Category: General

Russia is reportedly ramping up its virtual war against Ukraine, even as some of its real-world efforts to capture key territory have begun to wane.

The acting deputy head of the Security Service of Ukraine’s (SSU) Cybersecurity Department said Wednesday that Moscow was responsible for almost 1,200 cyberattacks and other critical cyber incidents through the first three months of 2023.

At that pace, Russia is set to launch 4,800 attacks for the year, about 300 more than those that Ukraine attributed to Russian cyber actors for 2022.

“We are facing every day a great number of cyberattacks or critical cybersecurity incidents,” the SSU’s Ivan Kalabashkin told a webinar hosted by The Cipher Brief’s Cyber Initiatives Group, cautioning the cyberattacks were just part of Russia’s online assault.

“We are also dealing with the Russian special psychological operations,” he said. “One thousand per month.”

Kalabashkin’s comments came as Western officials reported that Russia’s military efforts have stalled.

Britain’s Defense Ministry on Wednesday said Russian assaults on Bakhmut, the scene of intense fighting, were “at a reduced level compared to recent weeks.”

And during testimony in Washington, U.S. General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, described Bakhmut as a “slaughterfest” for Russian troops.

“For about the last 20, 21 days, the Russians have not made any progress whatsoever in and around Bakhmut,” he said.

Still, few U.S. or Western officials are predicting Russia’s leadership is ready to concede defeat, warning instead that President Vladimir Putin will likely aim to prolong the war with Ukraine, calculating that support for Ukraine will eventually waver.

U.S. cyber and intelligence agencies have likewise warned that Ukraine’s success in fending off or mitigating many of Russia’s cyberattacks is unlikely to dampen the Kremlin’s enthusiasm for cyberwarfare.

“The weight of this conflict remains significant,” a spokesperson for U.S. Cyber Command told VOA this month, sharing information on the condition of anonymity because of the nature of the fight. “We anticipate their cyber activities may become bolder and look at broader targets.”

Kalabashkin on Wednesday said there were signs that Russia’s cyber tactics had begun to evolve.

“It all started as mostly opportunistic attacks … trying to destroy as many of our critical infrastructure as possible,” he said. “Now we do understand that they have moved a little bit to another approach. It is an intelligence-based, intelligence target approach.”

“They are trying to collect intelligence about our political leadership … how decisions are made and suchlike things,” Kalabashkin said, adding that Russia was also “trying to get the information about … international cooperation and assistance.”

Other, older tactics have also intensified, he said, noting Russia’s use of cyberattacks in combination with missile strikes.

Kalabashkin said that in one incident near Kyiv this month, Russia launched a cyberattack against a power plant and followed up with a missile strike shortly after the Ukrainian cyber response team arrived.

The debris fell “just 300 feet [from] that power plant, so you can understand how difficult it is,” he said.

Yet there may be some indications that Russia’s abilities in cyberspace, like its capabilities on the ground, are hurting as its effort to capture more territory drags on.

“They still have their proxy actors that are out there. But like anything, right, if a proxy actor is being called to the front line, they’re not in front of the keyboard,” Colonel Candice Frost, commander of U.S. Cyber Command’s Joint Intelligence Operations Center, told the Cyber Initiatives Group.

“But at the end of the day, never discount Russia,” Frost cautioned. “History has absolutely taught us: When you think that this country has reached its limits, it absolutely hasn’t.”

Source: Voice of America

When there is a threat of incoming Russian missiles in Ukraine, a familiar voice is heard by millions, warning them to take cover.

Mark Hamill, the actor who played Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, recently lent his voice to the Air Alert app, linked to Ukraine’s air defence system.

“Attention. Air raid alert. Proceed to the nearest shelter,” he says.

“Don’t be careless,” Mr Hamill’s voice continues. “Your overconfidence is your weakness.”

It signs off by saying: “The alert is over. May the Force be with you.”

The app kicks in when air raid sirens start blaring across the country.

The actor said he decided to lend his voice to the app after admiring the Ukrainian resistance to Russia’s invasion last year, which he said evoked comparisons with Star Wars.

“A fairy tale about good versus evil is resonant with what’s going on in Ukraine,” Mr Hamill told The Associated Press.

“The Ukrainian people rallying to the cause and responding so heroically… It’s impossible not to be inspired by how they’ve weathered this storm.”

He is also raising funds to buy reconnaissance drones for Ukrainian forces, partly by selling signed Star Wars posters.

The Air Alert app was co-developed by Ukrainian security systems manufacturer Ajax Systems.

More than 14 million people have already downloaded the app.

