#russianukrainewar

[romanationmovement]

How Many More Lives?

How many more lives must the earth reclaim,

Before we bury the seeds of blame?

Fields once golden now run with red,

Dreams of the living lie with the dead.

The Roma endure, their roots held tight,

Facing the storm, yet denied their right.

Homeless in war, their voices ignored,

Struggling for aid, their pain underscored.

Children of Ukraine, their laughter stilled,

By skies that rain destruction, unfulfilled.

Homes are ashes, futures unknown,

A nation weeps for all it has sown.

Can peace not rise from this endless pain?

Or must we lose again and again?

The cost is too high, the toll too deep,

How many more must the darkness keep?

Let swords be plows, let hearts unchain,

Let love be the bridge across this pain.

For every life lost is a cry to the sky:

How many more before peace can reply?

[mynewshq]

One killed in Ukraine drone attacks on Russia

Russian officials say they shot down 144 Ukrainian drones around the country overnight in a wave of attacks that have killed one woman, set residential buildings on fire and grounded flights in Moscow. The governor of Moscow, Andrei Vorobyov, said several flats in two high-rise apartment buildings in Ramenskoye in Moscow region were set on fire. Mr Vorobyov said a 46-year-old woman died and three people were injured in Ramenskoye, while 43 people were evacuated to temporary accommodation centres. Ukraine has so far not commented on the attacks. Russia's defence ministry said on Tuesday that of the 144 drones that its air defences intercepted, half were in the western border region of Bryansk, 20 were in Moscow and 14 were over the Kursk region. State media reported that the strikes shut down four airports in Moscow and more than 30 domestic and international flights that serve the Russian capital were suspended. Russia's aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, confirmed on Telegram on Tuesday morning that three of the airports - Domodedovo, Zhukovsky and Vnukovo - had resumed operations. The Ukrainian Air Force said on Telegram that its air defences downed 38 out of 46 Shahed-type attack drones launched by Russia. They were shot down over a number of regions and cities including Kyiv, Odesa, Kherson, Sumy, Kharkiv and Poltova. The air force added that Russia also launched an Iskander-M ballistic missile and a Kh-31 air-to-surface missile. Ukraine and Russia regularly launch overnight drone raids on each other's territory. The latest wave of drone strikes comes as Moscow claims gains in eastern Ukraine. On Sunday, Russia said it had taken control of the village of Novohrodivka, just 10km from the key town of Pokrovsk. Kyiv has not commented, but sources told the BBC that Ukrainian forces had retreated from there. So far this month, Russia has launched a wave of deadly strikes on Lviv, Poltava and Kharkiv. Russia's response to Ukraine has hardened after Kyiv launched its offensive into the country's Kursk region last month. Read the full article

[mynewshq]

Dozen killed in Russian, Ukrainian bombardments

Aerial strikes on Russian and Ukrainian border cities killed at least a dozen people on Friday, bombardments that came as Kyiv dismissed its air force commander in a major military shake-up. Both sides also claimed to have advanced on the battlefield — Moscow in eastern Ukraine and Kyiv in its shock offensive into Russia’s western Kursk region — with the fighting showing no sign of subsiding, two and a half years into Russia’s invasion. A Russian aerial strike on the northeastern city of Kharkiv on Friday afternoon killed seven people, including a 14-year-old girl, Ukraine’s interior minister said. Emergency workers were still pulling bodies from the rubble late on Friday evening. Images on social media showed the top floors of a multi-storey residential building ripped open and a fire raging after the strike. At least 77 were wounded, including 18 children, the emergency services said. President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Kyiv’s Western backers to up their support after the attack, which officials said was with a glide bomb. “We need strong decisions from our partners to stop this terror,” Zelensky said in a post on social media. “We need long-range capabilities,” he added, referring to Kyiv’s appeals to allies to lift restrictions on the use of Western-supplied missiles inside Russian territory and deliver more longer-range weapons. “We need the implementation of air defence agreements for Ukraine. This is about saving lives,” he added. – Belgorod hit – Across the border some 60 kilometres (37 miles) to the north, Russia said Ukraine had fired cluster munitions on the city of Belgorod and its suburbs, killing at least five and wounding 37 civilians, including at least six children. “One woman and four men died of their wounds on the spot before an ambulance arrived,” regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said in a post on Telegram. He posted a video showing a fire raging at a house after one of the strikes. The state-run TASS media agency posted pictures of a road in the city of Belgorod covered in strewn debris and twisted metal. Both Belgorod and Kharkiv have been hit repeatedly with aerial strikes throughout the war. Russian President Vladimir Putin in May launched a new offensive into the Kharkiv region which he said was designed to push Ukrainian forces back to create a “security zone” for Russia’s own border settlements. Moscow’s troops also claimed Friday to have captured three more villages in eastern Ukraine — one in the Kharkiv region — as they press against Ukrainian troops facing manpower and ammunition shortages. Ukraine also claimed on Friday to have advanced in Russia’s western Kursk region, where it is mounting its own surprise ground offensive, claiming to have captured 100 settlements and more than 1,200 square kilometres of territory since August 6. – Commander fired – Zelensky on Friday dismissed the country’s air force chief, a day after Kyiv said a US-made F-16 fighter jet had crashed in combat, killing the pilot. In a video message Zelensky said he had “decided to replace the commander of the air force” to strengthen Ukraine’s military leadership. His office earlier published a presidential decree to officially remove Mykola Oleshchuk from the post. The crash of the F-16 was a high-profile setback for Kyiv, which had lobbied the West to send the advanced fighter jet for months. The military had said the plane and pilot crashed during a combat mission earlier this week after having shot down incoming Russian missiles. Zelensky did not provide further details on why he had decided to replace his air force commander, saying only that his command team “needed to get stronger”. Lieutenant General Anatolii Kryvonozhko, who leads the air force’s operations in the central part of Ukraine, has temporarily assumed the role of overall commander. Kyiv also on Friday issued a plea for Mongolia to arrest Putin when he visits the country next week. It is the Russian leader’s first trip to a country that is a member of the International Criminal Court since The Hague-based body issued an arrest warrant for him last year over the alleged deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia. Mongolia is technically obligated to detain him, though the Kremlin said Friday it was not concerned about that possibility and there is little the ICC can do if it chooses not to. AFP. Read the full article