Latest news with #Viktoriia
North Wales Live
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- North Wales Live
Broken teaset mended with gold tells the story of refugees
This Refugee Week, UK for UNHCR has collaborated with renowned sculptor and artist, Billie Bond, to create a one-of-a-kind tea set to give form to the experiences of refugees through the art of Kintsugi. 'Fragments of Hope', the latest campaign from the UN Refugee Agency's national charity for the UK, is a celebration of the creativity, resilience and contribution of people who have rebuilt their lives in the UK after being forced to flee conflict and persecution. There are now more than 122 million people displaced by conflict and persecution worldwide. The Japanese art of Kintsugi, meaning to mend with gold, repairs pottery by acknowledging its fractures and transforming them into something beautiful. The artwork has been created by bringing together fragments of traditional tea sets from Ukraine, Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Sudan, including personal contributions by people who were forced to flee their countries. The fragments reflect the diverse journeys of Viktoriia from Ukraine, a dedicated community development coordinator; Ayman from Syria, a self-taught filmmaker and storyteller; Sadia from Pakistan, an award-winning artist and advocate; Bashir from Sudan, a renowned poet and musician; and mother and daughter duo, Frozan and Victoria from Afghanistan, who support their community as an interpreter and an aspiring business leader. Billie Bond said: 'Kintsugi is a centuries-old Japanese art of repairing with gold. It has long been recognised as a powerful symbol of resilience, and a reminder that beauty can be found in imperfection. This Refugee Week, Kintsugi once again serves as a meaningful metaphor, celebrating the strength and resilience of refugees and the ritual of healing – it's been an honour to play a small part in bringing these stories to life.' Emma Cherniavsky, Chief Executive of UK for UNHCR, said: 'Fragments of Hope is a moving representation of how, even after the deepest fractures, refugees can rebuild their lives and futures with strength, dignity and hope."
Wales Online
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Wales Online
Broken teaset mended with gold tells the story of refugees
Broken teaset mended with gold tells the story of refugees Fragments of Hope is the latest campaign from UK for UNHCR This Refugee Week, UK for UNHCR has collaborated with renowned sculptor and artist, Billie Bond, to create a one-of-a-kind tea set to give form to the experiences of refugees through the art of Kintsugi. 'Fragments of Hope', the latest campaign from the UN Refugee Agency's national charity for the UK, is a celebration of the creativity, resilience and contribution of people who have rebuilt their lives in the UK after being forced to flee conflict and persecution. There are now more than 122 million people displaced by conflict and persecution worldwide. The Japanese art of Kintsugi, meaning to mend with gold, repairs pottery by acknowledging its fractures and transforming them into something beautiful. The artwork has been created by bringing together fragments of traditional tea sets from Ukraine, Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Sudan, including personal contributions by people who were forced to flee their countries. The fragments reflect the diverse journeys of Viktoriia from Ukraine, a dedicated community development coordinator; Ayman from Syria, a self-taught filmmaker and storyteller; Sadia from Pakistan, an award-winning artist and advocate; Bashir from Sudan, a renowned poet and musician; and mother and daughter duo, Frozan and Victoria from Afghanistan, who support their community as an interpreter and an aspiring business leader. Article continues below Billie Bond said: 'Kintsugi is a centuries-old Japanese art of repairing with gold. It has long been recognised as a powerful symbol of resilience, and a reminder that beauty can be found in imperfection. This Refugee Week, Kintsugi once again serves as a meaningful metaphor, celebrating the strength and resilience of refugees and the ritual of healing – it's been an honour to play a small part in bringing these stories to life.' Emma Cherniavsky, Chief Executive of UK for UNHCR, said: 'Fragments of Hope is a moving representation of how, even after the deepest fractures, refugees can rebuild their lives and futures with strength, dignity and hope." The 'Fragments of Hope' tea set will be available for one competition winner to rehome here.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Russia's Wagner Group abused civilians in secret prisons in Mali, investigation finds
