Latest news with #Yuriy
BBC News
6 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
'E disappear without a word': Women wey UN peacekeepers give belle and abandon
Despite di scorching sun and stifling air, twelve-year-old Dimitri, no be im real name, hide inside im mother modest iron-sheet home for Birere, for informal settlement in Goma, for eastern Democratic Republic of di Congo. "E no wan face di teasing of oda children over im curly hair and lighter skin," say im mama, Kamate Bibiche, tok to di BBC bifor Goma fall to di M23 rebels in January. "E (Dimitri) na Russian, yet fit neva live to im true heritage," she tok. Dimitri na reminder of one painful legacy of di United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in di Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO). Since im deployment for di end of 1999, di mission don face widespread allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse wey involve women and young girls. Kamate hesitate bifor e pull out one dusty box wey dem hide deep under her bed. Inside na her only reminders of Yuriy, di man she say na Dimitri father. E contain one worn military hat and one old photograph of di two of dem togeda. Kamate bin meet Yuriy on one night out and say she become attracted to im calm persona. Di pair get three month relationship. "'E no be like oda men. E bin love and treat me really well. E be di best three months I ever get," Kamate recall. Yuriy, like many peacekeepers dey interact wit local communities, bin reveal little about im actual background or true credentials. "E be UN peacekeeper," Kamate tok. "E no say I dey pregnant and promise to take care of us. But den e disappear without one word, as if we mean nothing to am," Kamate tok. She tok say she no get way to reach her Russian partner, as di phone number wey e dey use don dey disconnected. Abuse of power Although Kamate bin enta into di relationship willingly, under one United Nations resolution adopted by di general assembly in 2005, e still dey considered exploitative. Dis policy recognises di power imbalance between UN personnel and vulnerable local populations, wey fit make any sexual relationships exploitative, even if dey appear consensual. Di resolution dey urge member states to provide justice for victims by holding perpetrators accountable once dem send dem back to dia home kontries. Wen ask about di whereabouts of Kamate boyfriend, MONUSCO spokesperson Ndeye Lo tell BBC Russian say dem no get contingent troops in di mission, say "only a few police officers and staff officers dey work for di headquarters". She say di mission no fit give access to di records of specific Russian officers wey bin serve in 2012 "for legal reasons". Di BBC bin attempt to track down Yuriy, including on Russian language social media, but no fit find am. Serious allegations Eastern DR Congo don experience decades of conflict as govment forces fight off rebel groups wey wan control di mineral rich region. In January, Goma bin fall to Rwanda-backed M23 rebels. About 7,000 pipo die in di fight as di militants take over di city, according to DR Congo prime minister. Di United Nations estimate say over eight million pipo dey currently displaced, wey make am one of di world largest internal displacement crises. Many pipo dey struggle wit extreme poverty and lack of access to basic needs such as food, water, and shelter, dey expose women and girls particularly vulnerable to exploitation. Wen di BBC bin tok to Maria Masika (no be her real name), she bin just arrive in Goma from di embattled town of Sake, north of di city. Di goment soldiers bin don dey battle rebel fighters but don eventually overrun. Maria dey visibly shake - still in shock from di intense gunfire wey she bin witness. 'E bin know say I be minor' Masika bin don travel to Goma to see her 8-year-old daughter Queen, wey dey live wit her grandmother in di city for safety. At just 17, Masika don involve wit a South African peacekeeper wey dey stationed near di Minugugi base. "E sabi say I be minor," she tok. "E bin rent one house near di base and visit me whenever d dey off duty." Afta Queen birth, di peacekeeper become unreachable, leave Masika to fend for herself. Desperate to provide for her daughter, she tok say she now dey risk her life to make a living as sex worker in Sake. Wen dem dey asked about relationships between UN peacekeepers and locals, di South African National Defence Force say dem take di allegations seriously. "On-site military court sessions bin hold in di mission area where credible evidence of sexual exploitation and abuse dey, including oda disciplinary infractions," di force tok-tok pesin Siphiwe