Latest news with #Russo-Ukrainian
Sydney Morning Herald
23-07-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Return to the dark days': Protests take aim at Zelensky for first time in the war
The crowd grew on Tuesday evening as the sun set on a hill just above Maidan Nezalezhnosti, a central square in Kyiv where more than a decade ago crowds gathered to protest the corruption of the Kremlin-aligned president at the time, Viktor Yanukovych, leading to his ouster. 'It is a very sad moment because for me it means we are going back in time when we had this same discussion,' said Mustafa Nayyem, a former member of parliament who took part in the earlier protests. 'It is very sad and very dangerous.' Amelina said her husband had called her from the front, upset by news of the parliamentary vote, and told her that many other soldiers were also unhappy. Activists and analysts see the legislation as part of a broader crackdown on independent news media, voices critical of the government and government oversight groups, both public and private, threatening hard-won progress towards democracy. One of Ukraine's most prominent anti-corruption activists, and a frequent critic of the Zelensky administration, Vitaliy Shabunin, was accused in a court proceeding last week of evading military service and fraud. He has denied the accusation, which his many domestic and international defenders call baseless, even farcical. If convicted, he could face a decade in prison. There was a widespread view in Ukraine that Zelensky and his administration had grown cloistered, losing touch with the people. 'It's impossible to tolerate what's been happening these past weeks and months – the attacks on civic activists, the attacks on the anti-corruption system,' said Iryna Nemyrovych, 36, the director of the Ukrainian Health Centre, an independent research group. 'We've seen all of this before.' Dmytro Koziatynskyi, a veteran of the Russo-Ukrainian war, was one of many influential figures calling for protests. 'Time is not on our side,' he said in a message shared widely online. 'We must take to the streets tonight and urge Zelensky to prevent a return to the dark days of Yanukovych. See you this evening!' The demonstrators were largely young and peaceful, and there was little police presence, with only few security personnel at the barricades outside the presidential complex of offices. There were also protests in Lviv and other cities as public anger swelled and word spread of the gatherings. One demonstrator in Kyiv, Sashko Adamliuk, 25, said Ukraine was fighting for more than land. 'Our democracy is under attack,' he said. Like many of those gathered, he feared the government was systematically stifling dissent. Oleksandr Teren, 29, a veteran who lost both his legs in combat, said the actions of the government were an affront to all those who had sacrificed so much in the war.
The Age
23-07-2025
- Politics
- The Age
‘Return to the dark days': Protests take aim at Zelensky for first time in the war
The crowd grew on Tuesday evening as the sun set on a hill just above Maidan Nezalezhnosti, a central square in Kyiv where more than a decade ago crowds gathered to protest the corruption of the Kremlin-aligned president at the time, Viktor Yanukovych, leading to his ouster. 'It is a very sad moment because for me it means we are going back in time when we had this same discussion,' said Mustafa Nayyem, a former member of parliament who took part in the earlier protests. 'It is very sad and very dangerous.' Amelina said her husband had called her from the front, upset by news of the parliamentary vote, and told her that many other soldiers were also unhappy. Activists and analysts see the legislation as part of a broader crackdown on independent news media, voices critical of the government and government oversight groups, both public and private, threatening hard-won progress towards democracy. One of Ukraine's most prominent anti-corruption activists, and a frequent critic of the Zelensky administration, Vitaliy Shabunin, was accused in a court proceeding last week of evading military service and fraud. He has denied the accusation, which his many domestic and international defenders call baseless, even farcical. If convicted, he could face a decade in prison. There was a widespread view in Ukraine that Zelensky and his administration had grown cloistered, losing touch with the people. 'It's impossible to tolerate what's been happening these past weeks and months – the attacks on civic activists, the attacks on the anti-corruption system,' said Iryna Nemyrovych, 36, the director of the Ukrainian Health Centre, an independent research group. 'We've seen all of this before.' Dmytro Koziatynskyi, a veteran of the Russo-Ukrainian war, was one of many influential figures calling for protests. 'Time is not on our side,' he said in a message shared widely online. 'We must take to the streets tonight and urge Zelensky to prevent a return to the dark days of Yanukovych. See you this evening!' The demonstrators were largely young and peaceful, and there was little police presence, with only few security personnel at the barricades outside the presidential complex of offices. There were also protests in Lviv and other cities as public anger swelled and word spread of the gatherings. One demonstrator in Kyiv, Sashko Adamliuk, 25, said Ukraine was fighting for more than land. 'Our democracy is under attack,' he said. Like many of those gathered, he feared the government was systematically stifling dissent. Oleksandr Teren, 29, a veteran who lost both his legs in combat, said the actions of the government were an affront to all those who had sacrificed so much in the war.
