RiyadMedia

French President Emmanuel Macron and far-right rival Marine Le Pen on Thursday prepared for a final rush of campaigning before France’s presidential election after an acrimonious debate where they clashed over relations with Russia and the Islamic headscarf.

France faces a stark choice in Sunday’s second-round run-off between the centrist Macron and the anti-immigration Le Pen, who will seek to become the country’s first far-right head of state in an outcome that would send shockwaves around Europe.

There are just two days of campaigning left as Saturday is a day of calm with no campaigning allowed.

On Thursday, Macron was due to meet voters in the north of Paris and Le Pen to hold a rally in the northern city of Arras.

Wednesday’s bruising three-hour live televised debate saw Macron repeatedly seeking to land punches on Le Pen over her record, while she sought to keep the focus on the government’s performance.

With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine overshadowing the campaign, Macron angrily zeroed in on a loan Le Pen’s party had taken from a Czech-Russian bank ahead of her 2017 election campaign.

“You are dependent on the Russian government, and you are dependent on Mr. (Russian President Vladimir) Putin,” Macron said. “When you speak to Russia you are speaking to your banker.”

Macron also referred to Le Pen’s past recognition of Russia’s 2014 annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea. “Why did you do this?” he asked.

Le Pen replied that she was “an absolutely and totally free woman,” arguing that her party had only taken that loan as it could not find financing in France where banks refused to lend to her.

Macron adopted a variety of poses to express skepticism at her arguments, raising his eyebrows, leaning his chin on his fists and lamenting in apparent bewilderment “Madame Le Pen… Madame Le Pen!”

 ‘Civil war’ 

The most explosive clash came when Le Pen confirmed she was sticking to her controversial policy of banning the wearing of the Islamic headscarf by women in public, describing it as a “uniform imposed by Islamists.”

Macron responded: “You are going to cause a civil war if you do that. I say this sincerely.”

She also vowed to put an end to “anarchic and massive” immigration into France, claiming it was worsening crime, which she said was becoming “unbearable” for people all over the country.

The priority for Le Pen was to avoid a repeat of the 2017 run-off debate where Macron managed to make her look flustered and sometimes not on top of her brief.

She sought to put heat on the president, mocking how the “Mozart of finance” had left a “bad” economic legacy that included an extra 600 billion euros ($650 billion) in national debt.

“It’s not Gerard Majax (on TV) this evening,” retorted Macron, referring to a well-known French television conjurer. “You never explain how you will finance your projects and you are not honest with people.”

Turning to Europe, Le Pen insisted she wanted to stay in the European Union but reform the bloc into an “alliance of nations.”

“Your policy is to leave Europe,” Macron responded, describing the election as a “referendum for or against the EU.”

There were also intense exchanges on daily concerns such as the rising cost of living, which Le Pen has made a major feature of her campaign.

Both candidates have their eyes on voters who backed third-placed hard-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon in the first round. He has refused to urge his supporters to vote for Macron in order to keep Le Pen out of the Elysee Palace.

Le Pen said she had seen people “suffering” over the first five years of Macron’s rule and that “another choice is possible.”

Macron replied that “we must and should improve people’s daily lives through major projects for the school and health systems.”

Tighter race

Macron is favored to win the run-off, with most polls showing an advantage of more than 10 percent, which would make him the first French president to win a second term since Jacques Chirac in 2002.

But analysts and allies of the president have warned the result is far from a foregone conclusion, with polls indicating that more than 10 percent of French people who intend to cast their ballots have yet to decide who to vote for.

Supporters of both camps celebrated the performances of their candidates, with Macron brandishing his trademark self-confidence and Le Pen avoiding the pitfalls of 2017.

But the challenger did not at any moment cause Macron discomfort, while the president adopted a much more aggressive approach.

“Macron on the attack, Le Pen on the defensive,” headlined the Le Parisien daily in its Thursday edition. The left-leading Liberation said Le Pen was “vague on numerous subjects” and Macron “arrogant.”

A snap opinion poll by Elabe for BFM TV said 59 percent of viewers found Macron the most convincing and that 39 percent plumped for Le Pen.

“Such a waste,” tweeted Melenchon. “The country deserved better.
…

The United States is imposing new sanctions on dozens more individuals and entities accused of evading financial penalties imposed on Moscow
…

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said he will visit Israel on May 24 amid increasing efforts between the regional rivals to mend ties, four years after they expelled ambassadors.

Turkey and Israel have in recent weeks been working to mend their long-strained ties, and energy has emerged as a potential area of cooperation.

President Tayyip Erdogan said last month he was “very, very hopeful” for energy cooperation with Israel, and he hoped to discuss the issue with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.

On Tuesday, Erdogan said he told his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog that he was “very upset” by Palestinians injured or killed in the West Bank and Al-Aqsa Mosque during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The two countries expelled ambassadors in 2018 and have often traded barbs over the Palestinian conflict, Turkish support of the Hamas militant group, which runs Gaza, and other issues.

Speaking to broadcaster CNN Turk, Cavusoglu said he will travel to Israel and Palestine with Energy Minister Fatih Donmez on May 24 and would discuss the appointment of ambassadors with his Israeli counterpart during the visit.
…

As Russia launched new attacks Wednesday on the embattled Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, President Joe Biden convened his military leadership to get the latest assessment of the Russian invasion.

“I want to hear from all of you and your assessments on what you’re seeing in the field and across our forces,” Biden said to his top military brass at the White House before his meeting. “The strategic environment is evolving rapidly in the world, but that means our plans and force posture have to be equally dynamic.”

Biden met with combatant commanders, including Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley and approximately two dozen other military leaders and national security advisers.

Earlier Wednesday, the U.S. slapped fresh sanctions on dozens more individuals and entities accused of evading ongoing financial penalties imposed on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.

“The Department of Treasury sanctions Transkapitalbank — a key Russian commercial bank that has offered services to banks globally to evade international sanctions, and more than 40 individuals and entities that are part of a Russian sanctions-evasion network led by Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters.

