KYIV: Moments after wailing air raid sirens stopped short Eva Evstratenko’s gymnastics class, forcing the nine-year-old into a basement for shelter, she was back on the mat, determined to keep pushing.
“I’ve been doing gymnastics for four years, and I want to become an Olympic champion,” she told AFP. “Every gymnast wants that.”
Nearly one year after Russia invaded Ukraine, the epicenter of fighting has shifted to the east of the country and away from Evstratenko’s home city of Kyiv.
But frequent Russian missile strikes and daily warnings of aerial attacks have disrupted routines for millions in the capital and upset Evstratenko’s goal to become a star.
Behind Evstratenko, whose blond hair was tied in a tight bun, her classmates were swirling, practicing jumps, leaps and cartwheels.
Their coach Anastasia Provotorova is just as motivated to keep at it, preparing her would-be champions for competition despite constraints brought on by Russia’s assault.
“We came back up and continued to train because the sirens stopped, but now we are without electricity,” Provotorova said, watching over her proteges.
The children were “supposed to be training at this time,” she said.
Power cuts have become the norm too, with Russia targeting energy infrastructure in recent months.
The UN has warned these attacks put almost seven million children at risk, without sustained access to electricity, heating and water.
“Our children are not giving up, they are full of spirit,” Provotorova said.
But still the fighting has brought psychological hardship to children throughout Ukraine. More than 400 have been killed and many more injured, Kyiv says.
“The first day of war was the worst day of my life... we woke up in panic,” the nine-year-old Evstratenko told AFP.
“You have no idea what to do. It’s scary,” she said.
More than two million children left the country, while another three million were displaced internally between February and June, the UN has said.
Evstratenko, her parents and brother Demyan left their home too, relocating to western Ukraine where they remained for seven months.
“It wasn’t as good as it was at home. You feel that you aren’t where you were born,” Evstratenko said.
The family have since returned to their small Kyiv apartment and are adjusting to life under Russian bombardment.
When power goes off, Evstratenko’s parents set the table for candle-lit dinners in their kitchen under twinkling fairy lights.
They also constantly monitor signs of incoming missile attacks.
“It’s a lot more difficult at night. You hope that even if the missiles do come that they won’t hit you,” Evstratenko’s father, Andriy, said.
Back in the gymnastics studio, Evstratenko says the threat of missile attacks are impacting her training too.
Anytime she goes to shelter, she has to warm up all over again, leaving less time to actually improve.
“Classes are shorter and there are no extra classes, so it’s more difficult to get back into the form that I used to have,” she said.
In Ukraine, a young gymnast’s Olympic dreams hit by war
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In Ukraine, a young gymnast’s Olympic dreams hit by war
- "I've been doing gymnastics for four years, and I want to become an Olympic champion," Eva Evstratenko told AFP
- Frequent Russian missile strikes and daily warnings of aerial attacks have upset her goal to become a star
Trial opens into UK stabbing spree that sparked riots over misinformation attacker was Muslim
- Authorities blame far-right agitators for violence, including by sharing misinformation alleged attacker was Muslim asylum seeker
- Unrest, which lasted several days, saw far-right rioters attack police, shops, hotels housing asylum seekers and mosques
LONDON: The trial of a teenager accused of killing three young girls in a stabbing spree last year that sparked the UK’s most violent riots in a decade is set to begin Monday.
Axel Rudakubana, 18, is due to stand trial at Liverpool Crown Court, accused of murdering three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class last year in Southport, northwest England.
Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, were killed in the attack in the seaside resort near Liverpool on July 29, 2024.
Ten others were injured, including eight children, in one of the country’s worst mass stabbings in years.
Rudakubana faces a total of 16 charges, including three counts of murder, 10 counts of attempted murder and one count of possessing a blade days after the attack.
The trial is expected to last four weeks after pleas of not guilty were entered on his behalf.
The stabbings sent shock waves across the UK, triggering unrest and riots in more than a dozen English and Northern Irish towns and cities, including in Southport and Liverpool.
Authorities blamed far-right agitators for fueling violence, including by sharing misinformation claiming the alleged attacker was a Muslim asylum seeker.
The unrest, which lasted several days, saw far-right rioters attack police, shops, hotels housing asylum seekers and mosques, with hundreds of participants subsequently arrested and charged.
Rudakubana was born in Wales to parents of Rwandan origin and lived in Banks, a village northeast of Southport.
Despite being 17 years old at the time, restrictions on reporting Rudakubana’s name were lifted in August due to concerns over the spread of misinformation.
“Continuing to prevent the full reporting has the disadvantage of allowing others to spread misinformation, in a vacuum,” judge Andrew Menary said as he lifted the restrictions.
Taylor Swift, then in the middle of her Eras tour, wrote on Instagram that she “was completely in shock” the day after the attack on the dance class at the start of the school holidays.
The pop star reportedly met two of the survivors of the attack during her August shows in London.
The UK’s head of state King Charles III also traveled to Southport in August to meet with survivors, inspecting a sea of floral tributes laid outside the city’s town hall.
And Catherine, Princess of Wales, and Prince William visited Southport in October “to show support to the local community,” Kensington Palace said. It was their first joint public engagement since Kate ended a course of chemotherapy for cancer.
