Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with his Swedish counterpart outside Stockholm Wednesday, a rare visit intended to show Washington’s support for Sweden’s bid to join NATO. VOA’s Pentagon correspondent, Carla Babb, is traveling with the secretary and has this report from a Swedish naval base.
…

Leaked documents provided to VOA’s sister network RFE/RL confirm reports that Russia and China collaborate on censorship and internet control tactics.

The materials detail documents and recordings said to be from closed-door meetings in 2017 and 2019 between officials from the Chinese and Russian agencies charged with policing the internet in both countries.

In those documents and recordings — reported on by RFE/RL — officials from both countries share strategies for tracking dissent and controlling the internet, including requests for help to block “dangerous” news articles and advice on beating circumvention technology.

RFE/RL said its Russian Investigative Unit obtained the recordings and documents from a source who had access to the materials. DDoSecrets, a group that publishes leaked and hacked documents, provided software to search the files.

VOA has not seen the files.

While there have been previous reports about Moscow and Beijing collaborating on tactics related to censorship and other forms of repression, the content of these specific conversations had never before been reported.

Neither the Russian Embassy nor the Chinese Embassy in Washington responded to VOA’s emails requesting comment.

In some of the leaked materials, Chinese officials appear to ask Russia for advice on dealing with popular dissent and regulating media, the report said. Meanwhile, Russian officials asked for advice from Beijing on issues such as how to impede circumvention tools like virtual private networks and how to regulate messaging platforms.

The revelations underscore how repression is much more sophisticated in China than Russia, according to Yaxue Cao, founder of China Change, a website that covers human rights in China.

“China’s censorship and China’s suppression of access to information is total. Russia has a lot more to learn from China,” Cao told VOA.

“The whole system is propped up by their narratives, their revisionist history, their total control of the media, their total control of the opinion field,” Cao said, referring to China.

Other materials showed that in 2017, Aleksandr Zharov, the former head of Russia’s internet regulator Roskomnadzor, asked China’s internet regulator to arrange a visit for Russian officials to China to study China’s Great Firewall censorship and surveillance system.

Two years later, officials from the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), China’s internet regulator, asked Russia to block links to a variety of China-related news articles and interviews that they had deemed to be “of a dangerous nature and harmful to the public interest.”

At the 2019 World Internet Conference in the eastern Chinese city of Wuzhen, the CAC and Roskomnadzor signed a deal on counteracting the spread of “forbidden information.” Documents obtained by RFE/RL showed that some requests made by the CAC later that year to block information in Russia were made under that agreement.

In one request, Chinese officials asked Russia to censor a Chinese-language BBC story about a government campaign launched in 2015 to improve the country’s sanitation. In another request, Chinese officials asked Russia to block a blog post about rumors that President Xi Jinping had injured his back.

The Kremlin has grown even more restrictive over the past year since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, according to Eto Buziashvili, who researches Russian disinformation at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab.

“Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Russia has been trying to double down on censorship in Russia, and the reason is to prevent factual information on the war from spreading in Russia,” Buziashvili told VOA.

The RFE/RL report on the leaked information confirms how Beijing and Moscow work together on censorship and propaganda, according to Buziashvili.

For example, she said, Chinese state media representatives and outlets have previously amplified Russian propaganda narratives on social media. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Chinese state media have echoed Russian disinformation about the war.

“This report just confirms the collaboration between the two states and their entities,” Buziashvili said.

It makes sense that the two authoritarian states would work together on influence operations, she added, and the state-controlled media ecosystems in both countries naturally facilitate this kind of collaboration.

“If they are cooperating in offline spheres, why not cooperate online and have stronger narratives and reach broader audiences?” Buziashvili said.
…

The U.S. Justice Department is asking Congress for additional authority to funnel seized Russian assets to Ukraine.

In December, Congress authorized the Justice Department to transfer the proceeds of forfeited Russian assets to the State Department for Ukrainian reconstruction.

But the power applies only to assets seized in connection with violating U.S. sanctions under certain presidential executive orders. 

