«Окупанти мають відчувати підвищення ціни війни для них»
…
Ukrainian band Kalush Orchestra, fresh off its Eurovision victory, released a new music video Sunday of its winning hit “Stefania” that features scenes of war-ravaged Ukraine and women in combat gear, as the annual song contest took on ever more political tones given Russia’s war.
“This is how we see Ukrainian mothers today,” Kalush frontman Oleh Psiuk said of the video, which had already racked up millions of views within hours of its release. “We were trying to deliver the message of what Ukraine looks like today.”
The video was released hours after Kalush Orchestra brought Ukraine its third Eurovision win, pulling ahead of Britain in the grand finale thanks to a surge of popular votes from some of the estimated 200 million viewers from 40 participating countries. The win buoyed Ukrainian spirits and represented a strong affirmation of Ukrainian culture, which Psiuk said was “under attack” by Russia’s invasion.
Band members posed for photos and signed autographs outside their three-star Turin hotel Sunday, packing their own luggage into taxis en route to an interview with Italian host broadcaster RAI before heading home. They must return to Ukraine on Monday after being given special permission to leave the country to attend the competition; most Ukrainian men between the ages of 18 and 60 are barred from leaving in case they are needed to fight.
That stark reality made for a bittersweet moment Sunday in Turin, as Kalush vocalist Sasha Tab had to say goodbye to his wife Yuliia and two children, who fled Ukraine a month ago and are living with a host Italian family in nearby Alba. She and the children were at the band’s hotel and she wept as Tab held his daughter in his arms before getting into the cab.
Russia was banned from the Eurovision Song Contest this year after its Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, a move organizers said was meant to keep politics out of the contest that promotes diversity and friendship among nations.
But politics nevertheless entered into the fray, with Psiuk ending his winning performance Sunday night with a plea from the stage: “I ask all of you, please help Ukraine, Mariupol. Help Azovstal right now!” he said, referring to the besieged steel plant in the strategic port city.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed the victory, saying he hoped Ukraine would be able to host the contest next year and predicting the “victorious chord in the battle with the enemy is not far off.”
“Stefania” was penned by lead singer Psiuk as a tribute to his mother, but since Russia’s invasion it has become an anthem to the motherland, with lyrics that pledge: “I’ll always find my way home, even if all roads are destroyed.”
The new music video features women soldiers carrying children out of bombed-out buildings, greeting children in shelters and leaving them behind as they board trains. The video credits said it was shot in towns that have seen some of the worst destruction of the war, including Bucha, Irpin, Borodyanka and Hostomel.
The video was clearly made before the band left Ukraine as it features band members and — presumably — actors performing in the rubble.
“Dedicated to the brave Ukrainian people, to the mothers protecting their children, to all those who gave their lives for our freedom,” it said.
Ukrainians cheered the victory Sunday as a much-needed boost, and the national rail operator announced that the train that passes through Kalush, the birthplace of Psiuk, will be renamed the “Stefania Express.”
“Every little victory is important for every Ukrainian, for our Ukraine, for each one of us,” Kyiv resident Svitlana Nekruten said.
Albert Sokolov, an evacuee from Mariupol, said he had no doubt Ukraine would emerge victorious.
“I listened to this song in Mariupol when we were being bombed so I was sure that they would win,” he said Sunday in Kyiv.
Russians said the vote was ultimately political, but also showed that Kalush Orchestra and Ukraine had support.
“Eurovision is always about politicized choices; some situations call for a certain choice,” Moscow resident Olga Shlyakhova said. “Of course, I think most people support Ukrainians. They can’t think differently, because they understand it’s a tragedy. That’s why they chose (the winners) with their hearts.”
Anastasiya Perfiryeva, another Moscow resident, noted the popular vote that was so decisive in the victory.
“It was ordinary people who voted. They supported (the winners). Well done. I think that in any case the team was strong, and the support from outside is always pleasant.”
Kalush Orchestra includes folklore experts and mixes traditional folk melodies and contemporary hip hop in a strong defense of Ukrainian culture that has taken on added meaning as Russia has sought falsely to assert that Ukraine’s culture is not unique.
Psiuk, in his trademark pink bucket hat, said the band isn’t trying to be “cool” with its unusual blend of old and new, but that clearly it hit a chord and found broad popular support that pushed Ukraine to victory.
