Latest news with #OleksandraMatviichuk
Miami Herald
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Russia Kills Toddler in Drone Strike, Ukraine Says
A one-year-old boy was killed in a Russian drone strike, according to Ukrainian authorities as Moscow continues to step up its strikes on civilian targets. The boy died following an explosion in the Kherson Region, the head of the regional military administration said on Wednesday. Ukrainian authorities said Thursday at least 12 people had been killed and dozens injured in Russian attacks across the country over the previous day. Following Moscow's latest barrage against Ukrainian civilian infrastructure, Oleksandra Matviichuk, a Ukrainian human rights lawyer, called for more missiles and air defenses for Ukraine and tougher sanctions against Russia. Newsweek has contacted the Russian defense ministry for comment. As of July 2025, at least 638 Ukrainian children have been killed in Russia's full-scale invasion, according to the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine. The latest reported incident comes amid a spike in Russia's bombardment on Ukrainian infrastructure and as Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky called on allies to help beef up his country's air defense. Russian forces carried out drone strikes, artillery shelling and airstrikes on Wednesday in which they targeted residential areas, critical infrastructure and social facilities in Kherson city and over 40 other settlements across the region. The head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration, Oleksandr Prokudin, said on Telegram on Wednesday the child died from injuries following an explosion in the courtyard of a residential building in the village of Pravdyne. Ukrainian outlet Euromaidan reported that 5-year-old Dmytro Bezverkhyi had been killed in Russian rocket strike on Velykyi Bobryk, in the Sumy region. "Mother survived after shielding him with her body," it reported. Nearly half of child casualties are from explosive weapons in populated areas, including loitering munitions and drone attacks, according to the United Nations. Ukrainian authorities said Thursday that at least 12 people had been killed and 60 injured over the past day, after Moscow's forces launched another mass aerial attack in regions including Kyiv, Kherson and Kharkiv. The attacks included 18 missiles and about 400 drones, including almost 200 Shahed-type kamikaze models, according toZelensky Matviichuk, head of Ukraine's Center for Civil Liberties, said on Thursday in a statement shared with Newsweek that Russian President Vladimir Putin cannot win the war on the battlefield so he is seeking to kill civilians and destroy civilian infrastructure across the country. She said if the policy of the international community doesn't change, it will only lead to more deaths and said that Ukraine needed more missiles, air defenses and tougher sanctions against Russia. Head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration, Oleksandr Prokudin onTelegram: "Russian terrorists have cut short another child's life in the Kherson child died on the spot from the injuries he received. My sincere condolences to the family and friends of the innocent baby who was killed." Oleksandra Matviichuk, head of Ukraine's Center for Civil Liberties, said in a statement: "There is a good Russian proverb: 'the appetite grows while eating'. If the policy of the international community doesn't change, it will only lead to more deaths. "How can you help? We need more missiles and air defenses, tough sanctions against Russia. We must demonstrate strength. The phone calls don't work." On Thursday, Zelensky urged Kyiv's partners to do more to strengthen Ukraine's defense capabilities as he condemned Russia's recent attacks as "pure terrorism." Meanwhile, Kyiv will hope that U.S. President Donald Trump's criticism of Putin and pledge for more military support for Ukraine could shift the dial in the war. Related Articles NATO Frontline Nation To Build New Iron DomeRussia Pounds Ukraine Again as Trump Turns on PutinSenate Republican Rips Hegseth as 'Amateurish' Amid Ukraine Weapons MoveTrump Asked About Not Knowing Who Paused Ukraine Weapons: 'I Would Know' 2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.
