News of the war between Russia and Ukraine: cancellation of the invitation of Russia and Belarus to the Nobel Prize Ceremony; Arrest of Ihor Kolomoisky

Ukrainian authorities are holding Ukrainian billionaire Ihor Kolomoisky, former governor of Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region and former owner of a major bank in the country, on bail of nearly $13 million on charges of fraud and money laundering. United State penalties imposed He was charged in 2021 “because of his involvement in major corruption” while he was governor.

Here’s the latest news about the war and its rippling effects around the world.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Christerson praised the Nobel Foundation’s decision Cancel her invitation to Russia and Belarus. “The many and strong reactions show that the whole of Sweden unequivocally stands with Ukraine against Russia’s appalling war of aggression,” his office said in a statement. Social media sharing.

Kolomoisky is accused of fraud and laundering criminally obtained money. According to Ukraine’s State Security Service, known as the SBU. an agency announce The charges on Telegram posted photos showing the authorities surrounding the oligarch, who previously owned Ukraine’s PrivatBank and served as governor of Dnipropetrovsk from 2014 to 2015. When US sanctions were imposed on Kolomoisky in 2021, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken expressed concern about “current and ongoing efforts to to undermine democratic processes and institutions in Ukraine.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the country’s forces continue to make progress in their counter-offensive After weeks of near stalemate. “Despite everything and no matter what anyone says, we are moving forward, and that is the most important thing. We are moving,” he said on Saturday. Social media. White House spokesman John Kirby said this week that Ukraine had made “significant progress” in reclaiming territory in the southern Zaporizhia region.

About 80 percent of the approximately 13,000 functioning schools in Ukraine have shelters to protect them from war attacks. Ukrainian state news agency Ukrinform mentioned. The country’s second school year began amid war on Friday. Zelensky He said On Friday, more than 3.7 million Ukrainian children started the new school year, most of them in the country.

Two more ships successfully passed through a temporary grain passage in the Black Sea. Zelensky He said Saturday, bringing the total number of ships that did so to four, according to Reuters. Concerns about grain transportation and global food security have grown since Russia withdrew from the Black Sea Grain Initiative in July.

At least two people were killed and two others injured during an airstrike on a residential building in the town of Fulidar. In the Donetsk region of southeastern Ukraine, the regional prosecutor’s office announced He said on Facebook late Saturday. The prosecutor’s office said the attack killed a couple in their forties, and that the couple’s 19-year-old daughter and a 53-year-old resident were among the wounded.

Russian raid on houses in Kherson killed an unknown number of civilians and wounded at least four, Regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin He said Saturday.

Another attack injured four people in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Local military official Serhiy Lysak He said. He posted pictures on Telegram showing several destroyed cars and a building with a damaged roof and shattered windows.

Russia risks dividing its forces as it seeks to counter the Ukrainian counterattack. UK Ministry of Defense said. Such a move is considered undesirable in standard military doctrine. It added that Russian forces were trying to stop the counter-offensive in southern Ukraine while also continuing their offensive around Kobyansk in the country’s northeast, in a possible attempt to “distract Ukraine”. on social media.

The war in Ukraine halted adoptions. Now some of the orphans are stuck in limbo: Wendy and Leo van Asten first met “M and M” — a brother and sister from eastern Ukraine — when the children stayed at the couple’s home near Madison, Wisconsin, for four weeks at the end of 2018, as part of a networking program. Ukrainian orphans and adopted children of American families. They said the bond with the children was instant.

The couple immediately began the adoption process, and have maintained contact with M and M – whom they call by their initials out of affection and to protect their identity. But after nearly five years, it’s unclear whether or not the couple will get their wish, David L. Stern reported.

Ukrainian officials halted international adoptions until the end of the war. Many Western officials and analysts say the fighting could drag on for years, a prospect that fills families like the Van Atens with despair.