First, links to reports from National Public Radio, the Associated Press, and Reuters; click on their names below for more of their stories. Then, via both Consortium News and Popular Resistance, a link to commentary on contrasting views of the global food insecurity worsened by the war in Ukraine. Next, via Global Research, a second account of the firing of a Ukrainian official for her influential but dubious reports of Russian troops’ human rights violations. — MCM
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Volodymyr vs. Vladimir: How rival statues explain the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Reported by Greg Myre and Charles Maynes | National Public Radio. One of Ukraine’s most legendary figures is Volodymyr the Great. He ruled Kyiv from the year 980 to 1015, launching major building projects, pulling together divided tribes and introducing Christianity. Today, he’s honored with a soaring statue in Kyiv overlooking the Dnipro River that bisects the city. Yet Russia also claims him as central to its political and religious history. They know him by the Russian version of his name — Vladimir the Great. Six years ago . . . Click HERE to listen and read.
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Soaring energy prices multiply the challenges for Ukraine’s allies in Europe. NPR’s Rachel Martin talks to Ben Cahill, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, about Europe’s push to end its reliance on Russian fossil fuels. Click HERE to listen and, tomorrow, read.
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UK pledges missiles to Ukraine; new U.S. ambassador in Kyiv, by John Leicester and Elena Becatoros | The Associated Press KYIV — Britain pledged today to send sophisticated medium-range rocket systems to Ukraine, joining the United States and Germany in equipping the embattled nation with advanced weapons for shooting down aircraft and knocking out artillery. . . . Kyiv also is set to get a diplomatic boost with the formal installation of a new U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. U.S. Ambassador Bridget Brink was set to hand her credentials to Zelenskyy today. READ MORE . . .
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Ukraine seeks UN-backed mission to export grain shipments through Black Sea. From Reuters. KYIV — Ukraine is working with international partners to create a United Nations-backed mission to restore Black Sea shipping routes and export Ukrainian farm produce, foreign ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said today. Russia has captured some of Ukraine’s biggest seaports and its navy . . . READ MORE . . .
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G7 downplays U.S. sanctions’ role in food shortage, by John Ross | Consortium News / Educate! “There is really no true solution to the problem of global food security without bringing back the agriculture production of Ukraine and the food and fertilizer production of Russia and Belarus into world markets despite the war.” These blunt words by U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres accurately describe the present global food crisis. As the U.S. and the G7 (comprising Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States) insist that cutting off food exports from Ukraine poses the biggest threat to world food security, rather than admitting the far more powerful negative effect of Western sanctions against Russia, their propaganda does immense damage to the world’s understanding and capability of avoiding a looming . . . READ MORE . . .
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Ukraine Fires Own Human Rights Chief for Perpetuating Russian Troop ‘Systematic Rape’ Stories, by Zero Hedge | Global Research For over the past two months, an avalanche of stories have hit Western mainstream press which purported to document instances of mass rape carried out by Russian troops against Ukrainian civilians. One particular story in Time took off, driving outrage and condemnation by Western officials and receiving repeat coverage on CNN and other major US networks. It alleged “a systemic, coordinated campaign of sexual violence” — relying chiefly . . . READ MORE . . .
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TO BE CONTINUED