WAR IN UKRAINE: October 14, 2022
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 244
A Russian rocket hits the southern Ukraine city of Zaporizhzhia this morning. “The enemy has attacked Zaporizhzhia. Infrastructure in one of the city's districts was destroyed," acting mayor Anatoliy Kurtev said. Dnipropetrovsk region was also attacked by drones.
The Russian-installed leader of Ukraine's southern Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, has called on civilians to evacuate - citing daily rocket attacks by advancing Ukrainian forces. He urged them to "save themselves" by going to Russia for "leisure and study", and asked for Moscow's help. Ukraine rejects accusations that it targets its own civilians - BBC
The United Nations General Assembly has adopted a resolution condemning Russia attempt to annex four Ukrainian regions. In all, 143 countries voted in favor of calling Moscow’s move illegal. Five voted against: Russia, Belarus, North Korea, Nicaragua and Syria. Ukraine’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Sergiy Kyslytsya had to use binoculars to count votes against
Ukraine demands that the International Committee of the Red Ceoss visits prison in occupied Olenivka in next 3 days. According to Andriy Yermak, the head of the President’s Office, a group of Ukrainian officials made a demand on Oct. 13 for the ICRC to send a mission within three days to the prison in occupied Olenivka, Donetsk Oblast, where Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed by an explosion on July 29. Some POWs are still kept there by Russian forces - Kyiv Independent
In response to Ukrainian demands, the ICRC said: “We want to stress that our teams are ready on the ground—and have been ready for months—to visit the Olenivka penal facility and any other location where POWs are held. However, beyond being granted access by high levels of authority, this requires practical arrangements to materialize on the ground. We cannot access by force a place of detention or internment where we have not been admitted.“
Both Kyiv and Moscow confirmed that 20 Ukrainian service personnel were exchanged for 20 Russian soldiers - in the latest such swap. Separately, Nato said it would provide Ukraine with dozens of jammers - transmitters used to disrupt signals - to counteract Russian and Iranian drones. The head of the military alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, also said members had agreed to increase protection of critical infrastructure after what he called the "sabotage" of the Nord Stream pipelines - BBC
And Now For Something Completely Different…
The talent of Ukrainian artists and the natural beauty of their homeland is not as well-known among western audiences as one would expect. But despite the war, the irrepressible resilience and creativity of Ukrainians continues - it's a message I repeat frequently in many on-air interviews. There are many examples in the recording artists’ space.
In a song release since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine '- ‘Гори’ or ‘Mountains’ - artist TAYANNA composed a haunting piece which highlights the physical beauty of Ukraine. It taps into Ukrainian's’ emotional bond to their land and nature.
The singer simultaneously conveys all the pain of the Ukrainian people now, from whom, during the terrible reality of the war, the invaders are trying to take away something sacred. At the same time, "Mountains" are full of optimistic forebodings and soothing intonations.
Says TAYANNA: “"If you are anxious, difficult, unwell: sit down, close your eyes and feel the freshness of the mountains. Remember how you loved and hugged a person close to you - there, on the meadows of our Carpathians, and listened to the sound of fast rivers? It is in our veins, in in our hearts, and it is impossible to forget it. Remember how your children ran next to you, and you laughed and rejoiced at every little thing. Let the hugs of relatives and loved ones become thinner today, they were interrupted by the war... But we know and believe that soon everything will end with our victory, and we will sit on the top of the mountain, in the very heart, and be happy just to live and be on this earth!".
The idea of the song now, when the whole nation is suffering and several million Ukrainians have been forced to leave their homes and have not seen their relatives for a long time, sounds particularly poignant.