Psaki said Washington also has imposed sanctions on companies in Russia’s virtual currency mining industry and applied visa restrictions on more than 600 individuals in response to human rights abuses by Russia and Belarus.

A day earlier, reports emerged that Biden’s administration was preparing another large military aid package for Ukraine. The size would be similar to the $800 million package announced just last week and is expected to include more artillery and tens of thousands more artillery rounds, which will likely be critical to the fighting in the eastern Donbas region.

Earlier in the week, Biden confirmed to reporters that he will send more artillery to Ukraine.

“Out of the $3.5 billion in drawdown authority Congress granted for this fiscal year, we have used over $2.4 billion to provide Ukraine the military equipment and capabilities they need to defend themselves,” a senior administration official told VOA. “We are continuing to look at additional security assistance we can provide to Ukraine, and there are additional authorities we can draw on if needed.”

The $3.5 billion is part of the $13.6 billion Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act that Congress approved in March.

Michael O’Hanlon, senior fellow and director of research in foreign policy at the Brookings Institution, told VOA that in addition to military assistance and economic sanctions, Washington must start thinking about plausible end states of the conflict.

“And then, think of what we can do to encourage the parties, working with other outside actors, even the Chinese perhaps, to try to get to some kind of a place we can all live with, compared to the alternative of this turning into a multimonth or even multiyear conflict,” O’Hanlon said. “But for the short term, we’re just trying to help the Ukrainians not lose.”

Battle for Mariupol

More than 100,000 Ukrainians are believed to be trapped in Mariupol, where 400,000 people lived before Russia invaded the country Feb. 24.

“The conditions there are truly horrific,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday at a diplomatic conference in Panama. He underscored that attempted humanitarian corridors to allow Mariupol residents to escape “have fallen apart very quickly.”

The fight over Mariupol is part of a broader Russian offensive in the strategically important Donbas region, where Moscow has been boosting its military presence.

On March 25, following losses in northern Ukraine, Moscow announced a major shift in strategy and removed forces from the north, including the suburbs of the capital, Kyiv, to consolidate military gains in the Donbas and establish a land bridge to Crimea.

Analysts say if Russian forces gain complete control of the Donbas, their diplomats will hold a stronger hand in peace negotiations and be in a better position to demand autonomy for the region.

U.S. Defense Department analysts say the battle for the Donbas region, where fighting has been ongoing since Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, could last for months more.  
…

The Wimbledon tennis tournament announced Wednesday it is banning Russian and Belarusian players from this year’s matches starting in late June because of what officials said was Russia’s “unjustified” invasion of Ukraine.

The ban will keep some of the world’s top players from competing at one of the world’s premier tournaments at London’s All England Club.

Among them are Russia’s Daniil Medvedev, currently ranked second globally, and No. 8 Andrey Rublev in the men’s draw and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, ranked 15th on the women’s side.

Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, No. 4 in the world, was a Wimbledon semifinalist last year. Her compatriot Victoria Azarenka is a former top-ranked player and currently is No. 18.

“It is our responsibility to play our part in the widespread efforts of government, industry, sporting and creative institutions to limit Russia’s global influence through the strongest means possible,” the All England Club said in a statement. “In the circumstances of such unjustified and unprecedented military aggression, it would be unacceptable for the Russian regime to derive any benefits from the involvement of Russian or Belarusian players” with the Wimbledon championships.

The officials said they would reconsider the ban “if circumstances change materially between now and June.”

Wimbledon begins June 27 and runs through July 10.

The ban on the Belarus contenders was included because the country is a key staging area for the Ukraine attack, which Russia calls a “special military operation” rather than an invasion or war.

Wimbledon has not banned athletes from countries since after World War II, when players from Germany and Japan were not allowed to compete.

The French Open has decided to let Russian and Belarusian players compete at its tournament starting May 22, but as neutral athletes not aligned with their homelands.

Russian Tennis Federation president Shamil Tarpischev told the country’s Sport Express newspaper that there was nothing it could do about the Wimbledon ban.

“I think this decision is wrong, but there is nothing we can change,” Tarpischev said. “The [Russian] Tennis Federation has already done everything it could.”
…

Hundreds of Ethiopians reportedly have been been lined up for days outside the Russian embassy in Addis Ababa this week in hopes of being recruited to fight for Moscow in its invasion of Ukraine. But the embassy has dismissed claims it is recruiting foreign fighters and says the Ethiopians are there to show their solidarity with Russia.   

Witnesses say the embassy is not bringing the hopefuls inside but say staffers have come outside to take documents. 

Feleke Gebrekidan was among the Ethiopians who have spent long hours waiting outside the embassy. He has military experience, he said, having served in the Ethiopian military for over a decade.

He said the would-be recruits are former members of the Ethiopian army, who do not have jobs at the moment. Having heard that the Russian embassy is currently recruiting, he said he and other came with their credentials. He said he even brought the clearance he received after serving in the military.  

Feleke said he has been at the gate of the embassy for three days but has not managed to get inside. He said he plans to come back and try again.  

Tewodros Sime, who lives next to the Russian embassy in Addid Ababa, said he is not happy to see his fellow citizens volunteering for the war.   

“Why would I fight on behalf of a foreign nation?” he asked. “I was so angry when people poured in for registration to the embassy. Many did not show up when the Ethiopian ministry of defense was calling [men] to join our army. They are now bowing for Russians and I am so sad about it. We should prioritize peace in our country.”

Some of the volunteers are motivated by economics.  They are desperate to get a job, even a potentially deadly job overseas, because they are unemployed.

Also, most Ethiopians see Russia as a friendly nation politically.  In the 1980s, Ethiopia was under communist leadership, and there are thousands of Ethiopian military personnel who were trained in what was then the Soviet Union. 

