Latest news with #UkrainianVeterans
Telegraph
19-07-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Boris Johnson: I'm sad about lack of British interest in Ukraine
Boris Johnson has said he is 'quite sad' about a lack of British interest in Ukraine, adding that speaking up for it was his number one priority. At an event for Ukrainian veterans at the country's London embassy this week, the former prime minister told The Telegraph: 'The interest in Ukraine and the appetite is so low nowadays. I find it quite sad. 'I mean, it sort of comes and goes, but it's number one for me. Number one.' Asked about how he evaluated his successors as Tory leader and prime minister on Ukraine, Mr Johnson said: 'Britain continues to be very important in this. But if you talk to some of my Ukrainian friends, they'll say that perhaps we're not in quite the leadership, the thought leadership, role that we were.' 'There are a lot of domestic issues that are very difficult right now, and you can see why they're distracted, but I think this is a big opportunity for Britain.' On a potential return to frontline politics, Mr Johnson added: 'I don't see any immediate way I can be particularly useful in British politics right now. But I think I can continue to talk about Ukraine.' Mr Johnson met Ukrainian veterans at the embassy event, organised by DTEK, the largest private investor in Ukraine's energy sector. He was greeted with applause by the group, some of whom had been tortured after capture. Asking about the soldiers' itinerary on their visit to Britain he said: 'I invited you to my pub in Somerset, but understandably that was too far.' One of the trip's organisers told him 'there is also a cultural programme' for the soldiers to learn about Britain, to which the former PM responded 'that's the pub', provoking laughter from the crowd. He is calling for European governments to seize the $300 billion of Russian assets frozen in Europe and send them to Ukraine, describing this as 'a down payment from Russia to Ukraine on the reparations that Russia will inevitably have to pay one day for what it has done'. Mr Johnson claimed Donald Trump, the US president, was in favour of such a move, despite concerns that it could spook international investors. 'This is an idea that is attractive to Donald Trump. He would like to do it, but the Europeans need to step up,' he added. It comes after Mr Johnson had said the best way for the Tories to counter Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, was to ignore him. He repeated that call on Friday, saying: 'If you've got a problem with a political doppelganger, don't talk about them. That's my strong advice. What voters want to hear is what we're doing, what we Tories are offering for them, whether they're 16 or 102. They want to know what the Tory plans are.' The most recent survey of voting intention by YouGov put Reform on 26 per cent, Labour on 24 per cent, and the Conservatives on 17. Speaking days after Sir Keir Starmer announced plans to give the vote to 16-year-olds, Mr Johnson said there was 'no reason why they shouldn't be persuaded to vote Tory at all'. Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, has said she would focus on rebuilding the trust of voters before developing a comprehensive set of policies for the party's next election manifesto. Earlier this year she launched the Policy Renewal Programme and ditched the Conservatives' previous commitment to Net Zero by 2050 – a key pledge of Mr Johnson's Government. On the news this week of the Afghanistan data leak under the Conservatives, Mr Johnson said it was 'absolutely right' to protect Afghans at risk of repercussions from the Taliban. 'I knew nothing about this,' he said of the leak and subsequent super-injunction. 'I think it is, in principle, absolutely right to protect those who have helped our country, at great risk to their own lives and the lives of their families. I think it's absolutely right to try to do that.' Of the unprecedented super-injunction, which prevented journalists from reporting on the story or acknowledging the existence of the gagging order itself, Mr Johnson added: 'My first instinct would have been to use the D-notice process, but I don't know what the legal advice was.'
