How Russia's 35-mile armoured convoy ended in failure
Three days into Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a huge 10-mile (15.5km) line of armoured vehicles was spotted by a satellite in the north of the country. The very same morning in Bucha, just outside Kyiv, 67-year-old Volodymyr Scherbynyn was standing outside his local supermarket when more than a hundred Russian military vehicles rolled into town. Both Volodymyr and the satellite were witnesses to a key part of President Vladimir Putin's plan for a quick and overwhelming victory. They were also witnesses to its failure.
The western media called it a convoy. In reality, it was a traffic jam and a major tactical blunder. Forty-eight hours after that first satellite photograph, on 28 February 2022, the line of vehicles had grown to a colossal 35 miles (56 km) long. The vehicles were stalled for weeks. Then finally they retreated, and seemingly disappeared overnight.
What happened? Why did such a massive force fail to reach Kyiv?
Shamima Begum loses appeal against removal of British citizenship
Special immigration appeals commission decides revocation of her citizenship was lawful
Shamima Begum, who left Britain as a schoolgirl to join Islamic State (IS), has lost an appeal against the decision to remove her British citizenship.
Describing it as a case of “great concern and difficulty”, the special immigration appeals commission (Siac) ruled that although there was “credible suspicion” that Begum was trafficked for sexual exploitation, the decision was ultimately one for the home secretary.
Begum was 15 when in 2015 she left her home in east London with two schoolfriends to travel to Syria. In February 2019, the then home secretary, Sajid Javid, stripped her of her British citizenship after she was discovered in a refugee camp in north-east Syria.
Blackouts, air raids and reporting by candlelight: The ‘new normal’ of The Kyiv Independent newsroom
Exclusive: A lot has changed for the journalists at The Kyiv Independent. On the one-year anniversary of the war, editor-in-chief Olga Rudenko speaks to Rachel Sharp about the ‘new normal’ in the newsroom, documenting history and the news they hope to report in the near future
Olga Rudenko never thought her team of journalists would be reporting on a second year of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
“In the first few months of the invasion I’d have been surprised if someone told me it would last a year or longer,” says the editor-in-chief of The Kyiv Independent.
“For a good chunk of time I believed it would end soon – just because of how horrible everything was that was happening. When you’re in the middle of all that, it’s too horrible and big to think it will happen for a long time.
“You think: ‘Surely the world will stop this’... But here we are.”
A lot has changed in a year for the team at The Kyiv Independent.
Russia, China underline close relations amid war in Ukraine
Russian President Putin and China's top diplomat have met in Moscow saying they would deepen the already "limitless" ties between the two countries. Beijing has said it wants to play a role in ending the war in Ukraine.
China's top diplomat Wang Yi met Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit to Moscow on Wednesday.
In remarks broadcast on Russian state TV, Wang said that "the Chinese-Russian relations aren't directed against any third countries and certainly can't be subject to pressure from any third countries."
Wang also expressed Beijing's desire to position itself as a mediator in the war in Ukraine.
"The Chinese side will, as in the past, firmly adhere to an objective and impartial position and play a constructive role in the political settlement of the crisis," Russian news agency TASS quoted Wang as saying.
Aso, Watanabe awarded medals by Myanmar military regime
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
February 22, 2023 at 18:48 JST
Although the Japanese government has distanced itself from the Myanmar military regime, two Japanese politicians accepted medals from its military leaders for pushing for official development assistance for the Southeast Asian nation.
Hideo Watanabe, a former telecommunications minister who also serves as chairman of the Japan Myanmar Association, received the award along with Taro Aso, the former finance minister and current vice president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
The awards ceremony on Feb. 20 in Naypyitaw was attended by Min Aung Hlaing, the military leader of the government, who presented the medal to Watanabe. Watanabe also received the award on behalf of Aso.
Ten Palestinians killed during Israeli raid targeting militants in West Bank
At least 10 Palestinians were killed Wednesday during a major Israeli military operation in the occupied West Bank that also left more than 100 injured, Palestinian officials said.
Israeli authorities said Wednesday’s operation targeted three suspects “planning attacks in the immediate future.” The three were “neutralized,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Israel Security Agency said in a joint statement.
In the unusual daytime raid, Israeli forces entered Nablus in the West Bank.
The Islamic Jihad militant group said two of its commanders were killed in ensuing clashes with Israeli troops.
The Lion’s Den militant group also confirmed its members were involved in the fighting, but did not say if any of their members were killed.
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