“We are not trying to be like an American hip-hop band,” he said. “We are trying to present our culture, slightly mixed.”
…
Раніше мер Львова Андрій Садовий казав, що за кібератакою стоять «московські нездари»
…
Триває вісімдесят перша доба протистояння російському вторгненню
…
Держсекретар США Ентоні Блінкен підтримує бажання Фінляндії та Швеції долучитися до НАТО
…
Intellectuals, broadcasters and cultural figures from Hungary’s Roma community are using the airwaves to reframe narratives and elevate the voices of the country’s largest minority group.
Radio Dikh — a Romani word that means “to see” — has broadcast since January on FM radio in Hungary’s capital, Budapest. Its 11 programs focus on Roma music, culture and the issues faced by their community, and aim to recast the way the often disadvantaged minority group is perceived by broader society.
“Roma people in general don’t have enough representation in mainstream media … and even if they do, it’s oftentimes not showing the right picture or the picture that is true to the Roma community,” said Bettina Pocsai, co-host of a show that focuses on social issues.
Radio Dikh, she said, aims to “give voice to Roma people and make sure that our voice is also present in the media and that it shows a picture that we are satisfied with.”
Some estimates suggest that Roma in Hungary number nearly 1 million, or around 10% of the population. Like their counterparts throughout Europe, many of Hungary’s Roma are often the subjects of social and economic exclusion, and face discrimination, segregation and poverty.
Adding to their marginalization are stereotypes about Roma roles in society, where they are often associated with their traditional occupations as musicians, dancers, traders and craftspeople that go back centuries.
These expectations have limited the opportunities for Roma people — especially Roma women — to participate and develop their skills in other fields, said Szandi Minzari, host of a women’s radio program.
“We are stereotyped by the majority because they tend to believe that we are very good at singing, dancing, speaking about girly subjects and raising the kids, and that’s us. But it’s much more,” Minzari said.
Programming specifically for women runs for two hours every day, and Minzari’s show “Zsa Shej” — which means “Let’s go, girls” in the Romani language — focuses on current events and global topics like climate change and other social issues.
Many women in traditional Roma families are highly dependent on male family members, Minzari said, and including them in conversations about topics of public interest is meant to serve as an inspiration for them to engage with a different world.
“We find it very important to speak about heavy subjects … because we are much more than speaking about nail polish and hairdos and Botox,” she said, adding that she would like female listeners to conclude that “The problem is not me. I want more from life and these girls are doing it, and I can do the same.”
Radio Dikh’s motto, “About Roma, not just for Roma,” reflects the conviction of the hosts that the station can act as a bridge between Roma and non-Roma Hungarians and can break narratives that tend to associate their community with poverty and other social problems.
In addition to co-hosting her own show, Pocsai in her free time guides informative tours in Budapest that aim to correct misconceptions about Roma people to both Hungarians and foreign tourists. In the city’s 8th district, which has a high concentration of Roma residents, Pocsai gave a presentation to a group of visitors from the United States.
In introducing the Roma’s more than 600-year history in Hungary and challenging preconceptions, Pocsai said she aimed to make sure that future generations of Hungarian Roma will not have to go through the challenges she faced as a child.
“I want to change how the Roma people are viewed in society,” Pocsai said. “I want to make sure there is enough light on the values that the Roma community provided through history to the non-Roma society.”
…
Finland formally announced Sunday that it intends to apply for membership into the Western NATO military alliance, ignoring Russian President Vladimir Putin’s warning that the move would “negatively affect” peaceful relations between the neighboring countries.
President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin announced the NATO membership bid at the presidential palace in Helsinki.
“This is a historic day,” Niinisto said. “A new era begins.”
Finland’s announcement that it is seeking entry into the 30-member U.S.-dominated military alliance formed in the aftermath of World War II had been expected in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine February 24 and continuing offensive.
Finland’s neighbor to the west, Sweden, is also expected to seek entry into the alliance, ending two centuries of military non-alignment.
The two Nordic countries’ NATO applications will likely move swiftly, with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg saying in recent days that they will be welcomed.
The Kremlin’s press service said that Putin, in a phone conversation with Niinisto on Saturday, warned the Finnish leader that its abandonment “of its traditional policy of military neutrality would be an error since there are no threats to Finland’s security.”
