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Yahoo
7 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
In western Ukraine, ethnic Romanians grapple with war, identity, and displacement
While Romania debated its future in its recent presidential election, Romanians in Ukraine's Chernivtsi Oblast just across the border continued to wrestle with war, mobilization, and the loss of their pre-war lives. Romania's tight election race at the end of May kept many in Europe on the edge of their seats as candidates with starkly different visions for the country's future vied to take office in the EU member state. Pro-European liberal Nicusor Dan, who supported aid to Ukraine in fighting off Russia's invasion, defeated his opponent George Simion, a far-right Eurosceptic candidate who opposed supporting Ukraine and was banned from entering the country over his "systematic anti-Ukrainian activities." In the west, Ukraine's historically diverse population includes sizable communities of ethnic Romanians, Poles, and Hungarians. Their ancestors lived with Ukrainians in the areas that became Ukrainian after the borders took their current shape in the First and Second World Wars. 'My grandma is a Romanian, my grandpa is a Romanian, father is a Romanian. I am (also) a Romanian,' said Oleksandr, 58, a resident of Ukraine and one of only 431 people who cast votes for a Romanian election in Ukraine, according to the turnout numbers provided by the Romanian Special Telecommunications Service. He declined to provide his last name. "We were good neighbors to each other and have to remain good neighbors." Chernivtsi Oblast remains the main hub of ethnic Romanians among the three Ukrainian oblasts bordering Romania. It hosts an estimated more than 100,000 ethnic Romanians, some of whom live in almost entirely Romanian villages, study in Romanian-speaking schools, and organize cultural festivals. Before the war, many Ukrainians with Romanian roots from the area routinely went to Romania for work or studies, strengthening cultural diplomacy between the countries and fueling the local economy. 'We were good neighbors to each other and have to remain good neighbors (with Romania),' said Ihor, a silver-haired local man who came to the Romanian voting station in Chernivtsi on May 18 with his wife. Ihor did not want to give his last name. But now in Chernivtsi, far away from most of the Russian attacks on the front and major cities, the war has unsettled the balance that once let the Romanian community move easily between both countries — and cultures. Military-aged men are not allowed to leave the country and can no longer work abroad. Despite many holding dual Romanian-Ukrainian citizenship, Ukrainian law only recognizes them as Ukrainian citizens. With the oblast's economy weakened by the loss of income from abroad, local job opportunities are limited. Many men fear being drafted from the streets. Funerals of Ukrainian fighters in Chernivtsi Oblast took place almost daily in May. A wave of patriotic fervor, which mobilized Ukrainians in response to Russia's invasion, has bolstered the Ukrainian language's role as the state language. But in Chernivtsi, the ethnic Romanian minority hopes that their opportunities to live, study, and pray in the Romanian language in Ukraine won't be affected by Ukraine's pushback against centuries of Russification. Residents and Romanian activists say the majority of dual citizens in Chernivtsi Oblast obtained Romanian citizenship for economic, not identity-based reasons. Romanian law grants the right to citizenship to any Ukrainian who can prove their descent from people who lived in Chernivtsi Oblast during Romanian rule from the late 1910s to the 1940s. 'Mainly, (people got dual citizenship) to have access to European countries.' 'In our Ukraine, there is no job, and nothing to live on,' said ethnic Romanian Vasyl Bota, 74, whose five children left to work abroad before the full-scale invasion. 'Mainly, (people got dual citizenship) to have access to European countries,' said Vasyl Byku, an ethnic Romanian activist and the head of the Romanian Culture Society named after Mihai Eminescu, a Romanian romantic poet and novelist. 'The situation was different before, there was a visa regime (with the European Union),' Byku told the Kyiv Independent. 'Visas were very expensive. People went to Europe, were caught there, returned, and deported. (With a Romanian passport), they got an opportunity to go and do some work.' People from Chernivtsi and other western oblasts would direct their earnings from abroad to renovating their family houses in Ukraine, said Lavrentii, a driver with dual Ukrainian-Romanian citizenship who often transports people across the Romanian border. 'It also gave work in construction to people living here. The chain has been interrupted. It affects everything,' Lavrentii added. Locals say it's widely known in Chernivtsi that a routine document check done by draft office patrols can result in being drafted right off the streets. In Chernivtsi, Oleksii Rusetskyi was drafted on New Year's Eve at the train station as he was arriving from Kyiv, his sister, Olena Mishakova, told the Kyiv Independent on May 18 at a rally in the city's downtown area for missing and captured soldiers. Mishakova held up a large Ukrainian flag with her brother's picture, along with another hundred silent women, children, and men lined up with flags and pictures of their family members. 