As a result, millions of dollars’ worth of Russian assets seized and forfeited in violation of U.S. export controls and other economic countermeasures cannot be transferred.

Now, the Justice Department is urging Congress to expand the range of seized assets that it can transfer for Ukrainian rebuilding. 

“We’re leaving money on the table if we don’t expand our ability to use the forfeited assets that we gain from enforcement of our export control violations and expanding the sanctions regimes that that transfer authority is applicable to,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday. “So I urge the Congress to give us the additional authority so we can make the oligarchs pay for rebuilding Ukraine as well.”

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Justice Department, led by Attorney General Merrick Garland, has cracked down on Russian oligarchs and investigated war crimes.

The law enforcement agency set up a task force shortly after the invasion to enforce sweeping U.S. sanctions and export controls. 

Task Force Kleptocapture has since seized more than $500 million in assets owned by Russian oligarchs and others who support Moscow and dodge U.S. sanctions, Monaco said.

The seized assets include a $300 million super yacht owned by Russian billionaire Suleiman Kerimov, and a $90 million yacht belonging to Viktor Vekselberg, another Russian oligarch. 

The Justice Department is believed to have used its congressionally granted authority to transfer seized Russian funds only once. 

In February, Garland authorized the transfer of $5.4 million seized from a Denver-based bank account of sanctioned Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev.

In the more than one year since Russia’s assault on Ukraine, the Justice Department has charged more than 30 individuals with sanctions evasion, export control violations, money laundering and other crimes, and arrested defendants in more than a half-dozen countries, Monaco said. 
…

The Baltic countries have remained an important source of support for Ukraine as Russia’s assault drags on. In Latvia, people have kept up efforts to assist the Ukrainian military, while accepting Ukrainian refugees and making them feel welcome in an exile that for many, seems to have no end. Marcus Harton narrates this report by Ricardo Marquina in the Latvian capital, Riga.
…

New developments:

Black Sea grain deal inspections resume in Turkey
Hungary adds honey, wine, bread, sugar to temporary ban on imports from Ukraine
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says like-minded countries should oppose “illegal unilateral pressure of the West”

 

Ukraine on Wednesday reported overnight drone attacks by Russian forces in the Odesa region of southern Ukraine.

Yuri Kruk, the head of Ukraine’s military command in the Odesa region, said the drones caused a fire at an infrastructure facility, but that there were no casualties.

Russia has made widespread use of drones to carry out attacks in Ukraine, including against infrastructure targets.

Sweden NATO

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin voiced support Wednesday for Sweden’s bid to join the NATO alliance.

Speaking during a visit to Sweden’s Musko Naval Base, Austin said the United States looks forward to “continuing to advocate for your swift admission to NATO and we’ll work hard to get that done before the summit.”

Austin said Swedish forces will “add a lot of value to NATO, our overall effort, you have a very, a highly professional military and you’ve invested a lot in modernization over the last several years.”

Sweden applied for NATO membership along with Finland in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year.

Finland formally joined the military alliance in early April. Sweden’s bid has been held up by objections from Hungary and Turkey, which says Sweden has not done enough to crack down on groups that Turkey considers terror organizations.

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

Polish and Ukrainian officials say convoys of Ukrainian grain transiting Poland for export abroad will be sealed, guarded and monitored to ensure the produce stops flooding the Polish market and playing havoc with prices.

Tuesday’s announcement came after two days of intensive talks following protests by Polish farmers, who said much of the Ukrainian grain was staying in Poland and creating a glut that caused them huge losses.

The deal will also end a temporary prohibition issued by Poland on Saturday to address the protests on the entry of grain from Ukraine. Hungary and Slovakia, which are also affected by the transit of Ukrainian farm produce, later took similar measures. These moves drew the anger of the European Union’s executive branch, the European Commission, which manages trade for the 27 member countries.

Polish Agriculture Minister Robert Telus told a press conference on Tuesday that Warsaw and Kyiv “have worked out mechanisms that mean that not a single ton of (Ukraine) grain will remain in Poland, that it will all be passing in transit.”