Newsweek
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Newsweek
Toddler Killed by Russian Drone Strike, Ukraine Says
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A one-year-old boy was killed in a Russian drone strike, according to Ukrainian authorities as Moscow continues to step up its strikes on civilian targets. The boy died following an explosion in the Kherson Region, the head of the regional military administration said on Wednesday. Ukrainian authorities said Thursday at least 12 people had been killed and dozens injured in Russian attacks across the country over the previous day. Following Moscow's latest barrage against Ukrainian civilian infrastructure, Oleksandra Matviichuk, a Ukrainian human rights lawyer, called for more missiles and air defenses for Ukraine and tougher sanctions against Russia. Newsweek has contacted the Russian defense ministry for comment. Ukrainian firefighters extinguish a fire in a residential building following a Russian missile and drone attack in Kyiv on July 10, 2025. Ukrainian firefighters extinguish a fire in a residential building following a Russian missile and drone attack in Kyiv on July 10, It Matters As of July 2025, at least 638 Ukrainian children have been killed in Russia's full-scale invasion, according to the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine. The latest reported incident comes amid a spike in Russia's bombardment on Ukrainian infrastructure and as Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky called on allies to help beef up his country's air defense. What To Know Russian forces carried out drone strikes, artillery shelling and airstrikes on Wednesday in which they targeted residential areas, critical infrastructure and social facilities in Kherson city and over 40 other settlements across the region. The head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration, Oleksandr Prokudin, said on Telegram on Wednesday the child died from injuries following an explosion in the courtyard of a residential building in the village of Pravdyne. Ukrainian outlet Euromaidan reported that 5-year-old Dmytro Bezverkhyi had been killed in Russian rocket strike on Velykyi Bobryk, in the Sumy region. "Mother survived after shielding him with her body," it reported. Nearly half of child casualties are from explosive weapons in populated areas, including loitering munitions and drone attacks, according to the United Nations. Ukrainian authorities said Thursday that at least 12 people had been killed and 60 injured over the past day, after Moscow's forces launched another mass aerial attack in regions including Kyiv, Kherson and Kharkiv. The attacks included 18 missiles and about 400 drones, including almost 200 Shahed-type kamikaze models, according to Zelensky Matviichuk, head of Ukraine's Center for Civil Liberties, said on Thursday in a statement shared with Newsweek that Russian President Vladimir Putin cannot win the war on the battlefield so he is seeking to kill civilians and destroy civilian infrastructure across the country. She said if the policy of the international community doesn't change, it will only lead to more deaths and said that Ukraine needed more missiles, air defenses and tougher sanctions against Russia. What People Are Saying Head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration, Oleksandr Prokudin on Telegram: "Russian terrorists have cut short another child's life in the Kherson child died on the spot from the injuries he received. My sincere condolences to the family and friends of the innocent baby who was killed." Oleksandra Matviichuk, head of Ukraine's Center for Civil Liberties, said in a statement: "There is a good Russian proverb: 'the appetite grows while eating'. If the policy of the international community doesn't change, it will only lead to more deaths. "How can you help? We need more missiles and air defenses, tough sanctions against Russia. We must demonstrate strength. The phone calls don't work." What Happens Next On Thursday, Zelensky urged Kyiv's partners to do more to strengthen Ukraine's defense capabilities as he condemned Russia's recent attacks as "pure terrorism." Meanwhile, Kyiv will hope that U.S. President Donald Trump's criticism of Putin and pledge for more military support for Ukraine could shift the dial in the war.
Sky News
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
Thousands of Ukrainian civilians lost in hellish archipelago of Russian jails
In all the horrors of this war, the plight of thousands of civilians abducted by Russia is one of the worst, but is in danger of being overlooked. Their fate is not mentioned for instance in Donald Trump's peace plan currently being wrestled over, let alone any demands they are released by Russia. But their plight is truly horrific. Ukraine has identified almost 16,000 names of people lost in a gulag of 180 prisons in Russian-held Ukraine and in Russia itself, as far away as Siberia. It is a war crime to take civilians hostage during a conflict but that has not deterred Vladimir Putin's regime. Worse, there is abundant evidence they are being tortured, sexually abused and killed in custody. Oleksandra Matviichuk, a Nobel Prize-winning Ukrainian human rights lawyer, said: "I interviewed hundreds of people who survived Russian captivity, men and women, mostly civilians, and they told me how they were beaten, raped, smashed into wooden boxes. "Their fingers were cut, their nails were torn away, their nails were drilled. There were electrical shocks through their genitalia. One woman told me how her eye was dug out with a spoon." When the Russians took territory north of Kyiv at the start of their illegal invasion, they came for the men, among them Dmytro Khilyuk. Apart from a short letter sent from captivity a few months later, his elderly parents have not seen him since. 'I just can't take it anymore' "We're old and we're sick," his mother Halyna, bedridden after a stroke, told us. "We've been without our only child for four years now, not knowing anything, where he is, how he is." She wept as she told us of the agony of living with the uncertainty about their son. "I just can't take it anymore. Why is my child suffering like this? It's been four years. All we get are endless talks, talks, and more talks. And nothing changes. I could die any day… and never see my child again." Khilyuk has lost half his weight and most of his teeth A year ago a fellow prisoner who had shared a cell with Mr Khilyuk was released. He said Mr Khilyuk had lost half his weight and most of his teeth. Fellow journalist and friend of Mr Khilyuk, Stas Kozluk, told us he was worried about his state of mind. "We just can't imagine what can happen with the mind of a human being that's captured and spends three years in that condition. To be honest, I don't know how to help him. And that's the most terrifying thing," he said. Russia releases no information Ukrainian authorities can only piece together information about the abducted civilians. Mr Kozluk told us those who've been detained learn the phone numbers and names of relatives of others they are held with. Those who are released pass on what information they can. Russia releases no information about those civilians it is holding illegally, against the rules of war. 'The world doesn't understand' Thousands of innocent civilians are lost in a hellish archipelago of Russian jails notorious for their evil regime of abuse. And the world, says Oleksandra Matviichuk, is in danger of forgetting about them. "I think the world doesn't understand, first, the cruelty and unhuman conditions in which Ukrainians are held in Russian captivity," she says. "Second, they don't understand that Russia detained not just military, but civilians. And according to the Geneva Convention, they have to be released immediately without any exchanges, without any conditions."
