UNITED NATIONS: Nearly two-thirds of all Ukrainian children have fled their homes in the six weeks since Russia’s invasion, and the United Nations has verified the deaths of 142 youngsters, though the number is almost certainly much higher, the UN children’s agency said Monday.
Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF’s emergency programs director who just returned from Ukraine, said having 4.8 million of Ukraine’s 7.5 million children displaced in such a short time is “quite incredible.” He said it is something he hadn’t before seen happen so quickly in 31 years of humanitarian work.
“They have been forced to leave everything behind — their homes, their schools and, often, their family members,” he told the UN Security Council. “I have heard stories of the desperate steps parents are taking to get their children to safety, and children saddened that they are unable to get back to school.”
Ukraine’s UN ambassador, Sergiy Kyslytsya, claimed Russia has taken more than 121,000 children out of Ukraine and reportedly drafted a bill to simplify and accelerate adoption procedures for orphans and even those who have parents and other relatives. He said most of the children were removed from the besieged southern port city of Mariupol and taken to eastern Donetsk and then to the Russian city of Taganrog, he said.
Fontaine said UNICEF has heard the same reports, but added that “we don’t have yet the access that we need to have to be able to look and verify and see if we can assist.”
He said that of Ukraine’s refugee children, 2.8 million are displaced within Ukraine and 2 million more are in other countries. At the same time, he said, nearly half the estimated 3.2 million children still in their homes in Ukraine “may be at risk of not having enough food,” with those in besieged cities like Mariupol facing the most dire situation.
Fontaine said school closings are affecting the education of 5.7 million younger children and 1.5 million students in higher education.
“Hundreds of schools and educational facilities have been attacked or used for military purposes,” he said. “Others are serving as shelters for civilians.”
The council also heard from Sima Bahous, the executive director of the UN Women agency, who recently returned from Moldova, which is hosting an estimated 95,000 Ukrainian refugees.
Bahous said her agency is increasingly hearing allegations of rape and sexual violence. She said Moldova’s government and border police are also very concerned at the risk of human trafficking, especially of young women and unaccompanied teenagers.
“The combination of mass displacement with the large presence of conscripts and mercenaries, and the brutality displayed against Ukrainian civilians, has raised all red flags,” she said.
Ukraine’s ambassador said his country’s prosecutor’s office is now investigating a case in the Kyiv region in which a Russia soldier is alleged to have killed a local resident and then repeatedly raped his wife in their home. He said the alleged perpetrator has been identified.
Kyslytsya said the Prosecutor General’s Office, in cooperation with investigation agencies and health facilities, is also installing “a special mechanism” to document cases of sexual violence by Russian soldiers.
The Security Council meeting on the impact of the war on women and children was convened by the US and Albania during Britain’s presidency of the body.
The three countries, Ukraine and other council members attacked Russia for creating the dire situation for women and children, which Russian deputy ambassador Dmitry Polyansky vehemently denied.
US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said that when men like Russian President Vladimir Putin “start wars, women and children get displaced,” hurt, raped and abused, and they die.
“Since the start of Russia’s unprovoked war against Ukraine, Russia has bombed orphanages and maternity hospitals,” she said. “We’ve seen mass graves with dead children stacked on top of each other.”
Albanian Ambassador Ferit Hoxha accused Russia of committing “unspeakable crimes” every day, including burning civilians, throwing bodies in mass graves, shooting into playgrounds, attacking schools on purpose, and leaving all Ukrainians suffering, especially women and children.
“In their normal life, children draw parents, houses and trees. Russia’s war has made Ukraine kids draw bombs, tanks and weapons,” Hoxha said.
Both the US and Albanian ambassadors, and many others, pointed to the discovery of bodies, some with hands tied behind their backs, in the town of Bucha on the outskirts of Kyiv following the withdrawal of Russian troops, and the missile that killed at least 52 mainly women and children at the train station in eastern Kramatorsk. Hoxha noted that the missile had “a vicious signature, `for our children.’”