He said that for an unspecified length of time, all Ukrainian produce in transit will be sealed, with traceable devices attached, and ferried in special, guarded convoys to Polish ports and border crossings, on its way to other countries.

The transit is to ease the accumulation of grain and other produce intended for export to needy countries that’s blocked in Ukraine by Russia’s invasion.

Telus said the weekend’s temporary ban was partly intended to draw the EU’s attention to the acute problem. He alleged that the EU, while supporting the idea of the transit, has done nothing to facilitate it and prevent the glut.

The issue led to the talks between Poland and Ukraine’s agriculture ministers, with the participation of Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, Yulia Svyrydenko. The transit measures will be introduced Friday, when the temporary ban on grain — mainly wheat — will be lifted.

“We pay attention to the problems of our Polish colleagues with the same attention as Poland treats our problems. Therefore, we have to respond promptly and constructively to this crisis situation,” Svyrydenko said in Warsaw.

It was not clear when a ban on the entry of other Ukraine goods such as sugar, eggs, meat, milk and other dairy products and fruits and vegetables would be lifted.

Farmers in Poland and neighboring countries say that Ukrainian grain and farm produce, apart from flooding their markets, has filled their own storage areas, leaving no room for their own crops from this year.

After Russia blocked traditional export sea passages amid the war in Ukraine, the European Union lifted duties on Ukrainian grain to facilitate its transport to Africa and the Middle East and offered to pay some compensation, which the farmers said was insufficient.

Much of the grain ends up staying in transit countries, and some Polish unions and opposition politicians accuse government-linked companies of causing the problem by buying up cheap, low-quality Ukrainian grain, and then selling it to bread and pasta plants as high-quality Polish produce.

Poland’s main ruling party, Law and Justice, is seeking to ease the discontent of farmers — the party’s voter base — ahead of fall parliamentary elections.

In Romania, another country affected by Ukraine produce overflow, the ruling Social Democrat Party said Tuesday that it will ask its governing coalition partners to urgently look to issue a temporary suspension of imports of food products from Ukraine.

“Such a measure is necessary to protect Romanian farmers, in the context in which compensation received from the European Commission cannot cover the total value of the damage,” the party said in a statement.
…

Afghans living in Sweden say that iftar — or breaking fast during the month of Ramadan — is an opportunity to get together and learn about their cultural heritage. Abdul Wali Arian has the story, narrated by Bezhan Hamdard.
…

A Russian court has refused to release U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich from jail while he awaits trial on accusations that he spied on Russia while on a reporting assignment last month. VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports.
…

The Chinese defense chief vowed Tuesday to take military cooperation with Moscow to a new level, a statement that reflects increasingly close Russia-China ties amid the fighting in Ukraine. 

Chinese Defense Minister General Li Shangfu held talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu after attending a meeting Sunday with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin. 

“The armed forces of China and Russia will implement the agreements reached by the heads of state and expand military cooperation, military-technical ties and arms trade,” Li said in opening remarks at Tuesday’s meeting with Shoigu. “We will certainly take them to a new level.”

Li’s trip follows last month’s three-day state visit to the Russian capital by Chinese leader Xi Jinping, reflecting China’s strengthening engagement with Russia. Moscow and Beijing have closely aligned their policies in an attempt to reshape the world order to diminish the influence of the United States and its Western allies.

China has refused to criticize Russia’s actions in Ukraine and blamed the U.S. and NATO for provoking Moscow. Xi’s visit to Moscow gave a strong political boost to Putin, sending a message to Western leaders that their efforts to isolate Russia have fallen short.

After the talks, Putin and Xi issued joint declarations pledging to further bolster their “strategic cooperation,” develop cooperation in energy, high-tech industries and other spheres and expand the use of their currencies in mutual trade to reduce dependence on the West.

