عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Ukrainian Official Denies Russian Troops Take Border Village in Northeast 

A Ukrainian soldier guards his position while trucks with killed Russian soldiers driving to Russian territory, during repatriation in Sumy region, Ukraine, Friday, May 31, 2024. (AP) 
A Ukrainian soldier guards his position while trucks with killed Russian soldiers driving to Russian territory, during repatriation in Sumy region, Ukraine, Friday, May 31, 2024. (AP) 
TT
TT

Ukrainian Official Denies Russian Troops Take Border Village in Northeast 

A Ukrainian soldier guards his position while trucks with killed Russian soldiers driving to Russian territory, during repatriation in Sumy region, Ukraine, Friday, May 31, 2024. (AP) 
A Ukrainian soldier guards his position while trucks with killed Russian soldiers driving to Russian territory, during repatriation in Sumy region, Ukraine, Friday, May 31, 2024. (AP) 

A local Ukrainian official on Monday denied a claim by the leader of Russia's Chechnya region that Russian forces led by a Chechen-based special forces unit had seized control of a border village in northeast Ukraine.

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said on Sunday the Akhmat-Chechnya unit spearheaded Russian troops in taking control of Ryzhivka in Sumy region.

The "large-scale planned advance" inflicted "significant losses on the Ukrainian side, which was forced to retreat," Kadyrov said.

However, Yuriy Zarko, a local official in Sumy, denied the presence of Russian troops in Ryzhivka on Monday in a comment to Ukrainian media outlet Suspilne.

Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Ukrainian government's Centre for Countering Disinformation, said on Telegram that Russian forces had tried to test Ukraine's defenses on the Ryzhivka front. Ukrainian forces are in control of the situation but the threat of Russian actions in the border area remains, he added.

Russia's Defense Ministry issued no statement on the action.

Ukraine's military has warned in recent weeks of a buildup of Russian forces around Sumy region in preparation for military action. A big Russian push in the northern region would stretch Ukraine's troops and open a new front in the war.

In May, Kadyrov said during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin that tens of thousands of his soldiers were prepared to fight for Russia in Ukraine and that some 43,500 troops had already served in Moscow's war against Ukraine.

Most Viewed

 
 
World

European Court Rules Against Greece over Migrant’s Illegal Deportation

FILE - Migrants walk to enter Greece from Türkiye by crossing the Maritsa river (Evros river in Greek) near the Pazarkule border gate in Edirne, Türkiye, March 1, 2020. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel, File)
FILE - Migrants walk to enter Greece from Türkiye by crossing the Maritsa river (Evros river in Greek) near the Pazarkule border gate in Edirne, Türkiye, March 1, 2020. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel, File)
TT
TT

European Court Rules Against Greece over Migrant’s Illegal Deportation

FILE - Migrants walk to enter Greece from Türkiye by crossing the Maritsa river (Evros river in Greek) near the Pazarkule border gate in Edirne, Türkiye, March 1, 2020. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel, File)
FILE - Migrants walk to enter Greece from Türkiye by crossing the Maritsa river (Evros river in Greek) near the Pazarkule border gate in Edirne, Türkiye, March 1, 2020. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel, File)

The European Court of Human Rights, in a landmark ruling Tuesday, found that Greece had illegally deported a woman back to neighboring Türkiye and described the use of summary expulsions or “pushbacks” as systematic.
The decision at the court in Strasbourg, France could impact how Europe handles migrants at its borders, at a time when Greece and several European Union member states are seeking tougher immigration controls, The Associated Press reported.
A Turkish woman — identified only by her initials A.R.E. — was awarded damages of 20,000 euros ($21,000) after the court ruled that she had been improperly expelled in 2019 after crossing the Greek-Turkish border, having been presented no opportunity to make an asylum claim.
“The court considered that there were strong indications to suggest that there had existed, at the time of the events alleged, a systematic practice of ‘pushbacks’ of third-country nationals by the Greek authorities, from the Evros region (on the Greek border) to Türkiye,” the decision said.
Citing a lack of evidence, the court rejected a second claim made by an Afghan man, who said he had been illegally returned to Türkiye from the Greek island of Samos in 2020 when he was 15.
Greek government representatives at the hearings had denied the allegations, challenging the authenticity of the evidence presented and arguing that Greece's border policies comply with international law.
The UN refugee agency has urged Greece to more thoroughly investigate multiple pushback allegations, while several major human rights groups have described the alleged irregular deportations as a systematic practice.
Greece’s National Transparency Authority, a publicly-funded corruption watchdog, said that it found no evidence to support the pushback allegations following a four-month investigation in 2022.
The European Court of Human Rights is an international court based in Strasbourg, France, that adjudicates human rights violations by 46 member states of the Council of Europe, a body older than the European Union and its predecessor, the European Economic Community.