Maria Chernukhina, the press attache for the Russian embassy in Addis Ababa,  speaking to VOA, acknowledged that some of those in line are carrying documents but said that this reflects their own willingness and hope. She said the Russian embassy is not recruiting people for any purpose, as that would not comply with its responsibility as a diplomatic mission.  

Since the war began, she added, Ethiopians have been calling and emailing the embassy to voice their solidarity with Russia. Chernukhina said the line outside the embassy is also part of that.  

Contacted by VOA, the Ukrainian embassy in Addis Ababa declined to say anything about the lines. The Ethiopian Foreign Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
…

Turkish authorities jailed a journalist on Tuesday pending trial after he announced hackers had stolen personal information from government websites and shared some of it with him, including President Tayyip Erdogan’s ID card, as proof, his lawyer said. 

The independent journalist, Ibrahim Haskologlu, posted the announcement on Twitter, illustrating it with a partially obscured photo of what he said was Erdogan’s ID.

His lawyer, Emrah Karatay, said his client was arrested on a charge of illegally obtaining and disseminating personal information due to his social media posts.

In his Twitter posts last week, Haskologlu said that a group of hackers had contacted him two months ago and told him that they had obtained Turks’ personal information from government websites.

As well as sharing the purported photo of Erdogan’s ID, Haskologlu also published an image of what he said was the ID card of Hakan Fidan, head of Turkey’s National Intelligence Agency. Most of the information on the cards was concealed.

“The reason for his formal arrest was that he did not notify prosecutors,” Karatay said, adding that Haskologlu had warnedvarious authorities but no action was taken.

“He thought he had to warn people as a journalist and posted these. Now he’s arrested – that’s all,” Karatay said, adding that police had searched Haskologlu’s house when they detained him last night. 

Istanbul police was not immediately available for comment.

Broadcaster NTV said the interior ministry had filed a complaint about Haskologlu after his posts, prompting an investigation by the Istanbul prosecutor’s office.

Turkey is one of the world’s top jailers of journalists and mainstream media is controlled by those close to Erdogan’s government. Turkey’s government denies accusations by human rights groups that it muzzles the media.
…

A court in Moscow has rejected an appeal by the independent radio station Ekho Moskvy against moves by the government to restrict the broadcaster’s reach, which led to its decision to close.

The Taganka district court on April 20 refused to recognize as illegal the decision by Russia’s media regulator, Roskomnadzor, to restrict access to Ekho Moskvy’s website on March 1 at the Prosecutor-General’s request.

Judge Nadezhda Kiselyova said statements by Ekho Moskvy’s lawyers — which maintained that the Prosecutor-General’s request failed to specify which programs at the station violated Russian laws — were baseless and thus the appeal had been turned down.

In its March request, the Prosecutor-General’s Office said the broadcaster, known to be critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was distributing what authorities deemed information “calling for extremist activities, violence, and premeditated false information” about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian government has instructed media in the country to refrain from calling Russia’s actions in Ukraine a war or an invasion and should instead be referred to as a “special military operation.”

Soon after the move by the Prosecutor-General’s Office, Ekho Moskvy’s board decided to liquidate the radio station and its website.

Ekho Moskvy first aired on August 22, 1990, in Moscow.

Before Russia launched its war with Ukraine on February 24, the station had been taken off the air only once, during the State Committee for the Emergency Situation (GKChP) coup in 1991.

Several Russian media outlets have chosen to suspend operations rather than face heavy restrictions on what they can report. The Kremlin has also blocked multiple foreign news outlets, including RFE/RL, for their independent coverage of the war.
…

As Western sanctions against Russia continue to mount, observers in Azerbaijan are concerned about the potential ramifications in a country with close economic ties to Moscow.

Some experts believe Russia’s worsening economic position will harm Azerbaijan’s trade relations and money transfers with the country, which is Azerbaijan’s main import partner and home to over 2.5 million Azerbaijani migrant laborers.

Economist Natig Jafarli told VOA that economic sanctions on Russia will create problems for the banking sector of Azerbaijan and could create certain obstacles to international money transfers, since Azerbaijan does not have a separate money transfer system with Russia.

“If Russia is completely excluded from the international money transfer system, at the very least, interbank money transfers and transfers between Azerbaijan and Russia will become impossible,” Jafarli said.

According to Gubad Ibadoglu, senior economist and visiting fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science, the State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan will be the most affected by the rapid changes in the Russian economy.

“SOFAZ’s investments in Russia have exceeded $903 million,” he said. “These investments are currently at risk, which will ultimately lead to exchange rate losses for SOFAZ. In other words, there will be an increase in extra-budgetary expenditures, which will increase its foreign exchange earnings,” suggesting that SOFAZ and other Azerbaijani government bodies must sell their assets before “the economic catastrophe” in Russia and withdraw their investments.

In addition to SOFAZ, Ibadoglu said Azerbaijan’s trade relations with Russia will be affected, considering that Russia is Azerbaijan’s main import partner.

Azerbaijan bought $2.1 billion worth of goods and sold $920.8 million on the Russian market in 2021. More than 95% of those goods were non-oil products. Ibadoglu said problems with bank settlements with Russia, which is the traditional market of the non-oil sector, and the devaluation of the ruble this year could create serious difficulties for exporters.

“Those who export goods from Azerbaijan to Russia will face losses due to the sharp depreciation of the ruble against the Azerbaijani manat, which will reduce the income of producers and exporters, especially in the non-oil sector, mainly in agriculture,” he said.

Remittances sent from Russia by the approximately 2.5 million Azerbaijanis living there will be another area affected by the situation in Russia, Ibadoglu said.

In most Azerbaijani districts, Azerbaijani labor migrants play an important role in determining household income. Ibadoglu said tensions in the Russian labor market, as well as the decline and devaluation of earnings as a result of the tensions, matched with the ruble’s depreciation, will result in a decrease in remittances to Azerbaijan.

