghanistan.
“We have concerns about al-Qaida in the Indian subcontinent, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Laskhar-e-Toiba, Ansarullah and a range of terrorist groups that still have an active presence in Afghanistan that we are exceedingly concerned about,” he said.
Last week at the U.N. General Assembly, Pakistan’s prime minister, Shahbaz Sharif, voiced similar concerns about the presence of terrorist groups in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
The Taliban swiftly rejected Sharif’s remarks, saying in a statement that they will not allow Afghan territory to be used against any country.
Despite concerns about their counterterrorism commitments, the U.S. has opted to remain engaged with the Taliban.
“We have been in touch with Taliban leaders since the strike and, to be clear, even in the wake of this event, we are prepared to engage pragmatically with the Taliban regarding terrorism concerns,” West said.
2,000 ISIS fighters
On Tuesday, the U.N. warned that the Taliban are failing to bringing security to Afghanistan as terror groups like IS-KB increasingly kill Afghans across the country.
At least 700 Afghans have died in armed conflict, mostly in attacks by IS-KB (Islamic State Khorasan Branch), since Taliban seized power last year, the U.N. has reported.
Amid the mayhem following the rapid collapse of the former Afghan government last year, jails were opened and thousands of inmates, including IS-KB fighters, were set free across the country.
“There was a big prison break,” West said, adding that it was unclear who within the Taliban released the prisoners and whether they knew who the inmates were.
“But some of the most concerning best-trained ISIS-K fighters they let out, it was about 2,000 individuals. Some of those individuals are folks we’re truly worried about.”
The Taliban call IS-KB fighters “Khawarij,” a reference to a group of Muslims who allegedly deviated from mainstream Islam in the 7th century, and claim to have killed dozens over the last year.
While U.S. officials have called IS-KB a common enemy, the Taliban have reportedly refused direct counterterror collaboration with the U.S. and insist they can address the terror group independently.
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Vultures, Nature’s Cleanup Crew, Get New Lease on Life in Cyprus
Cyprus released griffon vultures into the wild on Wednesday in the latest attempt to boost a once thriving population now critically endangered by poisoning.
The island’s largest bird of prey has seen its population fall dramatically to the smallest in Europe in recent decades, either from accidental poisoning or changing farming techniques leaving them short of food.
Earlier this year, the population suffered a massive loss from poisoning, reducing numbers to just 8, conservationists say.
They will be joined by eight vultures from Spain, home to Europe’s largest population of griffon vultures, which were released on Wednesday in the mountains north of the coastal city of Limassol. They form a group of 15 brought to the island last year, with seven released in mid-September.
Another 15 are expected from Spain in November. In the past decade, Cyprus had also brought griffon vultures from Crete.
“We were only left with eight birds because of the poison baits placed in the countryside mainly to kill foxes and dogs,” said Melpo Apostolidou, project coodinator at BirdLife Cyprus, one of the partners in the part EU-funded Life with Vultures project.
The birds with names like “Pablo” and “Zenonas” have been fitted with satellite trackers to monitor their movements.
Big, gangly and smelly, griffon vultures play a vital role as nature’s cleanup crew, feeding off dead carcass and reducing the spread of disease. But the use of banned poisons to kill perceived pests which the scavenging bird will then feed on has a knock-on effect.
Nicos Kassinis, a senior officer with Cyprus’s Game and Fauna Service, said authorities were operating several feeding stations and had set up dog units trained to detect poison bait. “It is a serious problem,” he said.
Conservationists say only when the use of poison is effectively addressed can the bird start to thrive again. “Even if we continue to bring vultures from elsewhere, we are just delaying their extinction if we don’t do anything to reduce the frequency of poisoning incidents,” Apostolidou said.
your ad hereIn St. Petersburg, Russia’s Anti-War Movement Gains Its Voice
As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine stalls, tensions have been unleashed throughout Russian society. Voices of protest are emerging, despite the government crackdown on dissent. The city of St. Petersburg, a center of opposition to the war, is again at the forefront of citizen unrest. Henry Ridgwell narrates this report by VOA’s Moscow bureau.
