Latest news with #Ukraine-born
Global News
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Global News
3rd man charged in connection to fires at properties linked to U.K. PM
A third suspect has been charged with arson over a series of fires targeting property linked to U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, police said Wednesday. Petro Pochynok, 34, has been charged with conspiracy to commit arson with intent to endanger life. The Ukrainian national appeared at London's Westminster Magistrates' Court on Wednesday morning, speaking only to confirm his name and London address. Two other men also have been charged with setting fire to Starmer's personal home, along with a property where he once lived and a car he had sold. They are Ukrainian national Roman Lavrynovych, 21, and Ukraine-born Romanian national Stanislav Carpiuc, 26. Lavrynovych and Carpiuc appeared in court earlier. All three suspects have been ordered detained until a joint hearing at London's Central Criminal Court on June 6. 1:55 'The world has changed': Carney speaks to Starmer about U.S. relationship No injuries were reported from the fires in north London, which occurred on three nights between May 8 and May 12. Story continues below advertisement Starmer and his family had moved out of his home after he was elected in July, and they live at the prime minister's official Downing Street residence. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy A Toyota RAV4 that Starmer once owned was set ablaze on May 8, just down the street from the house where he lived before he became prime minister. The door of an apartment building where he once lived was set on fire on May 11, and on May 12 the doorway of his home was charred after being set ablaze. Counterterrorism detectives led the investigation because it involves the prime minister. The charges were authorized by the Crown Prosecution Service's Counter Terrorism Division, which is responsible for prosecuting offenses relating to state threats, among other crimes. Starmer called the fires 'an attack on all of us, on democracy and the values that we stand for.'
New York Post
22-04-2025
- New York Post
Hamptons limo driver used Mercedes in drug ‘delivery service' for posh clients at yacht club, ‘Rodeo Drive of Long Island': prosecutors
A New York limo driver admitted Monday he ran a Brooklyn-to-Montauk drug 'delivery service' — selling high-priced cocaine out of a sleek Mercedes to posh clients at spots including a yacht club. Michael Khodorkovskiy, 44, copped to one drug dealing charge in a Riverhead, New York courtroom as part of a plea deal with prosecutors that is expected to net him 10 years behind bars at his May 29 sentencing. Khodorkovskiy was busted in August, alongside Alexandr Dyatchin, on 47 drug-related charges for a year-long scheme to sell high-end coke at inflated prices around the Hamptons, at spots like the Montauk Yacht Club, Rosie's eatery, and most frequently on Newtown Lane in East Hampton — regarded as the Rodeo Drive of the vacation-home set. 4 Michael Khodorkovskiy pleaded guilty to a drug charge Monday for running a high-end cocaine delivery service out of his Mercedes Benz. Newsday Both men — who worked as private rideshare and Uber drivers — conducted the illicit transactions out of their Mercedes cars which were retro-fitted with 'traps.' or hidden compartments to hide the drugs, prosecutors claimed. They not only dealt coke — which they sold for triple the street price — but also party drug MDMA and pills, prosecutors alleged. They were caught after selling large quantities of cocaine to undercover cops — including four sales where the officers bought two ounces or more from the pair, prosecutors said. The men have been held on $2 million since their arrests. Khodorkovskiy — a Ukraine-born US citizen — was cuffed on Aug. 2, alongside Dyatchin, 39, who allegedly came up with the ritzy cocaine delivery service scheme. During the bust, law enforcement discovered over three pounds of the white powdery narcotic and pills stashed in drug traps inside his Benz S500, officials said at the time. They also found nearly $39,000 in cash, and 39 gold coins worth $100,000, prosecutors said. 4 Khodorkovskiy made deals with well-healed clients inside his Mercedes Benz S500 on various spots in the Hamptons. Suffolk County District Attorney's Office Dyatchin's East Hampton rental home was filled with 589 grams of coke divided into packages, 269 grams of MDMA, and close to $20,000 in cash. His Mercedes had another 50 envelopes of cocaine stashed in traps, officials said. 4 Khodorkovskiy hid drugs inside his luxury car in 'traps.' Suffolk County District Attorney's Office 4 Khodorkovskiy is slated to receive 10 years behind bars at his sentencing next month. Suffolk County District Attorney's Office While a baggie of less than a gram of coke would go for $50 on the street, the duo was selling the same amount for $150 a pop, prosecutors claimed. Outside court, Khodorkovskiy's lawyer, Matthew Myers, said his client worked hard his whole life and fell on hard times during the pandemic running his limo business. He racked up $100,000 in debt and lost all the other vehicles that he'd purchased for the company, finally turning to drug dealing, Myers said. 'Khodorkovskiy was asked many times to provide wealthy Manhattan partiers narcotics,' Myers said, noting his client rejected the request until turning to dealing out of desperation. Dyatchin is due in court Wednesday. He's not a citizen and has outstayed his visa and could face deportation if convicted.