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Calls for Russia's frozen assets held in Belgium to be used in rebuilding Ukraine
The boxy glass and steel tower at a traffic-clogged junction on King Albert II Boulevard hardly stands out among the other buildings in the business district of north Brussels, the Belgian capital's answer to Manhattan or La Défense in Paris. But unlike its neighbours, the institution housed in this bland postmodern building opposite a branch of Domino's Pizza is caught up in a geopolitical maelstrom. It is Euroclear, a little-known body that houses most of the Russian state's frozen assets and now finds itself in the middle of a debate about international justice. Amid uncertainty about Donald Trump's commitment to Ukraine, calls are growing to confiscate Russian central bank assets that were frozen after the full-scale invasion. Euroclear holds €183bn of Russian sovereign funds out of an estimated €300bn immobilised in western countries. In March, about 130 Nobel laureates, including the peace prize winner Oleksandra Matviichuk, called on western governments to release the €300bn to rebuild Ukraine and compensate war victims. 'This might require new regulations and laws, which, given the undeniable emergency and gross violations of international law, are appropriate and must be amended,' stated the letter, which was signed by some of the world's leading economists, scientists and writers. Under EU law, profits from the Russian funds are used to aid Ukraine, and the next amounts will be revealed when Euroclear announces quarterly results on Wednesday. But the windfall profits – an estimated €2.5bn-€3bn a year – are modest when set against the €506bn that Ukraine needs for reconstruction over the next decade. (Since that estimate was published by the World Bank in February, Russia's deadly missile strikes have continued to wreak a devastating toll.) The EU's most senior diplomat, Kaja Kallas, has backed the idea of using the assets, as have the foreign ministers of Poland and Lithuania. 'Putin has already written off the €300bn assets, he does not expect to get them back. But he also doesn't think we have the fortitude to take hold of them either. So far, we have proven him right,' said Poland's foreign minister, Radek Sikorski, last June. But for Belgium's prime minister, Bart De Wever, confiscating the assets would be 'an act of war'. Johan Van Overtveldt, a former Belgian finance minister who is De Wever's political ally, said outright seizure of the assets would be 'really playing with fire for the rest of the financial and economic system'. 'Endangering the normal functioning of Euroclear would be a huge problem for the entire European economy, if not for the world economy,' he said. Euroclear, a Belgian-based international institution, fears it could be sued by the Russian government, while Belgian officials worry that confiscation would trigger a cascade of withdrawals. The end-point of that could even be the collapse of Euroclear, which would be a massive problem for the indebted Belgian government. Belgium holds a 13% stake in Euroclear and funds its war aid to Ukraine – including €1bn announced in April – from corporate tax take on the profits of the Russian frozen funds. France, which has an 11% stake in Euroclear, is also worried about seizing the assets. Van Overtveld has another idea: instead of confiscation , he proposes using the assets as collateral to set up 'more elaborate finance' for Ukraine. 'It is complex, but it's doable, and it does not lead to the same kind of legal issues that you would have if you go for outright seizure.' Euroclear emphasises its neutrality. 'It is not our role as a neutral financial institution to decide what to do with those [Russian] assets,' said head of communications, Pascal Brabant. 'It will be necessary that any agreement avoids undermining confidence in international financial markets by safeguarding the legal order and legal certainty which underpin global economies.' Often described as a bank for banks, Euroclear traces its roots to the late 1960s, when it grew out of the Brussels office of the Morgan Guaranty Trust Company of New York, which later became JP Morgan. At a time when financial transactions were speeding up, Euroclear enabled the electronic exchange of cash and securities (a stock, a bond or some other instrument to raise capital), rather than moving around piles of paper. Today, Euroclear handles a mind-boggling amount of money – every four weeks it claims to process transactions equivalent to global GDP, or €1.3 quadrillion (meaning 1.3 plus 14 zeros) a year. None of this is held in cash. But Euroclear is security conscious. At its headquarters a pair of security cameras are trained on every corner. Euroclear's agreement with the Russian government dates back to October 2012. A few months earlier Vladimir Putin had secured a third term in office and cracked down brutally on opposition forces that had mounted unprecedented protests against his rule, but Russia's integration into the global economy was marching on. At the time Russian banks were looking for connections to western investors. 