'We were born here as Romanians, but this does not mean that we are not citizens of Ukraine. We are citizens of Ukraine in the first place.' Her brother went missing in Donetsk Oblast on Dec. 25, a year into his service. The fear of being drafted has also changed daily life for men in Chernivtsi. Ivan, a taxi driver who declined to give his last name, regularly checked a chat on Viber with over 33,000 members where people shared updates on the draft office patrols around the city. He told the Kyiv Independent that he avoided trips outside Chernivtsi, afraid he could be conscripted at any one of the checkpoints encircling it. 'All the young people took their families and left to Romania, to Europe, because they don't see a future here,' said Yurii Levchyk, a Chernivtsi district council member and the director of the Bukovyna art center for revival and promotion of Romanian culture. 'For one, this is no longer a state here, it's a police system,' Levchyk told the Kyiv Independent as he walked from the voting station to his art center on May 18. 'People are being grabbed on the streets. There are still plenty of (ethnic Romanian) people here, but they are hiding,' he added. Many ethnic Romanians in Chernivtsi Oblast have also volunteered to fight for their homeland, Ukraine, Byku said. 'In every (ethnic Romanian) village, our national flags for fallen soldiers stand in the cemeteries,' Byku said. 'We were born here as Romanians, but this does not mean that we are not citizens of Ukraine. We are citizens of Ukraine first and foremost.' Simion's position on the Russian war in Ukraine fueled old tensions between Romania and Ukraine concerning Romanian minority rights. 'Maybe the war deepened all our problems,' Levchyk said, referring to government corruption, the lack of accountability for the authorities, and cases of potentially unlawful mobilization. 'We didn't feel any major problems (before the full-scale war). Sometimes we thought that we were being wronged, but we would bring it up and discuss, and put things right,' Levchyk said, describing his frustration with the problems in the country that were not specific to Romanians. "The war deepened all the problems." Beyond the frustrations many Ukrainians share about the government, Byku said that ethnic Romanians in Ukraine do not experience ethnic conflict or discrimination. Earlier, Byku opposed a 2017 law that would have switched about a hundred Romanian-speaking schools around the country to studies in the Ukrainian language. But according to Byku, the schools continue to operate in Romanian as the law was 'put on hold." 'We just want to be citizens of Ukraine. But we don't want to lose our identity. This is very important to us,' Byku added. Despite this, Russian propaganda actively uses narratives of alleged abuses of minority groups in Ukraine to raise anti-Ukrainian sentiments in Romania. According to Roman Hryshchuk, a Ukrainian Orthodox priest from the ethnic Romanian village of Hlyboke, the rumors about persecution of the faith and Orthodoxy by Ukrainian authorities are spread in Romania by Romanian-speaking priests from Russian-linked churches, which still dominate Chernivtsi Oblast. As Ukrainian communities and activists vote to switch their own parishes to the Ukrainian church and leave behind the persistent religious domination of Moscow, Hryshchuk said the priests of Russian-linked churches 'lie to their parish' that the Ukrainian church will force them to hold services exclusively in Ukrainian. However, in 2019, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church founded its Romanian vicariate to accommodate Romanian speakers who wish to hold services in the Romanian language. 'This, in fact, caused a wave of anti-Ukrainian outrage in Romania. And Simion built his (presidential candidate's) work around this wave,' Hryshchuk added. Hello, this is Natalia Yermak. I reported this story for you. In a far western Chernivtsi Oblast, removed from the front and the Kyiv Independent's headquarters in Kyiv, Russian propaganda around alleged ethnic and religious persecution in Ukraine could grow unnoticed until it threatens the long-standing relationship between allies. If you wish to help us shed light on it, please consider supporting our field reports from all over Ukraine by becoming a member. Thank you! Read also: Romania's new president faces daunting challenges after surprise victory over far-right upstart We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
'It's all a farce' — Ukrainian soldiers react to peace talks in Istanbul
