Section: The Guardian (The United Kingdom)
Almost Holy review – documentary of a saintly do-gooder
Steve Hoover’s portrait of Gennadiy Mokhnenko hints at a darker side to the pastor who runs a children’s orphanage in UkraineCharismatic and somewhat sinisterly convinced of his own inviolate righteousness, Pastor Gennadiy Mokhnenko runs the rehab centre-cum-orphanage Pilgrim in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol. Working outside what...
Counting Sheep: the polyphonic protest show that puts you inside Kiev’s Maidan
Using folk singing, found footage and a revolutionary interactive staging, Marichka Kudriavtseva and Mark Marczyk’s ‘guerrilla folk opera’ throws Edinburgh audiences into the heart of the Ukrainian strugglesOn the morning of 21 January 2014, Marichka Kudriavtseva was all set for the biggest day of her career. The Ukrainian singer had...
How Trump’s campaign chief got a strongman elected president of Ukraine
Paul Manafort, who reportedly was a recipient of $12.7m in Ukraine, helped Viktor Yanukovich to victory. Could he do the same for Trump?The scene was Ostroh, western Ukraine, on the eve of parliamentary elections.A tall figure bounded on to a stage to cheers from a crowd of elderly flag-waving supporters. They chanted: “Yan-u-kov-ich,...
How Trump’s campaign chief got a strongman elected president of Ukraine
Paul Manafort, who reportedly was a recipient of $12.7m in Ukraine, helped Viktor Yanukovich to victory. Could he do the same for Trump?The scene was Ostroh, western Ukraine, on the eve of parliamentary elections.A tall figure bounded on to a stage to cheers from a crowd of elderly flag-waving supporters. They chanted: “Yan-u-kov-ich,...
The Guardian view on press freedom: the need for constant vigilance | Editorial
From Turkey to El Salvador, Asia to the Americas, the best journalists fight to hold a mirror to the world. They deserve our gratitude, and need our supportThe news about the news is grim. In Turkey, notorious for cracking down on the media long before July’s attempted coup, authorities have closed more than 130 outlets and issued warrants...
Russia and Ukraine step up security amid tension over Crimea
Putin boosts ‘anti-terror’ measures at Ukraine frontier with annexed Crimea as Poroshenko puts troops on combat alertRussia and Ukraine both stepped up security on the de facto border between Crimea and mainland Ukraine on Thursday, a day after Moscow accused Kiev of planning terror attacks on the annexed peninsula. The alleged incidents,...
Putin accuses Ukrainian authorities of resorting to ‘practice of terror’ – video
Russian president Vladimir Putin speaks at a press conference in Moscow on Wednesday and accuses the Ukrainian government, based in Kiev, of resorting to terrorism rather than participating in a peace process. Putin’s comments came after Russian security services said they had foiled a Ukrainian raid on the Crimea, which was annexed by...
Vladimir Putin may believe time is ripe for another invasion
Crimea crisis has come from nowhere but Putin has form for military adventures in Olympic years, and west appears weakenedThe situation in Crimea looks ominous. On Wednesday Russia’s FSB spy agency said it had foiled a series of attacks by armed Ukrainians on the Crimean peninsula. Minutes later, Vladimir Putin accused Kiev’s...
Beware Putin: he doesn’t do ‘cooperation’ | Luke Harding
The Russian leader is vindictive and ruthless – Theresa May will have to be tough to deal with himTheresa May, as prime minister, had her first conversation with Vladimir Putin on Tuesday. Meanwhile, UK defence chiefs have been muttering that Russian troops could outgun the British army; and over in the Olympic pool US swimmers were taunting...
Russia accuses Ukraine of armed Crimea incursion
Russia’s security service says incursion, denied by Ukraine, was aimed at critical infrastructureRussia’s federal security service says it has thwarted an armed Ukrainian incursion into Crimea designed to target critical infrastructure, and that a Russian soldier and FSB employee had been killed in clashes. The FSB said the attempted...