“For Star Wars fans, it sounds really fantastic,” one user, Hrytsenko, who uses the English-language setting, told AP.

“It’s kind of a Ukrainian mentality to find some humour even in the bad situation or to try to be positive.”

Source: BBC

About 27 migrants per 1000 people arrived to Cyprus from countries outside the European Union in 2021, according to data released by Eurostat, the statistical service of the EU. Also, 22.7% of citizens in Cyprus were foreign-born (from other EU members or non-EU countries), which is the third largest percentage among the EU’s member states. Also, Cyprus is the country with the second largest share of citizens born in another member states (10.6%), but is in fifth place regarding the share of citizens born in non-EU countries (12.2%).

Compared to 2021, the number of non-EU-born citizens in Cyprus increased while the number of citizens born in other EU countries decreased.

In 2021, there were an estimated 2.3 million immigrants coming to the EU from non-EU countries and about 1.1 million people from the EU who emigrated to a country outside the EU.

Data also show an important increase compared with 2020 when an estimated 1.9 million immigrants to the EU from non-EU countries and about 956 thousand people emigrated from the EU to a country outside the EU.

In addition, 1.4 million people previously residing in one EU country migrated to another EU member in 2021 (1.2 million in 2020).

In relative terms in 2021, there was an estimated 5 immigrants per 1000 people in the EU. Relative to the size of the resident population, Luxembourg recorded the highest rate of immigration in 2021 (almost 40 immigrants per 1000 people), followed by Malta (35) and Cyprus (27).

In contrast, Slovakia registered the lowest rate of immigration, with 1 immigrant per 1000 people. This country was followed by Portugal and France, each with 5 immigrants per 1000 people.

In terms of population, on 1 January 2022, almost half (49.4%) of the population in Luxembourg was foreign-born. This EU country was followed by Malta (23.6%) and Cyprus (22.7%) as the EU members with the highest shares of foreign-born population.

In contrast, the lowest shares were recorded in Romania (1.7%), Poland (2.5%) and Bulgaria (3.2%).

In absolute terms, the biggest populations of foreign-born citizens (from other EU members and non-EU countries) were registered in Germany (15.3 million people), France (8.7 million) and Spain (7.4 million).

In relative terms, Luxembourg had by far the biggest community of citizens born in another EU country, 33.8%, followed by Cyprus with 10.6% and Austria with 9.3%. Belgium and Malta also registered high shares of citizens born in other EU countries, with 7.9% each.

Poland and Lithuania, on the other hand, had the smallest shares of citizens born in other EU countries, with only 0.6% each. Bulgaria and Romania also recorded low values, with 1.0% each.

When it comes to citizens born in non-EU countries, the highest shares were recorded in Malta (15.7%), closely followed by Luxembourg (15.6%). These two EU members were followed by Sweden (14.9%), Estonia (13.1%) and Cyprus (12.2%).

Registering the lowest shares of non-EU-born citizens were Romania (0.7%), Slovakia (1.0%), Poland (1.9%), Bulgaria (2.2%) and Hungary (2.9%).

Compared with 2021 (in absolute terms), 13 EU members saw the number of citizens born in non-EU countries and in EU countries both increase in 2022 (Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Ireland, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Netherlands, Austria, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden).

Five members saw the opposite trend with the number of both those groups of citizens decreasing (Czechia, Greece, Italy, Latvia and Romania).

Some other interesting trends were observed: in Germany, France, Spain, Cyprus, Lithuania, Poland and Slovenia, the number of non-EU-born citizens increased while the number of citizens born in other EU countries decreased.

The opposite was registered in Croatia (to a very small degree) and Portugal, where the number of citizens born in other EU countries increased, but the non-EU foreign-born population decreased.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, tens of thousands of women have voluntarily joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine. As of the end of last year, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense says almost 60,000 women were serving. Myroslava Gongadze met with two female former journalists who have been part of Ukraine’s war effort for a year now. VOA footage by Eugene Shynkar. Video editing by Daniil Batishchak.

Source: Voice of America

Kuba Stasiak, a young volunteer from Poland, has helped evacuate an estimated 200 Ukrainian civilians from Bakhmut and other besieged cities in Ukraine. But volunteers like him face psychological hurdles as well as practical ones: How do you convince someone it is time to leave everything behind?

In Bakhmut – as in Soledar and Avdiivka and the outlying villages of Ukraine’s beleaguered east – most residents have already left. But as the Russian offensive progresses and the Ukrainian army resists, individual volunteers have been driving to the “gray zones” of the war and the site of ongoing clashes.