The first direct peace talks in years between Kyiv and Moscow ended on May 16 with Russia once again rejecting an unconditional 30-day ceasefire. In turn, Russia demanded that Ukrainian troops leave four of the country's regions, which Moscow partly controls. Such a demand is a non-starter for Ukraine. Ukrainian soldiers say that they didn't expect much else, as Russia keeps slowly advancing in some parts of the front and is poised to take more territory before settling with what it already controls. "Personally, I think it's all a farce," Ihor, a soldier serving since 2020 and currently fighting in the east of Ukraine, told the Kyiv Independent. He's identified by his first name as he wasn't authorised to speak to the press. "Even if the full-fledged negotiations take place, even if they agree on something, and even if 30 days of 'peace' really happen, it's all just a smokescreen," Ihor said. "The enemy does not need negotiations, because it is managing to advance," he added. "Even with this human toll, the enemy manages to build up reserves, both human and arms, and expand (military) production, which are also not signs that someone is planning to stop." Read also: Ukraine-Russia talks in Istanbul end, Moscow demands Kyiv withdraw from 4 regions, no ceasefire agreement Ukraine continues to insist on a ceasefire, supported by the U.S. and Europe, saying that a halt to active warfare must come before any real peace talks are possible. Russia has so far rejected a truce four times — on March 11, March 25, May 11 and the most recent one on May 16 in Istanbul. "Putin is laughing at (U.S. President Donald) Trump in front of the whole world." A source in the President's Office briefed on the talks told the Kyiv Independent that Moscow's delegation insisted that Ukraine retreat from Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson oblasts, despite Russia not controlling any of them in their entirety. Over half a dozen Ukrainian soldiers who spoke to the Kyiv Independent about the talks shared a similar opinion — the battlefield situation will have a real influence on peace prospects, not talks in Istanbul. "Putin is laughing at (U.S. President Donald) Trump in front of the whole world," said a Ukrainian infantryman who goes by the callsign Mamai. "Based on the results of three years of the all-out war, in Putin's eyes all the leaders of the Western world are weaklings and suckers." A Ukrainian drone operator, who goes by the callsign Architect, told the Kyiv Independent that "It's a pity that our side has to participate in this, and the rest of the civilized world lacks the courage to respond to the aggressor properly." Soldiers said that despite the fatigue of more than three years of brutal fighting, they are determined to continue. "There is no point in negotiating. The only thing (Russians) understand is force," said Bart, a Special Forces sniper fighting near Pokrovsk. "We will continue to destroy them." Petro Kuzyk, a battalion commander with the National Guard, told the Kyiv Independent. Though the main objective of the talks, a ceasefire, was not agreed upon, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov told reporters after the talks that Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a prisoners of war (POWs) exchange on a 1,000-for-1,000 basis in the near future. If it takes place, it will be by far the biggest prisoner exchange between two countries and a step towards the "all for all" prisoner exchange that Ukraine insisted was necessary for a lasting peace. Lieutenant Colonel Bohdan Krotevych, former commander of Ukraine's Azov Brigade and one of the most vocal critics of the country's military leadership, praised Zelensky's clear show of interest in the talks "despite Russia's (ongoing) sabotage." "The Russian delegation tried to take a position where they could dictate terms," Krotevych told the Kyiv Independent. "But as far as I know, our delegation, led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, quickly put them in their place." Krotevych said that he fully supports the delegation's position that returning Ukrainian POWs is one of the key priorities. If the 1,000-on-1,000 POWs exchange that Ukraine and Russia agreed to will take place, it could help achieve further progress in the peace talks, such as a meeting between Zelensky and Putin, mediated by Trump, Krotevych said. "If the Russian delegation fails to confirm its position on the prisoner exchange, it would mean that all negotiations are just another one of Putin's performances meant to stall the process," Krotevych added. Read also: 'Time to increase the pressure' — Zelensky, European leaders speak with Trump following Istanbul peace talks We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Observer
24-03-2025
- Politics
- Observer
Ukraine's frontline craves respite ahead of peace talks