In October, the suspect was charged with two additional offenses in relation to evidence obtained “during searches of Axel Rudakubana’s home address” following the attack, the Crown Prosecution Services (CPS), which brings public prosecutions, said.
The charges were for the “production of a biological toxin, namely ricin,” and “possessing information ... likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.”
The terrorism offense related to suspicion of possessing an Al-Qaeda training manual, although the attack was not treated as a terrorist incident.
Following speculation on social media related to policing decisions in the case, Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said she realized the added charges could trigger fresh rumors.
“We would strongly advise caution against anyone speculating as to motivation in this case,” Kennedy was quoted as saying.
She urged people to be patient and “don’t believe everything you read on social media.”
Rudakubana has appeared in several hearings since the attack, often wearing a grey sweatshirt, and refusing to speak in all of them.
In the last hearing in December, he appeared via videolink at Liverpool Crown Court from high-security Belmarsh prison, in southeast London.
The Attorney General and Merseyside police have warned the press and public against publishing any material that risks prejudicing the trial.
Russia says captured two more villages in east Ukraine
MOSCOW: Russian forces have captured two more villages in east Ukraine, including one just a few kilometers from Pokrovsk, a key supply hub for Kyiv’s forces, the defense ministry said Monday.
Army units “liberated” Shevchenko and Novoyegorivka in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Lugansk respectively, it said. Shevchenko is around three kilometers (two miles) from Pokrovsk.
Indian police volunteer gets life sentence for rape, murder of Kolkata junior doctor
- Sanjay Roy was convicted by judge Anirban Das on Saturday who said circumstantial evidence had proved the charges against him
- The sentence was announced in a packed courtroom as the judge allowed the public to witness proceedings on Monday
KOLKATA: An Indian court awarded the life sentence on Monday to a police volunteer convicted of the rape and murder of a junior doctor at the hospital where she worked in the eastern city of Kolkata.
The woman’s body was found in a classroom at the state-run R G Kar Medical College and Hospital on Aug. 9. Other doctors stayed off work for weeks to demand justice for her and better security at public hospitals, as the crime sparked national outrage over a lack of safety for women.
Sanjay Roy, the police volunteer, was convicted by judge Anirban Das on Saturday who said circumstantial evidence had proved the charges against Roy.
Roy said he was innocent and that he had been framed, and sought clemency.
The federal police, who investigated the case, said the crime belonged to the “rarest-of-rare” category and Roy, therefore, deserved the death penalty.
Judge Das said it was not a “rarest-of-rare” crime, adding that Roy could go in appeal to a higher court.
The sentence was announced in a packed courtroom as the judge allowed the public to witness proceedings on Monday. The speedy trial in the court was not open to the public.
The parents of the junior doctor were among those in court on Monday. Security was stepped up with dozens of police personnel deployed at the court complex.
Myanmar military, minority armed group agree ceasefire, China says
- The two sides held talks in China’s southwestern city of Kunming
- Analysts say China is worried about the advance of anti-junta forces
BEIJING: The Myanmar military and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) signed a formal agreement for a ceasefire that began on Saturday, China’s foreign ministry said, halting fighting near the border of both countries.
The two sides held talks in China’s southwestern city of Kunming where they thanked Beijing for its efforts to promote peace, ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said during a regular news briefing on Monday.
“Cooling down the situation in the north of Myanmar is in the common interest of all parties in Myanmar and all countries in the region, and contributes to the security, stability and development of the border areas between China and Myanmar,” she said.
China will continue to actively promote peace and dialogue and provide support and assistance to the peace process in northern Myanmar, Mao said.
The MNDAA is one of several ethnic minority armed groups fighting to repel the military from what they consider their territories.
It is part of the so-called Three Brotherhood Alliance, with the Ta’ang National Liberation Army and the Arakan Army, that launched an offensive against the military junta in late October 2023 seizing swathes of territory near the border with China.
The MNDAA, made up of ethnic Chinese, said last July it had taken control of a major military base near the Chinese border.
Analysts say China is worried about the advance of anti-junta forces which have pushed the military out of vital borderlands and started making inroads toward the central city of Mandalay.
The military seized power from Myanmar’s civilian government in February 2021, plunging the country into crisis.
China fears chaos along its more than 2,000 kilometer long border with Myanmar would jeopardize investment and trade.
Beijing previously brokered a ceasefire deal in the northern borderlands in January 2024, but the deal broke down a few months later.
France to keep fighting for release of French-Israeli hostages, says foreign minister
PARIS: France will keep fighting to obtain the release of the two French-Israeli nationals held by Hamas, foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot told BFM TV on Monday.
“We will continue to fight until the last hour for their release,” Barrot told BFM TV, adding France had “no news on their health status nor on the terms of their detention.”
Hamas released three Israeli hostages and Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners on Sunday, on the first day of a ceasefire suspending a 15-month-old war that has devastated the Gaza Strip and inflamed the Middle East.
French-Israeli nationals Ofer Kalderon and Ohad Yahalomi are expected to be on the list of 33 hostages to be released in the first phase of the draft Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal.