After more than a year of fighting in Ukraine and bruising Western sanctions, Russia’s dependence on China has increased significantly. Facing Western restrictions on its oil, gas and other exports, Russia has shifted its energy flows to China and sharply expanded other exports, resulting in a 30% hike in bilateral trade.

Last month, Putin and Xi also vowed to further develop military cooperation between Moscow and Beijing and conduct more joint sea and air patrols. There was no mention of any prospective Chinese weapons supplies to Russia, however, that the U.S. and other Western allies feared, and the Chinese foreign minister reaffirmed Friday that Beijing wouldn’t sell weapons to either side in the conflict in Ukraine. 
…

With Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan languishing in many polls ahead of May elections, his challenger, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, is promising to mend strained ties with Turkey’s Western allies. Analysts say that could be bad news for Moscow. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.
…

With Turkey and Hungary continuing to block Sweden’s application to join the NATO military alliance, the Swedish government hopes for a swift ratification soon by both countries after Turkish elections scheduled for May 14.  

Sweden and Finland lodged a joint application to join NATO just weeks after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.  

The alliance welcomed Finland earlier this month – NATO’s 31st member state – after Turkish and Hungarian lawmakers finally voted through the ratification in March. Sweden’s application has yet to be approved by the same two NATO members.  

Anti-terror law  

Ankara has accused Sweden of harboring what it considers pro-Kurdish terrorists, including members of the PKK militant group, which Sweden denies.  

Sweden’s prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, said he hoped next month’s presidential elections in Turkey could mark a turning point.

“Now we’re waiting for the Turkish elections. I think everyone realizes that there is a substantial role in this, which is about Turkish domestic politics and that is fully understandable, that’s how it is in most countries,” Kristersson said at a press conference March 31.  

Sweden is set to introduce a new anti-terrorism law, which it hopes will persuade Turkey to approve its NATO application. Speaking to reporters April 5, Turkey’s foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, gave a measured response. “Of course, they have taken some steps but they are not enough. We are expecting additional efforts in the coming period,” he said.

NATO summit

NATO’s secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, has said he hopes that Sweden’s application is ratified in time for the alliance’s annual summit, scheduled for July 11-12 in Lithuania.  

Alper Coşkun, of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the former director general for international security affairs at the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told VOA Turkish approval of Sweden’s application is not guaranteed.

“It will depend more on whether in the aftermath of the elections – irrespective of who wins – the Turkish authorities will be able to say to themselves and to the public at large, that some of Turkey’s expectations from Sweden have been met in terms of the implementation of that very law,” he said.  

“I do not believe that it is necessarily in Turkey’s interest after the election and post the implementation of that (anti-terror) law in Sweden, to prolong the matter. So I would assume that it is still a realistic expectation that Sweden will be able to join (NATO) by the summit in Vilnius.”

Election campaign

Foreign policy comes second to domestic concerns in Turkey’s election campaign – and that could benefit Sweden’s NATO application, Coşkun added.

“Especially now, in the aftermath of the earthquakes and the economic circumstances in Turkey, it has even decreased even more. In that sense, I don’t think as far as the public opinion is concerned, or as far as the interest of the political parties in Turkey is concerned, it’s a leading topic, that there is attention on it. And I think that alleviates the domestic political pressure on the issue, which should facilitate a solution post-election.”  

Turkish opposition parties have rallied behind a single candidate, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, in an effort to unseat incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Coşkun believes an opposition win could benefit Sweden. “They’ve made it clear that they will underline Turkey’s place within NATO, within the Western security architecture,” he said.  

Hungary  

Meanwhile, Hungarian lawmakers say they are blocking Sweden’s NATO bid over its recent criticism of their country’s democratic credentials, part of a long-running dispute over the rule of law between Budapest and its European allies.   

Analysts say that Turkey’s approval of Sweden’s bid would likely pressure Hungary to do the same, citing Budapest’s approval of Finland’s NATO application, which came just days after Ankara had signaled it would ratify Helsinki’s bid to join the alliance.   