Dlamini tok. For di Congolese Family for Joy, wey be safe house for abandoned and orphaned children, at least five children dey reported to don dey fathered by MONUSCO troops and later abandon by dia mothers. "Wit our partners, we dey provide support to around 200 women and young girls wey don suffer sexual exploitation by MONUSCO personnel," Nelly Kyeya, di centre director tok. "Many of dem dey face severe stigma from dia communities sake of dem settle for survival prostitution. Diis ostracization often dey drive dem to abandon dia children," she tok Sandrine Lusamaba, di national coordinator of Sofepadi, one women's rights group in di DRC, tell di BBC say di lack of direct authority by di UN to prosecute sexual exploitation perpetrators mean say many dey waka free. She tok say many member states no dey cooperate to prosecute dia soldiers. One UN report wey dey released in March 2024 indicate rise in allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation wey link to dia peacekeeping and special political missions. One hundred allegations dey reported in peacekeeping and special political missions in 2023, increase from di 79 wey dey reported in 2022. Dis incidents involve 143 victims, including115 adults and 28 children according to di United Nations. Notably, MONUSCO - including di former United Nations Organization Mission in di Democratic Republic of di Congo (MONUC) - account for 66 of di 100 allegations, wey highlight concerns about accountability within di mission. Zero-tolerance policy "Wen information about possible allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse dey received, di information dey assessed and concrete action dey taken," MONUSCO tok-tok pesin Ndeye Lo tok. "Any personnel against wey one allegation dey substantiated go dey red flagged in our system barred from further employment (civilian) or deployment (uniformed)." Di mission say dem dey empower alleged victims and dia children through di Victim Assistance Trust Fund by providing skills training and education. But many women and young girls like Kamate and Maria say dem no know about available support while odas remain too traumatised to seek justice.
American Military News
05-07-2025
- General
- American Military News
Ukrainians Turn Soviet Van Into Modern Warfare Tool To Fight Russian Drones
This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission. A clunky Soviet-designed off-road van, has become a tool of modern warfare for Ukrainian soldiers. The Bukhanka, the Russian word for a loaf of bread, may be one of the oldest in-production vehicle designs in the world, but a retrofitted version with a modern electronic warfare system is playing a key role in frontline survival in Ukraine's Donetsk region. Performing its 21st Century call of duty, the vehicle scans the skies for Russian drones, alerting troops of the 68th Jaeger Brigade near Pokrovsk and even intercepting camera feeds being sent back to Russian soldiers. For Yuriy and other soldiers in his brigade, the van and its technology are a life saver. 'If we can see what the drone sees, we can get out before it hits,' he explains as the van is quickly camouflaged to avoid enemy surveillance or kamikaze drones once it arrives in support of the troops. The Pokrovsk sector has become one of the hottest war zones along the front line in Russia's full-scale invasion of its neighbor. The vehicle travels down a road lined with netting, including overhead, to ward off incoming drones. But the netting offers limited protection. 'You're lucky none is flying right now,' says Andriy, an artilleryman. 'At night, it's two or three drones overhead, and then glide bombs. It's a concert starting at 9 p.m.' Andriy's story reflects the broader wartime shift many have endured. Before the full-scale invasion, he worked across Europe, repairing cars in Germany, milking cows in Denmark. After Russia invaded in February 2022, he volunteered to defend Ukraine. Even after being wounded, he refused to leave his unit. 'Here, everything is clear. You know what to do,' he says. Our interview is interrupted as the brigade receives an order to fire. A short circuit delays the self-propelled artillery system, but the crew resolves it in minutes, fires on the target, and immediately moves to a shelter to wait for the likely Russian response. According to Ukraine's General Staff, Pokrovsk is currently experiencing the most intense Russian assault activity of any frontline sector. 'Firing is one thing, return fire? That's when it gets intense,' says one soldier. The Bukhanka may have been around since 1965, but it arrived just in time for Yuriy, Andriy, and their Ukrainian colleagues.