KHERSON: The people of the frontline Ukrainian city of Kherson have more reason than most to want an end to the three-year-old fight with Russia. But a taste of occupation and relentless attacks since Russian forces were pushed back have made them wary of peace talks. US and Russian negotiators were meeting in Saudi Arabia to try to seal a proposed 30-day pause on Kyiv and Moscow attacking each other's energy infrastructure and move towards a broader ceasefire. The city was once home to nearly 300,000 people, but the population has dwindled to 60,000. From March to November 2022, Russian occupying forces detained and tortured many people, residents say. The Russians, who reject allegations of abuse of civilians, were forced out by a Ukrainian counteroffensive. They now bombard relentlessly from the river's other bank. The other bed in the room was occupied by Ihor, a bearded 30-year-old. He too was hit by a grenade dropped from a drone, he said, in his case as he walked along the street trying to find a phone signal because Russian attacks had damaged cellphone masts. He also wanted the ceasefire to work. "I don't want other people to be brought to the hospital like this," he said, gesturing to his leg, whose broken bones were being held together by metal rods. "We believe that Trump will end the war this year, as he promised, and we will have peace," said Ihor, who also declined to give his family name. According to Oleksandr Prokudin, Governor of the Kherson region, there are between 600 and 700 drone attacks in the city each week. "They terrorise the population," he said of the Russian drone operators on the other bank. He said they routinely spot, through their onboard cameras, civilians going about their business, and then attack them. Russia denies deliberately targeting civilians in the conflict. Because of the threat of Russian drones, Maksym Dyak, a 38-year-old Kherson city bus driver, sits behind the wheel wearing a flak jacket and helmet. Dyak said the vehicle he was driving had been hit by grenades dropped from drones ten times; he was at the wheel for five of those. A blown-out side window of the bus had been covered with a sheet of plywood, but he continues driving even when there are drones buzzing overhead. "It's very scary, especially when you have little children on the bus," he said. The territory of the hospital where the two wounded men were being treated has been hit 21 times since November 2022, chief doctor Viktor Korolenko said. "You know, I really want all this to end ... our doctors are burning out psychologically under the bombardment," Korolenko said, adding that many of his staff had been forced to move into the hospital after their homes were destroyed, but that he planned to stay in Kherson. At a street market in the city centre last week, residents, many of them elderly, shopped for vegetables and dried fish. Meanwhile, Ukraine's state-owned railway company Ukrzaliznytsia said on Monday traffic was not disrupted by a cyberattack that knocked out its online ticketing system. "Operational traffic did not stop for a single moment. The enemy attack was aimed to stop trains, but we quickly switched to backup systems," Oleksandr Pertsovskyi, Ukrzaliznytsia's board chairman, told national TV. The company did not explicitly identify who was behind the attack, but describing it as the work of the enemy implicitly pointed the finger at Russia. A Ukrainian security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Moscow's intention appeared to be to create psychological pressure on Ukraine's population and destabilise the social and political situation with a cyberattack. The outage was first reported on Sunday when Ukrzaliznytsia notified users about the failure in the IT system and told passengers to buy tickets on-site or on trains. Work to restore the online ticket system has been underway since the previous day, the company said on Telegram, describing the attack as "systemic, non-trivial and multi-level". People were queuing in long lines to buy tickets at Kyiv's central station from Monday morning. — Reuters
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Yahoo
Ukrainian soldier who lost his legs in war proposes to his beloved at foot of Ukraine's highest mountain – photo, video
Ihor Zobkiv, a serviceman of the 80th Separate Galician Air Assault Brigade, who lost both legs in the Russo-Ukrainian war, proposed to his girlfriend at the foot of Mount Hoverla, the highest mountain in Ukraine, standing at 2,061 metres in the Carpathian Mountains. Ihor's beloved Mariia said "yes". Source: Department of Sport, Youth and Tourism of the Lviv Oblast State Administration on Facebook Details: "Ihor Zobkiv lost both legs after a severe injury. But that did not stop him – he reached the foot of Hoverla on prosthetic legs to propose to his beloved. His act is a reminder to us all: true love and strength of spirit know no barriers," Lviv Oblast State Administration noted. This year, 200 participants, including soldiers from the 80th Air Assault Brigade and the 2nd Galician Brigade of the National Guard, climbed Ukraine's highest mountain. Ihor proposing to Mariia. Photo: Lviv Oblast State Administration Photo: Lviv Oblast State Administration "The weather favoured us this year. It was sunny, and there was no fog in the mountains, unlike in previous years. Some participants climbed Mount Kukul, where crocuses are now blooming, while more experienced hikers ascended the highest peak in Ukraine," said Roman Khimiak, head of the Department of Sport, Youth and Tourism of Lviv Oblast State Administration. Both groups that reached the mountain summits traditionally sang Ukraine's national anthem. The climb was organised as part of the League of the Unbreakable and Therapy Through Travel initiatives. Besides serving as rehabilitation for soldiers, the mountain ascent had a charitable goal – participants raised over UAH 300,000 (about US$7,200) for purchasing DJI Mavic 3 Thermal drones for the two brigades. Earlier, media reported that Ihor Zobkiv, a 24-year-old serviceman, joined the defence forces in 2018. On 6 March 2022, as a squad commander, he was wounded after stepping on a mine. He was fitted with prosthetics six months after the injury but could not regain vision in one eye. Despite his disability caused by severe injuries, he returned to his brigade to take up a position in the rear. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ukraine's most dangerous city craves respite from killer drones as peace talks run on
