In Ukraine, the high stakes of documenting the war
From the bodies strewn in the streets of Bucha to civilian victims of Russian shelling, from buildings struck by missiles to the environmental consequences of the conflict, few aspects of the war have escaped Ukrainians' determination to record, document and archive everything. There are now hundreds of such initiatives. And they are not limited to the current armed conflict with Russia: Countless projects are revisiting Ukraine's history, culture and arts, as well as its cuisine, wildlife and flora.
Ukrainians are not the first to be deeply committed to documenting their own war in real time. Over the past 15 years, driven by historical awareness, a thirst for information and hopes for justice – and thanks to new means of communication and technology – activists from the Arab Spring, Iranian protesters, besieged Syrians and now Gazans cut off from the world have pioneered the daily documentation of conflict. But Ukraine is undoubtedly reaching a new level never seen before in terms of scale.
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Euronews
2 hours ago
- Euronews
Russian troop losses in Ukraine surpass the 1 million mark, Kyiv says
Russia has lost more than 1 million troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion on 24 February 2022, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported on Thursday. The figure — which reportedly comes out to 1,000,340 — includes killed, wounded or incapacitated Russian troops. According to the report, Russia has also lost 10,933 tanks, 22,786 armored fighting vehicles, 51,579 vehicles and fuel tanks, 29,063 artillery systems, 1,413 multiple launch rocket systems, 1,184 air defense systems, 416 airplanes, 337 helicopters, 40,435 drones, 3,337 cruise missiles, 28 ships and boats, and one submarine. 'The overall losses of the Russian occupying forces in manpower since the beginning of the full-scale invasion have reached 1 million,' Ukraine's General Staff stated. 'More than 628,000 occurred in just the past year and a half.' Releasing the report on Thursday, Ukraine's General Staff said that the one-million mark is not just a statistic but a symbol of resistance and resilience. 'One million. That's how much the enemy's offensive potential has diminished,' the General Staff wrote. '1 million who could have destroyed us, but whom we destroyed instead.' The statement went on to highlight the symbolic meaning behind this figure, referencing the sites of Moscow's defeats and losses in Ukraine, "in the Red Forest near Chernobyl, in the waters of the Dnipro near Antonivsky Bridge, in Donbas and Kharkiv region. And the the bottom of the Black Sea, where the cruiser Moskva sank." 'This million neutralised occupiers is our response. Our memory of Bucha, Irpin, Kupyansk, Kherson... About the bombed-out maternity hospital in Mariupol and the Okhmatdyt hospital in Kyiv destroyed by a Russian missile. About the tears of children, civilians shot dead, and destroyed homes.' Kyiv also expressed gratitude to every Ukrainian soldier who contributed to the fight, reaffirming that "every eliminated occupier is another step toward a just peace." 'Today, we've taken more than a million such steps.' the General Staff concluded. Ukraine started publicly tracking and publishing Russian losses on 1 March 2022, when the count stood at 5,710 killed and 200 captured. Ever since, the losses have been increasing every year. In 2022, Russia lost 106,720 troops, averaging 340 per day, according to the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces. In 2023, the losses more than doubled to an average of 693 per day and 253,290 troops. In 2024, daily losses crossed the 1,000 threshold and totalled at 430,790 troops. This year, Russia has been losing on average 1,286 troops per day. Ukraine's General Staff numbers are in line with the estimates of Ukraine's western allies. At the beginning of April, Deutsche Welle reported that according to a senior NATO official Russia's losses surpassed 900,000 troops, including 250,000 deaths, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Ukraine and Russia do not publicly disclose their losses. In February, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said over 46,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed on the battlefield since early 2022. He also said nearly 380,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been injured and "tens of thousands" remained either "missing in action" or being held in Russian captivity. Russia's plan in its ongoing all-out war on Ukraine is to take Odesa and continue to Moldova and Romania, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told southeastern European leaders at a summit in the Black Sea port city on Wednesday. 'Russia's war plans target this region, Odesa. Then they are targeting the borders with Moldova and Romania. Of course, we need protection now. But above all, we need long-term guarantees that these can never happen again," he emphasised. The summit, attended by Ukraine, Romania, the Republic of Moldova, Serbia, Albania, Greece, Montenegro, Croatia and Slovenia, brought together countries, some of which have already been targeted by Moscow's hybrid warfare. Moldova's President Maia Sandu has warned of the dangers of hybrid warfare aimed at influencing the country's parliamentary elections scheduled for this fall. 'We do learn everyday by new attempts and new ways through which Russia tries to interfere with our internal political processes, democratic processes," Sandu said. "It is going to be tough, but we do want Moldovans to decide for Moldova at the parliamentary elections, and not the Kremlin." Through its actions, the Kremlin is threatening peace across the continent, while sabotaging efforts to reach a lasting peace in Ukraine, participants pointed out. 'Russia constantly rejects any constructive initiative and strives to undermine the path to peace," Romanian President Nicușor Dan, who was on his first official visit to Ukraine after winning the dramatic elections in May, said at the summit. "Russia proposes unreasonable demands, knowing that they cannot be accepted. The only language Russia understands is the language of force and we must do our utmost to help Ukraine negotiate from a position of strength.' Both Dan and Sandu have recently been targeted by disinformation campaigns on pro-Russian Telegram channels, as revealed by Euronews and Euroverify. Meanwhile, Odesa was again in the Russian forces' crosshairs in the run-up to the summit. Euronews Romania journalists have visited the Black Sea port city districts destroyed by Moscow's massive bombing in recent days. The extent of the destruction is significant: buildings in ruins, burned cars and people who no longer have a home. Every night, people are woken up by airstrikes and the long sound of sirens. The most terrifying, people say, is the noise of drones or missiles overhead. Kateryna, 32, witnessed the bombings in recent nights. The apartment she lives in, together with her mother, was hit by drones launched by the Russians. Everything was reduced to ashes. "This is the first time our home was bombed. My mother was sleeping in my room, and when the first Shahed drone came, she ran away and hid in the basement. The first strike was right in the room she ran from," Kateryna told Euronews. Earlier this week, at least two people died and 9 were injured in a missile and drone attack that also struck a maternity hospital and another medical facility, and the city's film studio and zoo. Odesa is of strategic importance to Ukraine, serving as one of the primary logistical channels for both the export and import of goods needed by the country, which has been affected by Russia's ongoing full-scale aggression.