Polyansky blamed “Ukrainian Nazis” for civilian killings in Bucha and the bombing at the Kramatorsk station, which he called “a classic false flag operation.”
He accused Ukraine and its public relations experts, along with the West, of promoting “fakes and propaganda” as part of “the information war unleashed against Russia.”
“That war is as intense as the military operations on the ground,” he said.
Lord Tariq Ahmad of Britain, who presided over the meeting, countered that Russia again was trying to deflect from the reality on the ground “by what can only be described as quite extraordinary statements, and even lies.”
“Yet, what is true, what is fact, is that Russian attacks on civilians and residential areas have been truly barbaric,” he said.
UN: Nearly two-thirds of Ukraine’s children have fled homes
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UN: Nearly two-thirds of Ukraine’s children have fled homes
- Ukraine’s UN ambassador, Sergiy Kyslytsya, claimed Russia has taken more than 121,000 children out of Ukraine and reportedly drafted a bill to simplify and accelerate adoption procedures for orphans
Putin and Trump exchanged World War Two anniversary greetings via aides, Kremlin says
Russia marked the anniversary on Friday
MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump congratulated each other via their aides on the 80th anniversary of the Soviet and allied victory in World War Two over Nazi Germany, the Kremlin said on Friday.
’Through their aides, the Russian president and President Trump exchanged congratulations on the occasion of our common celebration,” Yuri Ushakov, a foreign policy adviser to Putin, told state TV’s Channel One.
“These were warm words, mutual congratulations on our common great celebration,” Ushakov said.
Russia marked the anniversary on Friday with a military parade on Moscow’s Red Square attended by dozens of world leaders, including China’s Xi Jinping.
The TASS state news agency reported that Lynne Tracy, the US ambassador to Russia, had not been present at the parade.
Weary border residents in Indian-administered Kashmir struggle to survive
- Villagers hid in bunkers, behind rocks and bushes on mountain slopes, many watched their homes being reduced to rubble
- Exchange of heavy fire has destroyed or severely damaged dozens of homes along the border, forcing many to flee
URI, India: Mohammad Naseem says his neighbors laughed when he borrowed money and built a concrete bunker under his home in a village near the disputed Kashmir border.
But this week, when mortar bombs rained in Salamabad, 38 people — men, women, and children — huddled in it as about a dozen shells exploded outside in quick succession.
One of them destroyed Naseem’s home.
“Many of us would have died had we not moved into the bunker,” Naseem, a 34-year-old hotel chef, told AFP.
“We grabbed our children and rushed inside. It got so packed that after some time we felt suffocated, two of our children became unconscious,” he said.
“The children had to be hospitalized after daybreak when the shelling stopped.”
Other villagers hid behind rocks and bushes on the mountain slopes. Some watched their homes being reduced to rubble.
Deadly confrontations between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan erupted after New Delhi accused Islamabad of backing an April 22 attack on tourists on the Indian-administered side of the disputed territory, which killed 26 people.
Pakistan denies the charge.
“We took our children out and went up the mountain slope holding them tightly as bombs exploded around us,” Naseer Ahmed Khan, 50, said outside his damaged house on Thursday.
“Our life is worth nothing. At any time, entire families could be wiped out,” Khan said. “Our children are not able to sleep and we cannot have a meal in peace.”
The exchange of heavy fire has destroyed or severely damaged dozens of homes in Uri, about 100 kilometers (66 miles) from the Kashmir capital Srinagar, forcing many to flee to safer areas in towns like Baramulla, about 50 kilometers away.
Sajjad Shafi, a local lawmaker told AFP that about 10 percent of Uri’s population — some 22,000 people — fled since the latest fighting began.
On Friday, many more were fleeing in buses and trucks provided by the government or driving off in their own cars.
“How can we stay here?” Rubina Begum said outside her destroyed home. “The government should lodge us somewhere safe.”
Begum’s daughter, Saima Talib, added: “We have nothing left except the clothes we are wearing.”
Displaced people are struggling to find food and work and many are now sheltering in government buildings in Uri.