Euronews
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Jean-Claude Van Damme asks Putin for ambassadorial job and sends 'big kiss' to Russia
ADVERTISEMENT Actor and former bodybuilder Jean-Claude Van Damme has addressed Russian President Vladimir Putin in a strange new video message published on Telegram by pro-Russian Ukraine-born journalist Diana Panchenko. Panchenko has been accused of treason by the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) in 2023. Van Damme said in the video that he was ready to come to Russia and become 'an ambassador of peace'. "We want to come to Russia. We will try to do this the way you want to do this, to be an ambassador of peace. I would love to be... I would be honourred to have this title…' The action star then recounted a protracted anecdote about how he and Putin met in Sochi at a martial arts event and how their shoes touched. He indeed visited Russia in 2010 and in 2007, when he attended a reception in St. Petersburg (see picture below). The Muscles from Brussels concluded the video by saying: "Let's do this. Ambassador of peace. We won't talk politics – only about peace, sport and happiness. We love you.' At the end of the appeal, Van Damme blew a kiss to Russia and sent 'a big kiss to Putin and his family.' Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Jean Claude Van Damme and Vladimir Putin attend a reception in St. Petersburg, Russia - 14 April 2007 AP Photo Tasteless declarations of love aside, Van Damme hit headlines earlier this month when he was accused of allegedly meeting with several people under investigation for sex trafficking crimes – people who offered to let him have sex with five Romanian models as a "gift." The Romanian Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) reportedly filed a criminal complaint against the Belgian actor, with this alleged incident having taken place in Cannes. No timeframe was noted. Adrian Cuculis, the lawyer of one of the alleged victims, stated: 'At an event organised by Jean-Claude Van Damme in Cannes, several Romanians, who are currently under investigation for forming a criminal group and pimping, allegedly offered Jean-Claude Van Damme five Romanian women - photo models in Romania - for sex.' He added: 'The person who received these services was aware of their condition.' Van Damme has denied the accusations of knowingly engaging in sexual relations with women he knew to be trafficked, with the actor's agent calling the claims 'unfounded'. 'We have become aware of articles alleging an alleged affair in Cannes involving Mr Jean-Claude Van Damme,' Patrick Goavec said in a statement. 'The reported facts are both grotesque and non-existent. Mr Van Damme does not wish to comment or fuel this rumour, which is as absurd as it is unfounded.'
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Jean-Claude Van Damme asks Putin for ambassadorial job and sends 'big kiss' to Russia
Actor and former bodybuilder Jean-Claude Van Damme has addressed Russian President Vladimir Putin in a strange new video message published on Telegram by pro-Russian Ukraine-born journalist Diana Panchenko. Panchenko has been accused of treason by the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) in 2023. Van Damme said in the video that he was ready to come to Russia and become 'an ambassador of peace'. "We want to come to Russia. We will try to do this the way you want to do this, to be an ambassador of peace. I would love to be... I would be honourred to have this title…' The action star then recounted a protracted anecdote about how he and Putin met in Sochi at a martial arts event and how their shoes touched. He indeed visited Russia in 2010 and in 2007, when he attended a reception in St. Petersburg (see picture below). The Muscles from Brussels concluded the video by saying: "Let's do this. Ambassador of peace. We won't talk politics – only about peace, sport and happiness. We love you.' At the end of the appeal, Van Damme blew a kiss to Russia and sent 'a big kiss to Putin and his family.' Tasteless declarations of love aside, Van Damme hit headlines earlier this month when he was accused of allegedly meeting with several people under investigation for sex trafficking crimes – people who offered to let him have sex with five Romanian models as a "gift." The Romanian Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) reportedly filed a criminal complaint against the Belgian actor, with this alleged incident having taken place in Cannes. No timeframe was noted. Adrian Cuculis, the lawyer of one of the alleged victims, stated: 'At an event organised by Jean-Claude Van Damme in Cannes, several Romanians, who are currently under investigation for forming a criminal group and pimping, allegedly offered Jean-Claude Van Damme five Romanian women - photo models in Romania - for sex.' He added: 'The person who received these services was aware of their condition.' Van Damme has denied the accusations of knowingly engaging in sexual relations with women he knew to be trafficked, with the actor's agent calling the claims 'unfounded'. 'We have become aware of articles alleging an alleged affair in Cannes involving Mr Jean-Claude Van Damme,' Patrick Goavec said in a statement. 'The reported facts are both grotesque and non-existent. Mr Van Damme does not wish to comment or fuel this rumour, which is as absurd as it is unfounded.'
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Putin praises Musk as visionary, likens him to Soviet-era space icon Korolov
Russian President Vladimir Putin on April 16 lauded U.S. tech billionaire Elon Musk as a trailblazing visionary, comparing him to legendary Ukraine-born Soviet rocket scientist Serhii Korolov during a speech at Bauman Moscow State Technical University. "You know, there is such a person, he lives in the States, Musk, who, you could say, raves about Mars," Putin told a group of university students. "Such people (Musk) do not often appear in the human population, energized by a certain idea... Just as the ideas of Korolov, our pioneers, were implemented in their time." Korolov, an engineer born in Zhytomyr in Soviet Ukraine, is widely regarded as the father of the Soviet space program, having developed the first artificial satellite, Sputnik, and the Vostok spacecraft that carried the first human, Yuri Gagarin, into orbit in 1961. Musk — the CEO of SpaceX, owner of X, and a close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump — has long claimed his ambition to put humans on Mars. He has suggested 2029 as a possible target for the first crewed mission, with 2031 considered more likely. The Kremlin has been intensifying its outreach to Musk. In March, Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund and a key Kremlin envoy in talks with the U.S., proposed that Moscow supply nuclear power technology for Musk's Mars missions. Dmitriev called Musk a "great visionary" and said Russia was open to cooperation between SpaceX and Roscosmos, Russia's state-run space agency. Initially supporting Ukraine by providing Starlink satellite communications, Musk has become increasingly critical of the embattled country and President Volodymyr Zelensky, often echoing pro-Russian narratives. Despite severe Western sanctions and the collapse of most economic ties with the U.S., Russia and the United States continue to cooperate on some space initiatives. Read also: Trump extends US sanctions on Russian ships for another year We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