NDTV
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- NDTV
Kyiv Mourns 'Bright And Talented' Actor Yuriy Felipenko Killed On Front
Hundreds gathered in Kyiv on Thursday for the funeral of Ukrainian soldier and former actor Yuriy Felipenko, who was killed on the front line aged 32. Before joining the Ukrainian army in April 2024, Felipenko starred in several stage productions and TV shows, playing a lead role in Ukrainian crime serial The Colour of Passion. Since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, multiple Ukrainian actors, artists and writers have been killed -- both in combat and during Russian bombardment of towns and cities. Felipenko's death last week, just over a year after he enlisted, was the latest blow to Ukraine's artistic community and prompted an outpouring of grief among his colleagues. "Such a bright and talented person has been taken away," actress Anna Koshmal wrote on Instagram. Ukrainian TV host Masha Yefrosinina described his death as "horrific and painful". "It was Yuriy who gave me the feeling that a new era of modern young Ukrainian actors was dawning," she wrote. At a farewell ceremony for the actor at the Podil Theatre, where he regularly performed, his wife Kateryna sobbed as she paid tribute to her husband's "wonderful life". "I don't blame anyone for this death, except Russia. I want to ask everyone here to kill everything Russian inside themselves," she said, according to a video published by Radio Liberty. Felipenko's coffin was later carried to a cathedral in central Kyiv, where tearful mourners held candles and paid their final respects. His army unit, a strike drone battalion named "Achilles", said he "won the hearts of audiences" in a tribute on social media. "Yuriy's brothers-in-arms could always count on him during the most difficult assaults. We remember and we will avenge you," it said. Russia's three-year offensive has resulted in tens of thousands of military deaths on both sides. Peace talks on ending the conflict have stalled in recent weeks, with Moscow's forces advancing on the front line. Russia says it is open to a peace settlement but Kyiv has accused Moscow of deliberately sabotaging talks to prolong the fighting.
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ukraine is using an AI-powered, automated turret to shoot down Russia's devastating Shahed drones
Ukraine has deployed an AI-powered turret that can down Shahed drones, a Ukrainian officer told BI. He said one of the guns had been used in combat six times and destroyed six drones as of last week. It appears to be the first confirmation that a Sky Sentinel had so many confirmed kills. Ukraine has deployed an AI-powered turret that has already shot down at least six of Russia's devastating Shahed drones, a military officer told Business Insider. Yuriy, the commander of Ukraine's air defense group, told BI last week that the system, called the Sky Sentinel, has "already been deployed in real combat, demonstrating high effectiveness." He said one prototype shot down six Shaheds in as many operational uses. This appears to be the first confirmation that one of the Sky Sentinels had downed up to six exploding drones. Ukraine previously said that the turret had been successfully tested, including on the front lines. United24, a Ukrainian government initiative that raises funds to purchase weaponry for the military, said last week that a Sky Sentinel prototype was used at the front, where it successfully shot down four Shahed drones. The Sky Sentinel can also take down cruise missiles that are within its effective range, United24 said, but added that many details regarding the system couldn't be revealed due to security concerns. In remarks to BI, Yuriy, who went by only his first name, a standard practice in the Ukrainian military, described the Sky Sentinel as "a cost-effective and scalable solution for defending both cities and frontline regions from Shaheds, reconnaissance drones, and even cruise missiles." Its deployment comes at a critical moment for Ukraine. Russia has been pounding its neighbor with unrelenting drone and missile bombardments. Over the weekend, Moscow launched 472 attack and decoy drones — its biggest air attack with drones to date. The Sky Sentinel system is designed to require almost no human involvement. This could be key for Ukraine as it tries to stop Russia's aerial attacks amid concerns about dwindling stockpiles of Western air defenses. Yuriy said that the weapon is "powered by AI and designed for autonomous operation." He told BI that when a turret is in a combat position and synced up with radar data, "it independently scans the airspace, identifies threats, locks onto aerial