Mohammad Lateef Bhat, a road construction worker, said: “I work as a laborer with army’s border roads organization but their work also stopped.”
“This morning I came to the market looking for work but there is nothing,” Bhat said.
Some vegetable sellers briefly set up shop before closing.
Mohammad Bashir was also despondent.
“I came to the market to find some work so I can buy some food for my family (of eight) but there is nothing,” Bashir, 60, said.
The death toll from India and Pakistan’s biggest clashes in decades passed 50 on Friday with each accusing the other of staging drone attacks in waves.
Farooq Ahmed Khan, 35, a bus driver from Sultandhaki village near the border, said “this fighting has made our life miserable.”
Nagni, a rare mixed settlement of Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs, sits on mountain slopes near the Indian army’s border headquarters in Uri.
Villagers say 35 of the 50 families there have fled.
Badal, a 22-year-old student who only gave his first name, was cleaning up after his sister’s wedding at his freshly painted home.
He showed a crater caused by a mortar bomb that landed a few meters away on the night of the wedding.
“Luckily there was no loss of life but a lot of damage. What we need.. is bunkers, but there are none.”
“This village has always been a target of Pakistani attacks in the past because the (Indian) army headquarters are nearby,” said Sahil Kumar, another Nagni resident.
Locals say they are fed up.
“I say there should be a war just to decide where Kashmir goes,” said Farooq Ahmed Khan, the bus driver.
“I will also go to fight in that war so that this trouble ends for good,” Khan said.
Kyiv’s EU allies endorse tribunal to try Russian leaders
- “Russia’s aggression cannot go unpunished and therefore establishing this tribunal is extremely important,” EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas said
- The new tribunal is not expected to be able to try Putin while he is in office
LVIV, Ukraine: Ukraine’s EU allies on Friday endorsed the creation of a tribunal to try Russia’s top leaders over the invasion, as Kyiv pushes for Vladimir Putin himself to be brought to justice.
EU foreign ministers were gathering in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv in a symbolic show of support on the same day Russia commemorates the end of World War II with a grand military parade in Moscow.
European efforts to create the tribunal appear to have sped up since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House, courting Putin in a bid to end the war and raising fears Moscow could escape justice for good.
“There is no space for impunity. Russia’s aggression cannot go unpunished and therefore establishing this tribunal is extremely important,” EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas said.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague has already issued arrest warrants for Putin and other Russian officials for the forced deportation of children and strikes on Ukraine’s energy targets.
But the ICC doesn’t have the jurisdiction to prosecute Russia for the more fundamental decision to launch the invasion in the first place.
However, the new tribunal is not expected to be able to try Putin while he is in office due to a principle of international law that gives immunity to presidents, prime ministers and foreign ministers.
“This tribunal is being set up to pass appropriate sentences in the future,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said in Lviv.
He added Kyiv wanted the “inevitable punishment for all,” including the “president of Russia, the prime minister of Russia and the foreign minister of Russia.”
Putin earlier on Friday had evoked Soviet victory over Nazi Germany to rally the country round his three-year offensive at a grand military parade in Moscow in front of key allies, including China’s Xi Jinping.
There are fears in Ukraine that Russian officials may escape justice, especially after Trump initiated a rapprochement with Putin in the hopes of ending the war.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs jury to be seated in hip-hop mogul’s sex trafficking trial
- Combs pleads not guilty to racketeering, sex trafficking
- Twelve jurors and six alternates to be chosen
NEW YORK: A jury of 12 New Yorkers is due to be chosen on Friday in the racketeering and sex trafficking trial of hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, who could face decades or even life in prison if convicted.
The rapper has pleaded not guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy, two counts of sex trafficking and two counts of transportation for prostitution — all felonies.
Over three days this week, the judge overseeing the case questioned nearly 100 prospective jurors on subjects including what they had heard about Combs’ case and any experiences they had had with sexual assault.