'Probably all Russian brokers, banks, and even the Russian state held funds through Euroclear,' said Roeland Moeyersons, a business lawyer based in Brussels. Moeyersons has some Russian clients whose assets or savings are blocked at Euroclear despite the individuals not being sanctioned. His typical client is a millionaire, who fulfils 'all the cliches', he said. 'They have a house in Switzerland, one in Russia, a flat in Monaco, Marbella, London or Dubai, and now they are confronted by the fact that a couple of millions of their investments are frozen.' According to the Belgian newspaper De Standaard, Euroclear holds €70bn in private Russian assets, beyond the €183bn sovereign funds at the centre of the confiscation debate. On behalf of his clients, Moeyersons is calling on Belgium's treasury to release their assets. While he represents a few Russian billionaires who are challenging their designation on the EU sanctions list, most of his clients are people 'who made a small fortune running a legitimate business' and had their assets frozen 'as collateral damage of the EU sanctions,' he said. Meanwhile, the debate on the frozen sovereign billions continues. On Tuesday Sweden's minister for finance, Elisabeth Svantesson, said she supported using the assets and giving Kyiv the right to decide how to spend them. 'Of course we need to remain united among our countries, but we are pushing for using them [the frozen funds] in other ways, not only the windfall but also the assets,' she said. Svantesson was speaking alongside Torbjörn Becker, director of the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics, who said transferring the frozen assets to Ukraine would allow Kyiv to buy more weapons and bring economic stability. 'If we were to send the whole amount of these frozen assets to Ukraine they would have predictable long-term financing at the level that matters,' he said. 'We should definitely consider transferring all of the frozen assets to Ukraine sooner, rather than later. This is not less important now with [Donald] Trump in the White House.'
The Guardian
14-05-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Calls for Russia's frozen assets held in Belgium to be used in rebuilding Ukraine
The boxy glass and steel tower at a traffic-clogged junction on King Albert II Boulevard hardly stands out among the other buildings in the business district of north Brussels, the Belgian capital's answer to Manhattan or La Défense in Paris. But unlike its neighbours, the institution housed in this bland postmodern building opposite a branch of Domino's Pizza is caught up in a geopolitical maelstrom. It is Euroclear, a little-known body that houses most of the Russian state's frozen assets and now finds itself in the middle of a debate about international justice. Amid uncertainty about Donald Trump's commitment to Ukraine, calls are growing to confiscate Russian central bank assets that were frozen after the full-scale invasion. Euroclear holds €183bn of Russian sovereign funds out of an estimated €300bn immobilised in western countries. In March, about 130 Nobel laureates, including the peace prize winner Oleksandra Matviichuk, called on western governments to release the €300bn to rebuild Ukraine and compensate war victims. 'This might require new regulations and laws, which, given the undeniable emergency and gross violations of international law, are appropriate and must be amended,' stated the letter, which was signed by some of the world's leading economists, scientists and writers. Under EU law, profits from the Russian funds are used to aid Ukraine, and the next amounts will be revealed when Euroclear announces quarterly results on Wednesday. But the windfall profits – an estimated €2.5bn-€3bn a year – are modest when set against the €506bn that Ukraine needs for reconstruction over the next decade. (Since that estimate was published by the World Bank in February, Russia's deadly missile strikes have continued to wreak a devastating toll.) The EU's most senior diplomat, Kaja Kallas, has backed the idea of using the assets, as have the foreign ministers of Poland and Lithuania. 'Putin has already written off the €300bn assets, he does not expect to get them back. But he also doesn't think we have the fortitude to take hold of them either. So far, we have proven him right,' said Poland's foreign minister, Radek Sikorski, last June. But for Belgium's prime minister, Bart De Wever, confiscating the assets would be 'an act of war'. Johan Van Overtveldt, a former Belgian finance minister who is De Wever's political ally, said outright seizure of the assets would be 'really playing with fire for the rest of the financial and economic system'. 