Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, fired his ambassador to Germany a week after the diplomat gave an interview in which he defended the legacy of a World War II nationalist leader who collaborated with the Nazis. Andriy Melnyk, Ukraine’s ambassador to Berlin since 2014, has been one of the most recognized figures on the Ukrainian cause in Germany, and has never shied away from harshly criticizing what many saw as Germany’s slow response to the Russian invasion and often provoking the wrath of the country’s political elite. But in an interview on the Jung & Nai show, which aired on YouTube on June 29, Mr. Melnyk defended the memory of Stepan Bandera, the leader of the far-right Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists during World War II. The nationalist group, which espoused fascist ideology, collaborated with German forces when they occupied Ukraine, and some of these forces assisted in the mass murders of Poles and Jews. Mr. Bandera was not directly involved in the killings because he was captured in Ukraine in 1941 and placed in “honorable internment” by the Nazis in a concentration camp outside Berlin for trying to create an independent Ukraine. Assassinated by Soviet spies in Munich in 1959, Mr. Bandera is still revered by a section of the Ukrainian population for his leadership of the nationalist cause, particularly in the west, where there are statues of Mr. Bandera and streets named after him. But in Germany, which prides itself on its commitment to acknowledging Nazi crimes and commemorating the victims of the Holocaust, questioning this chapter in history is a red line. Mr. Melnyk had already raised eyebrows in Germany several years earlier for visiting Mr. Bandera’s grave in Munich. When confronted in the June 29 interview about the history of the OUN’s role in the massacres and Mr. Bandera’s anti-Semitic views, Mr. Melnik said there was no evidence for the claims, which are undisputed in academic circles. “This is the narrative that the Russians are pushing to this day and it has support in Germany, Poland and also in Israel,” he said. Mr. Melnyk’s comments drew immediate condemnation from German officials, as well as from the Israeli embassy in Germany. Two ministers in Poland, one of Ukraine’s staunchest supporters since the Russian invasion, also decried the remarks. That prompted Kyiv to distance itself from Mr. Melnyk, saying his views did not represent Ukraine’s position. Fluent in German, Mr. Melnyk was known in Germany for his passionate support for more weapons for Ukraine to defend against Russian invasion. He did not shy away from colorful criticism, calling Chancellor Olaf Solz an “affected liver” for delaying a visit to Kyiv in the spring. The German expression, which loosely translates to prima donna, angered much of Germany’s political establishment. But it has won him fanatical supporters in Germany among those disillusioned by their country’s lackluster support. Despite the frequent controversy sparked by Mr Melnyk’s comments, it had been seen as an asset to draw attention to Ukraine in a country where pacifist tendencies within the political establishment have led to reluctance to supply arms. Mr Zelensky announced the dismissal of Mr Melnyk along with that of the ambassadors of India, the Czech Republic, Norway and Hungary. Mr. Zelensky later described the switch as part of normal diplomatic practice.
title: “Latest Russia Ukraine War News Live Updates " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-07” author: “Robin Kingston”
Russian strikes killed at least eight people in eastern Ukraine in 24 hours and the death toll from an apartment complex hit by Russian missiles also rose, local officials said Monday, a chilling reminder of the devastation Russia has inflicted on civilians. even as the army stops trying to seize Ukrainian territory. While the Russian military is regrouping and resupplying, its attacks on civilian targets and morale have intensified in recent days. In one town after another in eastern Ukraine, a hail of seemingly random Russian raids, carried out by warplanes, artillery and missiles, has killed, maimed and terrorized residents. Attacks have particularly intensified in Donetsk, an eastern province increasingly at the heart of Moscow, after Russian forces seized the last major city in neighboring Luhansk province this month. In the eastern Ukrainian town of Chasiv Yar, emergency crews were still recovering bodies Monday from an attack over the weekend. A rocket strike hit an apartment complex late Saturday and the death toll rose to 30, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said. Nine people have been pulled from the rubble and rescued so far, it said. In eastern Donetsk province, which includes Chasiv Yar, at least 10 cities and towns were hit, bringing the civilian death toll in the province to nearly 600 since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, according to the region’s military governor, Pavlos Kirilenko. Russian forces used a lull in their offensive to help with the recovery, following President Vladimir V. Putin’s order last week to rest some troops after seizing Luhansk province, military analysts said Monday. But behind the front lines, the rain of destruction continues, and many residents expect it to be a mere spur to a renewed, all-out offensive. Ukrainian and Western analysts expect Mr. Putin to order a new offensive to capture the rest of Ukrainian territory in Donetsk, anchored by the cities of Sloviansk, Kramatorsk and Bakhmut — if not more. And on Monday, Russia signaled it may seek to establish permanent control over Ukrainian territory now held