Volunteers in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on Thursday set up a makeshift temporary refugee center for war victims who flocked there amid Russia’s ongoing attacks in the country.
The temporary shelter, located in a gym on the grounds of the Lviv University Veterinary School, went operational after just three hours of effort.
Fleeing the ongoing war in the capital Kyiv, Alexander Keedeesuk came to Lviv to take shelter at the center, which can host hundreds of people.
“We used to stay in an open area as part of the crowd. But now it’s divided into rooms. It became much more organized. This way we can be more comfortable,” Keedeesuk told Anadolu Agency.
“We get news of death every day. Our citizens are dying, our soldiers protecting us are dying. We used to be brothers with Russia. But they ended this brotherhood and became soldiers of the devil,” he said.
Only about 70 kilometers (43 miles) from the border of Poland, a NATO member, Lviv is seen by many as safer than the rest of the country, though an airport near Lviv has come under attack.
At least 977 civilians have been killed so far in Ukraine and 1,594 injured, according to UN estimates, while cautioning the true toll is likely much higher.
Over 3.6 million Ukrainians have also fled to neighboring countries, according to the UN refugee agency.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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Ex-lawmaker given death penalty for war crimes in Bangladesh
A Bangladeshi court on Thursday sentenced two elderly people to death for alleged crimes against humanity during the country’s independence war in 1971.
They include Abdul Khaleq Mandol, who is a district head for the opposition Jamat-e-Islami party and a former lawmaker, and Khan Rokonuzzaman, who is absconding.
A three-judge bench of the International Crimes Tribunal announced the verdict. The tribunal was set up in 2009 and has been criticized by global rights groups for not following fair-trial standards.
Matiur Rahman Akand, the lawyer representing the Jamat leader, said they will file an appeal in the high court against the verdict.
Mandol, a retired madrasa principal, was arrested in 2015. Later, he was charged with war crimes.
When the trial started in 2018, there were four accused, but two of them died due to old age and health-related complications.
Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan in 1971 after a months-long bloody war.
Source: Anadolu Agency