Hungary’s foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, told the Associated Press March 25 that his country deserves more respect. “When Finnish and Swedish politicians question the democratic nature of our political system, that’s really unacceptable… As we give respect to all countries, we expect respect as well. And this respect was not really given,” he said.  

Szijjártó did not elaborate on whether Hungary would approve Sweden’s NATO application, if Turkey were to do so after the May 14 election.
…

Sweden is still waiting for Turkey to approve its application to join NATO. As Henry Ridgwell reports, Sweden hopes the upcoming Turkish elections scheduled for May 14 could be a turning point.

Camera: Henry Ridgwell
…

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is “in good health and good spirits, considering the circumstances” after his arrest in Russia late last month.

Speaking to reporters in Japan, Blinken said the United States continues to “call for his immediate release from this unjust detention.”

U.S. Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy said Monday she visited Gershkovich, whom Russia has accused of spying.

“This is the first time we’ve had consular access to Evan since his wrongful detention over two weeks ago,” Tracy said in a short statement in Russian on Telegram. “He feels well and is holding up. We reiterate our call for Evan’s immediate release.”

Gershkovich was arrested in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, 1,800 kilometers east of Moscow, while on a reporting assignment. Russia claims, without producing evidence, that he was caught “red-handed” while spying, collecting what it claimed were state secrets about a military industrial complex.

His newspaper and the U.S. government have rejected the charge of espionage, which, if he were to be convicted, carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

Two weeks ago, his parents, Ella Milman and Mikhail Gershkovich, who fled the Soviet Union in 1979 and live in the eastern U.S. city of Philadelphia, received a two-page, hand-written note from him in Russian, the language the family speaks at home.

“I want to say that I am not losing hope,” Gershkovich said. “I read. I exercise. And I am trying to write.”

He also teased his mother about her cooking. “Mom, you unfortunately, for better or worse, prepared me well for jail food,” he said. “For breakfast they give us hot creamed wheat, oatmeal cereal or wheat gruel. I am remembering my childhood.”

The parents said in a video interview with the Journal that they remain optimistic for their son’s release.

“It’s one of the American qualities that we absorbed, you know, be optimistic, believe in a happy ending,” Milman said. “But I am not stupid. I understand what’s involved.”

Milman said her son “felt like it was his duty to report” in Russia, even after most Western journalists left the country when President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine last year. “He loves Russian people,” she said of her son.

U.S. President Joe Biden has called the journalist’s detention “totally illegal” and told the family he was working for Gershkovich’s release. The United States has officially declared that Gershkovich has been “wrongfully detained” and that he is being held as a hostage.

The U.S. has repeatedly told its citizens to leave Russia due to risk of arbitrary arrest.

Some information for this report came from Agence France-Presse.
…

The European Union ambassador to Sudan was attacked in his home in Khartoum on Monday, the bloc’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said, as fighting between rival generals gripped the nation.

“A few hours ago, the EU Ambassador in Sudan was assaulted in his own residency,” Borrell wrote on Twitter, without detailing any injuries to the envoy.

“Security of diplomatic premises and staff is a primary responsibility of Sudanese authorities and an obligation under international law,” he added.

The European Union’s ambassador to Sudan is 58-year-old Irish diplomat Aidan O’Hara. E.U. spokeswoman Nabila Massrali told AFP that he was “OK” following the assault.

“The security of the staff is our priority,” she said. “The EU delegation has not been evacuated. Security measures are being assessed.”

Ireland’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Micheal Martin, said O’Hara was “not seriously hurt” but that the assault was “a gross violation of obligations to protect diplomats under the Vienna Convention.”

“Aidan is an outstanding Irish and European diplomat who is serving the EU under the most difficult circumstances,” Martin said. “We thank him for his service and call for an urgent cessation of violence in Sudan, and resumption of dialogue.”

Fighting between the Sudanese army and a rival paramilitary faction has killed about 200 people and wounded 1,800 after three days of urban warfare.