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India Bans Islamic Group for Alleged Terrorist Involvement
India has banned an Islamic organization, accusing it of involvement in terrorism and calling it a threat to the country’s security.
The ban on the Popular Front of India was announced Wednesday following a countrywide crackdown that saw over 250 of its members arrested in recent days. The ban includes the group’s affiliates and will remain in place for five years.
A day before the group was outlawed, it had denied accusations of anti-national activities and called the action against its members a “witch hunt.”
Its political arm, the Social Democratic Party of India, has denounced the action, calling it “a direct blow on democracy and the rights of the people.”
The government has listed a series of charges against the Popular Front of India, which was formed about 15 years ago.
It said that the group and its associates have been involved in “serious offenses including terrorism and its financing, gruesome targeted killings, disregarding the constitutional set up of the country.”
The Home Ministry said that the Popular Front of India had links with global terrorist groups and some of its members had joined Islamic State and participated in terror activities in Syria and Iraq.
The government said the group has “been pursuing a secret agenda to radicalize a particular section of the society” while ostensibly operating as a socio-economic, educational and political organization.
The group first came drew attention after a court convicted several of its members for cutting off the hand of a college professor accused by some Muslim groups of asking derogatory questions about the Prophet Muhammad in an examination.
Although largely confined to a handful of southern Indian states for years, its influence had spread to other regions since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government came to power eight years ago.
Calls for a ban on the group grew after its role in fueling anti-government protests came to light in recent years.
Earlier this year, authorities in southern Karnataka state accused the Popular Front of India of supporting protests that erupted after a school banned female students from wearing hijabs. The group also supported demonstrations against a citizenship law that India enacted in 2019 that critics said discriminates against Muslims.
Senior ministers in the government welcomed the ban. Junior Foreign Minister V. Muraleedharan said that it showed that the Modi government “acts tough” with forces aiming to disrupt peace and stability.
The move comes at a time when critics have accused the government of discrimination against Muslims, who make up about 13 percent of the country’s population.
“Freedom of speech, protests and organizations have been ruthlessly suppressed by the regime against the basic principles of the Indian constitution,” the Social Democratic Party of India said in a statement. It accused the government of misusing investigation agencies to “silence the opposition.”
Pointing out that the ban comes at a time “when there is a tendency of radicalization,” political analyst Rasheed Kidwai said “in that context if the assessment of the government is that this organization was becoming a threat to society and civil order, it is within its rights to impose a ban.”
But he added that there needs to be “an objective assessment” of the situation by intelligence agencies. “We know the tendency to move right is not confined to one social group, caste or region in the country. So, there is a need to keep a strict vigil on all,” according to Kidwai.
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Ukraine Calls for Isolation of Russia, More Military Aid for Ukrainian Forces
Ukraine urged its backers Wednesday to make clear to Russia that “its attempts of annexation, blackmail and ultimatums” will only bring more support to the Ukrainian side in the conflict that began with the February invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces.
“Ukraine calls on the EU, NATO and the Group of Seven to immediately and significantly increase pressure on Russia, including by imposing new tough sanctions, and significantly increase their military aid to Ukraine, including by providing us with tanks, combat aircraft, armored vehicles, long-range artillery, anti-aircraft and missile defense equipment,” the Ukrainian foreign ministry said in a statement.
The appeal came as the Russia-installed leaders in Luhansk and Kherson appealed Wednesday to Russian President Vladimir Putin to annex those territories based on what they said was the support of residents.
Russia-installed officials said 93% of ballots cast during the five days of voting in Zaporizhzhia supported annexation, along with with 87% in Kherson, 98% in Luhansk and 99% in Donetsk. Together, the regions make up about 15% of Ukraine’s territory.