Since 2021, Russian Wagner mercenaries have detained, tortured, and forcibly disappeared hundreds of civilians in secret prisons across Mali, according to a joint investigation published on June 12 by Forbidden Stories, France 24, Le Monde, and IStories. The investigation found that mercenaries with Russia's Wagner Group, working alongside Malian government forces, had systematically abducted and detained civilians, holding them in prisons at former United Nations bases and military bases across Mali. Drawing on eyewitness accounts and satellite imagery, the investigation identified six detention centers where Wagner held civilians between 2022 and 2024. The total number of Wagner detention centers in Mali is likely to be much higher. Prisoners were subjected to systematic torture – including beatings, waterboarding, electric shocks, starvation, and confinement in sweltering metal containers. The investigation was carried out as part of the Viktoriia project, in memory of Ukrainian journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna, who was captured by Russian forces in 2023 while investigating the illegal detention of civilians in Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine. She was killed in Russian captivity in 2024. The Russian mercenary group, known for its deployment in Ukraine and short-lived rebellion against the Kremlin in 2023, has a strong presence across the African continent, backing Russian business interests and Moscow-friendly regimes. The mercenaries have been particularly active in Mali since late 2021 and have been accused of perpetrating war crimes. In December 2024, Human Rights Watch accused Wagner mercenaries and Malian government forces of deliberately killing 32 civilians. The Wagner Group recently announced its withdrawal from Mali, where it fought alongside Malian government forces to fend off Islamist insurgents. Wagner has been active across the African continent for years and has been previously accused of committing human rights abuses. Read also: Ukraine war latest: Ukraine strikes targets in Russia, including gunpowder plant We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ukrainian Parliament asks Zelenskyy to posthumously award title Hero of Ukraine to journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna
The Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) has asked President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to posthumously award the title of Hero of Ukraine to journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna. Source: Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne Details: The request was supported by 246 Members of Parliament. Viktoriia Roshchyna worked for such media outlets as Ukrainska Pravda, Radio Ukraine, UA:Pershyi, hromadske, News of Donbas, and Radio Liberty. In 2022, she received the Courage in Journalism Award of the International Women's Media Foundation. In March 2022, Russian troops detained Viktoriia in the temporarily occupied city of Berdiansk in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, but she was released at that time. In summer 2022, Roshchyna attempted to enter the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine for a reporting assignment. According to her father, Volodymyr Roshchyn, on 27 July, Viktoriia left Ukraine for Poland and intended to reach the occupied areas in eastern Ukraine via Russia. On 3 August, during her last conversation with her family, she said she had been undergoing checks at the border for several days but did not specify her location. That same day, she went missing. In May 2024, Russia confirmed it had detained Viktoriia. The Russian Ministry of Defence sent a letter to her father, Volodymyr Roshchyn, confirming her arrest. On 10 October 2024, the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War announced that Viktoriia Roshchyna had died in Russian captivity. Andrii Yusov, representative of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, stated that Viktoriia had been on the list for a prisoner exchange and was expected to return home soon. On 11 October, the Prosecutor General's Office reported that, in light of information about her death in Russia, the criminal case initially opened regarding her disappearance had been reclassified. It is now being investigated as a war crime involving intentional murder. Investigators from discovered that Roshchyna had been brutally tortured in Russian captivity. She had stab wounds on her body and had been electrocuted, and staff at the Russian penal colony where she was held hid her away when inspections were carried out. Read more: The Viktoriia Project: the story of the captivity and torture endured by journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna and thousands of Ukrainians imprisoned by Russia Read some of Viktoriia Roshchyna's writing for Ukrainska Pravda here. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
If authoritarians are scared of journalists, we must be doing something right
'How do we continue convincing our few remaining allies that journalists' work is important?' Last month, I was sitting on stage at the International Journalism Festival in Perugia, Europe's biggest journalism conference, when I heard this question from an audience member. The answer came to me fast. 'Point at who is killing journalists,' I suggested. I then reminded the room about the case of Viktoriia Roshchyna, a Ukrainian journalist killed in Russian captivity. She took a huge risk to go into occupied territories to report about Russian torture chambers there — only to end up in one. In October 2024, her family was told she died in captivity, a month earlier. Since then, two separate journalistic investigations found that Viktoriia was subjected to torture and abuse. Everything points to the fact that she was killed — whether they murdered her last Septmber, or slowly killed her through months of abuse, torture, and starvation. She was only 27 years old. 