The United Nations has called for an immediate ceasefire, and international bodies, including the European Union, have expressed grave concern.
…

With Turkey nearing hotly contested presidential elections in May, international rights groups are condemning a crackdown on independent media that have challenged the incumbent president’s control of the mainstream media. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.
…

In the past week, at least three people have died in the shelling that slams both in and out of Chasiv Yar, Ukraine, sometimes every few minutes. City workers say their main job now is to get people, and anything else of value, out. 

“Many people have already left,” says Yevgeni Dmytriev, 32, the city administrator, when we meet him by his van near the center of town. The local government building is now a distribution point for emergency aid like food and wood to burn for heat. Businesses are closed. Their windows are either boarded up or smashed in. 

“Some humanitarian aid is still here,” explains Dmytriev. “We want to move this humanitarian aid from here to a safer place.”

Chasiv Yar is about 10 kilometers from the city of Bakhmut, where the longest and deadliest battle in Ukraine is currently taking place. Chasiv Yar is close enough to be hit by artillery aimed at Bakhmut, but it is also a target itself. Every tree-lined block in the city appears to have been bombed and most of the people we see are armed and armored soldiers. The roads are largely deserted, but tanks and vehicles carrying soldiers into battle whip by from time to time.

Across the street, a team of three journalists wearing helmets and blue body armor wander through the city’s central park. At this moment, the nearby blasts are the Ukrainian Army’s artillery firing on Russian forces, but that can change in an instant.

Outside a community shelter about five minutes’ drive away, Alexandr Cverkovich, a 38-year-old aid worker and head of the Peace and Kindness Fund, oversees the delivery of boxes of food and water. He also wears body armor, and he and his colleagues are dressed in camouflage. 

Early last month, Cverkovich delivered supplies to Bakhmut. Now Chasiv Yar is as close as aid organizations and most journalists can get to the heart of the battle zone. And the conditions in Chasiv Yar are now, in many ways, eerily like those in Bakhmut two months ago, he says.

“[Chasiv Yar] is heavily damaged now,” he continues. “Last time we were here it was in one piece.”  

WATCH: Inside Russia’s War in Ukraine

Invincibility

The community shelters here are called “invincibility points,” providing electricity to charge phones and internet access. About 20% of the population remains in Chasiv Yar, but most city services are not operating. 

The thousand-plus people still in town are mostly old, sick, poor, or all three. Phone numbers for evacuation teams are printed on small paper handouts in the shelter and hung on the wall, but they are not often called. 

This situation was also similar in Bakhmut a few months ago, say aid workers. Back then all the people in Bakhmut who wished to flee were long-gone. But now things are different. The only way out is by rescue by an armed military unit, and soldiers are busy fighting to hold onto the city and their lives. 

“We got lucky,” says Svetlana, a 74-year-old former librarian who escaped Bakhmut last week after spending three days trying to wave down soldiers as they passed by, usually fleeing bombings.

But Alexandr, a 67-year-old Chasiv Yar resident and shelter volunteer, says he and many others have no plans to leave, despite warnings. In cities, towns and villages across Ukraine’s conflict area, people live under fire in order to care for elderly or sick relatives or neighbors, pets or farm animals. 

“[My home] was damaged,” he says, matter-of-factly. “The windows were blown out. So we covered them with plastic tarps.”

It is also commonly believed that many civilians who still live in Ukraine’s eastern war zone stay because they support the idea of Russian rule. Besides cross-border familial and cultural bonds, Russian is the most used language here and it’s not hard to find people who are nostalgic for the time of the Soviet Union. 

But we meet no one living side by side with Ukraine’s defending forces who overtly declares loyalty to Russia’s invading army.

While having a cigarette outside the shelter, Vladimir, 80, tells us he is not interested in talking of the Soviet days. But he points out what he perceives as the futility of this war. He says that, in his opinion, neither the United States nor Britain would be able to beat Russia in battle, so he doesn’t believe Ukraine can win now.

“Let’s all be friendly,” he says, emphatically repeating the final word in English with his finger pointed. “Friendly.”