Ukraine, the United States and other Western countries have denounced the referendums as illegal. International recognition is highly unlikely.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday that Russia must be isolated internationally for its sham referendums in his country.
“There is only one way to stop this all,” he said by video. “First, it is the complete isolation of Russia in response to everything it does.”
More sanctions should be imposed on Moscow, he said, and it should be deprived of its veto at the U.N. Security Council and suspended from all international institutions.
“The annexation of the captured territories … is the most brutal violation of the U.N. Charter,” the Ukrainian president said. “This is an attempt to steal the territory of another state. This is an attempt to erase the norms of international law.”
If Moscow annexes these territories, Zelenskyy said, it “will mean that there is nothing to talk about with the president of Russia.”
U.N. political chief Rosemary DiCarlo told council members that the referendums are not a “genuine expression of the popular will.”
“Unilateral actions aimed to provide a veneer of legitimacy to the attempted acquisition by force by one state of another state’s territory, while claiming to represent the will of the people, cannot be regarded as legal under international law,” she said.
“Now, Kyiv is being rejected not only by the people of Crimea and Donbas, but Kherson and Zaporoizhzhia regions,” Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told council members. “This process is going to continue if Kyiv does not recognize its mistake and its strategic errors and doesn’t start to be guided by the interests of its own people, and not blindly carry out the will of those people who are playing them.”
There are concerns in Ukraine and the West that should the territories be annexed, Russian President Vladimir Putin would claim any attempt by Ukrainian military forces to recapture the land as an attack on Russia itself.
Diplomatic action
The United States and Albania have circulated a draft resolution to Security Council members condemning the referendums, calling on countries not to recognize any altered status of Ukraine and compelling Russia to withdraw its troops from the country.
“If Russia chooses to shield itself from accountability here in the council, we will then look to the U.N. General Assembly to send an unmistakable message to Moscow,” U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said. “The world must stand together and defend the Charter of the United Nations.”
She told reporters after the meeting that she hopes to seek a vote in the Security Council either late this week or early next week.
“We call on all U.N. members — everyone for whom the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders have meaning — to oppose Russia’s actions, condemn the referendums and their anticipated results, and never recognize any attempt to steal Ukrainian land through violence and terror,” Albanian Ambassador Ferit Hoxha said.
Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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Pipeline Leaks Appear to Be Result of Deliberate Act
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Wednesday that all indications are that leaks from two Nord Stream natural gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea “are the result of a deliberate act.”
“We will support any investigation aimed at getting full clarity on what happened and why, and will take further steps to increase our resilience in energy security,” Borrell said in a statement. “Any deliberate disruption of European energy infrastructure is utterly unacceptable and will be met with a robust and united response.”
The U.S. State Department said late Tuesday that Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the situation with Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod and that the United States “remains united with our allies and partners in our commitment to promoting European energy security.”
U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan tweeted that the U.S. is supporting efforts to investigate the apparent sabotage.
Denmark’s defense minister Morten Bodskov is due to discuss the matter with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels on Wednesday.
“I’m not going to speculate on the cause” of the leaks, replied White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre to questions about the incident Tuesday, adding that she had nothing to report on whether the United States had been requested by European officials to help determine the cause of the ruptures.
“An act of sabotage”
The 1,222-kilometer-long Nord Stream 1 pipeline has been, until recently, a major source of gas for Germany. Nord Stream 2, which is 1,234 kilometers in length, has yet to go into commercial operation.
“We have established a report and the crime classification is gross sabotage,” the Swedish national police said Tuesday, announcing a preliminary investigation into possible sabotage of Nord Stream 1.
“There are three leaks, and therefore it is difficult to imagine that it could be accidental,” said Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen Tuesday.
“We see clearly that this is an act of sabotage – an act which likely means a further step of escalation of the situation in Ukraine,” concurred Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
Frederkisen and Morawiecki spoke in Gloeniow in Poland at the opening ceremony for Baltic Pipe, part of a Polish plan to reduce its energy dependence on Russia. The line will connect Poland to Norwegian gas fields through Denmark.
