EASTERN UKRAINE, Ukraine: Kateryna never takes pictures with comrades before going to the front line — its bad luck. Karina does not tell her mother she is going to the front.
Iana uses social media to try and raise the morale at home.
On another day of war in eastern Ukraine, the three are resting with their unit in a village before another rotation.
They agree to talk about their lives on the front line of a war they were not expecting, which has lasted more than five months — and felt like years.
Kateryna Novakivska, 29, is deputy commander of a unit in the Donbas, an industrial region in eastern Ukraine where fighting is raging.
The 29-year-old comes from Vinnytsia in central Ukraine, and had just graduated from an army academy when the war broke out. Her role is to provide the troops with moral and psychological support.
After speaking about the “satisfactory” morale among soldiers and the justness of Ukraine’s cause, she talks more personally about life on the front.
“The hardest thing for them is losing comrades,” she said.
For Kateryna, it is being able to distance herself from the soldiers’ horrific stories.
“They talk more easily with me because there are a lot of things that they cannot tell their loved ones,” she said.
Their biggest fear is being left behind on the battlefield — dead or wounded.
She remembers one day, May 28, when 11 soldiers were killed and around 20 went missing. In the chaos of war, some troops disappear and nobody knows what has happened to them.
Kateryna’s own greatest fear is being kidnapped by Russian soldiers, though she said she has “planned for everything.”
She has a small scar on her nose — left by an explosion in March.
The lotus flower tattoo on her forearm is a memory from her time in Volnovakha in 2017 — a town now in Russian-occupied territory that Kateryna said “no longer exists.”
On social media, Iana Pazdrii plays on the stereotypes of being a soldier, showing off her perfectly manicured nails as she drives an armored vehicle or clutches a Kalashnikov.
The 35-year-old has been fighting since the start of the invasion in Ukraine and, like all her comrades, has not seen her child for five months.
“I volunteered because I am a patriot and I felt I could be useful here and I am,” said Iana, who speaks of the army as “a family.”
Whenever she has time, she posts little glimpses of military life on Instagram or TikTok.
“Some soldiers have to live on ‘line zero’ under shelling,” she said, using a term frequently used in Ukraine for the front line.
“I try to show that we are keeping up morale despite everything, to tell people not to be afraid and that the army is doing everything to defend the country.
“But to be honest, it’s hard sometimes.”
Dozens of soldiers are killed every day on Ukraine’s eastern front, where Russian forces made major advances in May and June, taking over almost the whole of the Lugansk region.
Since then, the front line has moved little, but ruthless artillery battles between the two sides have intensified.
Karina, a former textile worker of Tajik origin who signed up to the army in 2020 on a two-year contract, drives her armored vehicle back and forth from the front line.
“When we are in position, it’s hard thinking about fellow soldiers, hoping that nobody will be killed or wounded, that you yourself will not come under attack,” said the young woman, who is also a mechanic.
Her husband is anxiously waiting for her at home — but she said “nobody tells me what to do.”
When Karina calls her mother, she said: “I don’t tell her I’m at line zero and she pretends to believe me.”
Karina has no illusions — she does not think the war will be over soon.
“The Russians have already taken a lot of territory” in Ukraine, she said.
Her sister-in-arms Iana insisted there was no option but victory.
“Whatever happens, we will win. We do not have the right to lose,” she said.
After the war, Iana wants to travel to the Caribbean and South America.
“I need to fulfil my dreams. I think I deserve it,” she smiled.
Women at war: Life on eastern Ukraine’s front lines
https://arab.news/zmcen
Women at war: Life on eastern Ukraine’s front lines
- Karina does not tell her mother she is going to the front
- Iana uses social media to try and raise the morale at home
Afghanistan bets on ‘red gold’ for global market presence
- Afghanistan is the world’s second-largest saffron producer
- Afghan saffron considered world’s best by International Taste Institute
KABUL: With the saffron harvest season underway in Afghanistan, local traders are expecting better yields than in previous years, sparking hopes that exports of the precious crop, known locally as “red gold,” will help improve the country’s battered economy.
Afghanistan is the world’s second-largest saffron producer, after Iran. In June, the Belgium-based International Taste Institute named Afghan saffron as the world’s best for the ninth consecutive year.
Saffron is the world’s most expensive spice, selling for around $2,000 per kilogram. Its exports provide critical foreign currency to Afghanistan, where US-imposed sanctions have severely affected the economy since the Taliban took control in 2021.
