Europe

Ukrainian judge hands down a sentence in the first war crimes trial in that conflict

8:14am May 23, 2022

The court gave a life sentence to a 21-year-old Russian army sergeant for shooting and killing an unarmed Ukrainian man during the first days of the war. Its the first war crimes trial of the war.

Russian Sgt. Vadim Shishimarin waits for the start of a court hearing in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Monday. Judges went on to sentence him to life in the first war crimes trial since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

World News

A Russian soldier is sentenced to life in prison in Ukraine's first war crimes trial

8:11am May 23, 2022

by Rachel Treisman

Vadim Shishimarin, 21, had pleaded guilty last week to shooting an unarmed Ukrainian man in late February. On Monday, a panel of judges in Kyiv sentenced him to life in prison.

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Health & Safety

News brief: Biden on Taiwan, monkeypox cases, Ukraine-Polish border

6:40am May 23, 2022

Biden was asked whether the U.S. would defend Taiwan militarily if China invades. Epidemiologists investigate suspected U.S. cases of monkeypox. Long lines form as refugees try to return to Ukraine.

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Millions of Ukrainians rushed to leave — the line to return home stretches for miles

5:10am May 23, 2022

by Ari Shapiro

NPR's Ari Shapiro visits a border crossing between Poland and Ukraine to chronicle the journeys of Ukrainians returning to their homeland.

Sports

WNBA Players' Association calls for White House to take action on Griner's release

5:08pm May 22, 2022

WNBA athlete Brittney Griner is still detained in Russia. NPR's Michel Martin speaks with Nneka Ogwumike, president of the WNBA Players' Association, about efforts to get Griner released.

Liev Schreiber co-founded the aid network BlueCheck Ukraine.

Liev Schreiber's family ties to Ukraine push him to help its people

5:08pm May 22, 2022

The actor speaks with NPR's Michel Martin about BlueCheck Ukraine, an aid network he co-founded, as well as his relationship with his grandfather.

Smoke rises after an attack on an oil refinery in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine on Sunday.

World News

Russia-Ukraine war: What happened this weekend (May 21-22)

5:03pm May 22, 2022

by NPR Staff

A roundup of key developments and the latest in-depth coverage of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

World News

Russia intends to annex Kherson in southern Ukraine

8:12am May 22, 2022

by Frank Langfitt

Russians have occupied Kherson in southern Ukraine since the early days of the invasion, and are trying to turn it into a Russian city.

To fend off food insecurity, Ukrainians look to their own backyards

5:13pm May 21, 2022

by Anya Kamenetz

One in 3 Ukrainians are now food insecure, and the war could bring a food crisis all over the world. One thing that can help? Planting backyard gardens.

A view of the business tower Lakhta Centre, the headquarters of Russian gas monopoly Gazprom in St. Petersburg, Russia, on April 27. Russia has halted natural gas exports to neighboring Finland.

World News

Russia has cut off its natural gas exports to Finland in a symbolic move

12:58pm May 21, 2022

by The Associated Press

The move came just days after the Nordic country announced it wanted to join NATO and marked a likely end to Finland's nearly 50 years of importing natural gas from Russia.