Operating in small teams or on their own, the volunteers seek out the rare civilians who have stayed behind to persuade them to leave. Along with the intense pressure of working amid intense fighting, the volunteers face a psychological hurdle: How do you convince someone it is time to leave? And how can you assure them that a better life is within reach?

Kuba Stasiak, a 28-year-old volunteer from Poland, inadvertently found himself to be the right person for the job. He estimates that he has helped evacuate 200 civilians from Ukraine’s Donbas. Previously a journalist, Stasiak was in Kyiv when the war began with plans to be a correspondent. Driven by a desire to help people and realising “there was a lot of work for civilians”, Stasiak fully committed himself to “e-vacs” (evacuations) two months after the war began.

He began working in Severodonetsk and Lysychansk before moving on to the whole region and operating in cities like Bakhmut. Evacuations start months before a city falls. Some people get used to the shelling and loud noises while others decide to leave after the first missile, according to the volunteer.

“There are certain types of people you cannot convince,” said Stasiak. “There is a difference between young people and older ones. The latter usually doesn’t believe a new life is possible.” Other people say they are too poor to move. Still others remain pro-Russian and cling to a “false security”, according to the volunteer.

FRANCE 24 was able to view some of the videos Stasiak filmed during the evacuation missions. In a video recorded in Soledar in September, Stasiak and another volunteer try to convince an elderly couple to come with them by showing them a pre-recorded video of their daughter in which she implores them to leave. The daughter, unable to connect with her parents, contacted the volunteers, giving them her parents’ address and asking them to step in.

“After 40 minutes of discussion amid intense shelling, the couple decided to stay,” said Stasiak.

Stasiak is usually familiar with the people he saves by the time he gets around to evacuating them. “When the situation in Bakhmut was better, I was driving around the city and exchanging contacts. A Ukrainian volunteer created a point in the city where residents could get food and water. Going there, you can meet locals and, because of this, I was able to get requests from people around Bakhmut.”

Building trust is a central component of the work. “What helps is to be around, so people know our faces and become more trusting. Even if they aren’t ready to leave right away, some of them change their minds and, when they do, they know how to find us,” he said.

A fatalist attitude

There are dozens of videos like this. With shelling in the background, discussions turn to arguments as the volunteers try to sway obstinate residents. “We tell them, ‘If you stay, you will die. The whole area will be heavily shelled and you will die inside your house. And there is only one solution: going with us’,” Stasiak said.

Residents have often adopted a fatalist attitude. They tell us, “I don’t mind, I will die in my city,” said Stasiak.

Others appear traumatised after spending months exposed to heavy shelling. Many appear to have spent months in their beds. Kuba remembers overhearing a conversation an elderly woman he had just evacuated from Bakhmut had with her daughter. “I’m alright, I just have a piece of shrapnel in my buttocks,” said the woman.

“She didn’t even mention there had been a strike. People get used to the circumstances and they do not mind any injuries. It’s like an unhappy marriage – they don’t think there is a chance to be happy with someone else and you feel the need to show them that a better life is possible,” said Stasiak.

Today the city of Bakhmut and the surrounding region lie in ruins and an estimated 10,000 residents remain out of a prewar population of 70,000. In a region with strong ties to Russia, propaganda airing on television and the radio has convinced many people that both the Russian and Ukrainian sides are to blame for the war. Stasiak hopes evacuees with divided loyalties “will get the chance to see things differently, wherever they are”.

‘You can take a wrong turn and end up in the Russian trenches’

Besides the satisfaction of saving lives, Stasiak found the evacuations helped him discover his strengths, which he says are beyond what he ever expected. “My first time in Bakhmut was in June. One of the most important things is to know the map, because you can take a wrong turn and end up in the Russian trenches,” he said, adding that he has learned how to depend on himself.

In September, a few months before the city fell, Stasiak found himself in Soledar with five other volunteers. Seeking cover from drones and constant shelling, they parked their car under heavy foliage. The car was stuck and it took an hour before the volunteers were able to move it.

“We managed to get the car out but then we had to go into the city, which was literally burning with fires starting every minute. We had two addresses we needed to visit while it was quickly getting dark,” he said. The worst part for Stasiak was thinking he was “doomed”, with constant shelling and not a single soul that could help him and the other volunteers.

Adventure for a better life

Stasiak remembered the woman at the first address was terrified, and he knew she would leave. At the second address, a couple and their neighbour hesitated. When they learned their neighbour was staying, the couple announced they were staying as well. “My friend started screaming at them, telling them they would die,” said Stasiak. Finally, all three people agreed to leave, packing their documents, photographs of relatives and some religious icons into plastic bags.