With this year’s saffron yield expected to exceed 50 tons — roughly double that of the 2023 and 2022 seasons — the government and the Afghanistan National Saffron Union are looking to boost exports.
“The harvest of saffron this year is good. During the first nine months (of 2024), Afghanistan exported around 46 tons of saffron to different countries,” Abdulsalam Jawad Akhundzada, spokesperson at the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, told Arab News. “Everywhere our traders want to export saffron we support them through air corridors and facilitating the participation of Afghan traders in national and international exhibitions.”
Known to have been cultivated for at least 2,000 years, saffron is well suited to Afghanistan’s dry climate, especially in Herat, where 90 percent of Afghan saffron is produced. Most saffron trading is also centered in the province, which last weekend inaugurated its International Saffron Trade Center to facilitate exports.
“The new center has been established in accordance with global standards and will bring major processing and trade companies to one place, providing a single venue for farmers to trade their products in the best possible conditions,” Mohammad Ibrahim Adil, head of the Afghanistan National Saffron Union, told Arab News.
The union’s main export market is India, where saffron is a common ingredient in food, followed by the GCC — especially Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
“Saffron exports bring much-needed foreign currency to Afghanistan, contributing significantly to stabilization of the financial cycle in the country,” said Qudratullah Rahmati, the saffron union’s deputy head.
The union estimates that saffron contributes about $100 million to the Afghan economy a year.
Around 95 percent of the workers in the saffron industry are women, according to the union.
“Saffron production is supporting many families, especially women, during the harvest and processing phase through short- and long-term employment opportunities. There are around 80-85 registered saffron companies in Herat. The small ones employ four to five people while the bigger ones have up to 80 permanent staff,” Rahmati explained.
Harvesting saffron is difficult and time-consuming work. The flowers are handpicked, and their tiny orange stigmas are separated for drying. Roughly 440,000 stigmas are needed to produce one kilogram of the fragrant spice.
The harvest season usually begins sometime in October or November and lasts just a few weeks.
32 killed in new sectarian violence in Pakistan
- Senior police officer said Saturday armed men torched shops, houses and government property overnight
- Although the two groups generally live together peacefully, tensions remain, especially in Kurram
PESHAWAR, Pakistan: At least 32 people were killed and 47 wounded in sectarian clashes in northwest Pakistan, an official said on Saturday, two days after attacks on Shiite passenger convoys killed 43.
Sporadic fighting between Sunni and Shiite Muslims in the mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan has killed around 150 over the past months.
“Fighting between Shiite and Sunni communities continues at multiple locations. According to the latest reports, 32 people have been killed which include 14 Sunnis and 18 Shiites,” a senior administrative official said on condition of anonymity on Saturday.
On Thursday, gunmen opened fire on two separate convoys of Shiite Muslims traveling with police escort in Kurram, killing 43 while 11 wounded are still in “critical condition,” officials told AFP.
In retaliation Shiite Muslims on Friday evening attacked several Sunni locations in the Kurram district, once a semi-autonomous region, where sectarian violence has resulted in the deaths of hundreds over the years.
“Around 7 p.m. (1400 GMT), a group of enraged Shiite individuals attacked the Sunni-dominated Bagan Bazaar,” a senior police officer stationed in Kurram said.
“After firing, they set the entire market ablaze and entered nearby homes, pouring petrol and setting them on fire. Initial reports suggest over 300 shops and more than 100 houses have been burned,” he said.
Local Sunnis “also fired back at the attackers,” he added.
Javedullah Mehsud, a senior official in Kurram said there were “efforts to restore peace ... (through) the deployment of security forces” and with the help of “local elders.”
After Thursday’s attacks that killed 43, including seven women and three children, thousands of Shiite Muslims took to the streets in various cities of Pakistan on Friday.
Several hundred people demonstrated in Lahore, Pakistan’s second city and Karachi, the country’s commercial hub.
In Parachinar, the main town of Kurram district, thousands participated in a sit-in, while hundreds attended the funerals of the victims, mainly Shiite civilians.
Tribal and family feuds are common in Sunni-majority Pakistan, where the Shiite community has long suffered discrimination and violence.
The latest violence drew condemnation from officials and human rights groups.
The independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) urged authorities this month to pay “urgent attention” to the “alarming frequency of clashes” in the region, warning that the situation has escalated to “the proportions of a humanitarian crisis.”