'If Russia, a huge authoritarian country, was so afraid of this small woman that they killed her in prison — all because she was a journalist,' I said, 'then journalists must be doing something very important — something that the worst people of this world are really afraid of.' While I was speaking on that stage, I didn't yet know that Viktoriia's body was already in Ukraine. Russia returned it in February, but it was in a condition that made it difficult to identify. The body was missing a number of organs, including the brain, eyes, and trachea, and was initially marked as male. An impressive collaborative investigation by several newsrooms found the details of her imprisonment, and mentioned that the missing organs point to an attempt to hide the fact that she died from asphyxia. A few people on the Kyiv Independent's team knew Viktoriia. Some worked with her in other publications, others knew her through friends — Kyiv's media crowd is relatively tight. I didn't know her personally but by now, it almost feels like I did — because of how many personal tributes to her I have read. Viktoriia put herself in mortal danger by going into Russian-occupied territory because she believed that finding out the truth was worth the risk. One of her former colleagues said it was almost like she couldn't believe that something bad could happen to her because of how enormously important the mission to find out the truth was. It's a dark irony that Russia is, in a way, on the same page. Authoritarian regimes recognize the weight of truth, the power of real story — and that's why, everywhere in the world, they make truth their target number one. For Russia, it meant killing Viktoriia to discourage others from finding out the truth about its treatment of Ukrainian civilians in the occupied territories. That truth — the persecution, forced Russification, torture and killings — doesn't fit well into Russia's narrative that claims they are liberating these territories. These revelations could be especially damaging to Russia now that ceasefire negotiations are underway, and where it unfortunately appears the U.S. is ready to recognize Russian control over occupied Ukrainian territories — completely disregarding the fate of the millions of Ukrainians living there. Russia tried to silence Viktoriia Roshchyna — instead, it proved her right. Oppression of press freedom is by far not limited to Russia — the latest Press Freedom Index, released every year by Reporters Without Borders for World Press Freedom Day on May 3, shows an alarming picture. The overall level of press freedom globally is the lowest since the start of the index in 2002. One major factor is the deteriorating economic climate in the media sector. In Ukraine, it was especially felt earlier this year, when the new U.S. administration abruptly ended USAID projects around the world. In Ukraine, U.S. grants funded many media outlets, including small front-line newspapers and prominent teams behind anti-corruption investigations. Grants like those cut came without interference in the content produced by the media — allowing them to maintain independence while paying their bills. I wrote about it here. Since then, the Kyiv Independent held a fundraiser to help local outlets in areas near the front lines. Our community rose to the occasion in the most inspiring way — and we were able to quickly give some bridge funding to three newsrooms. The Kyiv Independent itself is one of very few independent media outlets that wasn't affected by the U.S. grant cuts because we are lucky enough to be backed by our readers. As of today, 17,500 people from around the world are members of the Kyiv Independent — they stand with us in our mission to bring the truth about Ukraine and Russia's crimes to the world, and we are immensely grateful to them. As I'm writing this on World Press Freedom Day, looking at the dispiriting assessments of the state of free press globally, I keep coming back to them. That gives me a ray of hope in the otherwise gloomy landscape — our community reminds me that press freedom has enough champions for the truth to not be subdued. And while some of the worst and most powerful people in the world are keen to end free press, some of the best are standing up to defend it. If you're reading this, consider supporting free press today. Pick a newsroom you believe in. Buy a subscription, a membership, or donate. If you can, donate to a Ukrainian newsroom. There are many who can't afford to pay for the news — and every donation means that people in any circumstances can have access to truthful information. If you can't afford a subscription or donation, those aren't the only things you can do to show your support. Write a short email with words of encouragement to a newsroom you follow. It always means a lot to receive them. My inbox is a curious mix of 'Die, Ukrainian propagandists. Russia will win!' and 'You're doing a great job, thank you so much!' — but there are many, many more of the latter kind. And if you already are one of the many champions of free press worldwide — on behalf of our team, thank you. We are doing something right — together. Read also: Russia's torture of Viktoriia Roshchyna shocks world, but dozens of Ukrainian journalists still in captivity We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
