Society

The supreme lama of Kalmykia, Telo Tulku Rinpoche (Erdny Ombadykov), released a statement criticizing the war which Russia had unleashed on Ukraine, noting that the truth is on Ukraine’s side. The statement came in an interview with the Alchemy of the Soul YouTube channel, Ukrinform reports. "I think it's wrong, this war is unnecessary... The Ukrainian side is, of course, right – they defend their country, their land, their truth, their Constitution, and their people. It is very difficult to suggest and accept that Russia is right... I can't do that," said the supreme lama of Kalmykia. Read also: President…

During the pseudo-referendum held late September, the invaders counted the "votes" of even those Ukrainians who had left the occupied territories for the government-controlled parts of Ukraine. That’s according to the latest intercepted phone call, released by the Security Service of Ukraine, Ukrinform reports. As noted, a Russian serviceman, who is part of the invasion force, discussed the issue over the phone with his wife. His unit is believed to have been surrounded on the eastern front. His wife told him the latest news about the “referendum” spectacle in captured parts of Ukraine: "In Kherson region, they even offered to…

President Volodymyr Zelensky has congratulated soldiers of the Ukrainian territorial defense on the Day of Territorial Defense. The greeting address was published on the president’s website. Zelensky emphasized that since the beginning of the insidious and full-scale armed aggression by the Russian Federation, thousands of Ukrainian citizens of various professions and with different levels of military training have joined the ranks of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. "Aware of the full responsibility to your country and your families, you have united, and without any hesitation or doubt stood in the way of the enemy and…

The Russian invaders took 76 more orphans from the captured Luhansk region to the Russian Federation. "The occupiers continue to irrevocably take children out of Luhansk region. Another 76 orphans were transferred to Russian social rehabilitation centers for minors located in Moscow region," Serhiy Haidai, Head of the Luhansk Regional Military Administration, posted on Telegram. According to Haidai, "currently, four regions of Russia have to accept them as part of family groups." In addition, he noted,104 more children who now stay in social institutions of the so-called "LPR" will soon be transferred to Russian families. "This allows the occupiers to…

The Institute of Mass Information (IMI) has compiled a new White List of the most high-quality media outlets, consisting of nine publications, and Ukrinform is among them. The relevant statement was made on the website of the Institute of Mass Information (IMI), an Ukrinform correspondent reports. “The White List of the most high-quality and responsible online media outlets, which has been made by the IMI experts based on the monitoring survey findings, includes the following publications: Suspilne, Hromadske, Liga, Ukrainska Pravda, Ukrinform, Radio Svoboda, Dzerkalo Tyzhnia, NV and Babel,” the report states. These are the results of a two-stage in-depth…

Dmytro Lubinets, the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, compiled a list of Kremlin-hired "observers" for pseudo-referenda in temporarily occupied areas. Lubinets calls on the Security Service of Ukraine and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to respond to the illegal stay of the said persons on Ukrainian soil, according to Ukrinform. "Our team analyzed open sources. For the most part, these ‘referendum observers’ are long-time Kremlin stooges. It can be seen that the Russian Federation (compared to 2014) is finding it increasingly difficult to find someone who would look respectable and be ready to cooperate with an aggressor and terrorist…

Thousands of Hasidic Jewish pilgrims flocked to central Ukraine’s Uman, where Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, a revered Hasidic rabbi, is buried. Crowds mark the Jewish new year there annually, this year ignoring repeated travel warnings amid the ongoing war, according to The Times of Israel, Ukrinform reports. “We are not afraid. If we come to Rabbi Nachman, he will protect us for the whole year,” said Nahum Markowitz from Israel, who has been visiting the site since 1991. He added that he is already familiar with the risk of war and the wail of sirens that comes from living in…

Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska took part in the discussion "Preservation of Ukrainian culture during the war" at the Ukrainian Museum in New York City and talked about the condition of Ukrainian cultural sites in the conditions of Russian aggression. "For half a year, we have had more than 500 damaged or destroyed cultural heritage sites. These are museums, historical buildings, temples. Everything that was built and created by generations of Ukrainians. For me, as the First Lady of my country and a citizen of Ukraine, the answer is clear: this is a war against our identity. The Russian invaders…

The Security Service of Ukraine has obtained copies of documents circulating among “DPR” Russian puppet officials as regards allowing minor residents to cast their votes in the sham referendum on the accession to Russia of the temporarily occupied areas of Donetsk region. The Security Service of Ukraine reported the news on Telegram, according to Ukrinform. "The invaders hope to expand the ‘electoral base’ supporting the accession of the eastern part of Ukraine to the Russian Federation and involve local residents aged 13 to 17 in pseudo-voting," the report says. In order to strengthen control over "turnout", minors must be accompanied…