Society

Pope Francis called the Ukrainian people a martyred nation and expressed the opinion that arms dealers are interested in continuting the war. The pontiff spoke with journalists on board his plane returning from Marseille, Ukrinform reports with reference to Vatican News. "This war, it seems to me, is caused not only by the Russian-Ukrainian problem, but also by the sale of weapons, arms trade," the pontiff said. In this regard, the Pope noted that today the most profitable investments are those in factories producing weapons. Read also: Pope prays for peace in Ukraine At the same time, the pontiff emphasized…

Power engineers in the Rivne region have fully restored electricity distribution to residents of the region after the morning strikes by the Russian Federation. This was reported on Facebook by Rivneoblenergo, Ukrinform reported. "After the morning attack on the Rivne region, the staff of Rivneoblenergo promptly restored electricity to 90 settlements, 49 thousand families of our region! As of 9:20 a.m., we have resumed electricity distribution in all parts of our region," the statement said. Read also: Russian attacks cause damage to energy, civil infrastructure in Rivne The power engineers noted that they continue to work to ensure the stable…

About 18 million Ukrainians need humanitarian assistance because of Russian aggression. “Nearly half of Ukraine’s population – some 18 million people – need humanitarian assistance and protection.  More than 6 million Ukrainians have fled the country,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said at the UN Security Council meeting in New York, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. He added that the United Nations had stepped up its humanitarian efforts in response to the crisis. “Our humanitarian programmes have stepped up, distributing aid to more than 8 million people this year in partnership with over 450 humanitarian organizations, half of them Ukrainian,” UN Secretary-General…

During the Sunday prayer, Pope Francis gave a short greeting to the pilgrims from Ukraine, present in St. Peter's Square, and called on them to pray for Ukraine. This was reported by Vatican News, Ukrinform saw. Among the pilgrims who on Sunday, September 17, 2023, came at noon to St. Peter's Square in the Vatican to join the "Angel of the Lord" prayer, were Ukrainian nuns from the Congregation of Missionaries of the Most Holy Redeemer. Their presence did not go unnoticed by the Holy Father, who, greeting various groups of pilgrims, seized this opportunity to remind the world of…

The UN expects the humanitarian situation in Ukraine to worsen if the current trend continues and plans to provide humanitarian aid to 11 million Ukrainians this year. Saviano Abreu, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Ukraine, said this in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine, Ukrinform reports. "We do see an increased number of Russian attacks impacting civilians, destroying, once again, vital infrastructure. If the war continues, and it appears to be the case, the needs of the population will either continue, because they cannot recover and go back to the situation that they were…

Six Ukrainian children, who were successfully returned from Russia after the invasion forces deported them from Ukraine, arrived in The Hague. Five children come from Mariupol and another one – from Kharkiv. These are four boys and two girls, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. During the press conference, the children told journalists the stories of their return. The Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, and the Commissioner of the President of Ukraine for Children's Rights and Rehabilitation, Daria Herasymchuk, also spoke at the event. Read also: Eleven children returned from temporarily occupied left-bank Kherson region In an…

As many as 22,000 Hasidic pilgrims have already arrived in Uman, Cherkasy region. Ihor Taburets, head of the Cherkasy regional military administration, reported this on Telegram, according to Ukrinform. "As of this morning, about 22,000 pilgrims have already arrived in the city. Most of them are from Israel, the United States and a number of European countries," Taburets wrote. He called on local residents and visitors to be as vigilant as possible, respond appropriately to air raid alerts, observe safety rules and not succumb to hostile manipulation. According to Taburets, the situation in Uman is under control. Along with Ukrainian…

Pro-Russian blogger Mika Badalyan and Sputnik Armenia journalist Ashot Gevorkyan were apprehended in Armenia on suspicion of illegal arms trafficking. This was reported by the spokesman for the Investigative Committee, Gor Abraamyan, Ukrinform wrote with reference to Radio Svoboda. The spokesman specified Badalyan and Gevorkyan were detained in the Syunik region on September 6 and 7. In total, seven persons were taken into custody in the case of illegal arms trafficking. The Russian Embassy in Armenia is yet to clarify the circumstances of the incident and is monitoring the developments, as per reports. Read also: Musk’s new Twitter policies helped…

The Ombudsman’s Office in Ukraine has information about dozens of places in Belarus, where Ukrainian children are kept. The relevant statement was made by Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets in a commentary to Ukrinform. “As for the number of places – we are aware of dozens [of such places in Belarus – Ed.],” Lubinets said. Meanwhile, as of now, the Ombudsman’s Office in Ukraine has no evidence that Belarusian families started the process of adopting or taking Ukrainian children under provisional custody. A reminder that, on May 24, 2023, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office announced that Ukraine…

The practical result of the third Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen, held in Kyiv on Wednesday, will be the implementation of a medical partnership project between the countries. President's wife Olena Zelenska said this in her speech opening the summit that was held this year on the theme: "Mental Health: Fragility and Resilience of the Future," an Ukrinform correspondent reports. "We set a goal that each of our summits has a practical result. At last year's summit, by bringing together caring people from all over the world, we managed to raise more than 6 million dollars, which gave us…