Greece on Saturday called on Russia to halt aerial assaults on Ukrainian villages, blaming Moscow for the “murder” of at least 10 ethnic Greek civilians there.
“We call on the Russian Federation to immediately halt aerial assaults and all action against civilians,” the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
At least 10 members of Ukraine’s ethnic Greek community of more than 100,000 people were killed on Saturday in assaults Athens has blamed on Russia, calling them “unacceptable criminal acts.”
Six of the deaths occurred in or near the village of Sartana, where six other ethnic Greeks were also injured, one of them a child, the ministry said.
The Sartana villagers died in “murder from the air,” it said.
Another four people died in the village of Buhas, it added.
Both villages are in the southeast of the country.
The foreign ministry had already said earlier that it had summoned the Russian ambassador to a meeting set yesterday.
“The death of ethnic Greeks is a cause for sadness and anger at this unacceptable act of Russian aggression against civilians,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis wrote on Twitter earlier.
Just days before the Russian invasion, Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias had “urgently” raised the protection of the ethnic Greeks in Ukraine during a meeting with Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov, the ministry added.
The Russian embassy in Athens in a statement expressed “deep sorrow” over the deaths, but said that Russia was “exclusively” targeting military units and installations in Ukraine.
“We do not bomb inhabited areas and villages, nor any political or cultural infrastructure,” the embassy said, adding that “the Ukrainian army and nationalist Nazi squads have been known for many years to strike against civilians.”
“The Kiev regime is possibly using the ethnic Greek and other communities living in Ukraine precisely to foment anti-Russian reaction abroad,” it added.
Earlier this month, Athens protested to Kiev after an ethnic Greek died in a brawl in eastern Ukraine, which Athens blamed on Ukrainian soldiers.
Greece on Friday closed its embassy in Kyiv, but has reinforced its consular presence in the southern city of Mariupol, the heart of the ethnic Greek community that dates to the 18th century.
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani on Friday after dissolving the Kosovar parliament said a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil. Osmani said it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East. “Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” she said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.” Kosovo, which declared
MORE BANS: Australia last year required sites to remove accounts held by under-16s, with a few countries pushing for similar action at an EU level and India considering its own ban Indonesia on Friday said it would ban social media access for children under 16, citing threats from online pornography, cyberbullying, online fraud and Internet addiction. “Accounts belonging to children under 16 on high-risk platforms will start to be deactivated, beginning with YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox,” Indonesian Minister of Communications and Digital Meutya Hafid said. “The government is stepping in so that parents no longer have to fight alone against the giants of the algorithm. Implementation will begin on March 28, 2026,” she said. The social media ban would be introduced in stages “until all platforms fulfill their
Counting was under way in Nepal yesterday, after a high-stakes parliamentary election to reshape the country’s leadership following protests last year that toppled the government. Key figures vying for power include former Nepalese prime minister K. P. Sharma Oli, rapper-turned-mayor Balendra Shah, who is bidding for the youth vote, and newly elected Nepali Congress party leader Gagan Thapa. In Kathmandu’s tea shops and city squares, people were glued to their phones, checking results as early trends flashed up — suggesting Shah’s centrist Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) was ahead. Nepalese Election Commission spokesman Prakash Nyupane said the counting was ongoing “in a peaceful manner”
RSS