List of All Articles with Tag 'son'

The UK has formally banned Russia's mercenary Wagner Group as a terrorist organisation weeks after the death of its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin. The government order, approved on Friday, makes it a criminal offence to be a member or a supporter of the paramilitary group in the UK. “The Russian mercenary organisation, Wagner Group, has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation today after an order was laid in Parliament on Wednesday September 6,” the Home Office said in a statement. Apart from joining the group or showing support, arranging meetings for the group and displacing Wagner's flag or logo will also be considered a criminal offence. Those found guilty of violating the order will face a potential prison sentence of up to 14 years, which can be handed down alongside or in place of a fine, it added. The move puts Wagner in the same category as the Islamic State group, the Palestinian militant group Hamas, Boko Haram in Africa and Northern Ireland paramilitaries among others. The Wagner Group is a private military company that was under the control of Prigozhin until his reported death in a plane crash on 23 August. It has been a key part of Moscow’s fighting force in Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Home secretary Suella Braverman proposing the ban last week said Wagner has been "involved in looting, torture and barbarous murders". Calling the group a "threat to national security", Ms Braverman added:"They are terrorists, plain and simple - and this proscription order makes that clear in UK law." The ban will allow UK authorities to seize the organisation’s assets in a symbolic move as Wagner is not known to operate in Britain. Wagner cut its teeth in deployments to Crimea – illegally annexed by Russia in 2014 – and eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region in the aftermath of that act and has since dispatched troops to several conflicts in the Middle East and Africa, including the Syrian Civil War. The ban came into force following a recommendation by the parliament’s influential Foreign Affairs Committee in July that Wagner be outlawed. The committee said British authorities had “underplayed and underestimated” the threat posed by the mercenary group. The committee said Wagner’s future was uncertain after Prigozhin’s short-lived armed mutiny against Russia’s top military leaders in June. The lawmakers said Britain should take advantage of the confused situation to “disrupt” Wagner. Several other allies of Ukraine have sanctioned Wagner's leaders, and earlier this year, the Lithuanian and Estonian legislatures passed resolutions declaring it a terrorist organisation. The US has designated the Wagner Group as a transnational criminal organisation. Read More With its leader dead, can the Wagner group rise and ride again? What next for the Wagner Group as leader presumed dead in plane crash? Ukraine-Russia war – live: ‘Significant losses’ for Putin’s forces as Kyiv retakes village and attacks ships The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

The UN's World Heritage Committee has placed two major historical sites in Ukraine on its list of such sites that it considers to be in danger. The iconic Saint Sophia Cathedral in the capital, Kyiv, and the medieval center of the western city of Lviv, are UNESCO World Heritage Sites central to Ukraine's culture and history. The decision announced on Friday to put those two on the body's list of sites “in danger” has no enforcement mechanism, but could help deter Russian attacks. Neither site has been directly targeted since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, and Lviv has largely been spared from the fighting. But Russia has unleashed waves of strikes on Kyiv and other cities, hitting residential areas and critical infrastructure with Iranian-made attack drones. The decision was taken at the 45th session of the World Heritage Committee, which is being held in Saudi Arabia. The committee maintains UNESCO's World Heritage List and oversees conservation of the sites. The gold-domed Saint Sophia Cathedral, located in the heart of Kyiv, was built in the 11th century and designed to rival the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. The monument to Byzantine art contains the biggest collection of mosaics and frescoes from that period, and is surrounded by monastic buildings dating back to the 17th century. The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, also known as the Monastery of the Caves, is a sprawling complex of monasteries and churches — some underground — that were built from the 11th to the 19th century. Some of the churches are connected by a labyrinthine complex of caves spanning more than 600 meters (2,000 feet). The two sites on the Dnipro River, a 15-minute drive from one another, are “a masterpiece of human creative genius," according to Unesco, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. The other site is the historic center of Lviv, near the Polish border. A 5th-century castle overlooks streets and squares built between the 13th and 17th centuries. The site includes a synagogue as well as Orthodox, Armenian and Catholic religious buildings, reflecting the city's diversity. “In its urban fabric and its architecture, Lviv is an outstanding example of the fusion of the architectural and artistic traditions of Eastern Europe with those of Italy and Germany,” Unesco said. “The political and commercial role of Lviv attracted to it a number of ethnic groups with different cultural and religious traditions.” Lviv is more than 500km from Kyiv and even further from any front lines, but it has not been spared. Russian cruise missiles slammed into an apartment block in the city in July, killing at least six people and wounding dozens. Unesco added Ukraine's Black Sea port city of Odesa to its list of endangered heritage sites in January. Russian forces have launched multiple artillery attacks and airstrikes on the city, a cultural hub known for its 19th-century architecture. Russia says it only strikes military targets. Under the 1972 Unesco convention, ratified by both Ukraine and Russia, signatories undertake to “assist in the protection of the listed sites” and are “obliged to refrain from taking any deliberate measures” that might damage World Heritage sites. Inclusion on the List of World Heritage in Danger is meant to rally urgent international support for conservation efforts. The list includes more than 50 sites around the world. Read More Ukraine-Russia war – live: ‘Significant losses’ for Putin’s forces as Kyiv retakes village and attacks ships Ukraine recaptures another village from Putin’s forces – as it keeps up attacks on Russia’s ships Putin meets the leader of Belarus, who suggests joining Russia's move to boost ties with North Korea Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide

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Ukraine has claimed fresh success in its counteroffensive against Vladimir Putin’s forces, with the recapture of another village – a liberation that the army says is “key to success in all further directions”. The announcement by the General Staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said that Russian forces had faced “significant losses” in the battle. Kyiv’s forces are seeking to reclaim land occupied by Moscow across multiple areas of southern and eastern Ukraine. The village of Andriivka is about 10 kilometres south of the Donetsk town of Bakhmut, which Russia captured in May after some of the bloodiest fighting of the war. Meanwhile, Britain’s most senior military officer said Ukraine had taken the initiative over Russia with its offensive, even if gains are gradual. Sir Tony Radakin said: “In the north they are holding and fixing Russian forces there and in the south they are making progress between 10 and 20km.” His comments came as Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky hailed Ukraine’s destruction of a Russian air defence system in the annexed Crimea peninsula. Read More Kim Jong Un stops to see a fighter jet factory as Russia and North Korea are warned off arms deals She danced with Putin at her wedding. Now the former Austrian foreign minister has moved to Russia What is a Storm Shadow cruise missile?

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