“No option can be ruled out right now,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, regarding the possibility of sabotage, adding that the leaks are a cause for concern.
Russia closed Nord Stream 1 earlier this month, ostensibly for maintenance work.
The majority owner of the network’s operator, Nord Stream AG, is Gazprom, a Russian state-owned energy company.
“The destruction that occurred on the same day simultaneously on three strings of the offshore gas pipelines of the Nord Stream system is unprecedented,” said NordStream AG in a statement. “It is not yet possible to estimate the timing of the restoration of the gas transport infrastructure.”
“The biggest leak is spreading bubbles a good kilometer in diameter. The smallest is creating a circle about 200 meters” in diameter, according to a statement from the Danish armed services, which included photographs of the leaks off the island of Bornholm.
Powerful blasts recorded Monday
Scientists in Europe say seismographs on Monday recorded powerful blasts in the Baltic Sea, the same day the two gas pipelines dropped pressure.
“There was a spike and then regular noise,” said Josef Zens, a spokesman for the German geological research center GFZ. “We cannot say if that could be gas streaming out.”
“Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it’s enemy action,” wrote Bloomberg Opinion columnist Javier Blas, quoting the late British author Ian Fleming.
“The leaks are more likely a message: Russia is opening a new front on its energy war against Europe. First, it weaponized gas supply, halting shipments, including via the Nord Stream pipeline. Now, it may be attacking the energy infrastructure it once used to ship its energy,” said Blas, author of The World for Sale: Money, Power and the Traders Who Barter the Earth’s Resources.
Amid much speculation on social media about who might have sabotaged Nord Stream there is no credible evidence of a likely culprit or motive. Analysts and amateurs on Twitter contend the Russians may have deployed divers or unmanned submersible vehicles to poke holes in the pipelines.
The leaks are a result of a “terrorist attack” and “an act of aggression” against the European Union, declared Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to the Ukrainian presidential office.
Some anonymous accounts on Twitter, parroting Russian state media, sought to blame Washington and Kyiv. On social media on Tuesday, a video clip from early February recirculated of Joe Biden vowing to “bring an end” to the Nord Stream 2 project if Russia invaded Ukraine.
The Kremlin has stated that if Western Europe wants Russian gas, it should end sanctions against Moscow imposed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine seven months ago.
“My understanding is the leaks will not have a significant impact on Europe’s energy resilience,” Secretary Blinken said in Washington.
“This just drives home the importance of our efforts to work together to get alternative gas supplies to Europe and to support efforts to reduce gas consumption and accelerate true energy independence by moving to a clean energy economy,” a White House National Security Council spokesperson told VOA.
While the impact to Europe ahead of the winter as a result of the loss of the pipelines remains to be seen, the trio of leaks poses an immediate hazard to wildlife and maritime navigation.
The gas could suffocate animals and is an explosion threat to passing ships, according to environmental groups.
Contributors include Patsy Widakuswara at the White House; Nike Ching at the State Department, and Chris Hannas in Washington. Some information in this report came from Reuters.
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Horses Helping Wounded Ukranian War Vets Heal
Ukrainian war veterans who lost limbs in the war are undergoing a unique form of therapy that involves help from some four-legged friends. Omelyan Oshchudlyak has the story. Camera: Yuriy Dankevych
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UN Questions Taliban Claims of Good Security, Governance in Afghanistan
The United Nations warned Tuesday that de facto Taliban authorities are failing in their claims of security and good governance in Afghanistan as terrorist groups like Islamic State are increasingly conducting attacks across the country.
“Some of the Taliban’s claimed and acknowledged achievements are eroding,” Potzel Markus, deputy head of the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA, told the Security Council on Tuesday.
“In the past months, there has been a steady rise in security incidents monitored by UNAMA, both armed clashes and criminality, as well as high profile, deadly terrorist attacks.”