“According to the data from the Central Bank of Azerbaijan for the first nine months of 2021, about 60% of remittances came from migrants living in Russia. This means that last year, remittances sent through banks by migrants living in Russia amounted to $680 million. A sharp decline in this transfer is expected this year,” Ibadoglu said.

Azerbaijani parliament member Rasim Musabeyov agrees that remittances will be affected.

“Russia’s sanctions will significantly limit banking operations. With the economic downturn in Russia, it will be difficult to send money to families,” he said.

He also argues that sanctions will have a negative impact on Azerbaijan’s foreign trade with Russia.

“We used to import very important food products from the Russian market. But it is difficult to say to what extent it will be possible to import them now,” Musabeyov said.

Yet the lawmaker says Russia’s economic downturn also creates opportunities. He claims that since communication routes through Russia are restricted, and Ukraine’s borders are closed due to the war, trade that was previously carried out through Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, will now mainly pass through the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars route.

“The importance of our transport routes will increase significantly. Both the Southern Gas Corridor and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline will be heavily loaded. It is estimated that a large part of Kazakh oil will be exported to the markets, not through Novorossiysk, but through Azerbaijan, and it is likely to significantly increase our capacity,” Musabeyov said.

This story originated in VOA’s Azerbaijani Service.
…

Russia said Tuesday it will expel 15 Dutch diplomats, saying they have two weeks to leave the country. The retaliatory move following the Netherlands’ expulsion last month of 17 Russians whom Dutch officials said were intelligence officers posing as diplomats. 

In response to Tuesday’s announcement, Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Wopke Hoekstra said in a statement, “It was to be expected that Russia would take countermeasures. Nevertheless, this is a regrettable step.” The envoys will be leaving the Dutch embassy in Moscow and consulate-general in St. Petersburg.  

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it was also going to expel four Austrians and 12 Belgians, both in retaliation. 

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, some 300 Russian diplomats have had to leave various countries. 

Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Poland and the United States have expelled Russian envoys.  

Russia has taken similar moves against envoys from the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and the European Union.  

Some information in this report came from Reuters.
…

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave a “wholehearted” apology Tuesday for attending parties that were banned during COVID-19 lockdowns. 

However, he did say he didn’t know he was breaking the rules. 

Johnson and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak have been under investigation for 12 parties at both 10 Downing Street and the Cabinet Office, some of which were attended by the ministers and their staff. 

Police said some 50 people could face fines or other penalties over the parties. 

The political opposition in Britain has called for Johnson’s resignation over the scandal. This week, there will be a parliamentary debate and vote on whether to censure Johnson. 

Johnson previously apologized over one incident saying he thought it was a work event. 

The parties were held during 2020 and 2021, according to news reports. 

One event captured in a photo published by the BBC, shows Johnson and others gathered at the Downing Street garden drinking wine in May 2020 when other Brits were not allowed leave their homes without a reason, and outdoor gatherings were limited to two for exercise. 

Investigations into other parties could lead to more fines for Johnson, which could lead to more pressure on him from his own party. 

Some information in this report comes from The Associated Press.
…

The world economy will grow at a slower pace because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the International Monetary Fund said in a report Tuesday.

The organization forecasts growth of 3.6% this year, compared to 6.1% last year. Originally, it had predicted 4.4% growth this year.

“The economic effects of the war are spreading far and wide,” the IMF said in its report.

The war has exacerbated negative economic trends such as disrupted commerce and price hikes for fuel and food.

“In the matter of a few weeks, the world has yet again experienced a major, transformative shock,” IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas wrote in the foreword to the fund’s World Economic Outlook report. “Just as a durable recovery from the pandemic-induced global economic collapse appeared in sight, the war has created the very real prospect that a large part of the recent gains will be erased.”

The IMF predicts the Russian economy will shrink by 8.5% this year, and Ukraine’s will fall by a whopping 35%.

The United States, China and Europe were also expected to see slower growth as a result of the war.

Some information in this report comes from The Associated Press.
…

The World Health Organization says escalating fighting in Ukraine is preventing emergency medical supplies and health personnel from reaching many people in need of help.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine nearly two months ago, the World Health Organization has delivered some 218 metric tons of emergency medical supplies. Roughly two-thirds have reached their intended destinations, mostly in the east and north of the country where the need is greatest.

WHO has released 15 generators from its warehouse in Lviv Tuesday with plans to deliver them this week to hospitals across the country. Speaking from Lviv, WHO spokesman, Bhanu Bhatnagar, says three will be sent to Luhansk and Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. That is where heavy fighting is underway, and the power supply is badly affected.

Other generators, he says are destined for places such as Kharkiv, which has been devastated by Russian shelling, and the besieged city of Mariupol.

“We will only move the generators to their final destinations when we can ensure the safety of our personnel and the precious cargo they are transporting. These generators will help meet the sort of minimum energy needs of medical and surgical units of referral hospitals, where power supply is either limited or non-existent,” he said.

Bhatnagar says access to a reliable power supply is critical, noting even a momentary power failure can have serious consequences for patients. He says providing care in this dangerous environment is becoming ever more difficult.

As of now, he says WHO has verified 147 attacks on health care facilities, ambulances, and medical personnel. He adds at least 73 people have been killed and 52 injured. Attacks such as these, he says are hampering efforts to reach the people who need help.

“An increase in fighting in certain parts of the country could really threaten our supply chains in and out of some of the affected areas. To mitigate this risk, we are ramping up our donations to the Ministry of Health. We are also assessing the possibility of pre-positioning supplies in additional locations to sort of build a network of warehouses to reach affected areas,” said Bhatnagar.

Mariupol has been subjected to heavy bombardment by Russian forces since the start of the war. The city has been demolished, thousands of people reportedly have been killed and thousands more remain trapped.

Bhatnagar says WHO fears the worst for the health system of Mariupol. He says no one has access to the city. But he adds WHO is positioning generators and other supplies nearby. This, so it can bring in life-saving medicines and equipment the moment this becomes possible.
…

Ukraine says Russia has begun its offensive to take control of eastern Ukraine while a Russian missile attack hit the western city of Lviv, killing at least seven people.  