“Philip (a Russian-English citizen and volunteer), Lee (a UK veteran) and three different people were waiting for us at a safe point. After six hours, they thought we were dead,” said Stasiak. On the trip back to Kramatorsk, the Land Cruiser crashed into barricades and the car the neighbours were driving crashed as well. The group left the area by boarding a bus.

Despite the huge risks, Stasiak wants to keep going where he is needed and useful. As long as he can remain focused, he said, “I find it fascinating how much impact you can have as just one person.”

“It’s nice to know you can change people’s lives.”

Once in Kramatorsk, Ukrainians generally spend the night at a refugee centre. The next day they begin what Stasiak calls “their adventure for a better life”. Some of the characters he has encountered remain vivid in Stasiak’s mind. There were a couple of retired doctors, dressed in fur hats and coats and looking as if they were going to the opera when he rescued them from Bakhmut in March. They are now in Denmark. There was also a mother and her disabled daughter, who are now living in Poland.

With the faces and evacuation details still vivid in Stasiak’s mind, he has been writing a book about what he has seen; publication is set for later this year. From journalist to front-line volunteer and back to journalist, Stasiak’s experiences have brought him full circle.

Source: France24.com

Fire Fighting Services are well staffed and the means at their disposal are ready to tackle any fire incident, Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou said on Wednesday, following a meeting in Nicosia with representatives of competent authorities. More staff and equipment is available, compared to last year, Ioannou said ahead of the summer season.

The Ministers of Agriculture and Defense, the Deputy Minister to the President and the Justice Ministry Permanent Secretary also attended along oher officials from the competent services and departments.

After the meeting, the Minister of the Interior stated that the committee essentially functions as a preventive mechanism so that “we can assess the degree of preparedness of the various departments.”

Asked whether the services are well staffed to deal with fire incidents, Ioannou said they have been staffed with additional personnel compared to last year as well as with additional equipment, such as small fire trucks, individual or other equipment.

Responding to a question as to whether management centers in rural areas are expected to be coordinated during the summer, the Minister clarified that, based on operational plans, the Department of Forestry is responsible for mountainous areas, while for rural and urban areas the fire service is responsible.

The Minister also explained that “Zenon” Coordination Centre, the central operations center of the Joint Rescue Coordination Center, is activated in case of a crisis, implementing contingency plans, depending on the emergency.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

World leaders gather for the second annual Democracy Summit Amid Russian Nuclear Threats. Ukraine’s President explains why backing down in the battle for Bakhmut is not an option. How “Bakhmut Salt” has become a rallying cry for Ukraine manufacturing.

Source: Voice of America

Countries in the European Union have approved a landmark law that will ensure all new cars sold from 2035 must have zero emissions.

Poland voted against the law, while Italy, Bulgaria and Romania abstained.

The agreement was delayed for weeks after Germany called for an exemption for cars running on e-fuels.

E-fuels are argued to be carbon neutral because they use captured CO2 emissions to balance out the CO2 released when the fuel is combusted in an engine.

The new law had been expected to make it impossible to sell internal combustion engine cars in the EU from 2035.

However, the exemption won by Germany will now help those with traditional vehicles – even though e-fuels are not yet produced at scale.

The EU will say how sales of e-fuel-only cars can continue later this year.

Passenger cars and vans are responsible for about 12% and 2.5% respectively of total EU emissions of CO2, the main greenhouse gas, according to the European Commission.

Earlier this month the UN warned that the world was likely to miss a target for limiting the rise in global temperatures to 1.5C.

Five things we’ve learned from UN climate report

The new EU law will require all new cars sold to have zero CO2 emissions from 2035, and 55% lower CO2 emissions from 2030, compared to 2021 levels.

Germany’s late opposition came after EU countries and politicians had already agreed the 2035 phaseout and caused anger among some EU diplomats.

“As a matter of principle, we don’t like this approach. We think it is not fair,” Spanish energy minister Teresa Ribera said, adding that current assessments suggested e-fuels were too expensive to become widely used.

Porsche and Ferrari are among the supporters of e-fuels, which they see as a way to avoid their vehicles being weighed down by heavy batteries.

But other carmakers including Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and Ford will use electric vehicles to decarbonise.

German transport minister Volker Wissing said Tuesday’s agreement would “open up important options for the population towards climate-neutral and affordable mobility”.