Claiming victory over foreign occupation, the Taliban say they have restored peace and tranquility in war-torn Afghanistan by reestablishing a purely Islamic emirate.
The U.N. has now challenged such Taliban claims by warning the security situation in the country is actually deteriorating.
“Our earlier warnings by the capabilities of the Islamic State Khorasan Province ISKP were dismissed by the Taliban, but ISKP has demonstrated in the last few months alone that it can carry out assassinations of figures close to the Taliban, attacks against foreign embassies, as well as fire rockets across Afghanistan’s border to attack its neighbors, all while maintaining its long-standing sectarian campaign against Shia Muslims and ethnic minorities,” said Markus.
Earlier, UNAMA had reported a significant reduction in Afghan civilian casualties of war since the Taliban seized power. From mid-August 2021 to mid-June 2022, at least 700 civilians were killed and more than 1,400 were wounded in the country, mostly in attacks perpetuated by the ISKP – a marked reduction from 2020, when UNAMA reported 3,035 deaths and 5,785 injuries.
No Taliban representative was present at the Security Council’s meeting, but a diplomat from the former Afghan government and a Taliban opposition activist were invited. The U.N. has refused repeated calls from the Taliban to accredit their diplomats at the world body.
Undemocratic governance
Members of the Security Council also have condemned the Taliban for the group’s undemocratic and often repressive governance style.
“On a daily basis, we hear reports from Afghanistan of Taliban repression, of night raids, extrajudicial killings and torture. Human rights defenders, journalists and media workers are being deliberately targeted,” said Fergal Mythen, Ireland’s representative to the U.N.
Since seizing power, the Taliban have dissolved Afghanistan’s parliament and election bodies, and they have appointed a male-only cabinet made of Islamic clerics.
“Most Afghans do not see themselves represented at all levels of governance. There are no consistent mechanisms for citizens to provide feedback to the authorities and little indication that the Taliban wish to even hear,” said Markus.
The U.N. has warned that the Taliban would push Afghanistan further into international isolation, poverty and internal strife unless the group fundamentally changes its governance.
“Leaders who oppose half of the country’s population [women] will not gain legitimacy, not from the Afghan people and not from the international community,” said Mona Juul, Norway’s representative at the U.N.
Taliban leaders have defended their governance, asserting the U.N. and other rights groups often present inaccurate and biased statements about the situation in Afghanistan.
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Russia: Ukrainians Widely Support Annexation in Four Regions; West Calls Vote ‘Sham’
Russia claimed Tuesday that early vote counting in what Western allies say are sham referendums showed Ukrainians in four regions overwhelmingly supporting joining Russia.
State news agency RIA Novosti said that with about a fifth of the vote counted from the five days of balloting in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, more than 97% of the voters in all four regions favored annexation. Together, the regions comprise about 15% of Ukraine’s territory.
The referendums have been widely denounced by Ukraine, the U.S. and other Western countries as an illegal exercise. No matter the outcome announced by Moscow, it is not expected to be accepted globally.
But the balloting, and the widely expected outcome purportedly favoring annexation, would give Russian President Vladimir Putin a pretext to unilaterally change the Russian-Ukraine border and annex the four regions. That, in turn, could portray any attack on them by Kyiv’s forces as an attack on Russia itself.
He said last week that he was willing to use nuclear weapons to defend the “territorial integrity” of Russia, a threat widely denounced by Ukraine, the U.S. and other Western countries that have sent billions of dollars to the Kyiv government to fend off Russia’s seven-month invasion.
Ukraine has also repeatedly warned that Russian annexation of additional land would destroy any chance of peace talks.
Some Ukrainians reported they were forced at gunpoint by Russian fighters to leave their homes to vote. Voting is ending Tuesday, with the U.S. saying in advance it will not recognize any outcome that Russia announces.
“We stand with our partners around the world in rejecting whatever fabricated outcomes Russia announces,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Monday.