By Max Hunder KHERSON, Ukraine (Reuters) - The people of the frontline Ukrainian city of Kherson have more reason than most to want an end to the three-year-old fight with Russia. But a taste of occupation and relentless attacks since Russian forces were pushed back have made them wary of peace talks. Serhiy, 64, lies in hospital with a bandaged stump where his foot used to be. He said he was walking to his job as a security guard when he was hit by a grenade dropped from a drone piloted by Russian forces just across the Dnipro river. "There won't be peace if they are on that bank of the river," he said, declining to give his family name and asking that his face not be shown, because he feared retribution if Russian forces identify him. "It will be constant terror, constant shelling. We need to get them out of there, there's no other way." U.S. and Russian negotiators were meeting in Saudi Arabia on Monday to try to seal a proposed 30-day pause on Kyiv and Moscow attacking each other's energy infrastructure, and move towards a broader ceasefire. The city was once home to nearly 300,000 people, but the population has dwindled to 60,000. From March to November 2022, Russian occupying forces detained and tortured many people, residents say. The Russians, who reject allegations of abuse of civilians, were forced out by a Ukrainian counteroffensive. They now bombard relentlessly from the river's other bank. DANGER OVERHEAD With most of the war fought among villages and small provincial towns, Kherson is the biggest settlement within range of Russian artillery and battlefield drones — earning it the title of Ukraine's most dangerous city. In his hospital room — staff asked that the location not be disclosed for fear of drawing fresh Russian attacks — Serhiy recalled spotting the drone that hit him. "I jumped towards a tree, but it tore off my foot, tore off everything," Serhiy said. The other bed in the room was occupied by Ihor, a bearded 30-year-old. He too was hit by a grenade dropped from a drone, he said, in his case as he walked along the street trying to find a phone signal because Russian attacks had damaged cellphone masts. He also wanted the ceasefire to work. "I don't want other people to be brought to the hospital like this," he said, gesturing to his leg, whose broken bones were being held together by metal rods. "We believe that Trump will end the war this year, as he promised, and we will have peace," said Ihor, who also declined to give his family name. According to Oleksandr Prokudin, governor of the Kherson region, there are between 600 and 700 drone attacks in the city each week. "They terrorize the population," he said of the Russian drone operators on the other bank. He said they routinely spot, through their onboard cameras, civilians going about their business, and then attack them. Russia denies deliberately targeting civilians in the conflict. Because of the threat of Russian drones, Maksym Dyak, a 38-year-old Kherson city bus driver, sits behind the wheel wearing a flak jacket and helmet. Dyak said the vehicle he was driving had been hit by grenades dropped from drones ten times; he was at the wheel for five of those. A blown-out side window of the bus had been covered with a sheet of plywood, but he continues driving even when there are drones buzzing overhead. "It's very scary, especially when you have little children on the bus," he said. The territory of the hospital where the two wounded men were being treated has been hit 21 times since November 2022, chief doctor Viktor Korolenko told Reuters. "You know, I really want all this to end ... our doctors are burning out psychologically under the bombardment," Korolenko said, adding that many of his staff had been forced to move into the hospital after their homes were destroyed, but that he planned to stay in Kherson. At a street market in the city centre last week, residents, many of them elderly, shopped for vegetables and dried fish — despite warnings posted on social media of a drone flying in the area. Tetiana Kudas, a 61-year-old cleaner shopping at the market, said it had become more dangerous recently in the city, which Russian President Vladimir Putin says should be handed to Russia under any peace agreement. "They're bombing us even more now," she said, her voice choking with emotion as she explained how she would rather risk death in Kherson than move somewhere else where people would treat her like a stranger. "I will stay on my land, and whatever will be will be," she said.