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video address Monday, “Now, we can already state that the Russian troops have begun the battle for the Donbas, for which they have been preparing for a long time.”   

He said a “significant part of the entire Russian army is now concentrated on this offensive.” The Donbas region includes Luhansk and Donetsk, two provinces that are already partly held by Russian-backed separatists, along with the port city of Mariupol to the south. Capturing the region would allow Russia to control a land corridor to the Crimean Peninsula, which it seized in 2014.       

Russia’s withdrawal of its forces from areas around Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and other parts of the north in recent weeks prompted assessments from Western military officials that Russia was reinforcing and redeploying those assets to eastern Ukraine.

In the western city of Lviv, regional Governor Maksym Kozystkiy said three missiles hit military infrastructure sites, while another struck a car tire repair shop.  Lviv, which is about 60 kilometers from Poland, had previously escaped the worst of the violence of the Russian invasion that began nearly two months ago.    

The city is a major transportation hub in Ukraine, which has been receiving weapons from Western allies.  

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the United States has no indication that any Western aid was targeted in Lviv.    

The new barrage came as Russian President Vladimir Putin contended during a video call with economic officials that the sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies had failed.   

He said the West “expected to quickly upset the financial-economic situation, provoke panic in the markets, the collapse of the banking system and shortages in stores.” However, he added, “The strategy of the economic blitz has failed.”   

Western officials say the sanctions have pushed Russia into a sharp recession that will hurt its economy for years.    

Asked Monday if the Biden administration is considering more sanctions against Russia, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters the United States will “continue to expand our sanctions targets and continue to take steps to both further tighten our sanctions to prevent evasion.” 

U.S. President Joe Biden is holding a video call with allies Tuesday to discuss what the White House called “our continued support for Ukraine and efforts to hold Russia accountable.” 

Russia initially described its aims as disarming Ukraine and defeating nationalists there. Kyiv and its Western allies say those are bogus justifications for an unprovoked war of aggression that has driven a quarter of Ukraine’s 44 million people from their homes.        

 Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse
…

Swedish police said Monday that the riots that have shaken several cities and towns in the Nordic country are extremely serious crimes against society and suspect some protesters are linked to criminal gangs that intentionally target police. 

Sweden, a nation of 10 million, has seen unrest, scuffles, arson and violence since Thursday that has left some police officers and protesters injured. It was triggered by Danish far-right politician Rasmus Paludan’s meetings and planned Quran burnings across the country. 

“We suspect that those involved (in the riots) have links to criminal gangs,” National Police Commissioner Anders Thornberg told a news conference on Monday, adding that some of those “criminal individuals” are known to police. “I have been in touch with the public prosecutor to prosecute these individuals.” 

Sweden’s National Police Commander Jonas Hysing said Monday that 26 police officers and 14 individuals — protesters or other people — have been injured in the riots, and 20 police vehicles have been destroyed or damaged. 

The latest riots broke out Sunday night in Malmo, Sweden’s third-largest city, as an angry crowd of mainly young people set fire to car tires, debris and garbage cans in the Rosengard district. Protesters threw stones, and police responded by firing tear gas into the crowd. A school and several cars were set on fire, but the situation calmed down early Monday. 

A total of 11 people were detained, and three people were arrested in Malmo. No serious injuries were reported. 

Since Thursday, in addition to Malmo, riots, unrest and violent clashes have been reported in Stockholm, the central city of Orebro, the eastern cities of Linkoping and Norrkoping and the southern town of Landskrona. 

Police have been forced to use weapons in self-defense, Hysing said. Three people were hurt in Norrkoping on Sunday as they were hit by ricochets as police fired warning shots into a crowd of protesters. 

“There is a lot to suggest that the police were targeted,” Hysing said, adding that some protesters were suspected of attempted murder, aggravated assault and violence against an official. 

Both Thornberg and Hysing stressed that the main target for the rioters was Swedish police and society, not Paludan — seen by many Swedes merely as an agent provocateur — and his Stram Kurs (Hard Line) Party, which runs on an anti-immigrant, anti-Islam agenda. 

Thornberg, Sweden’s supreme police chief, said “criminal individuals” who took advantage of the situation with Paludan’s Swedish Easter tour and joined the riots, were the main suspects for the violent flare-ups of violence. The unrest escalated quickly after Paludan’s first demonstrations, which were met by counter-protesters in many places last week. 

“We must put an end to this early. What we see here is a very serious crime,” Thornberg said, referring to the riots. 

Justice Minister Morgan Johansson said Monday that he continues to have great confidence in the Swedish police, despite the unrest over the weekend, and pledged more resources to law enforcement. 

“When you end up in these critical and aggressive situations, there’s nothing else police officers can do but to put up a hard fight,” Johansson told Swedish news outlets. “We cannot accept that perpetrators commit this type of violence.” 

Iraq’s Foreign Ministry on Sunday summoned Sweden’s charge d’affaires over Paludan’s planned Quran burnings, reportedly saying that such activity could seriously endanger Sweden’s relations with the Muslim world. 

In Iran, dozens of students gathered Monday at Sweden’s embassy to protest Paludan’s planned Quran burnings. Chanting “Insulters of Quran must be condemned!” they also repeated slogans such as “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!” 
…

A group of Catalan separatists, including several members of the European Parliament, other politicians, lawyers and activists from Spain’s northeastern region, had their phones hacked with a controversial spyware called Pegasus, a cybersecurity firm said Monday.

Citizens Lab, which is associated with the University of Toronto, said at least 65 people were targeted using the Israeli-made software that is only available to governments.

The maker of the software, NSO, said the allegations were “false.”

The spyware infections allegedly took place between 2017 and 2020 after a failed Catalan independence bid.

The movement for an independent Catalonia dates back more than a century and has been a problem for Spain’s central government. Catalonia enjoys some regional autonomy under the Spanish constitution. 

