Journalist welcomed by visibly emotional people in Kherson
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Ukrainian soldiers in the liberated city of Kherson said they have found containers filled with discarded Russian uniforms as Vladimir Putin’s troops left behind try to blend in with civilians.
Stanislav Stoikobv, head of territorial defense in the region, told The Independent that the Ukrainian military estimated that up to 15 percent of Moscow’s troops stationed in Kherson had been left behind.
On Sunday, Kherson was closed for “infiltration,” a process by which Ukrainian authorities hope to identify Russian soldiers.
Stoikobv said: “We have to find them, they have no contact with Russian troops across the river. We are worried that Russia will start shelling Kherson, but we are panicking.”
Russia could send “more cannon fodder” to Ukraine after its Kherson pushback, UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said as residents of Kherson celebrated the liberation.
He said Russia will be “concerned” and “disappointed” by the loss of Kherson, and it was important not to “underestimate” how “brutal” Moscow can be even “to its own”.
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‘Hell month’: Inside Kherson, shocked survivors fear what Russia left behind
Without electricity, water or gas, and with food supplies dwindling, 76-year-old Ludmilla hobbled in the dark alone. That was until Ukrainian soldiers opened Kherson to an ecstatic crowd on Friday.
He had earlier managed to evacuate his daughter-in-law and grandchildren to Poland, but remained in Kherson to look after the family home.
“God bless you; I haven’t had a decent meal in months,” she told staff at the World Central Kitchen food charity, who were handing out hundreds of emergency food parcels to crowds in the center of the recently liberated city.
Each pack, containing tinned meat, fish, vegetables and staples, is a lifesaver. People described food prices tripling with employment and supplies running low.
“It’s been months of hell,” Ludmilla continued, clutching her food packet like a life preserver.
Bel Trew reports from Kherson:
Arpan Rai November 14, 2022 4:20 am
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40 Russian soldiers killed, armored vehicles destroyed: Ukrainian military
At least 40 Russian soldiers have been killed in action by Ukrainian troops, the country’s Southern Operational Command said in a war update today.
The soldiers were neutralized on Sunday, after the Ukrainian military command attacked four concentrations of Russian troops, he said. Seven armored vehicles were also allegedly destroyed.
Arpan Rai 14 November 2022 04:00
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Biden is set to discuss Ukraine with China’s President Xi
Joe Biden will meet with China’s leader Xi Jinping today in his first meeting with him as President of the United States.
Ukraine will be one of the talking points during their discussion at the G20 summit in Indonesia.
Biden will be “unapologetic” in his defense of the country, officials have said.
Xi Jinping and Joe Biden at a meeting in California in 2012
(Getty Images)
On Sunday, ahead of their meeting, Biden warned China against attempting an invasion of Taiwan and also said he wanted to keep the lines of communication open with Beijing.
“I know Xi Jinping, he knows me,” he added, saying they had always had “direct talks.”
The pair have known each other for more than a decade, since Biden and Xi were vice presidents of their countries, but this will be their first in-person meeting as presidents.
“We have very little misunderstanding. We just have to figure out what the red lines are,” Biden said.
Lamiat Sabin November 14, 2022 04:00
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He can sense that Ukraine’s victory in the war is coming, Zelensky says
Volodymyr Zelensky said everyone in his country involved in the war can feel that Ukraine’s victory against Russia is coming, as he said those repelling Moscow’s attacks, including soldiers, civilians and diplomats, they haven’t had a day off.
“All of us already feel the approach of our victory. Because we preserve our unity and know that we are right on our land,” Zelensky said in his evening speech.
Beginning his speech, the Ukrainian president said that he was working together with his team on Sunday. “The office works, Kyiv does not stop, the country works non-stop. Look around you – there are always people fighting and working without weekends for the sake of our victory,” he said.
“The front line has no weekends. Lifeguards and sappers don’t have weekends. Doctors who help the wounded do not have weekends. The doctors who help our children don’t have weekends either. Ukrainian energy workers fighting Iranian drones have no rest,” Zelensky said.
He added: “Diplomats work almost 24 hours a day for 263 days… Communications workers, security forces, hundreds and hundreds of other fields, thousands of organizations and companies, millions of people.”