“Such a change in the country’s foreign policy could negatively affect Russian-Finnish relations, which had been built in the spirit of good neighborliness and partnership for many years, and were mutually beneficial,” the statement added.
Finland’s 1,300-kilometer border with Russia would be the longest of any of the NATO countries.
“Finland and Sweden are already the closest partners of NATO,” NATO Deputy-Secretary General Mircea Geoana said Sunday in Berlin, where NATO members are meeting to discuss their continued support of Ukraine against Russia’s invasion and the expansion of the Atlantic alliance.
Russia cut off electricity to Finland in apparent retaliation for its bid to join NATO. Finland gets 10% of its energy from Russia and the void is now being filled by Sweden.
Turkey initially expressed concerns about Finland and Sweden joining the security alliance, but Saturday said it isn’t closing the door on the possibility. Any NATO enlargement requires the unanimous consent of the existing members.
The United States has said it will support NATO applications by Finland and Sweden.
Earlier Sunday, top diplomats from the United States and Ukraine met Sunday in Berlin to talk about Russia’s invasion and the impact it has had not only on Ukraine, but also the rest of the world.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken assured Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba of the support that Ukraine has from its allies and discussed this week’s G-7 and NATO foreign ministerial meetings.
Ukrainian forces began a counteroffensive Saturday near the Russian-controlled town of Izium in northeastern Ukraine, a regional governor said. Ukraine wants to push Russia from its staging area there and prevent it from encircling thousands of Ukrainian troops on the eastern front of the Donbas.
Russia turned its focus on the Donbas after it failed to capture Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, at the start of the war. But Ukraine has clawed back some territory there, including its second-largest city in the northeast, Kharkiv.
Ukraine “appears to have won the Battle of Kharkiv,” the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said. “Ukrainian forces prevented Russian troops from encircling, let alone seizing Kharkiv, and then expelled them from around the city, as they did to Russian forces attempting to seize Kyiv.”
Fighting was also fierce on the Siversky Donets River near the city of Severodonetsk. The governor of the eastern Luhansk region, Serhiy Gaidai, said Ukrainian forces repulsed Russian attempts to cross the river and encircle the city. However, Oleh Zhdanov, an independent Ukrainian military analyst, said Ukraine failed to stop Russia’s advance.
“There’s heavy fighting on the border with Donetsk region, from the side of Popasna,” Gaidai also said, reporting heavy losses of equipment and personnel by the Russians.
While Russian troops have taken some villages and towns in the Donbas, Ukraine’s forces have retaken others, with neither seeming to make much progress.
Meanwhile, a long convoy from the besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol arrived safely in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia on Saturday.
The 500- to 1000-vehicle-long convoy, according to a Reuters report, was “the largest single evacuation from the city since Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion.”
Expanding NATO
Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Finnish counterpart Saturday that it would be a “mistake” for Finland to join NATO, according to a statement from the Kremlin.
The two leaders spoke by phone Saturday in a call initiated by Finland.
“The conversation was direct and straightforward, and it was conducted without aggravations. Avoiding tensions was considered important,” Niinisto was quoted as saying in a statement by his office.
A Kremlin statement released after the call said Putin told Niinisto that abandoning Finland’s policy of neutrality would have a negative impact on Russian-Finnish relations.
Niinisto and Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said Thursday that they want the country to join NATO “without delay” in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a move that would be a major policy shift for the traditionally neutral country.
“Putin stressed that the end of the traditional policy of military neutrality would be a mistake since there is no threat to Finland’s security,” the Kremlin statement said.
Russia cut off electricity to Finland in apparent retaliation for its bid to join NATO. Finland gets 10% of its energy from Russia and the void is now being filled by Sweden.
Sweden, another traditionally neutral Scandinavian country, is also expected to ask to join NATO in the coming days.
Turkey initially expressed concerns about Finland and Sweden joining the security alliance, but Saturday said it isn’t closing the door on the possibility. Any NATO enlargement requires the unanimous consent of the existing members.
The United States has said it will support a NATO application by Finland or Sweden should they choose to apply.
U.S. senators visit
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell led a delegation of Republican senators on a visit to Ukraine Saturday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the visit was a powerful signal of bipartisan American support for Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian presidential administration.
Zelenskyy urged the American lawmakers to recognize Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism, according to The Kyiv Independent, an English-language newspaper in Ukraine, and to impose stronger sanctions on Russia.
