House arrest for the Orthodox religious
09:00 | A Ukrainian cleric with possible links to Moscow has been sentenced to house arrest after a hearing in which he praised Russian troops for their invasion of Ukraine.
Kiev is doing its best to influence the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in relation to pro-Russian positions. The church rejects those rumors.
Metropolitan Pavlo, for example, has been ordered to wear an electronic ankle bracelet, which he does not agree with. “I have done nothing wrong and I believe this is a political decision,” Pavlo said. According to the Russian state news agency TASS, Pavlo was sentenced to live in a village 40 kilometers southeast of Kiev, in a house that the metropolitan describes as “uninhabitable”. “There’s nothing to sleep on, no heat or light. No cooker, no spoon, but I’ll take it.’
More than 250 athletes killed in the war in Ukraine
08.00 | The Russian war in Ukraine has so far claimed the lives of 262 Ukrainian athletes and destroyed 363 sports venues, said Ukrainian sports minister Vadym Goettsayt.
He made the statements during a visit by International Gymnastics Federation President Morinari Watanabe. Furthermore, Goettsayt believed that no Russian athlete should be allowed to participate in the Olympic Games or any other competitive sport.
“They support the war and even attend events to express their support,” Goettsayt said on Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky’s website.
However, the International Olympic Committee has recommended a partial return of Russian and Belarusian athletes under a neutral flag. It is not yet known whether they will also be able to participate in the 2024 Olympics in Paris.