With input from defense lawyers and prosecutors, US District Judge Arun Subramanian in Manhattan dismissed the jurors he deemed unfit to serve and settled on 45 candidates qualified to serve fairly and impartially.
On Friday, lawyers for each side will take turns striking candidates until a panel of 12 jurors and six alternates is chosen — a chess match with potentially decisive implications in the outcome of the trial.
Combs, a Harlem native who founded the pioneering record label Bad Boy Records and discovered iconic rappers including the Notorious B.I.G., was arrested last September and has been held in a Brooklyn federal lockup since then.
The charges marked the stunning downfall of a titan of the music industry who once held a ceremonial key to the city of New York and was known for throwing lavish parties for A-list celebrities.
Prosecutors with the Manhattan US Attorney’s office say that for two decades Combs used his business empire to lure women into his orbit with promises of romantic relationships or financial support, then violently coerced them to take part in days-long, drug-fueled sexual performances known as “Freak Offs.”
In court papers, prosecutors allege Combs kept his victims obedient by drugging and blackmailing them. He is accused of kidnapping a person at gunpoint, dropping a Molotov cocktail into a car and hitting, choking and dragging victims in acts of violence dating back to the 1990s.
Combs’ lawyers have said prosecutors are improperly seeking to criminalize Combs’ “swinger lifestyle.” They have signaled they plan to attack the credibility of the alleged victims who will testify by seeking to show they had financial incentives to accuse Combs. They have said the women gave inconsistent accounts of the alleged assaults to investigators.
Subramanian has said the trial will last around eight weeks, with the alternate jurors serving as backups in case jurors are unable to finish. Any verdict must be unanimous.
The trial is expected to feature testimony from three, or possibly four, accusers including Combs’ ex-girlfriend Casandra Ventura, a rhythm and blues singer known professionally as Cassie.
Combs faces more than 50 civil lawsuits accusing him of sexual assault, including one by a plaintiff who says he was 10 years old at the time of the alleged attack.
Combs has denied wrongdoing in those cases and claimed his accusers are seeking a payday.
Ukraine says it uncovered a Hungarian espionage network, two suspects arrested
- The activities of the suspected spies were focused on the western Ukraine region of Zakarpattia
- The Hungarian government, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, has also threatened to bloc EU financial assistance to Ukraine
KYIV, Ukraine: Ukraine’s main security agency said Friday it had arrested two people on suspicion of spying for Hungary by gathering intelligence on Ukraine’s military in the west of the country.
In a statement, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said that two suspects, both former members of the Ukrainian military, had been detained and face charges of treason, which is punishable by life imprisonment. It was the first time in Ukraine’s history that a Hungarian espionage operation had been discovered, the statement said.
The activities of the suspected spies were focused on the western Ukraine region of Zakarpattia, which borders Hungary and is home to a sizeable Hungarian ethnic minority. Budapest and Kyiv have clashed over the rights of Hungarians in Zakarpattia, most of which was part of Hungary until the end of World War I.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó did not directly deny the allegations of a Hungarian espionage cell operating in Ukraine, but suggested that the SBU’s claims could be classified as “anti-Hungarian propaganda.”
“I urge everyone to exercise caution against any news that appears in Ukrainian propaganda,” Szijjártó told a news conference on Friday. “If we get any details or official information, then we can deal with it.”
Hungary, a member of NATO and the European Union, has taken an adversarial approach to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, refusing to supply Kyiv with weaponry or to allow its transfer across Hungarian territory.
The Hungarian government, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, has also threatened to bloc EU financial assistance to Ukraine, argued against sanctions on Russia and opposed Ukraine’s eventual membership in the EU.
Orbán is widely seen as having the warmest relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin among EU leaders, though he has acknowledged that the war was a result of Russian aggression.
The SBU said both suspected spies were overseen by a career officer of Hungary’s military intelligence, whose identity had also been established. That officer supplied the network with cash and a special device for covert communication to support the operation, and had attempted to recruit other individuals into the network, the SBU said.
The Hungarian Defense Ministry and Military National Security Service did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