'Endangering the normal functioning of Euroclear would be a huge problem for the entire European economy, if not for the world economy,' he said. Euroclear, a Belgian-based international institution, fears it could be sued by the Russian government, while Belgian officials worry that confiscation would trigger a cascade of withdrawals. The end-point of that could even be the collapse of Euroclear, which would be a massive problem for the indebted Belgian government. Belgium holds a 13% stake in Euroclear and funds its war aid to Ukraine – including €1bn announced in April – from corporate tax take on the profits of the Russian frozen funds. France, which has an 11% stake in Euroclear, is also worried about seizing the assets. Van Overtveld has another idea: instead of confiscation , he proposes using the assets as collateral to set up 'more elaborate finance' for Ukraine. 'It is complex, but it's doable, and it does not lead to the same kind of legal issues that you would have if you go for outright seizure.' Euroclear emphasises its neutrality. 'It is not our role as a neutral financial institution to decide what to do with those [Russian] assets,' said head of communications, Pascal Brabant. 'It will be necessary that any agreement avoids undermining confidence in international financial markets by safeguarding the legal order and legal certainty which underpin global economies.' Often described as a bank for banks, Euroclear traces its roots to the late 1960s, when it grew out of the Brussels office of the Morgan Guaranty Trust Company of New York, which later became JP Morgan. At a time when financial transactions were speeding up, Euroclear enabled the electronic exchange of cash and securities (a stock, a bond or some other instrument to raise capital), rather than moving around piles of paper. Today, Euroclear handles a mind-boggling amount of money – every four weeks it claims to process transactions equivalent to global GDP, or €1.3 quadrillion (meaning 1.3 plus 14 zeros) a year. None of this is held in cash. But Euroclear is security conscious. At its headquarters a pair of security cameras are trained on every corner. Sign up to This is Europe The most pressing stories and debates for Europeans – from identity to economics to the environment after newsletter promotion Euroclear's agreement with the Russian government dates back to October 2012. A few months earlier Vladimir Putin had secured a third term in office and cracked down brutally on opposition forces that had mounted unprecedented protests against his rule, but Russia's integration into the global economy was marching on. At the time Russian banks were looking for connections to western investors. 'Probably all Russian brokers, banks, and even the Russian state held funds through Euroclear,' said Roeland Moeyersons, a business lawyer based in Brussels. Moeyersons has some Russian clients whose assets or savings are blocked at Euroclear despite the individuals not being sanctioned. His typical client is a millionaire, who fulfils 'all the cliches', he said. 'They have a house in Switzerland, one in Russia, a flat in Monaco, Marbella, London or Dubai, and now they are confronted by the fact that a couple of millions of their investments are frozen.' According to the Belgian newspaper De Standaard, Euroclear holds €70bn in private Russian assets, beyond the €183bn sovereign funds at the centre of the confiscation debate. On behalf of his clients, Moeyersons is calling on Belgium's treasury to release their assets. While he represents a few Russian billionaires who are challenging their designation on the EU sanctions list, most of his clients are people 'who made a small fortune running a legitimate business' and had their assets frozen 'as collateral damage of the EU sanctions,' he said. Meanwhile, the debate on the frozen sovereign billions continues. On Tuesday Sweden's minister for finance, Elisabeth Svantesson, said she supported using the assets and giving Kyiv the right to decide how to spend them. 'Of course we need to remain united among our countries, but we are pushing for using them [the frozen funds] in other ways, not only the windfall but also the assets,' she said. Svantesson was speaking alongside Torbjörn Becker, director of the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics, who said transferring the frozen assets to Ukraine would allow Kyiv to buy more weapons and bring economic stability. 'If we were to send the whole amount of these frozen assets to Ukraine they would have predictable long-term financing at the level that matters,' he said. 'We should definitely consider transferring all of the frozen assets to Ukraine sooner, rather than later. This is not less important now with [Donald] Trump in the White House.'