France 24
4 hours ago
- France 24
How would Iran retaliate in event of Israeli strikes?
President Donald Trump said on Wednesday the US was relocating personnel from the potentially "dangerous" Middle East as nuclear talks with Iran stalled, raising conflict fears. He vowed to prevent an Iranian nuclear weapon amid speculation of Israeli strikes. Iran, meanwhile, has been bolstering its military and defence capabilities in recent months, says France 24's correspondent in Tehran Saeed Azimi.
France 24
4 hours ago
- France 24
Oman to host US-Iran nuclear talks on Sunday
Despite reporting progress in earlier rounds, Tehran and Washington have sharply disagreed over Iran's uranium enrichment in recent weeks, with Tehran threatening to target US military bases in the region in the event that the talks fail and conflict erupts. Tensions reached a fever pitch this week as Washington ordered the evacuation of personnel from the Middle East and US media reported that Israel appeared to be preparing an attack on Iran. Oman's Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi nonetheless confirmed in a post on X on Thursday that the "6th round of Iran US talks will be held in Muscat this Sunday". Iran meanwhile vowed to build a new uranium enrichment facility and "increase signficantly" its production after the UN nuclear watchdog passed a resolution condemning Tehran's "non-compliance". The United States and Iran have held five rounds of talks since April to hammer out a new nuclear deal, replacing a 2015 accord that President Donald Trump abandoned during his first term in office. Trump appeared to shift his previously optimistic tone this week, saying he was "less confident" a deal could be reached, and on Wednesday ordered US personnel to be moved from the potentially "dangerous" Middle East. 'Suffer more losses' Israel has repeatedly warned that it could attack Iranian nuclear sites, vowing to stop its arch foe from acquiring an atomic bomb, which Tehran has consistently denied it was seeking. The US president says he has pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold off from striking Iran's nuclear facilities to give the talks a chance, but has increasingly signalled that he is losing patience. Iran however warned it would respond to any attack. "All its (US) bases are within our reach, we have access to them, and without hesitation we will target all of them in the host countries," Iran's Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh said in response to US threats of military action if the talks fail. "God willing, things won't reach that point, and the talks will succeed," the minister said, adding that the US side "will suffer more losses" if it came to conflict. A US official had earlier said that staff levels at the embassy in Iraq were being reduced over security concerns, while there were reports that personnel were also being moved from Kuwait and Bahrain. An Iraqi security official said it was "not complete evacuation" and the US was taking precautionary measures in case of the failure of talks. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the US embassy in Manama said the mission "has not changed its staffing posture and remains fully operational". 'Strategic mistake' The latest developments come amid a diplomatic standoff over Iran's uranium enrichment, which Tehran has defended as a "non-negotiable" right while Washington has called it a "red line". Iran currently enriches uranium to 60 percent, far above the 3.67-percent limit set in the 2015 deal and close though still short of the 90 percent needed for a nuclear warhead. Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in major state policies, has recently said enrichment is "key" to Iran's nuclear programme and that the United States "cannot have a say" on the issue. On May 31, after the fifth round of talks, Iran said it had received "elements" of a US proposal for a nuclear deal, with Araghchi later saying the text contained "ambiguities". Iran has said it will present a counter-proposal to the latest draft from Washington, which it had criticised for failing to offer relief from sanctions -- a key demand for Tehran, which has been reeling under their weight for years. On Tuesday, the International Atomic Energy Agency's board of governors adopted a resolution drafted by the US, Britain, France and Germany, condemning Iran's "non-compliance" with its nuclear obligations. In response, Iran's foreign ministry and atomic agency said orders had been issued "to launch a new enrichment centre in a secure location". The agency added that uranium enrichment would "increase significantly". The resolution could lay the groundwork for European countries to invoke the "snapback" mechanism under the 2015 nuclear deal, reinstating UN sanctions in response to Iranian non-compliance -- an option that expires in October.