Citizens Lab said it could not pinpoint the source of the hacking but said on its website that “a range of circumstantial evidence points to a strong nexus with one or more entities within the Spanish government.” 

The Spanish government declined a request for comment by Reuters.

On Twitter, Catalonian government President Pere Aragones called the hacks an “unjustifiable disgrace.” 

Some information in this report comes from Reuters and The Associated Press.
…

Turkish military forces using planes, helicopters and drones attacked Kurdish rebel positions inside northern Iraq, the Turkish Defense Ministry said Monday.

The targets included camps and ammunition depots in the regions of Metina, Zap, and Avashin-Basyan, the military said.

Kurdish rebels have launched attacks in Turkey from northern Iraq, and Ankara said they were planning another attack in Turkey.

The Associated Press reported 19 Kurdish rebels were killed and four Turkish military members were wounded.

“Our operation is continuing successfully as planned,” the state-owned Anadolu news agency quoted Defense Minister Hulusi Akar as saying. “The targets identified in the first phase have been captured.”

Turkish military forces have repeatedly attacked Kurdish groups such as the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which Ankara considers terrorist organizations.

The PKK has been active since 1984. It has bases in southeastern Turkey and northern Iraq.

Kurdish people are spread throughout a region covering parts of Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran.

(Some information in this report comes from Reuters and The Associated Press.)

 
…

Cyprus authorities on Monday made traveling to the east Mediterranean island nation easier as the summer tourist season kicks into gear by rescinding the need to undergo any COVID-19 tests prior to boarding a flight or on arrival.

According to the new regulations, only unvaccinated people who haven’t contracted and recovered from the coronavirus must undergo a PCR test 72 hours prior to boarding or a rapid test 24 hours before departure.

All Cyprus-bound passengers are no longer required to fill in a form — also known as a Cyprus Flight Pass — providing information that enables authorities to trace them if they do test positive for COVID-19 during their stay.

Vaccinated and recovered passengers will need a valid European Union health certificate. Health certificates from third countries are accepted if they’ve joined the EU’s COVID certificate system.

All adults are considered vaccinated for nine months after receiving their second dose or have received a 3rd booster shot. Individuals are designated as recently recovered from COVID-19 seven days after testing positive and for six months thereafter.

Tourism directly accounts for 13% of the island nation’s economy and authorities are keen to attract new markets to make up for the significant loss of Russian and Ukrainian tourists in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russian forces of engaging in “deliberate terror” with mortar and artillery strikes on residential neighborhoods in Kharkiv, while Ukrainian forces in the southern city of Mariupol defied a Russian deadline to lay down their arms. 

Zelenskyy, in a video address late Sunday, said he expects Russia to launch an offensive in the eastern Donbas region “in the near future.” 

Russia’s withdrawal of its forces from areas around Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and other parts of the north in recent weeks prompted assessments from Western military officials that Russia was reinforcing and redeploying those assets to eastern Ukraine. 

Capturing the Donbas region, which includes Luhansk and Donetsk, along with the port city of Mariupol to the south, would allow Russia to control a land corridor to the Crimea peninsula, which it seized in 2014. 

Zelenskyy, in an interview with CNN taped Friday and aired Sunday, said for Ukraine the battle for Donbas will be critical, and that if Russia captures the area it could once again try to seize Kyiv. 

“…It is very important for us to not allow them, to stand our ground, because this battle … can influence the course of the whole war,” Zelenskyy said.  

Russia has called on the remaining fighters in Mariupol to surrender, saying it controlled urban areas of the city, while an estimated 2,500 Ukrainian soldiers and 400 mercenaries remaining at the sprawling Azovstal steel mill. 

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told ABC’s “This Week” Sunday the country’s forces will “fight to the end” in Mariupol. 

“The city still has not fallen,” he said, hours after the expiration of Russia’s declared deadline. 

Asked about reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin believes Moscow is winning the war, Shmyhal noted that while several cities are under siege, only Kherson in the south has fallen under Russian control.    

“More than 900 cities, towns and villages…are freed from Russian occupation,” Shmyhal said, adding Ukraine has no intention of surrendering in the eastern Donbas region.   

 The prime minister added that Ukraine wants a diplomatic solution “if possible.”  

 “We won’t leave our country, our families, our land,” he said.  

Zelenskyy said in his Sunday night address that Western nations should increase their sanctions against Russia, including actions targeting Russia’s oil and banking sectors. 

“Everyone in Europe and America already sees Russia openly using energy to destabilize Western societies,” Zelenskyy said. “All of this requires greater speed from Western countries in preparing a new, powerful package of sanctions.” 

Earlier Sunday, the Ukrainian leader tweeted that he had discussed ensuring Ukraine’s financial stability and preparations for post-war reconstruction with International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva.   

Georgieva tweeted in response, saying that support was “essential to lay the foundations for rebuilding a modern competitive #Ukraine.”  

Russia initially described its aims as disarming Ukraine and defeating nationalists there. Kyiv and its Western allies say those are bogus justifications for an unprovoked war of aggression that has driven a quarter of Ukraine’s 44 million people from their homes.    

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse. 
…

A migrant was killed by gunfire at the Greece-Turkey border while she and several others attempted to cross a river separating the two countries, Greek police said on April 17. 

It wasn’t immediately clear who fired the shot that killed the woman the night before. An autopsy showed that the victim was shot in the back with a small-caliber weapon. 

Greek police were patrolling the area where the Evros River, which is called Meric in Turkish, narrows to about 60 to 70 meters (around 200 feet) wide and through which many migrants attempt to cross, according to a police statement and additional information provided to The Associated Press by a police officer on condition of anonymity. The officers spotted numerous migrants on the Turkish side shortly before 9 p.m. on April 16.

Police said 11 people embarked on an inflatable dinghy, and officers directed flashlights at the boat and started shouting “Police. Go back.” 