by Moscow’s forces: Mr Putin signed a decree offering a simplified path to Russian citizenship for all Ukrainians. About nine miles from Chasiv Yar, in the town of Bakhmut, officials said that on Sunday, Russian troops fired incendiary munitions, restricted by international law and designed to set fire or cause burns, into a neighborhood. Bakhmut, a major military stronghold for Ukraine, is less than 10 miles from Russian lines and a likely target for its planned advance through the eastern Donbas region. Neighbors in shorts and sandals frantically pulled garden hoses towards a burning house. Buckets of water were thrown at the flames as the beams and tile roof of a house cracked and exploded. “I worked 20 years in the mines and this is what I get,” said Victor, 67, a retired miner who watched and wept. Russia also launched attacks in the northeast. To the north, at about 3:40 a.m. Monday, a Russian rocket destroyed a school building in the Slobidske district of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, although no one was injured, said Oleh Synehubov, the head of its regional administration. Kharkiv. he said on the Telegram messaging app. He said a six-story apartment building in the city was hit 20 minutes later. Emergency workers rescued an 86-year-old woman from the rubble. “Only urban structures – a shopping center and houses of peaceful Kharkiv residents – came under Russian fire,” Mr Synehubov said. The recent attacks appeared to differ, military analysts said, from Russia’s previous tactics in the war, such as the failed blitzkrieg in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and then weeks of concentrated bombing of major regional cities. The latest attacks hit various targets without a corresponding effort to advance inch by inch. — Matthew Boke Big and Carlotta Gall
title: “Latest Russia Ukraine War News Live Updates " ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-19” author: “Jeremy Durbin”
President Vladimir Putin will visit Tehran next week for meetings with the leaders of Iran and Turkey, taking him into challenging diplomatic territory as he seeks to mend ties with two nations that are sometimes aligned and sometimes at odds with the Russia and among themselves.
Mr Putin, who drastically reduced his travel during the pandemic, has been on a recent diplomatic spree, seeking to shore up military and economic support with non-Western countries to counter Western military aid to Ukraine and its sanctions. against Russia.
On a visit to Central Asia last week, his first trip abroad since Russia invaded Ukraine, Mr Putin — who had recently compared himself to Peter the Great — held court among his close allies and he insisted that the war was going according to plan.
Mr Putin’s latest diplomatic push comes as President Biden prepares to travel to the Middle East this week to meet the leaders of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states.
Mr. Biden’s national security adviser said on Monday that Russia is seeking drones from Iran, including those capable of launching missiles, to make up for a lack of unmanned, armed battlefield surveillance aircraft. Analysts say Russia also sees Iran as an important new economic partner, offering a trade route and expertise in circumventing sanctions and exporting oil.
But Mr Putin may also have to ease relations with Iran as Russia eats up its share of the global oil market while trying to find common ground with NATO member Turkey. Over Moscow’s objections, Turkey recently lifted its objections to the alliance’s expansion along Russia’s border.
High fuel prices have boosted Russia’s revenues as it has gradually made military gains in Ukraine, but Western sanctions have continued to hurt its economy and limit its ability to build or buy technology for military use.
In Tehran, Iran’s capital, Mr Putin will also hold peace talks on Syria, a decade-long conflict in which Iran and Russia have backed the government and Turkey has backed a rival rebel faction. Mr. Putin will meet with President Ibrahim Raisi of Iran and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, as well as each separately, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry S. Peskov told reporters on Tuesday.
Mr Erdogan, whose country shares the Black Sea coast with both Russia and Ukraine, has emerged as the most active mediator between Mr Putin and President Volodymyr Zelensky. Turkey is in talks to try to overcome Russia’s embargo on more than 20 million tonnes of Ukrainian grain exports, which is intensifying the global food crisis.
Turkey will host delegations from Ukraine, Russia and the United Nations in Istanbul on Wednesday for talks on resuming grain shipments, Turkey’s defense ministry said.
Iran, long an ally of Russia in its confrontation with the West, is becoming even more central to Mr. Putin’s diplomacy because of the war in Ukraine. Mr Putin met Mr Raisi on the sidelines of a regional summit in Turkmenistan last month and spoke to him by phone in early June, according to the Kremlin.
“Our relationship has a really deep, strategic character,” Mr. Putin told Mr. Raisi in Turkmenistan, noting that trade between the two countries grew by 81 percent last year.
At a summit in Uzbekistan in September, Iran is expected to join a multilateral security group, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which already includes Russia and China. Sergei V. Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, last month praised Iran’s membership as a step that would strengthen the organization “as one of the key centers of the emerging multipolar world order,” reducing the global influence of the United States.
