KOBZARTSI, Ukraine: Hundreds of cemeteries near front lines will be closed to Ukrainians wanting to pay their respects at graves of their relatives for Orthodox Easter this weekend, as officials fear the danger of land mines and unexploded ordnance.
But in the formerly Russian-occupied village of Kobzartsi in the southwest Mykolaiv region, residents say they are hugely grateful that demining officers have been able to clear one of the two local cemeteries of hazards to allow them to visit.
“Thank God that (deminers) came through here. We will visit (the cemetery) as usual, and we will celebrate Easter. Thank God we are alive, this is most important,” said Olena Yarova, a 46-year-old villager.
Many Ukrainians visit the graves of their loved ones around Easter to pay their respects and tidy up the graves.
Only 42 people remain in Kobzartsi out of 1,200 who lived there before Russia invaded in February 2022. Fighting has littered Ukraine with an appalling amount of dangerous war detritus.
The head of the demining unit in Kobzartsi said they had found munitions and debris on the ground.
“If it goes off nearby, there is a 100 percent possibility of shrapnel wounds. In 90 percent of such cases a person dies after being hit with such munitions,” said Vladyslav Hrytsai, the officer.
The second cemetery was not demined and 74-year-old Lidiia Osypenko said: “We will go only after the deminers. We will not go without them. It is dangerous to go just like this.”
The village was liberated after months of occupation in November when Ukrainian forces recaptured a swathe of the Kherson region, which was taken shortly after the start of Russia’s invasion.
The governor of Kherson region, tracts of which remain occupied, has declared a ban on cemetery visits for Easter this year. In the northeastern Kharkiv region, back in Ukrainian hands after a partial Russian occupation, 753 cemeteries have been closed.
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Frontline cemeteries shut to Ukrainians for Easter over dangerous war debris
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Frontline cemeteries shut to Ukrainians for Easter over dangerous war debris
- Many Ukrainians visit the graves of their loved ones around Easter to pay their respects and tidy up the graves
- Only 42 people remain in Kobzartsi out of 1,200 who lived there before Russia invaded in February 2022
Rubio warns Iraq on Iran ties as Al-Maliki sets return
WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Iraq on Sunday against a pro-Iranian government as the expected return of Nouri Al-Maliki as prime minister stirs Washington’s concern.
Maliki, who left power in 2014 following heated pressure from the United States, has been chosen by Iraq’s largest Shiite bloc, which would put him in line to be nominated prime minister.
Rubio, in a telephone call with incumbent Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, voiced hope the next government will work to make Iraq “a force for stability, prosperity and security in the Middle East.”
“The secretary emphasized that a government controlled by Iran cannot successfully put Iraq’s own interests first, keep Iraq out of regional conflicts or advance the mutually beneficial partnership between the United States and Iraq,” Rubio said, according to State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott.
A pro-Iranian government in Iraq would be a rare boon for Tehran’s clerical state after it suffered major setbacks at home and in the region.
The Islamic republic has killed thousands of Iranians since mass protests erupted in late December.
Since the October 7, 2023 attacks, Israel has hit Iran both with strikes inside the country and heavy blows against Tehran’s Lebanese ally Hezbollah, while Iran lost its main Arab ally with the fall of Bashar Assad in Syria.
An Iraqi political source told AFP that the United States had conveyed that it “holds a negative view of previous governments led by former prime minister Maliki.”
In a letter, US representatives said that while the selection of the prime minister is an Iraqi decision, “the United States will make its own sovereign decisions regarding the next government in line with American interests.”
The United States wields key leverage over Iraq as the country’s oil export revenue is largely held at the Federal Reserve Bank in New York, in an arrangement reached after the 2003 US invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
Chief among US demands is that Iraq prevent a resurgence of Shiite armed groups backed by Iran. Sudani, who took office in 2022, has won US confidence through his delicate efforts to curb violence by the groups.
Maliki initially took office in 2006 with support of the United States as he strongly backed US military efforts against Al-Qaeda in Iraq and other Sunni militants.
But the United States eventually soured on Maliki, believing he pushed an excessively sectarian agenda that helped give rise to the Islamic State extremist movement.
Iraq’s parliament meets Tuesday to elect a new president, who holds a largely ceremonial role but will appoint a prime minister.
Maliki, who left power in 2014 following heated pressure from the United States, has been chosen by Iraq’s largest Shiite bloc, which would put him in line to be nominated prime minister.
Rubio, in a telephone call with incumbent Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, voiced hope the next government will work to make Iraq “a force for stability, prosperity and security in the Middle East.”
“The secretary emphasized that a government controlled by Iran cannot successfully put Iraq’s own interests first, keep Iraq out of regional conflicts or advance the mutually beneficial partnership between the United States and Iraq,” Rubio said, according to State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott.
A pro-Iranian government in Iraq would be a rare boon for Tehran’s clerical state after it suffered major setbacks at home and in the region.
The Islamic republic has killed thousands of Iranians since mass protests erupted in late December.
Since the October 7, 2023 attacks, Israel has hit Iran both with strikes inside the country and heavy blows against Tehran’s Lebanese ally Hezbollah, while Iran lost its main Arab ally with the fall of Bashar Assad in Syria.
An Iraqi political source told AFP that the United States had conveyed that it “holds a negative view of previous governments led by former prime minister Maliki.”
In a letter, US representatives said that while the selection of the prime minister is an Iraqi decision, “the United States will make its own sovereign decisions regarding the next government in line with American interests.”
The United States wields key leverage over Iraq as the country’s oil export revenue is largely held at the Federal Reserve Bank in New York, in an arrangement reached after the 2003 US invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
Chief among US demands is that Iraq prevent a resurgence of Shiite armed groups backed by Iran. Sudani, who took office in 2022, has won US confidence through his delicate efforts to curb violence by the groups.
Maliki initially took office in 2006 with support of the United States as he strongly backed US military efforts against Al-Qaeda in Iraq and other Sunni militants.
But the United States eventually soured on Maliki, believing he pushed an excessively sectarian agenda that helped give rise to the Islamic State extremist movement.
Iraq’s parliament meets Tuesday to elect a new president, who holds a largely ceremonial role but will appoint a prime minister.
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