In response, said the police officer, a “barrage” of shots erupted from the Turkish side.  

The Greek police patrol couldn’t detect the source of the shots in the darkness and fell to the ground to protect themselves, shooting warning shots in the air, according to the statement which the officer corroborated. 

The dinghy came close to the Greek shore and five people disembarked — four made it to the shore while a fifth person was seen floating in the water. Police reached the body with some difficulty, according to the statement, and when they pulled it to the shore they determined that it belonged to a woman and that she was dead. 

Police questioned the four survivors — three Pakistani males, one of them a minor (17 years old), and a woman from Eritrea. It wasn’t known what happened to the other six people who tried to cross, but authorities don’t believe they entered Greece. 

Coroner Pavlos Pavlidis, who performed the autopsy on the woman in the northeastern city of Alexandroupolis, told the AP that the victim was between the ages of 20 and 25 and that she was most likely from one of the Horn of Africa countries. 

She had a wound “in the upper right (back) area. She was shot from close distance and died almost instantly from post-hemorrhagic (blood loss) shock,” Pavlidis said. 
…

Manning checkpoints and patrolling towns and cities: the reservists of Ukraine’s territorial defense force are the last line standing between ordinary civilians and Russian troops.

Standing 2.07 meters (6 feet, 9.5 inches) and dressed in camouflage fatigues that reveal only his eyes under a hood, “Buffalo” quit his job in construction and signed up for the force when the Russians invaded.

A cheerful young man in his 20s, he is one of the hundreds of thousands to answer President Volodymyr Zelensky’s call for reservists.

He was posted to Svyatohirsk, a village about 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of Kramatorsk, the capital of the Donbas region in the east of the country.

The front lines are just 10 kilometers to the north and northwest, where fighting rages and the sound of intense bombardments can be heard daily.

Fighting is particularly fierce around the town of Izyum. Victory there for the Russian troops would open the way toward Kramatorsk.

“I’m sure you can hear the artillery,” Buffalo told AFP. “And how our villages are disappearing from the face of the Earth.”

He proudly shows a video on his mobile phone that shows him with his comrades deployed for combat in the snow, Kalashnikov in his hand.

But his mission also includes protecting and helping the local civilians.

“The civilians have learned what war is,” he said. “They stay in the basements and it’s all they can do to stay alive.

“Any time we can, we bring them food and water. There are a lot of elderly people there who have no place to go.”

There are still a good number left in the village of Svyatohirsk, which had a population of 5,000 before the war, and was then best known for its Orthodox monastery.

Behind the counter of his little cafe Andriy is kept busy. Local people mix with soldiers and reservists as they line up for a hot dog, a hamburger or a hot drink.

“Some people have left and others have stayed,” he said.

“The people are here. Everybody is walking around, shopping — one way or another they have to eat.”

Dressed in fatigues with a Kalashnikov slung over his shoulder, reservist Andriy, 35, is among the customers.

For him, the territorial defense force is unique.

“We have people of all ages and from different backgrounds who all came together because they had only one goal. Teachers, engineers, workers, artists, it’s extremely important,” said the young man, a civil servant before the war.

“We will hold on until the last breath,” he said.

Many bridges in the region have been destroyed by the Ukrainians to slow down any advance by the Russians as Moscow turns the focus of its offensive toward the Donbas region.

The one in Svyatohirsk is still standing, even though mines are ready to blow it up.

Previously guarded by the territorial force, regular soldiers now keep watch over it.

“The bridge is under the protection of both the Ukrainian armed forces and the territorial defense,” said Volodymyr Rybalkin, a civilian journalist and head of territorial defense in the town.

Like many members of the territorial defense, he already had combat experience during the Donbas war in 2014-2015.

“Above us there are professional military commanders, who coordinate. Our task is to communicate with the civilians so that there is understanding and support between the two,” he explained.

Asked about Moscow’s announced offensive, he appears confident.

“The front line is less than 10 kilometers away. The artillery is firing at full strength and pushing the enemy back,” he said.

“I can’t predict what will happen tomorrow. Today (Russian) planes didn’t fly. We don’t know if tomorrow they will be back. We’ll react to all their actions.”

Behind him, “Buffalo” leads a refrain addressed to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Glory to Ukraine!” he bellows.

“Glory to the heroes!” his comrades reply.
…

On a quiet street lined with walnut trees was a cemetery with four bodies that hadn’t yet found a home.

All were victims of Russian soldiers in this village outside Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv. Their temporary caskets were together in a grave. Volunteers dug them up one by one Sunday — two weeks after the soldiers disappeared.

This spring is a grim season of planting and replanting in towns and villages around Kyiv. Bodies given hurried graves amid the Russian occupation are now being retrieved for investigations into possible war crimes. More than 900 civilian victims have been found so far.

All four bodies here were killed on the same street, on the same day. That’s according to the local man who provided their caskets. He bent and kissed the cemetery’s wrought-iron crosses as he walked to the makeshift grave.

The volunteers tried digging with shovels, then gave up and called an excavator. As they waited, they recounted their work secretly burying bodies during the monthlong Russian occupation, then retrieving them. One young man recalled being discovered by soldiers who pointed guns at him and told him “Don’t look up” as he dug a grave.

The excavator arrived, rumbling past the cemetery’s wooden outhouse. Soon there was the smell of fresh earth, and the murmur, “There they are.”

A woman appeared, crying. Ira Slepchenko was the wife of one man buried here. No one told her he was being dug up now. The wife of another victim arrived. Valya Naumenko peered into the grave, then hugged Ira. “Don’t collapse,” she said. “I need you to be OK.”

The two couples lived next to each other. On the final day before the Russians left the village, soldiers knocked at one home. Valya’s husband, Pavlo Ivanyuk, opened the door. The soldiers took him to the garage and shot him in the head, apparently without any explanation.

Then the soldiers shouted, “Is anyone else here?”