“As far as what we are doing, we are prepared to impose additional swift and severe economic costs on Russia, along with our allies and partners, in response to these actions that we’re seeing currently if they move forward with annexation,” Jean-Pierre said. “We’ve been very clear about that.”
The voting began Friday in the Russian-controlled Luhansk and Kherson regions, and in occupied areas of the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.
Nuclear saber-rattling
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council and the country’s former president, said Tuesday that if Russia is threatened beyond a certain limit, it has the right to respond “without asking anyone’s consent and holding long consultations.”
“Let’s imagine that Russia is forced to use the most powerful weapon against the Ukrainian regime that has committed a large-scale act of aggression, which is dangerous for the very existence of our state,” Medvedev wrote on his messaging app channel. “I believe that NATO will steer clear from direct meddling in the conflict in that case.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CBS News’s “60 Minutes” show in an interview broadcast late Sunday that the United States has made it clear publicly and privately to Russia to “stop the loose talk about nuclear weapons.”
“It’s very important that Moscow hear from us and know from us that the consequences would be horrific, and we’ve made that very clear,” Blinken said.
A U.S. State Department official said Putin gave the United States and its allies a gift last week by engaging in nuclear saber-rattling, calling for the troop mobilization and announcing the referenda while the U.S. was at the United Nations “talking about sovereignty and international peace and security.” The official said Russia “couldn’t have timed it better to put a spotlight on the grave offenses that Russia is committing to Ukraine and the international order.”
Protests against mobilization
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported heavy fighting in several areas of Ukraine as he gave his nightly address Monday.
“The situation is particularly intense in the Donetsk region,” he said. “We are doing everything to curb the enemy activity. That is where our number one goal is right now, as Donbas is still the number one goal for the occupiers.”
Zelenskyy called Russia’s mobilization of 300,000 reservists “a sincere attempt to give commanders on the ground a constant stream of cannon fodder.”
Widespread protests against Putin’s troop call-up have erupted in Russia, with police arresting hundreds of demonstrators participating in street protests in Moscow and elsewhere.
In Russia’s Siberia region Monday, a 25-year-old man shot a military commandant at an enlistment center, the local governor said.
Many men opposed to Putin’s war or fearful of being killed on the battlefield have abruptly fled Russia on flights to other countries, while others have joined long lines of cars on land routes headed to the Russian borders with Finland, Georgia and other countries.
Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
your ad hereAs Ebola Spreads, Ugandan Medical Interns Strike Over Safety
As Uganda reports more deaths from the latest Ebola outbreak in the country, medical interns at the hospital handling most of the cases have gone on strike. The interns say they are not being provided with adequate personal protective equipment against the deadly virus, which causes a hemorrhagic fever. Uganda’s health ministry has so far confirmed five deaths and 18 probable fatalities out of 36 cases.
Ugandan Health officials say they are holding talks with striking interns at central Mubende district’s hospital, which is handling most of the country’s spreading Ebola outbreak.
President for the Federation for Uganda Medical Interns, Dr. Musa Lumumba, says there is not enough personal protective gear for the interns at the hospital.
Speaking to VOA by phone, he called on Uganda’s Ministry of Health to urgently address the issue to protect doctors-in-training.
“The issue of not having accommodation, so they stay in communities, which communities have got cases of Ebola,” Lumumba said. Protection of those at the frontline. And those at the frontline are the health care workers.”
Uganda Medical Association President, Dr. Samuel Oledo, told VOA one intern, three staff, and a medical student have been confirmed for exposure to the virus and at least three senior health officers (SHO) are showing symptoms.
“We have 34 interns in Mubende. And we have less than 12 doctors employed on the ground,” Oledo said. “If you have interns and they are pulling out at once, it’s catastrophic. And the justifications are clear, honestly. Results have come out today and one of the SHOs who actually performed surgeries with one of the interns on one case has become positive of Ebola.”
Oledo said they suspect as many as 104 medical students in Mubende hospital have been exposed to the virus.
Uganda’s Ministry of Health has yet to confirm the exposures and infections of students and staff at the hospital.
Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Ainebyoona denied there is a lack of protective equipment there to guard against Ebola.
“All the protective gear to safeguard their life is available,” Ainebyoona said. “But like [with] any other infectious disease, fear will be expected. But we are working to ensure that we engage and counsel. And ensure that there are teams to respond.”
Despite the spreading virus, Uganda’s Health Ministry said the situation is under control but acknowledged that three people suspected of being infected with the virus fled Mubende’s isolation unit on Monday.
Officials say security has been beefed up since to avoid a repeat.
Uganda’s Ebola outbreak was first detected last week in Mubende, a central district, but has since spread to neighboring districts Kyegegwa and Kasanda.
Some schools in Kyegegwa have shut down for two weeks to protect students.
First reports of a possible Ebola outbreak came from Kyegegwa’s Kyaka 11 refugee camp, raising alarm bells of a possible quick spread in the packed camp.
But testing ruled out an outbreak in the camp.
After Mubende’s cases were confirmed, the U.N.’s Refugee Agency UNHCR said it added controlled entry measures at refugee settlements.
“We are stepping up some assistance programs that had been curtailed due to lack of funding since July,” said Matthew Crentsil, the UNHCR Uganda representative. “That is procurement of soap. You would agree with me, this is fundamental in curbing the spread of Ebola.”
Uganda has yet to identify the source of the Ebola outbreak, which is the Sudan strain of the virus.
The Sudan strain is less common than the Zaire strain and has no current, effective vaccine.
Uganda’s last Ebola outbreak in 2019 was the Zaire strain. It last reported a Sudan strain outbreak in 2012.
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Kenyan Lawyer Charged With Bribing Witnesses in President’s ICC Case Found Dead
A Kenyan lawyer who was charged with bribing and threatening witnesses who were to testify against the country’s current president, William Ruto, has been found dead.
Kenyan police and family members of Paul Gicheru confirmed his death Monday night to local media.
It was not immediately clear what caused the 50-year-old lawyer’s death, and a police spokesman did not answer our calls.
The Kenyan Human Rights Commission told VOA news Gicheru’s death while he faced a trial before the International Criminal Court for alleged witness tampering is quite unfortunate. Senior program advisor Martin Mavenjina.
“It’s unfortunate that he has passed on under mysterious circumstances. As we speak right now there have not been conclusive investigations surrounding the circumstances of his death,” Mavenjina said.
Mavenjina says that he’s been keeping up on Gicheru for a long time and death is a big surprise.
“I have been keenly following Paul Gicheru since he surrendered to the ICC,” Mavenjina said. “At no point in time have we been informed that Paul Gicheru had any health conditions or underlying health conditions or was sick at any point in time. We received this news in shock yesterday because the way it was reported you know he was found dead at his house with foam coming out of his mouth.”
Gicheru was facing charges of bribing and threatening witnesses in a case against Kenya’s newly-elected president, William Ruto, and broadcaster Joshua Sang.
Ruto and Sang were among several Kenyans, including former president Uhuru Kenyatta, who were charged with prompting violence in the 2007 disputed election.
Street clashes over the election left more than 1,000 people dead and hundreds of thousands displaced.
The ICC declared a mistrial in 2016, citing witness tampering, and a trial against Gicheru and Sang began in February with Gicheru pleading not guilty.
ICC spokesperson Fadi El Abdallah told VOA he could not comment on Gicheru’s case until the confirmation of Gicheru’s death was submitted by Kenyan authorities to the trial chamber.
A statement issued by the Law Society of Kenya urged the inspector general of the National Police Service to ensure that thorough investigations are conducted. It goes on to say that it’s in the public domain that several witnesses in the ICC cases have either disappeared or died, therefore there is significant public interest in knowing what caused Gicheru’s death.
The group also wished a speedy recovery to Gicheru’s son, who was reportedly in the same house with his father at the time of his death and has been admitted to the hospital in critical condition.
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