Ukrainian toy maker turns war weapons and patriotic symbols into plush toy line
Nataliia, a worker at the Kopytsia tory factory, holds the toy javelin after sticking it on August 10, 2022 in Nizhyn, Ukraine.
Alexey Furman | Getty Images
Russia’s nearly six-month assault on Ukraine has turned Bayraktar drones, Javelin anti-tank missiles and the An-225 Mriia cargo plane into patriotic symbols for Ukrainians.
The Kopytsia Family Toy Factory has now turned them into a line of stuffed animals.
Seamstresses at the Kopytsia toy factory sew various toys on August 10, 2022 in Nizhyn, Ukraine.
Alexey Furman | Getty Images
Nina, a worker at the Kopytsia tory factory, poses for a portrait with the Mriia airplane toy on August 10, 2022 in Nizhyn, Ukraine.
Alexey Furman | Getty Images
A prickly pear toy is seen on a table in one of the rooms of the Kopytsia toy factory on August 10, 2022 in Nizhyn, Ukraine.
Alexey Furman | Getty Images
A Patron dog toy is seen on a table in one of the rooms of the Kopytsia toy factory on August 10, 2022 in Nizhyn, Ukraine. Russia’s nearly six-month assault on Ukraine has turned Bayraktar drones, Javelin anti-tank missiles and the An-225 Mriia cargo plane into patriotic symbols for Ukrainians.
Alexey Furman | Getty Images
— Alexey Furman | Getty Images
Russia succeeds when it “manages to divide us,” says Ukraine’s defense minister
Defense Minister of Ukraine Oleksii Reznikov attends the Security Advisory Group of Ukraine meeting at Ramstein Air Base on April 26, 2022 in Ramstein-Miesenbach, Germany.
Thomas Lohnes | Getty Images
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov thanked his British, Danish and American counterparts for their support while attending Ukraine’s donor conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, during which he stressed the importance of maintaining -united against Russia.
“Russia’s words, and agreements with them, are not worth the paper they are written on. So what can be done? This solution is obvious,” Reznikov said. “Russia succeeds when it succeeds in dividing us, when it confronts us one on one, pooling its resources and hitting us. Russia is defeated and retreats when it loses the initiative, and is met with coordinated resistance.”
The conference was held to discuss long-term financial and military support for Ukraine’s defense in its war against Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also addressed the conference by video call.
– Natasha Turak
Ukraine says more than 300 children killed and more than 6,000 deported since war began
This photo taken on July 15, 2022 shows recently made graves at a cemetery in the Vinogradnoe district of the Donetsk region, amid ongoing Russian military action in Ukraine.
– | Afp | Getty Images
The Ukrainian parliament’s human rights commissioner released updated figures for child victims in the five and a half months since Russia’s invasion began on February 24.
According to the commissioner, 316 children have died and 705 have been injured. In addition, 204 children are missing and 6,159 have been deported, the commissioner said. Ukrainian prosecutors and Western officials are investigating what they say is the forced deportation of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians to Russia, which is considered a war crime.
Moscow denies these accusations and says the Ukrainians entered Russia on their own.
– Natasha Turak
Latvia’s parliament names Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism
The Laima clock landmark in the center of Riga.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Latvia’s parliament, the Saeima, designated Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism and urged the EU to ban Russian citizens from entering for tourism.
In a statement, the parliament said: “Russia has been supporting and financing terrorist regimes and organizations for many years, directly and indirectly, as the largest supplier of arms to the Assad regime in Syria and as an implementer, such as now the poisoning of the Skripal family or the shooting down of MH-17.”
He added: “In Ukraine, Russia has chosen a similar, cruel, immoral and illegal tactic, using imprecise and internationally banned weapons and ammunition, targeting civilians and public places with disproportionate brutality.”
Latvian public broadcaster LSM wrote that “the Saeima recognizes Russia’s violence against civilians, which is being pursued for political purposes, as terrorism and Russia as a country that supports terrorism, and calls on other countries like-minded people who express this opinion”.
In response, Russia’s Foreign Ministry condemned what it called Latvia’s “xenophobia” over the resolution, Reuters reported, citing ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
– Natasha Turak
Satellite images show at least 8 Russian warplanes shot down in Crimea attack
Satellite image provided by Planet Labs shows a destroyed Russian aircraft at the Saky Air Base in Crimea after an explosion on August 9, 2022.
Courtesy: Planet Labs
Satellite images from US-based Planet Labs show at least eight Russian warplanes damaged or destroyed by the massive explosions that took place at Russia’s Saky Air Base in Crimea on Tuesday.
The Kremlin has denied that the planes were damaged in the explosions, which it says killed one person, injured 14 others and damaged nearby homes.
The Ukrainian air force says at least nine Russian planes were destroyed while on the ground, although Ukrainian officials have not publicly claimed responsibility for what analysts say was likely an attack directed by Kyiv or carried out by partisans Ukrainians
Smoke rises after explosions were heard from the direction of a Russian military airbase near Novofedorivka, Crimea, on August 9, 2022.
Stringer | Reuters
Russia has played down the possibility of a targeted attack, although analysts say satellite images suggest just that. Moscow has said the “aviation munitions detonated” in a storage facility at the base.
– Natasha Turak
Russia’s military exports were now “under significant strain”, UK says
Russia’s arms industry is an important export sector for the country, but it is now likely to face problems fulfilling some of its orders due to the capacity strain of the war in Ukraine, the Ministry wrote of British Defense in his daily Twitter briefing.
“It is highly unlikely that Russia will be able to fulfill some export orders for armored fighting vehicles due to the exceptional demand for vehicles for Russia’s forces in Ukraine and the growing effect of Western sanctions,” he wrote the ministry
Its “military industrial capacity is now under significant strain and the credibility of many of its weapons systems has been undermined by its association with the poor performance of Russian forces in the Ukraine war,” added the publication
– Natasha Turak
The attacks on Europe’s largest nuclear power plant leave the former worker “very scared”.
A Russian serviceman patrols the territory of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Energodar on May 1, 2022. The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, seized by Russian forces in March, is located in southeastern Ukraine and is the largest in Europe and among the 10 largest in the world.
Andrey Borodulin | Afp | Getty Images
As Ukraine and Russia trade blame for the bombings at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, a former employee said the fallout could be catastrophic and she is terrified of her former colleagues at the city’s facility of Enerhodar.
“The mood there is very sad. It’s very scary for them to work,” Alyona, 37, told NBC News on Tuesday from the city of Zaporizhzhia, which is still under Ukrainian control.
NBC News is not releasing his last name because he still has family in parts of the Russian-ruled Zaporizhzhia region and fears repercussions. Also, her husband is in the Ukrainian army.
Alyona said she stopped going to work as an engineer at the nuclear plant after Russian forces seized her in March and escaped to Zaporizhzhia soon after.
He added that he can still call and exchange messages with some of his former co-workers at the plant, which was operated by about 11,000 people before the Russian invasion. The number of staff currently working there is unknown.
Read more about this NBC News report here.
Ukrainian Minister Kuleba calls on Western countries to stop issuing visas to Russian citizens
Russian flag waves with the Spasskaya Tower of the Kremlin in the background in Moscow, Russia, February 27, 2019.
REUTERS | Maxim Shemetov | File photo
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called on the European Union and G-7 countries to stop issuing visas to Russian citizens.
“Russians overwhelmingly support the war in Ukraine. They should be denied the right to cross international borders until they learn to respect them,” Kuleba wrote on Twitter.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the Washington Post that the only way to prevent Russia from annexing more Ukrainian territory is for Western countries to ban all Russian citizens.
— Amanda Macias