News.com.au
26-06-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Esports a pathway back to normality for Ukrainian war veterans
Esports is helping Ukrainian war veterans, who "often feel out of place" when they return from the front line, to reintegrate into society, the head of Ukraine's Esport Commission has told AFP. Denys Davydov, 43, speaks with authority as he also leads a commission on the development of rehabilitation programs for veterans through esports. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers have been wounded since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion in February 2022. President Volodymyr Zelensky told US broadcaster NBC in February the figure was close to 380,000. Davydov says "rehabilitation is one of the most pressing and painful issues" in Ukraine and his programme includes both able-bodied and disabled veterans. "When soldiers return from war or end up in hospitals, they often feel out of place. "After years spent on the front lines, they lose the part of socialisation associated with everyday civilian life. "Sport, and especially esports, can help them reintegrate into society." Esports was particularly effective because it "allows competition regardless of obstacles or distances". "On one hand, we offer veterans a way to mentally unwind, and on the other, we provide a competitive outlet," he added. Davydov, who has built up a wealth of sports administration experience primarily in rugby and football, said the second edition of the Ukrainian Veterans Esports Championship was already deep in the planning stage. He added that esports -- because at a competitive level it requires the technology and know-how to broadcast the video games to a wider audience -- also helps develop careers in roles such as broadcast directors, tournament managers or commentators. Perhaps most importantly for a country at war, esports can assist in helping veterans rebuild relationships closer to home. "Veterans start to better understand their children and loved ones, they release built-up aggression, and they begin to feel like part of civilian society again," he said. Davydov, who played badminton at a high level in Ukraine, says esports can facilitate the journey back to playing football and rugby again. "Esports is also especially valuable for veterans who have lost mobility and are undergoing recovery," he said. "Plus, esports improves reflexes and cognitive skills, which can eventually help them return to playing football or rugby post-rehabilitation." - 'Visualise future worlds' - Davydov, who from 2022 to 2024 was an advisor to the Head of the Territorial Defense of Ukraine, is proud of the fact his country has been at the forefront of the evolution of esports. He is a flag bearer for more national teams competing, although he says the inaugural esports Olympics slated for Saudi Arabia in 2027 "exists more on paper than in practice" at the moment. Ukraine, he said, was among the first countries to suggest forming national esports teams and Ukraine officially recognised the discipline even before the IOC did. It has developed fast in Ukraine and one of the leading professional teams in esports globally is Navi, based in Kyiv. That kind of success led countries including Italy, Portugal, Belgium, Georgia, Latvia, and Malta to nominate Davydov to be president of the European Esports Federation, although he did not get the role. He is keen to dispel the notion esports is for 'couch potatoes' and that it does not encourage people to take physical exercise. "Esports is evolving," he said. "It now has its own fitness champions, its own MMA fighters who transitioned from CS:GO (the game "Counter Strike: Global Offensive") to the ring. "Some have become marathon runners, and so on." Davydov says the sceptics should also be silenced by the entourage that surround the players -- they are feeding them junk food and soft drinks. "In recent years, the esports world has realised that physically fit players perform significantly better than those who are out of shape," he said. "Every team now has fitness trainers, mandatory physical routines, psychological support, dieticians, and proper nutrition." As an example of the changed mindset, Davydov cites an esports textbook developed in 2022 by the National University of Physical Education and Sport of Ukraine that integrates physical training with the development of esports. "Esports will become even more 'healthy' in the future," he says. Davydov, though, says that away from the exercise element, esports enriches those who play them mentally. pi/gj
The Australian
26-06-2025
- Sport
- The Australian
Esports a pathway back to normality for Ukrainian war veterans
Esports is helping Ukrainian war veterans, who "often feel out of place" when they return from the front line, to reintegrate into society, the head of Ukraine's Esport Commission has told AFP. Denys Davydov, 43, speaks with authority as he also leads a commission on the development of rehabilitation programs for veterans through esports. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers have been wounded since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion in February 2022. President Volodymyr Zelensky told US broadcaster NBC in February the figure was close to 380,000. Davydov says "rehabilitation is one of the most pressing and painful issues" in Ukraine and his programme includes both able-bodied and disabled veterans. "When soldiers return from war or end up in hospitals, they often feel out of place. "After years spent on the front lines, they lose the part of socialisation associated with everyday civilian life. "Sport, and especially esports, can help them reintegrate into society." Esports was particularly effective because it "allows competition regardless of obstacles or distances". "On one hand, we offer veterans a way to mentally unwind, and on the other, we provide a competitive outlet," he added. Davydov, who has built up a wealth of sports administration experience primarily in rugby and football, said the second edition of the Ukrainian Veterans Esports Championship was already deep in the planning stage. He added that esports -- because at a competitive level it requires the technology and know-how to broadcast the video games to a wider audience -- also helps develop careers in roles such as broadcast directors, tournament managers or commentators. Perhaps most importantly for a country at war, esports can assist in helping veterans rebuild relationships closer to home. "Veterans start to better understand their children and loved ones, they release built-up aggression, and they begin to feel like part of civilian society again," he said. Davydov, who played badminton at a high level in