CNN – Europe/Mideast/Africa

By Tara John, CNN When Denmark became the first liberal democracy to tell Syrian refugees to return to their war-torn home in 2019, Russian jets were still dropping missiles in Syria, in an effort to help President Bashar al-Assad’s regime regain control of the country. Ukraine is now being pummelled by the same Russian military,

By Tim Lister, Laura Smith-Spark, Olga Voitovych and Rob Picheta, CNN An injured woman, heavily pregnant, is carried on a stretcher past the smoldering wreckage of Mariupol’s maternity and children’s hospital. Her face is pale, one hand cradles her belly in a protective gesture. Every window on that side of the building appears to be

By Aditi Sangal, Adrienne Vogt, Meg Wagner, George Ramsay, Jack Guy, Helen Regan, Adam Renton, Melissa Macaya, Jason Kurtz, Aditi Sangal and Amir Vera, CNN The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.

By Lianne Kolirin and Tim Lister, CNN Olena Zelenska, the first lady of Ukraine, posted an open letter addressed to the world’s media on Tuesday, detailing what she described as the “mass murder of Ukrainian civilians.” In recent weeks Zelenska has repeatedly used social media to highlight the plight of her nation, yet none have

CNN Editorial Research Here’s some background information about the 2005 killings of 24 civilians in Haditha, Iraq. Facts Haditha is a city on the Euphrates River northwest of Baghdad, Iraq. Eight US Marines faced charges in the deaths, but only one was convicted of a crime, that of negligent dereliction of duty. Timeline November 19,

CNN Editorial Research Here’s a look at weapons inspections in Iraq from 1991 to 2007. Facts At the end of the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War, the United Nations passed Security Council Resolution 687 setting the terms for the ceasefire between Iraq and the US-led coalition. Section C of the resolution called for the elimination of

By Jack Guy, Tim Lister, Olga Voitovych, Paul P. Murphy, Gianluca Mezzofiore, Celine Alkhaldi and Katie Polglase, CNN Russian forces bombed a maternity and children’s hospital in southern Ukraine, authorities there said Wednesday, an attack described by the country’s President Volodymyr Zelensky as an “atrocity.” The attack came despite Russia agreeing to a 12-hour pause

By Hadas Gold, CNN In Israel, when someone is trying to tread carefully, it is said that they are “walking between the raindrops” — trying not to get wet. For several weeks now, Israel has been walking between the raindrops as Russia wages war on Ukraine. On the one hand is Foreign Minister Yair Lapid,

By Aditi Sangal, Adrienne Vogt, George Ramsay, Jack Bantock, Ed Upright, Helen Regan, Adam Renton, Amir Vera, Maureen Chowdhury and Mike Hayes, CNN The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.

By Aditi Sangal, Adrienne Vogt, Meg Wagner, Jessie Yeung, Steve George, Sana Noor Haq, George Ramsay, Ed Upright, Amir Vera and Maureen Chowdhury, CNN The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.

By Rob Picheta and Jack Guy, CNN The Ukrainian defense ministry has claimed that a Russian general was killed in battle near Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv. The short statement on Monday offered no proof of the death of Maj. Gen. Vitaly Gerasimov, and gave no details of when he was killed. Russian state media said

By Tara John and Hafsa Khalil, CNN The human toll of the invasion of Ukraine mounted over the weekend as Russia upped its bombardment of civilian areas and infrastructure. As conditions worsened in a number of key Ukrainian cities, the United Nations said more than 1.5 million refugees had fled the country so far. Here’s

By Tim Lister in Kyiv and Olga Voitovych in Lviv, Ukraine While the Ukrainian military’s resistance against Russia’s invasion has been well-documented, the last few days have seen growing popular defiance of Russian forces. In the south of Ukraine, especially, there have been multiple protests in areas where Russian troops have arrived. At least several

CNN Editorial Research Here is a look at the life of Ratko Mladic, former leader of the Bosnian Serb army, sentenced to life in prison for genocide and other war crimes. Personal Birth date: March 12, 1942 Birth place: Kalnovik, Yugoslavia (now Bosnia and Herzegovina) Birth name: Ratko Mladic Father: Nedja Mladic Mother: Stana Mladic

CNN Editorial Research Here is a look at the life of economist and former Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti. Personal Birth date: March 19, 1943 Birth place: Varese, Italy Marriage: Elsa Monti Children: Giovanni and Federica Education: Bocconi University, Milan, degree in economics, 1965; Post graduate studies at Yale University Religion: Catholic Other Facts Nicknamed

By Tim Lister, Josh Pennington, Luke McGee and Radina Gigova, CNN A Russian military strike hit an evacuation crossing point in a Kyiv suburb Sunday, killing a family with two children and several other civilians trying to flee the Russian invasion, according to the city’s mayor, as civilian casualties seeking safety from the onslaught continue

By Helen Regan, Adam Renton, Amy Woodyatt, Ed Upright, Maureen Chowdhury, Mike Hayes and Alaa Elassar, CNN The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.