targets, calculates their speed and trajectory, and determines the exact firing point." An operator does not manually select targets, he added. "Instead, the system's sensors and software do it autonomously." Sky Sentinel does the "target detection, tracking, and automatic aiming" itself, Yuriy said, but it still needs human authorization before it fires. "This approach reduces the chance of error while still maintaining human oversight." He said the weapon has successfully identified targets: "Its AI can distinguish between birds and drones, and only engages when the threat is clearly identified. It also factors in environmental variables like wind speed." Sky Sentinel can spin 360 degrees and is equipped with a machine gun. United24 said the turret can strike "small, fast-moving targets" that are travelling up to almost 500 miles an hour. Its range is classified. The weapon is also precise enough to hit much smaller targets, per United24, which said that the system successfully hit targets five times smaller than Shaheds in field tests. It is unclear how many have been made to date. United24, which has a crowdfunding campaign for 10 of the turrets, said the system's development team was focused on trying to deliver dozens every month. The Sky Sentinel could be key to protecting Ukraine's cities. Russia can fire hundreds of drones in a single night, and Ukraine has struggled with having enough air defenses since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Its attacks often use Shaheds, Iran-designed drones that Russia fires en masse to try to overwhelm Ukraine's defenses. The attacks leave Ukraine with a major problem: Many of the missiles it has that can potentially stop Russia's attacks cost far more than the Russian drones they target. That's another way the Sky Sentinel could be particularly useful. Each Sky Sentinel unit costs around $150,000. Meanwhile, missiles for the US-made Patriot air defense system, which Ukraine has a few of in its cities, cost around $4 million each, and the Patriot system itself costs about $1.1 billion. Even if the Sky Sentinel is less capable than the Patriot, which can stop faster ballistic missiles, having it shoot down cheaper targets would be a big boost to Ukraine. According to United24, the developers believe that 10 to 30 Sky Sentinels would be needed to protect a city. The cost of even 30 systems would be less than many single air defense missiles, United24 said. And Kyiv needs more systems to protect its cities. It says, for example, that it needs dozens more Patriot systems than it has. United24 added that Sky Sentinel can also be used in dangerous frontline areas, and other variants are being designed for different types of missions. The new system was entirely designed and tested in Ukraine and uses software designed by Ukrainian engineers, per United24. However, it does rely on some foreign-made parts that have no Ukrainian equivalent. United24 did not name its developer, something that is common as Ukraine seeks to protect its weapons makers. It's another example of Ukraine's growing defense industry, which is supplying an increasing part of Ukraine's arsenal, especially amid questions over the future of US security assistance. Ukraine has increasingly been investing in AI-powered and robotic technology, including ground robots. Oleksandr Yabchanka, the head of robotic systems for Ukraine's Da Vinci Wolves Battalion, told BI that Ukraine is also using robots that fire at Russian troops and targets, while allowing its soldiers to stay safe from return fire. Read the original article on Business Insider
Business Insider
02-06-2025
- Business Insider
Ukraine is using an AI-powered, automated turret to shoot down Russia's devastating Shahed drones
Ukraine has deployed an AI-powered turret that has already shot down at least six of Russia's devastating Shahed drones, a military official told Business Insider. Yuriy, the commander of Ukraine's air defense group, told BI last week that the system, called the Sky Sentinel, has "already been deployed in real combat, demonstrating high effectiveness." He said one prototype shot down six Shaheds in as many operational uses. This appears to be the first confirmation that one of the Sky Sentinels had downed up to six exploding drones. Ukraine previously said that the turret had been successfully tested, including on the front lines. United24, a Ukrainian government initiative that raises funds to purchase weaponry for the military, said last week that a Sky Sentinel prototype was used at the front, where it successfully shot down four Shahed drones. The Sky Sentinel can also take down cruise missiles that are within its effective range, United24 said, but