Ukraine, says esports can facilitate the journey back to playing football and rugby again. "Esports is also especially valuable for veterans who have lost mobility and are undergoing recovery," he said. "Plus, esports improves reflexes and cognitive skills, which can eventually help them return to playing football or rugby post-rehabilitation." - 'Visualise future worlds' - Davydov, who from 2022 to 2024 was an advisor to the Head of the Territorial Defense of Ukraine, is proud of the fact his country has been at the forefront of the evolution of esports. He is a flag bearer for more national teams competing, although he says the inaugural esports Olympics slated for Saudi Arabia in 2027 "exists more on paper than in practice" at the moment. Ukraine, he said, was among the first countries to suggest forming national esports teams and Ukraine officially recognised the discipline even before the IOC did. It has developed fast in Ukraine and one of the leading professional teams in esports globally is Navi, based in Kyiv. That kind of success led countries including Italy, Portugal, Belgium, Georgia, Latvia, and Malta to nominate Davydov to be president of the European Esports Federation, although he did not get the role. He is keen to dispel the notion esports is for 'couch potatoes' and that it does not encourage people to take physical exercise. "Esports is evolving," he said. "It now has its own fitness champions, its own MMA fighters who transitioned from CS:GO (the game "Counter Strike: Global Offensive") to the ring. "Some have become marathon runners, and so on." Davydov says the sceptics should also be silenced by the entourage that surround the players -- they are feeding them junk food and soft drinks. "In recent years, the esports world has realised that physically fit players perform significantly better than those who are out of shape," he said. "Every team now has fitness trainers, mandatory physical routines, psychological support, dieticians, and proper nutrition." As an example of the changed mindset, Davydov cites an esports textbook developed in 2022 by the National University of Physical Education and Sport of Ukraine that integrates physical training with the development of esports. "Esports will become even more 'healthy' in the future," he says. Davydov, though, says that away from the exercise element, esports enriches those who play them mentally. "The skills developed through esports, particularly spatial thinking and the ability to visualise future worlds, are extremely valuable." pi/gj
The Guardian
09-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Ukraine says it has busted Hungarian spy ring collecting military data
Ukrainian authorities claim to have busted a Hungarian spy ring operating on its territory, alleging that Budapest was collecting sensitive military data with one eye on a possible future incursion into the west of the country. Hungary's foreign minister dismissed the accusations as 'propaganda', but the allegations will further test already fraught relations between the two neighbouring countries. While Hungary is a member of Nato and the EU, its prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has been an outlier among European leaders, strongly critical of Kyiv and neutral towards Russia. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said it had detained two Ukrainian military veterans as part of the operation, and claimed the network had engaged in the collection of information on military defences in the western part of Ukraine as well as sentiment among the local population. It published a video interrogation of one of the detainees in handcuffs, with his face blurred. The SBU said the spy ring was run by a 'staff officer of Hungarian military intelligence' and that the operation was designed to uncover information about vulnerabilities in Ukraine's defence of western regions. It claimed that one of the detainees, a 40-year-old veteran from the western Ukrainian town of Berehove, which has a majority ethnic Hungarian population, had been recruited in 2021 as a sleeper agent. It said he was 'activated' by a handler in 2024 and asked to collect information. It alleged that at a meeting in Hungary the man received cash payment for providing information, as well as to help recruit more people to the network of informants. 'By forming an agent network, foreign intelligence hoped to expand the range of information collection, including obtaining data from frontline and frontline regions,' the SBU said. The two detained suspects face charges of high treason, which could result in life imprisonment. Speaking at a press conference in Budapest, the foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, said Hungary had not been presented with any evidence to back up the claims: 'If we receive any details or official information, then we will be able to deal with this. Until then, I must classify this as propaganda that must be handled with caution.' An estimated 80,000 ethnic Hungarians live in Ukraine's western Zakarpattia region. The language rights of the region's people have long been a bone of contention: Orbán's nationalist government says Kyiv does not make proper provisions for them to speak Hungarian in schools, while Ukraine has accused Orbán of instrumentalising the community as an excuse to follow Russian talking points about Ukraine and the war. Orbán has spoken out against continued sanctions on Russia and promised to block Ukraine's EU accession route. Last summer, he infuriated other EU leaders when he visited Moscow to meet Vladimir Putin, shortly after Hungary took over the rotating EU presidency. Although no Hungarian government official has spoken openly about trying to seize territory from Ukraine, it is sometimes a topic of far-right discussion in the country. Russian state television has also frequently suggested Ukraine could fall apart, with Russia taking over the east of the country and Poland and Hungary dividing the western part. In some Hungarian-majority villages, the clocks are set to Budapest time and the most popular television channel is the Hungarian government-controlled M1, which often sharply criticises Ukrainian authorities and parrots Russian narratives. Many local people say they feel closer to Budapest than to Kyiv. László Zubánics, a history professor and the head of the Hungarian Democratic Federation in Ukraine, said in 2023 that it was a stereotype that ethnic Hungarians were not Ukrainian patriots, and said up to 400 were then fighting on the frontline and about 30 had been killed in action. However, he admitted that for many in the community, trying to balance the competing demands of Budapest and Kyiv was 'like trying to dance along a tightrope'.