Meanwhile, the Group of Seven industrialized nations meeting in Germany vowed to put more pressure on Russia with fresh sanctions and said it would never recognize the borders the Kremlin is attempting to redraw through force.
Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
…
«Доповідь буде подана уряду на пленарній сесії сьогодні о 17:00, а одразу після ухвалення буде надана парламенту»
…
Наразі інформації про загиблих та травмованих немає
…
«Очікуємо вже незабаром складання присяги одним із новопризначених суддів Конституційного Суду»
…
A large convoy of cars and vans carrying refugees from the ruins of Mariupol arrived in the Ukrainian-controlled city of Zaporizhzhia on Saturday after waiting days for Russian troops to allow them to leave.
Mariupol, now mostly Russian-controlled, has been flattened during the 80-day-old war. Ukraine has gradually been evacuating civilians from the devastated city for more than two months.
Refugees first had to get out of Mariupol and then somehow make their way to Berdyansk — some 80 kilometers further west along the coast — and other settlements before the 200-kilometer drive northwest to Zaporizhzhia.
Nikolai Pavlov, a 74-year-old retiree, said he had lived in a basement for a month after his apartment was destroyed. A relative using “secret detours” managed to get him out of Mariupol to Berdyansk.
“We barely made it, there were lots of elderly people among us … the trip was devastating. But it was worth it,” he said after the convoy arrived in the dark.
An aide to Mariupol’s mayor had earlier said the convoy numbered between 500 and 1,000 cars, representing the largest single evacuation from the city since Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion.
Iryna Petrenko, 63, said she had stayed initially to take care of her 92-year-old mother, who subsequently died.
“We buried her next to her house, because there was nowhere to bury anyone,” she said. For a time Russian authorities had not allowed large numbers of cars to leave, she said.
Only the port city’s vast Azovstal steel works is still in the hands of Ukrainian fighters after a prolonged battle.
“My parents’ house was hit by an aerial strike, all the windows got blown out,” said Yulia Panteleeva, 27, who along with other family members had been absent.
“I can’t stop imagining things that might happen to us if we stayed at home,” she said.
Moscow calls its actions a “special military operation” to disarm Ukraine and rid it of what it portrays as anti-Russian nationalism. Ukraine and the West say Russia launched an unprovoked war.
…
Yelena Osipova barely slept ahead of Russia’s pomp-filled Victory Day celebrations on May 9.
The 76-year-old artist was up late, making placards to protest about the conflict in Ukraine.
But the moment she stepped out of her home in St. Petersburg on her way to demonstrate, two unknown men snatched the work from her and ran off.
“It was upsetting. I’d worked half the night and really liked those placards,” the white-haired painter told AFP.
“It’s obvious that it was an organized attack.”
Indefatigable as ever, within an hour, the tiny, stooped woman, who moves with difficulty, already had a new poster and was heading out again to protest.
Osipova is well-known in her hometown.
She has been called the “conscience of St. Petersburg,” Russia’s second city, after two decades spent publicly opposing the rule of President Vladimir Putin.
Since the Kremlin’s forces rolled into Ukraine, she has also become a symbol of Russians standing up against the conflict.
Footage of her frequent detentions by riot police has been widely circulated on social media.
“The main thing is that people should say these forbidden words today: ‘No to war,'” said the former art professor.
But in Russia that is a risky prospect.
Protests have been ruthlessly stamped out and those criticizing the campaign — a “special military operation” in official parlance — risk a 15-year jail term.
‘Silence means agreement’
Osipova first started taking to the streets two years after former KGB agent Putin took power in 2000.
She has been demonstrating ever since against what she says are the crimes committed by the Russian authorities.
She protested in 2014 when Moscow seized the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine and against the fighting sparked in the east of the country.
Now she is focused on Putin’s full-fledged offensive against Russia’s pro-Western neighbor.
“If people accept all this, then it means they are not thinking about their children,” she said as she showed AFP her work in her flat.
“I’m dedicating my placards to this idea: what world are we leaving to our children?”
She shows off one poster with the face of a young girl shouting “No to war” on a yellow and blue background, the colors of the Ukrainian flag.
Another of a child has the slogan “What world are we leaving behind us?”
“Since 2002 I haven’t been able to stay silent, because silence means agreement with what is happening in my country,” she said.
“That’s why I go to protest.”