added that many details regarding the system couldn't be revealed due to security concerns. In remarks to BI, Yuriy, who went by only his first name, a standard practice in the Ukrainian military, described the Sky Sentinel as "a cost-effective and scalable solution for defending both cities and frontline regions from Shaheds, reconnaissance drones, and even cruise missiles." Its deployment comes at a critical moment for Ukraine. Russia has been pounding its neighbor with unrelenting drone and missile bombardments. Over the weekend, Moscow launched 472 attack and decoy drones — its biggest air attack with drones to date. Little human involvement The Sky Sentinel system is designed to require almost no human involvement. This could be key for Ukraine as it tries to stop Russia's aerial attacks amid concerns about dwindling stockpiles of Western air defenses. Yuriy said that the weapon is "powered by AI and designed for autonomous operation." He told BI that when a turret is in a combat position and synced up with radar data, "it independently scans the airspace, identifies threats, locks onto aerial targets, calculates their speed and trajectory, and determines the exact firing point." An operator does not manually select targets, he added. "Instead, the system's sensors and software do it autonomously." Sky Sentinel does the "target detection, tracking, and automatic aiming" itself, Yuriy said, but it still needs human authorization before it fires. "This approach reduces the chance of error while still maintaining human oversight." He said the weapon has successfully identified targets: "Its AI can distinguish between birds and drones, and only engages when the threat is clearly identified. It also factors in environmental variables like wind speed." Sky Sentinel can spin 360 degrees and is equipped with a machine gun. United24 said the turret can strike "small, fast-moving targets" that are travelling up to almost 500 miles an hour. Its range is classified. The weapon is also precise enough to hit much smaller targets, per United24, which said that the system successfully hit targets five times smaller than Shaheds in field tests. It is unclear how many have been made to date. United24, which has a crowdfunding campaign for 10 of the turrets, said the system's development team was focused on trying to deliver dozens every month. Needed by Ukraine The Sky Sentinel could be key to protecting Ukraine's cities. Russia can fire hundreds of drones in a single night, and Ukraine has struggled with having enough air defenses since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Its attacks often use Shaheds, Iran-designed drones that Russia fires en masse to try to overwhelm Ukraine's defenses. The attacks leave Ukraine with a major problem: Many of the missiles it has that can potentially stop Russia's attacks cost far more than the Russian drones they target. That's another way the Sky Sentinel could be particularly useful. Each Sky Sentinel unit costs around $150,000. Meanwhile, missiles for the US-made Patriot air defense system, which Ukraine has a few of in its cities, cost around $4 million each, and the Patriot system itself costs about $1.1 billion. Even if the Sky Sentinel is less capable than the Patriot, which can stop faster ballistic missiles, having it shoot down cheaper targets would be a big boost to Ukraine. According to United24, the developers believe that 10 to 30 Sky Sentinels would be needed to protect a city. The cost of even 30 systems would be less than many single air defense missiles, United24 said. And Kyiv needs more systems to protect its cities. It says, for example, that it needs dozens more Patriot systems than it has. United24 added that Sky Sentinel can also be used in dangerous frontline areas, and other variants are being designed for different types of missions. Ukrainian designed The new system was entirely designed and tested in Ukraine and uses software designed by Ukrainian engineers, per United24. However, it does rely on some foreign-made parts that have no Ukrainian equivalent. United24 did not name its developer, something that is common as Ukraine seeks to protect its weapons makers. It's another example of Ukraine's growing defense industry, which is supplying an increasing part of Ukraine's arsenal, especially amid questions over the future of US security assistance. Ukraine has increasingly been investing in AI-powered and robotic technology, including ground robots. Oleksandr Yabchanka, the head of robotic systems for Ukraine's Da Vinci Wolves Battalion, told BI that Ukraine is also using robots that fire at Russian troops and targets, while allowing its soldiers to stay safe from return fire.