Ira’s husband, Sasha Nedolezhko, heard the gunshot. But he thought the soldiers would search the homes if no one answered. He opened the door and the soldiers shot him too.

The men’s caskets were lifted out with the others, then pried open. The four bodies, wrapped in blankets, were placed in body bags. The lace-edged white lining of each casket was stained red where the head had been.

Ira watched from afar, smoking, but stood by the empty caskets as the others left. “All this land is in blood, and it will take years to recover,” she said.

She had known her husband was here. Nine days after his temporary burial, she came to the cemetery scattered with picnic tables, following the local custom of spending time with the dead. She brought coffee and cookies.

“I want this war to end as soon as possible,” she said.

The other bodies were a teacher and a local man who lived alone. No one came for them Sunday.

In the house next to the cemetery, 66-year-old Valya Voronets cooked homegrown potatoes in a wood-warmed room, still getting by without water, electricity or gas. A small radio played, but not for long because the news gets too depressing. A plate of freshly cut radishes rested near the window.

A Russian soldier once came running and pointed his gun at her husband after spotting him climbing onto the roof to get a cellphone signal. “Are you going to kill an old man?” 65-year-old Myhailo Scherbakov replied.

Not all the Russians were like that. Voronets said she cried together with another soldier, barely 21. “You’re too young,” she told him. Another soldier told her they didn’t want to fight.

Still, she feared them all. But she offered them milk from her only cow.

“I felt sorry for them in these conditions,” she said. “And if you’re nice to them, maybe they won’t kill you.” 
…

Shuffling down the corridor of a refugee center in Ukraine with his gray tracksuit sleeve rolled to his shoulder, 71-year-old Vladimir Lignov reveals the remains of a severed limb he says he can still feel.

“It was on the 21st of March, I went out to smoke. Then a shell hit. I lost my arm,” he says, recalling the strike on his home in Avdiivka, an industrial hub in east Ukraine and a military priority for invading Russian forces.

Now in relative safety in the central Ukraine city of Dnipro the former train conductor is among what aid workers say is a particularly vulnerable segment of the population — the elderly.

In the Dnipro maternity hospital, hastily opened to accommodate people fleeing Moscow’s forces, Lignov is struggling to come to terms with what happened and why — not to mention what might come next.

Medical staff at the Myrnorad hospital near ongoing fighting and where Lignov was treated after the strike say he should return for treatment in a week.

Staff in Dnipro, he says, told him he should return in three days.

“I don’t understand what’s going on. Maybe it’s better if I just go to the graveyard. I don’t want to go on living,” he says, as another elderly man hobbles past him in the corridor. 

A van arrives from the east ferrying three elderly people groaning in pain as volunteers lower them gingerly into wheelchairs.

Other passengers are erratic. One man, dazed, reaches for his cigarettes as soon as he gets out of the van and grabs his belongings as if he is rushing to safety.

“The hardest are the people who spent long stretches in cellars,” says Olga Volkova, the volunteer director of the center, that houses 84 residents, most of whom are elderly. “A lot of people were left on their own. We helped them before the war, but then they were left to fend for themselves.”

The elderly are “often forgotten, very vulnerable” in times of war says Federico Dessi, the Ukraine director of the NGO Handicap International, a group that provides equipment and will financially help the Dnipro home.

“Cut off from their families” and “sometimes unable to use telephones or communicate” they are particularly vulnerable in conflicts, Dessi said.

Leaving aside physical health, the elderly often require “additional help, which is often not available.”

Aleksandra Vasiltchenko, an 80-year-old ethnic Russian from Ukraine is luckier than most of the other new arrivals.

For one, she is sure on her feet, despite other ailments, and her grandson comes to pick her up as soon as she arrives at the Dnipro home.

She was relieved to have escaped after spending weeks alone in her three-room apartment in the eastern Ukraine city of Kramatorsk, where Russian strikes recently killed nearly 60 people trying to flee by rail.

“I was hiding all the time in the bathroom. I was constantly crying. I was imprisoned in my own flat,” she tells AFP, saying she wished death on Russian President Vladimir Putin and his children.  

Perched on a bedside, her hands gripping a walking aid, Zoya Taran considers herself among the lucky ones — that’s despite having only one working kidney, precarious balance, diabetes and poor eyesight.

That’s because her rock musician son quit a career in “show business” two decades ago to care for her.

“I am that elderly babushka,” she says smiling. “My son is my eyes, my hands and my legs. I have nothing on my own.”

So as Russian strikes edged closer to Sloviansk, Taran, who had initially hesitated to leave, finally decided it was time in order to “save my son.”

“Why do we need this war? What do they want from us?” she says, sobbing.

Citing Ukrainian government figures, Handicap International estimates that 13,000 elderly Ukrainians or people with disabilities have arrived in the wider Dnipro region since Russia launched its invasion in late February.

Another hub, mainly for evacuees from the besieged and destroyed port city of Mariupol, and their children, has also offered shelter to elderly residents from the east. 

“Even if you open 10 places like this, they will all be full,” says Konstantin Gorshkov, who runs the center with his wife Natalia.

Among the 30 new arrivals joining the roughly 100 existing residents is 83-year-old Yulia Panfiorova from Lysychansk in the northwestern part of the Lugansk region, under attack by Russian forces.

The former economics professor — now hard of hearing — was “very scared” by the sound of shooting in her town and the three shells that stuck close enough to her home to blow out her windows. 

“This is my third war,” she said, referring first to World War II, then the outbreak of fighting in 2014 between the Ukrainian army and pro-Kremlin separatists.

“Lysychansk was freed from the Nazis in 1943. I remember how we returned home. Of course, I have some memories about it.

“They were Nazis. Then our country was invaded, and now our country has been invaded by a foreign state. Then the freedom of our state was at threat. Now it is the same. We should fight… But the war is so scary.”
…

Ukrainian officials say their forces in the besieged city of Mariupol will not submit to Russian demands to surrender. They are also calling for more help from Western allies. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has more.
…