EU climate policy chief Frans Timmermans added: “The direction of travel is clear: in 2035, new cars and vans must have zero emissions,”

Source: BBC

The present status quo in Cyprus and the lack of negotiations are not acceptable, the leaders and representatives of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot political parties participating at the Bi-communal meetings at the Ledra Palace under the auspices of the Slovak Embassy, have stressed.

According to their joint communique issued after their regular meeting on Wednesday, they also expressed willingness for cultivating a positive climate for a swift resumption of talks, “now that earthquake diplomacy may prove that time is ripe for the negotiations not only to begin but to succeed and solve the Cyprus problem in a way beneficial for all stakeholders.”

The joint communique, says that they expressed opinions on the topic proposed by the hosting party – Democratic Alignment-Cooperation of Democratic Forces (DEPA): “Strengths/weaknesses/opportunities and threats in the path to reach a just viable and long lasting solution to the Cyprus problem, after the tragic events of 1974”.

Initially the parties expressed their sincere condolences to the families of the victims of the recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria as well as the deadly train crash in Greece and stood up for a minute of silence and pray for the souls of the victims, paying special tribute to our Cypriot compatriots who were among the victims.

“They admitted that there is nothing worth more than human lives and their prosperity and expressed deep appreciation for both Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots who sang together on an open air bi-communal concert on 20 March 2023 at the Eleftherias Square in Nicosia in memory of the victims, sending the message ‘Together in pain, together united for the future’”, it says.

In addition, the communique notes that delegates exchanged ideas on the issue proposed, “recognizing existing strengths, and opportunities, but also weaknesses and threats.”

“They reaffirmed that the present status quo and the lack of negotiations are not acceptable and expressed willingness for cultivating a positive climate for a swift resumption of talks, now that earthquake diplomacy may prove that time is ripe for the negotiations not only to begin but to succeed and solve the Cyprus problem in a way beneficial for all stakeholders”, the communique says.

The next meeting will be held on Thursday 27 April 2023 with Democratic Party (DIKO) as hosting party.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Orthodox Christian clerics say they will stay at a historic monastery in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, despite a planned government-ordered eviction of hundreds of priests, monks and students.

The Pechersk Lavra is a seat of Ukraine’s Orthodox Church (UOC), which split from the Moscow patriarchate after Russia’s invasion last year.

But Ukrainian officials suspect some of the top clergy have maintained ties with the Church in Moscow, which they deny.

The UOC has been ordered to leave the site by the end of Wednesday.

The Ukrainian government, which owns the vast 11th Century monastery overlooking the Dnipro river, says the decision was taken after a commission discovered multiple violations of the tenancy agreement of the complex, a Unesco World Heritage Site.

Metropolitan Clement, head of the UOC press office, said there were “no legal grounds” for the expulsion, announced earlier this month.

“If the government forces us to do it illegally, it’s called totalitarianism,” he told the BBC. “We don’t need such a state or government. We have the constitution and laws. We don’t accept other methods.”

The issue is also highly political. Ukrainian authorities accuse some UOC members of covertly supporting Moscow during the war, although some leaders have denounced the Russian invasion.

Last year, Ukraine’s security service carried out a raid of the Lavra and other buildings belonging to the UOC, and dozens of clerics have been arrested on accusations of treason and collaboration with Russia. The UOC, however, says there is no evidence to support the charges.

On top of that, last year a criminal inquiry was opened after a video emerged of pro-Russian propaganda being sung, referring to the awakening of Mother Russia, while the head of a diocese in the Vinnytsia area of central Ukraine was charged with preparing leaflets supporting the invasion.

On Wednesday morning, hundreds of worshippers gathered outside the complex under a light snowfall to attend Mass. Like in recent days, police were inspecting cars entering and leaving the site, but the situation remained calm.

The expulsion has exposed divisions among the Ukrainian Orthodox community. In recent years, many have joined the independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which was granted independence in 2019, while millions still follow the UOC, which split from Moscow last May after centuries under its control.

Lubov Bank, a 60-year-old choir singer from the central city of Poltava, said she had been demonstrating at the Lavra for three days, and called the decision to expel the monastery’s residents a “political decision”. “They [the government] don’t follow the constitution,” she said. “Monks are real angels. I don’t want the authorities to do this.”

It is not clear what will happen if the UOC does not leave the complex, but the Ukrainian culture minister, Oleksandr Tkachenko, said the authorities would not use force to expel the monks.

The Russian Orthodox Church has echoed the rhetoric of the Kremlin in justifying the war in Ukraine. Its head, Patriarch Kirill, has suggested in sermons that Russia’s war is a righteous one about the future of Christianity and failed to unequivocally condemn the killing of innocent people in Ukraine.

Source: BBC