In Pictures: Chasiv Yar, Ukraine Battleground Town

Front line moving in 

While we talk, residents and volunteers continue to move boxes of food into the shelter, and no one even blinks when the nearby artillery is fired. But one blast accompanied by the whistle of incoming weaponry makes a few people start and one woman declare, “It’s normal” as Yan Boechat, our videographer, drops his camera to look for the location of the hit. 

It isn’t near enough to endanger us, so he continues his work.

Inside the shelter, the lights go off. It is 3 p.m. and the generator needs to rest until morning. There is no electricity, gas or running water in town. The only internet connections are brought in by the army.

With the shelter dark for the day, locals begin to make their way home with packets of donated food. Some have bicycles but most are on foot. 

“I’ve stayed here at home for the whole war,” says Olga, 72, as she prepares to leave the shelter. “But now I am considering evacuation. Maybe.” 

Oleksandr Babenko contributed to this report.
…

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said on Monday the Justice Department intends to appoint a prosecutor and a legal adviser to assist Ukraine with its efforts to investigate and prosecute suspected war crimes by Russian forces.

The prosecutor will be based in The Hague at Eurojust, the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation, Garland said, following a meeting with Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin.

Garland said a resident legal adviser would also be dispatched to the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv this summer.

He said Ukrainian prosecutors had been working with the Justice Department to investigate war crimes for which the U.S. has jurisdiction, such as those who kill or injure Americans. Congress also recently expanded the department’s authority to prosecute any war criminals found within the U.S.

“We have been making good progress with respect to some suspects,” Garland told reporters on Monday, adding that the investigation “is going very well.”

Russia denies involvement in war crimes and denies deliberately attacking civilians.

Kostin told reporters he welcomed assistance from the Justice Department, and said Ukraine was also talking with U.S. intelligence agencies “about the possibility of the sharing of intelligence information to investigate and prosecute specific war crimes committed by Russians.”

Last June, Garland tapped veteran prosecutor Eli Rosenbaum to lead a new War Crimes Accountability Team, which is tasked with coordinating and providing assistance to international counterparts to help collect and analyze evidence to hold suspected Russian war criminals accountable.

In March 2022, the department also launched a new task force known as KleptoCapture, which is dedicated to enforcing sanctions, export restrictions and economic countermeasures designed to freeze Russia out of global market.
…

A French court on Monday acquitted Airbus and Air France of manslaughter charges over the 2009 crash of Flight 447 from Rio to Paris, which killed 228 people and led to lasting changes in aircraft safety measures.

Sobs broke out in the courtroom as the presiding judge read out the decision, a devastating defeat for victims’ families who fought for 13 years to see the case reach court.

The three-judge panel ruled that there wasn’t enough evidence of a direct link between decisions by the companies and the crash. The official investigation found that multiple factors contributed to the disaster, including pilot error and the icing over of external sensors called pitot tubes.

“We are sickened. The court is telling us, ‘go on, there’s not a problem here, there’s nothing to see,'” said Daniele Lamy, who lost her son Eric in the crash and heads an association for families of victims.

“For the powerful, impunity reigns. Centuries pass, and nothing changes,” she said. “The families of victims are mortified and in total disarray.”

While the court didn’t find the companies guilty of criminal wrongdoing, the judges said that Airbus and Air France held civil responsibility for the damages caused by the crash, and ordered them to compensate families of victims. It didn’t provide an overall amount, but scheduled hearings in September to work that out.

Air France has already compensated families of those killed, who came from 33 countries. Families from around the world are among the plaintiffs, including many in Brazil.

The two-month trial left families wracked with anger and disappointment. Unusually, even state prosecutors argued for acquittal, saying that the proceedings didn’t produce enough proof of criminal wrongdoing by the companies.

Prosecutors laid the blame primarily on the pilots, who died in the crash. Airbus lawyers also blamed pilot error, and Air France said the full reasons for the crash will never be known.

Air France said in a statement that the company took note of the ruling, and “will always remember the victims of this terrible accident, and express deep compassion to all of their loved ones.”