By Tamara Qiblawi and Gianluca Mezzofiore, CNN A volley of machine-gun fire erupted just as Andriy Abba’s family raised a toast to celebrate his 30th birthday in Kherson. Wine glass in hand, he rushed with his parents and younger brother to the basement. Outside, Russian troops were in the final throes of occupying their city

By Ivana Kottasová, Radina Gigova, Olga Voitovych and Tim Lister, CNN Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a series of threats against Ukraine and Western powers Saturday, as Ukrainian officials accused Russia of shelling evacuation routes out of two battered cities. Ukrainian authorities said thousands of civilians remained trapped in the southeastern cities of Mariupol and

By Jessie Yeung, Steve George, Laura Smith-Spark, Angela Dewan, Adrienne Vogt, Joe Ruiz and Alaa Elassar, CNN The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.

By Ivana Kottasová, CNN When the explosions rocked Kyiv’s city center, Yana and Sergii Lysenko were stunned. Like many Ukrainians, they had been listening to warnings about Russia readying an assault on their country for weeks. But the idea of the war reaching their city seemed just too far-fetched. Now, it was a reality. This

By Tara John, AnneClaire Stapleton and Joseph Ataman, CNN The gray asphalt road that leads to Ukraine’s Shehyni border crossing with Poland has for the past week seen 30-mile tailbacks as people try to flee the country, often saying tearful goodbyes to the family members and friends staying behind to fight the Russian invasion. Wednesday

By Jessie Yeung, Julia Hollingsworth, Adam Renton, Joshua Berlinger, Sana Noor Haq and Blathnaid Healy, CNN The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.

By Gianluca Mezzofiore, Katie Polglase and Paul P. Murphy, CNN Three schools shelled, one of them with a gaping hole on the side of the building. Multiple rockets raining on panicking shoppers outside a supermarket. People walking through a park forced to rush to safety as shells explode around them. These were some of the

By Maya Brown, CNN An international coalition of activists and human rights attorneys on Wednesday announced they filed an appeal to the United Nations on behalf of African refugees facing racial discrimination in Ukraine and Poland. The filing follows numerous reports from Black refugees who said they faced segregation, racism and abuse as they tried

CNN Editorial Research Here’s a look at former Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, who is serving life in prison without parole for the murders of 16 Afghan civilians in 2012. About former Staff Sgt. Bales Bales was assigned to the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, Washington.

By Tim Lister, Olga Voitovych and Laura Smith-Spark, CNN Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed the war in Ukraine is “going according to plan” Thursday, with residents of the key city of Mariupol facing a deteriorating humanitarian situation, as the city remains under siege by Russian forces determined to tighten their grip on Ukraine’s south. “The

By Luke McGee, CNN For days, residents of Kyiv had been bracing themselves for a 40-mile-long convoy of Russian tanks, armored vehicles, and towed artillery to arrive for an assault on the Ukrainian capital. Days later, they’re still waiting. On Thursday, US intelligence suggested that the convoy was still stalled some distance from Kyiv, backing

By Helen Regan, Paul P. Murphy and Tim Lister, CNN Russia’s relentless bombardment of residential areas across Ukraine has so far forced more than one million refugees to flee the country in just seven days, according to the United Nations, as fierce fighting continues into its second week. Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for

By CNN Contributor Jill Dougherty Nineteen-year-old Tasya stood with her friends on a cold morning in the Russian city of St. Petersburg as they joined protesters’ chants against the Russian invasion of Ukraine: “Nyet Voine!” (“No to War!”). “It’s always safer to stand together with others…to look over your shoulder, in case you need to

By Jessie Yeung, Adam Renton, Jack Guy, Laura Smith-Spark, Adrienne Vogt, Melissa Macaya and Maureen Chowdhury, CNN The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.

By Nadeen Ebrahim, CNN The United Arab Emirates surprised its Western allies last week when it abstained on a US-drafted United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The move amounted to a declaration of neutrality from one of America’s closest Middle East allies in a war that has polarized the international community.

By Matthew Chance, Nathan Hodge, Julia Hollingsworth and Jack Guy, CNN Fierce fighting for control of the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson left dozens dead as Russia’s onslaught against multiple Ukrainian cities intensified Wednesday and fears over the civilian toll mounted. More than 800,000 civilians have fled since the invasion began a week ago, with

By Aditi Sangal, Adrienne Vogt, Meg Wagner, Jessie Yeung, Adam Renton, Maureen Chowdhury, Jason Kurtz and Mike Hayes, CNN The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.

By Matthew Chance, CNN Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged US counterpart Joe Biden to deliver a strong and “useful” message about the Russian invasion at his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, in an exclusive interview with CNN and Reuters from the bunker in Kyiv in which he is leading his military’s response.

By Tamara Qiblawi, CNN A long line of men snakes out of an unassuming building in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on an overcast day. An officer tells them to come back later. Too many people, he says, had enlisted that morning at Ukraine’s Territorial Defense Forces, the volunteer military unit of the country’s