“The fact that local rival groups clearly have access to heavy weaponry indicates that the state has been unable to control the flow of arms into the region,” HRCP said in a statement.
Last month, at least 16 people, including three women and two children, were killed in a sectarian clash in the district.
Previous clashes in July and September killed dozens of people and ended only after a jirga, or tribal council, called a ceasefire. HRCP said 79 people died between July and October in sectarian violences
These clashes and attacks come just days after at least 20 soldiers were killed in separate incidents in the province.
Pakistan locks down capital ahead of a planned rally by Imran Khan supporters
- Interior Ministry is considering a suspension of mobile phone services in parts of Pakistan in the coming days
- Pakistan has banned gatherings of five or more people in Islamabad for two months to deter Khan’s supporters
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is sealing off its capital, Islamabad, ahead of a planned rally by supporters of imprisoned former premier Imran Khan.
It’s the second time in as many months that authorities have imposed such measures to thwart tens of thousands of people from gathering in the city to demand Khan’s release.
The latest lockdown coincides with the visit of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who arrives in Islamabad on Monday.
Local media reported that the Interior Ministry is considering a suspension of mobile phone services in parts of Pakistan in the coming days. On Friday, the National Highways and Motorway Police announced that key routes would close for maintenance.
It advised people to avoid unnecessary travel and said the decision was taken following intelligence reports that “angry protesters” are planning to create a law and order situation and damage public and private property on Sunday, the day of the planned rally.
“There are reports that protesters are coming with sticks and slingshots,” the statement added.
Multicolored shipping containers, a familiar sight to people living and working in Islamabad, reappeared on key roads Saturday to throttle traffic.
Pakistan has already banned gatherings of five or more people in Islamabad for two months to deter Khan’s supporters and activists from his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, or PTI.
Khan has been in prison for more than a year in connection and has over 150 criminal cases against him. But he remains popular and the PTI says the cases are politically motivated.
A three-day shutdown was imposed in Islamabad for a security summit last month.
Indian man awakes on funeral pyre
- Doctors sent Rohitash Kumar, 25, to mortuary instead of conducting postmortem after he fell ill
- Kumar was rushed to hospital on Friday for treatment but was confirmed dead later
JAIPUR: An Indian man awoke on a funeral pyre moments before it was to be set on fire after a doctor skipped a postmortem, medical officials said Saturday.
Rohitash Kumar, 25, who had speaking and hearing difficulties, had fallen sick and was taken to a hospital in Jhunjhunu in the western state of Rajasthan on Thursday.
Indian media reported he had had an epileptic seizure, and a doctor declared him dead on arrival at the hospital.
But instead of the required postmortem to ascertain the cause of death, doctors sent him to the mortuary, and then to be burned according to Hindu rites.
D. Singh, chief medical officer of the hospital, told AFP that a doctor had “prepared the postmortem report without actually doing the postmortem, and the body was then sent for cremation.”
Singh said that “shortly before the pyre was to be lit, Rohitash’s body started movements,” adding that “he was alive and was breathing.”
Kumar was rushed to hospital for a second time, but was confirmed dead on Friday during treatment.
Authorities have suspended the services of three doctors and the police have launched an investigation.
NATO chief discusses ‘global security’ with Trump
- NATO allies say keeping Kyiv in the fight against Moscow is key to both European and American security
Brussels: NATO chief Mark Rutte held talks with US President-elect Donald Trump in Florida on the “global security issues facing the alliance,” a spokeswoman said Saturday.
The meeting took place on Friday in Palm Beach, NATO’s Farah Dakhlallah said in a statement.
In his first term Trump aggressively pushed Europe to step up defense spending and questioned the fairness of the NATO transatlantic alliance.
The former Dutch prime minister had said he wanted to meet Trump two days after Trump was elected on November 5, and discuss the threat of increasingly warming ties between North Korea and Russia.
Trump’s thumping victory to return to the US presidency has set nerves jangling in Europe that he could pull the plug on vital Washington military aid for Ukraine.
NATO allies say keeping Kyiv in the fight against Moscow is key to both European and American security.
“What we see more and more is that North Korea, Iran, China and of course Russia are working together, working together against Ukraine,” Rutte said recently at a European leaders’ meeting in Budapest.
“At the same time, Russia has to pay for this, and one of the things they are doing is delivering technology to North Korea,” which he warned was threatening to the “mainland of the US (and) continental Europe.”
“I look forward to sitting down with Donald Trump to discuss how we can face these threats collectively,” Rutte said.
