A group of eminent writers has called on Russian speakers around the world to spread the truth about the war in Ukraine by directly contacting Russian citizens using “all possible means of communication.”
The 17 signatories to the appeal include Nobel laureate Svetlana Alexievich, a Belarusian author who writes in Russian. Her won the nobel prize for literature in 2015 to write described as “a monument to the courage and suffering of our time”.
A dozen other distinguished authors from around the world, including Nobel laureate JM Coetzee, have endorsed the call.
It comes as the Russian government cracked down on access to news and information about the invasion of Ukraine by blocking websites and effectively shutting down broadcast media.
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The Kremlin has sought to crush independent media by blocking news websites and introducing a so-called “fake news” law that bans any reporting that goes against the government’s narrative.
Here the research editor at Meduza news website He says he left Russia, in the middle of the night. The country’s media watchdog had restricted access to Meduza. “I felt like a huge door slammed shut behind me,” he writes.
aleksey kovayov (@Alexey__Kovalev)
I never thought it would come to this, but I had to leave Russia, cross the border on foot in the middle of the night, with my panicked bags on my back and my dog in tow. I felt a huge door slam shut behind me. I barely had time to call my parents. crazy times.
“I am very lucky and privileged to have been spared many hours or even days of waiting on the road on the ground to get asylum, to have friends meet me on the other side, and to get me and my family to safety. Unlike millions of Ukrainians right now,” she says.
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Welcome
Hi, I’m Rebecca Ratcliffe, and welcome to our ongoing coverage of the Russo-Ukrainian war.
It is 7:20 am in the Ukraine and the war is entering its tenth day. Here’s the latest:
Russian forces have continued to shell cities and other sites in Ukraine., missile launches and artillery strikes. A large Russian convoy, believed to be 40 miles long, remains stalled outside Kiev, according to the Associated Press.
The mayor of Mariupol, a strategic port city that has come under heavy Russian attack, said the city has been “blockaded” by Russian forces.. Mayor Vadym Boychenko has previously warned that the city has no water, heat or electricity and food supplies are running low. He has called for military assistance and a humanitarian corridor.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has harshly criticized NATO for refusing to implement a no-fly zone over Ukraine., saying the decision has given “a green light for further bombing of Ukrainian cities and towns.” Zelenskiy will address the US Senate on Saturday during a Zoom call scheduled for 9:30 a.m. ET.
The US embassy in Ukraine called Russia’s attack on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest of its kind in Europe, a war crime., declaring: “Putin’s bombing of Europe’s largest nuclear plant takes his reign of terror one step further.” Russia blamed a “Ukrainian sabotage group” for the fire at the plant.
Major news organizations including the BBC, CNN, Bloomberg, CBS News and the Canadian Broadcasting Company have suspended reporting inside Russia.after he imposed a law that threatens jail terms of up to 15 years for spreading “fake news” about the war in Ukraine.
Russia has also blocked Facebook, Twitter and the websites of the BBC, Deutsche Welle and Voice of America.in an attempt to control the flow of information and stamp out independent media coverage.
Several leading luxury brands said they will temporarily close stores and halt business operations in Russia. This includes Hermes, the owner of Cartier, Richemont, LVMH, Kering and Chanel. Samsung has also suspended shipments, after Microsoft and Apple announced similar measures.