Indian Express
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Gorky Park author Martin Cruz Smith, 82, passes away; 3 books to remember him by
Martin Cruz Smith, author of the acclaimed novel, Gorky Park and its long-running protagonist Arkady Renko, passed away on July 11 at age 82 in San Rafael, California. His death was confirmed by his publisher Simon & Schuster on Tuesday. Over a decades-long career that spanned Cold War paranoia to the present-day Russo-Ukrainian conflict, Smith created thrillers known for their pulse-pounding plots, deep psychological insight and nuanced political context. A post shared by Simon & Schuster (@simonandschuster) His final novel, Hotel Ukraine, published just this week, brings to a close one of modern literature's most enduring detective series. 'My longevity is linked to Arkady's,' Smith told Strand Magazine in 2023. 'As long as he remains intelligent, humorous, and romantic, so shall I.' Born Martin William Smith in Reading, Pennsylvania, he took the name 'Cruz' from his maternal grandmother, crafting a literary persona that would eventually earn him the Hammett Prize, the Gold Dagger, and the prestigious title of 'grand master' from the Mystery Writers of America. His books explored the shifting tides of Russian history, from the Soviet era to the age of oligarchs and war. He was praised for his meticulous research, often drawn from his own travels in Russia. His first major success, Gorky Park, became a worldwide bestseller and a Hollywood film starring William Hurt. With it, Smith didn't just introduce readers to Arkady Renko—he transformed Moscow itself into a living, breathing character. 'Russia is a character in my Renko stories, always,' he told Publishers' Weekly in 2013. Smith is survived by his wife, Emily; his brother, Jack; three children; and five grandchildren. The novel made Smith a household name, Gorky Park and introduced readers to Moscow detective Arkady Renko, who investigates a gruesome triple murder during the Cold War. Renko's pursuit of justice leads him through a web of corruption, politics, and international intrigue. Cruz blends procedural grit with political intrigue, and remains a benchmark in the genre. The crime procedural is also a commentary on the oppressive Soviet society of the time. Winner of the Hammett Prize, this fourth installment in the Renko series finds the former Inspector for the Moscow Militsiya, Arkady Renko, in Cuba, unraveling a mystery steeped in tropical decay and political ghosts. Renkois tasked with identifying a liquefying corpse dragged from the oily waters of Havana Bay. This time Criz turns his attention to a decaying country in the final recess of Communism. The detective who is in an extremely dark place finds a reason to relish his life again. Hotel Ukraine is the 11th and final installment in the Renko series. His final novel and fitting swan song, Hotel Ukraine brings Renko into the heart of the Russo-Ukrainian war. Released just days before his death, it serves as a fitting capstone to Smith's legacy as the legendary Russian detective returns to Moscow. The detective (much like the author himself) has struggled to keep his declining health a secret, but the worsening symptoms have become impossible to hide. Still, Renko is determined to crack the case of a Russian defense official mysteriously murdered in his Moscow hotel room as Russia's war on Ukraine rages. The murder takes place at the Hotel Ukraine, a well-known hotel in the heart of Moscow. It is only when readers each the end of the book that they learn that Smith like Renko, had also been concealing a Parkinson's diagnosis for years.