Arpan Rai November 14, 2022 3:28 am
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ICYMI: Russia could send ‘more cannon fodder’ after Kherson
UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said Russia will be “concerned” and “disappointed” by the loss of Kherson.
He also said it was important not to “underestimate” Moscow and called for “caution” when considering jubilant scenes on the streets of the liberated city.
“History will remind you that Russia can be brutal with its own people. And if they need more cannon fodder, that’s what they will do,” he told reporters in Westminster on Sunday.
Lamiat Sabin November 14, 2022 03:00
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MTV EMA crowd waves Ukrainian flags for Kalush Orchestra
The Kalush Orchestra received a warm welcome at the MTV Europe Music Awards (EMAs) with audience members waving Ukrainian flags as they took to the stage on Sunday night.
The folk rap group performed their Eurovision winning song Stefania as the award ceremony came to a close at the PSD Bank Dome in Düsseldorf, Germany.
The group was backed by dancers wearing lead singer Oleg Psyuk’s signature pink bucket hat.
Traditional designs from the war-torn country and an image of a raised, clenched fist were projected onto the stage.
The Kalush Orchestra performs at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2022
(Ian West/PA)
Before the performance, Oscar-winning director Taika Waititi, who was with his partner Rita Ora, said the group were wearing costumes that were “thousands of years old”.
He described his music as “bringing an infusion of hip hop to traditional Ukrainian folk music”.
Ora added: “Along with our world winners, we would like to welcome you from Kyiv, Ukraine – Kalush Orchestra.”
Speaking earlier on the red carpet, Psyuk told the Palestinian Authority news agency that “culture is one of our weapons” in the war against Russia “so today we are soldiers presenting the culture of Ukraine”.
The performers wore traditional dresses and pink hats
(Martin Meissner/Associated Press)
The group have become international spokesmen for Ukraine’s war effort since winning Eurovision in May.
They later raised over £700,000 for the Ukrainian military by auctioning off their crystal microphone trophy and are on tour with a portion of the proceeds going to relief efforts at home.
Psyuk recently said they were “grateful” to the UK for showing solidarity with Ukraine by hosting Eurovision next year on its behalf.
Lamiat Sabin November 14, 2022 02:00
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“Russia is a rogue state,” Sunak tells G20 leaders
The Telegraph’s front page today (Monday) features a story about Rishi Sunak at the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, where he is expected to tell other leaders that Russia is a “rogue state”.
He will also criticize Vladimir Putin for not attending the summit and instead sending Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in his place.
Writing for the newspaper, the prime minister says: “We will not let our economic future be held hostage by the actions of a rogue state, nor will our allies.
“Leaders take responsibility. They present themselves. However, at the G20 summit in Indonesia this week, one seat will remain vacant.
“The man who is responsible for so much bloodshed in Ukraine and economic struggles around the world will not be there to face his peers. He will not even try to explain his actions.
“Instead, he’ll stay home and the rest of us will get on with the task at hand.”
Lamiat Sabin November 14, 2022 01:00
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Crimean zookeeper steals animals from Kherson zoo
A Russian zoo has reportedly stolen raccoons from the liberated city of Kherson.
In the heist, seven raccoons, two she-wolves, peacocks, a llama and a donkey were taken from the Kherson zoo.
A private zoo in Crimea, Taigan Lion Park, owned by Oleg Zubkov, filmed him grabbing raccoons by the tail and putting them in cages for a YouTube video, now unviewable, titled: “We are in Kherson Oleg Zubkov catches raccoons with his BARE HANDS!!!”
The video showed him with two helpers forcing the llama into a van.
Another video uploaded on Sunday showed two wolves he said were from the Kherson zoo being unloaded at the Crimean zoo.
Russian television channels filmed the event.
Zubkov said: “It will be much better for the wolves here: a large territory, Crimea alone, and besides, after the quarantine, they will have a male. It has been their dream to live here.”
He said the animals, including wolf cubs, would be sent back after Russia retakes Kherson and are “in good hands”.
Ukraine’s defense ministry released one of the videos and vowed to retaliate for the theft.
Lamiat Sabin 14 November 2022 00:01
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Combat engineer dies during Kherson bomb disposal
A sapper – combat engineer – died while demining the city liberated from…