Her flat with its decrepit vaulted ceilings is in the heart of Russia’s former imperial capital and has been home to her family for three generations.
Its two rooms are cluttered with pictures and posters with pacifist and anti-Kremlin messages.
“I don’t want to serve as cannon fodder,” reads one poster of a soldier. “Wives and mothers, stop the war,” says another.
A third proclaims: “We are all hostages of the provocative politics of imperial power.”
On one wall hangs a large photo of a young man: her only son, Ivan, who died of tuberculosis in 2009 at 28.
Osipova has been frequently detained by the police, but they now know her so well that they sometimes just take her straight home rather than to the station.
“I’ve long ago stopped being scared for myself,” she said defiantly.
“In your own homeland you should not be afraid, but if you love it you should feel that you are the one in charge.”
…
Ukrainian band Kalush Orchestra won the Eurovision Song Contest in the early hours of Sunday in a clear show of support for the war-ravaged nation.
The six-man band that mixes traditional folk melodies and contemporary hip hop in a purposeful defense of Ukrainian culture was the sentimental and bookmakers’ favorite among the 25 bands and performers competing in the grand finale. The public vote from home was decisive in securing their victory.
The band’s front man, Oleg Psiuk, took advantage of the enormous global audience to make impassioned plea to free fighters still trapped beneath a sprawling steel plant in the southern port city of Mariupol following the six-man band’s performance.
“I ask all of you, please help Ukraine, Mariupol. Help Azovstal, right now,” he said to the live crowd of about 7,500, many of whom gave a standing ovation, and global television audience of millions.
The plea to free the remaining Ukrainian fighters trapped beneath the Azovstal plant by Russians served as a somber reminder that the hugely popular and at times flamboyant Eurovision song contest was being played out against the backdrop of a war on Europe’s eastern flank.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave signs that he was watching from Kyiv and rooting for Ukrainian band.
“Indeed, this is not a war, but nevertheless, for us today, any victory is very important,” Zelenskyy said, according to a presidential statement. “So, let’s cheer for ours. Glory be to Ukraine!”
25 bands
Kalush Orchestra was among 25 bands performing in the Eurovision Song Contest final in front of a live audience in the industrial northern city of Turin, while millions more watched on television or via streaming around the world.
Fans from Spain, Britain and elsewhere entering the Italian venue from throughout Europe were rooting for their own country to win. Still, Ukrainian music fan Iryna Lasiy said she felt global support for her country in the war and “not only for the music.”
Russia was excluded this year after its Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, a move that organizers said was meant to keep politics out of the contest that promotes diversity and friendship among nations.
The band’s song Stefania was written as a tribute to Psiuk’s mother but has transformed since the war into an anthem to the beleaguered nation, as lyrics take on new meaning. “I’ll always find my way home, even if all roads are destroyed,” Psiuk wrote.The six-member, all-male band received special permission to leave the country to represent Ukraine and Ukrainian culture at the music contest. One of the original members stayed to fight, and the others plan to return as soon as the contest is over.
‘World supports us’
Back in Ukraine, in the battered northeastern city of Kharkiv, Kalush Orchestra’s participation in the contest is seen as giving the nation another platform to garner international support.
“The whole country is rising, everyone in the world supports us. This is extremely nice,” said Julia Vashenko, a 29-year-old teacher.
“I believe that wherever there is Ukraine now and there is an opportunity to talk about the war, we need to talk,” said Alexandra Konovalova, a 23-year-old makeup artist in Kharkiv. “Any competitions are important now, because of them more people learn about what is happening now.”
The winner is chosen in equal parts by panels of music experts in each competing nation and votes by the viewing public — leaving room for an upset. Britain’s Sam Ryder and Sweden’s Cornelia Jakobs are each given a 10% shot while the Italian duo of Mahmood & Blanco have a 6% chance of winning.
The winner takes home a glass microphone trophy and a potential career boost.
The event was hosted by Italy after local rock band Maneskin won last year in Rotterdam. The victory shot the Rome-based band to international fame, opening for the Rolling Stones and appearing on Saturday Night Live and numerous magazine covers in their typically genderless costume code.
Twenty bands were chosen in two semifinals this week and were competing along with the Big Five of Italy, Britain, France, Germany and Spain, which have permanent berths because of their financial support of the contest.
…
Цей закон Верховна Рада ухвалила 3 травня
…