Daily Mirror
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mirror
Russian PM's extraordinary claim as Trump threatens 'severe consequences'
The Kremlin remained silent yesterday after Donald Trump threatened Russia with "100% secondary tariffs" if Vladimir Putin failed to return to the negotiating table in 50 days The Kremlin says it "did not notice" Donald Trump's "decorative ultimatum to Moscow" yesterday in which he gave Vladimir Putin 50 days to end the war or face "severe" consequences. After involving the US in Israel's war against Iran, Trump has refocused his sights on the Russia-Ukraine conflict - threatening Putin with "very severe tariffs if we don't have a [peace] deal in 50 days". He warned he was"very, very unhappy" with Moscow and the US would be issuing 100% secondary tariffs in the event of Russia's non-compliance with his demands. Trump, who has sold himself as a dealmaker who can end the world's wars, has repeatedly made efforts to end the Russo-Ukrainian conflict. At first, Putin seemed to be on board, but it didn't take long for Trump to realise the despot was holding back. In the first official Kremlin reaction since Trump made his demands, Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev, said: "Trump has declared a decorative ultimatum to the Kremlin. The world shuddered, expecting the consequences. The belligerent European Union is disappointed. Russia did not notice it." The Kremlin has received Trump's previous threats in a similar way. In April, Trump warned Putin to stop striking the capital of Kyiv and branded the tyrant as "crazy", but nothing changed and the Kremlin continued with its attacks. Trump dismissed claims that he had been fooled into believing the Russian president was keen on peace. Trump said: 'I speak to him a lot and I go away and say ' that was a nice conversation.' Then the missiles happen and after three or four times you realise the talk doesn't mean anything.' He then went on to claim he had not been duped by Putin but said the Russian leader had fooled others before him. Without an official statement from the Kremlin yesterday, state-aligned media stepped in, with pro-Kremlin military blogger Yuri Kotenok taking to Telegram to say: 'Trump's dream is for war to be a business — to sell weapons to the EU." Others made light of Trump's threat of tariffs, and senior lawmaker Konstantin Kosachev wrote: 'Oh, how much can change both on the battlefield and with the mood of those leading the U.S. and NATO in 50 days.' During the meeting, Trump also announced "billions of dollars" worth of military equipment is set to be sent to Ukraine. It marks a sharp turnaround from the US president's approach back in March, when he slashed aid to Ukraine just days after an ill-tempered meeting with Volodomyr Zelenksy in the White House.
Otago Daily Times
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
Global alliance needed to win war on our environment
We need to work together on climate, Manh Tuan Ngo writes. Do you think that you are actually engaged in a war? For most of us, war may be something distant. Yet, if we reconsider war in the context of our environment, we might recognise, bitterly, that we are already in one. This war is not about guns or tanks, but about the ecological crisis and climate change. This war has no frontline, no uniforms, no ceasefires and no respect for borders. This war, ironically, is being created by our own actions. Believe it or not, the scale of destruction from this environmental war rivals, and in many cases surpasses, that of conventional warfare. While the ecological and human toll of armed conflicts is widely condemned, the consequence of environmental crisis inflicted during ''peacetime'' is often ignored. It is not easy to compare the environmental toll of war with the damage inflicted by our ongoing assault on nature. If we want to make the stakes clear, we need to put both in the same frame of reference. One way to do that is by using a common unit of measurement — carbon emissions. During the Vietnam War, the United States dropped about 7.5million tonnes of bombs, which is equivalent to the total tonnage deployed during World War 2. These bombs, along with the widespread use of defoliants such as Agent Orange, generated about 600million tonnes of CO2. More recently, the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war has released about 230million tonnes of CO2 since its outbreak in 2022. Such figures are staggering. Yet they appear almost negligible when placed alongside our annual global emissions, like an ant compared to an elephant. Today, humanity emits about 40billion tonnes of CO2 every year, perhaps more than all these wars combined. Astonishingly, the carbon emissions released during the entire Vietnam War are now equivalent to less than one week of current global output. If carbon emissions alone do not convince you, then perhaps the human toll will. Consider this: the Vietnam War claimed more than 3million lives over two decades. The Russo-Ukrainian conflict has killed or wounded about 1million people to date. This is a profound tragedy. Yet the casualties of climate change, though less visible, are no less devastating. In 2022, a single summer heatwave resulted in the deaths of over 61,000 individuals across Europe within a few months. Meanwhile, climate-intensified floods and storms take thousands of lives annually. The catastrophic 2022 floods in Pakistan, for example, killed over 1700 Pakistanis and devastated the lives of more than 33million others. Perhaps the most dangerous killer is the air we breathe. Air pollution, driven mainly by the burning of fossil fuels, kills an estimated 7million people every year worldwide, according to a World Health Organisation report. These annual fatalities are on par with the average yearly death toll during World War 2, the deadliest war in human history. World War 2 ended in 1945. However, the environmental war continues silently and relentlessly, its victims often neglected. Like passengers aboard a modern-day Noah's Ark, we, as humanity, rise or fall together. This planet is our only lifeboat for the foreseeable future. There is no alternative. On this ark, our destinies are bound together. Survival requires co-operation, not competition. We need a global alliance — a coalition of individuals, businesses and states working in concert — to confront the escalating environmental crisis. Individually, we should reconsider our lifestyles and consumption patterns to adopt more eco-friendly habits that support environmental sustainability. Nationally, we must transition our economies to green energy and preserve the ecosystems that have nurtured us for thousands of years. Internationally, we need to share knowledge and green technology across countries. Victory will not be achieved by individual actors acting alone. Victory is possible only when we fight together to end the war on our environment. - Manh Tuan Ngo is a master of international studies student at the University of Otago.