Airbus and Air France had faced potential fines of up to 225,000 euros ($219,000) each if convicted of manslaughter. That would have been just a fraction of their annual revenues, but a criminal conviction for the aviation heavyweights could have reverberated through the industry.

The A330-200 plane disappeared from radar in a storm over the Atlantic Ocean on June 1, 2009, with 216 passengers and 12 crew members aboard. It took two years to find the plane and its black box recorders on the ocean floor, at depths of around 4,000 meters.

An Associated Press investigation at the time found that Airbus had known since at least 2002 about problems with the type of pitot tubes used on the jet that crashed, but failed to replace them until after the crash.

Air France was accused of not having implemented training in the event of icing of the pitot probes despite the risks. Airbus was accused of not doing enough to urgently inform airlines and their crews about faults with the pitots or to ensure training to mitigate the risk.

The crash had lasting impacts on the industry, leading to changes in regulations for airspeed sensors and in how pilots are trained.

The trial was fraught with emotion. Distraught families shouted down the CEOs of Airbus and Air France as the proceedings opened in October, crying out “Shame!” as the executives took the stand. Dozens of people who lost loved ones stormed out of the court as the trial wrapped up with the prosecutors’ surprising call for acquittal.
…

Slovakia has delivered the remaining nine of the 13 Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets that it promised to Ukraine, the Slovak Defense Ministry said on Monday.

The ministry said the warplanes were transported overland for security reasons in a “complicated logistics operation.” The first four were flown from Slovakia to Ukraine by Ukrainian pilots on March 23.

“We are doing the right thing,” Defense Minister Jaroslav Nad said in a statement.

On March 17, the Slovak government approved a plan to give Ukraine its entire fleet of Soviet-era MiG-29 planes, becoming the second NATO member to answer Ukraine’s plea for warplanes to help defend against Russia’s invasion.

Slovakia grounded its MiGs in the summer due to a lack of spare parts and maintenance expertise. Neighboring Poland and the Czech Republic, both NATO members, stepped in to monitor Slovak air space.

Replacements for the MiG-29s are unlikely to arrive for another year. Slovakia previously signed a deal to buy 14 U.S. F-16 Block 70/72 fighter jets, but delivery was pushed back two years with the first aircraft to arrive in early 2024.

The United States has offered Slovakia 12 new military helicopters as compensation for the fighter jets given to Ukraine. Under the offer, Slovakia would pay $340 million for the Bell AH-1Z attack choppers in a deal worth about $1 billion. U.S. foreign military financing would cover the other $660 million.
…

Japanese video games group Sega has offered to buy Angry Birds maker Rovio, valuing the Finnish company at over $770 million, the companies said Monday.   

“Combining the strengths of Rovio and Sega presents an incredibly exciting future,” Alexandre Pelletier-Normand, CEO of Rovio, said in a statement, which added that Rovio was recommending shareholders to accept the offer.   

The offer, which represents a 19% premium over Rovio’s closing share price on Friday, is part of the Sonic the Hedgehog maker’s “long-term goal” of expanding into the mobile gaming market, Sega CEO Haruki Satomi said.   

“Among the rapidly growing global gaming market, the mobile gaming market has especially high potential,” he added.   

In 2022, Rovio, which employs over 500 people, saw a revenue of $350 million, and an adjusted net profit of $34.5 million.   

Rovio launched the bird slingshot game in 2009 and it soared rapidly to become one of the most popular games on Apple’s App Store.   

In 2016, the “Angry Birds” movie, produced by Sony Entertainment, was a huge success and grossed $350 million worldwide.   

Rovio also manages Angry Birds theme parks in several countries and oversees the publication of children’s books about the famous birds in a dozen languages.   

Following the global success of Angry Birds, Rovio has remained heavily reliant on its flagship game, struggling to develop another similar hit.   

After years of success tied to its Angry Birds mobile games, Rovio hit a rough patch in 2015 and laid off a third of its staff.   

Sega is aiming to open the offer period in early May, hoping to complete the deal in the third quarter, the company said. 
…