OSLO, NORWAY — Finnish police said on Sunday they had found tracks that drag on for dozens of kilometers along the bottom of the Baltic Sea where a tanker carrying Russian oil is suspected of breaking a power line and four telecoms cables with its anchor. 

The Cook Islands-registered Eagle S was boarded by Finnish police and coast guard officials on Thursday and sailed into Finnish waters where the crew of the impounded tanker is being questioned. 

Baltic Sea nations have been on high alert after a string of outages of power cables, telecom links and gas pipelines since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. NATO said on Friday it would boost its presence in the region. 

A break in the 658 megawatt (MW) Estlink 2 power cable between Finland and Estonia occurred at midday on Wednesday, leaving only the 358 MW Estlink 1 linking the two countries, grid operators said. They said Estlink 2 might not be back in service before August. 

Finnish police suspect the Eagle S caused the damage by dragging its anchor along the seabed. 

Investigators have identified a “dragging track” but have yet to find a missing anchor, Sami Paila, tactical leader and detective chief inspector of Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation, said in a statement. 

“The track is dozens of kilometers in length,” Paila said. 

Photos taken of the Eagle S on Friday showed the vessel missing its port side anchor. 

Finland’s customs service believes the ship is part of a “shadow fleet” of aging tankers being used to evade sanctions on exports of Russian oil. 

The Kremlin said on Friday that Finland’s seizure of the ship was of little concern to it. 

Russia has denied involvement in any of the previous Baltic infrastructure damage incidents. 
…

As harsh winter weather descends on Ukraine, UNICEF and other aid organizations are helping communities in eastern Ukraine’s Kharkiv region prepare for the cold season. Many locals have lost jobs and reliable income sources because of the war and cannot afford heating. Among them is the Malakey family, whose two children have disabilities. Anna Kosstutschenko has the story. VOA footage and video editing by Pavel Suhodolskiy.
…

Paris — At least three migrants died early Sunday while attempting to cross the English Channel to Britain from northern France, authorities said. The deaths were confirmed after an early morning rescue operation involving French emergency services and the navy’s “Dauphin” helicopter. 

Around 50 people were stranded in the water and on the beach near Sangatte at around 6 a.m., according to the regional prefecture. Rescuers assisted 45 individuals, including four who were transported to hospitals. 

Three unconscious people were pulled from the water but could not be revived, despite efforts by medical teams. 

An investigation has been opened by prosecutors in Boulogne-sur-Mer. 

Jacques Billant, the prefect of Pas-de-Calais, said an overcrowded boat may have contributed to the tragedy. 

“There were more people attempting to board than the boat could hold,” he said during a press conference Sunday. 

Sunday’s tragedy comes during a spike in Channel crossing attempts as 2024 draws to a close. Officials have noted a significant increase in attempted crossings over the past days. 

“Since Dec. 24, 23 maritime incidents have been thwarted by internal security forces, saving over 1,000 lives,” said Billant. “But crossing attempts continue, despite extremely dangerous sea conditions. The water is icy, so survival time in the water is very short.” 

This year has been one of the deadliest for migrants attempting the perilous journey between France and England, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, with at least 76 deaths reported by officials. 

Billant blamed human traffickers for putting lives at risk. 

“These are low-quality boats put into the water solely for profit by these criminal networks, which have no regard for the lives of these children, women and men,” he said. 

In November, a French court convicted 18 people in a migrant-smuggling trial that shed light on the lucrative but often deadly clandestine business of transporting people across the English Channel. 

Despite French and British efforts to stop it, the route remains a major smuggling corridor for people fleeing conflict or poverty. Migrants favor the U.K. for reasons of language, family ties or perceived easier access to asylum and work. 

 
…

ZAGREB — Croatia’s left-leaning president, an outspoken critic of Western military support for Ukraine in its war against Russia, is running for reelection in the Adriatic Sea state, but is unlikely to get an outright majority in the first round of voting Sunday.

President Zoran Milanović, who is often compared to Donald Trump for his combative style of communication with political opponents, faces seven other contenders, including Dragan Primorac, the candidate of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union.

The two are expected to face off in the second round on Jan. 12 if no contender gets more than 50% of the vote, according to pre-election polls.

The most popular politician in Croatia, 58-year-old Milanović had served as prime minister in the past. Populist in style, Milanovic has been a fierce critic of current Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and continuous sparring between the two has lately marked Croatia’s political scene.

“Since the election silence is still on, I just want to call on people to get out and vote. To support me,” Milanović said after he voted Sunday. He predicted there would be a second round in two weeks.

Plenković, the prime minister, has sought to portray the vote as one about Croatia’s future in the EU and NATO. He has labeled Milanović “pro-Russian” and a threat to Croatia’s international standing.

“The difference between him and Milanović is quite simple: Milanović is leading us East, Primorac is leading us West,” he said.

Though the presidency is largely ceremonial in Croatia, an elected president holds political authority and acts as the supreme commander of the military.

Milanović has criticized the NATO and European Union support for Ukraine and has often insisted that Croatia should not take sides. He has said Croatia should stay away from global disputes, though it is a member of both NATO and the EU.

Milanović has also blocked Croatia’s participation in a NATO-led training mission for Ukraine, declaring that “no Croatian soldier will take part in somebody else’s war.”

His main rival in the election, Primorac, has stated that “Croatia’s place is in the West, not the East.” His presidency bid, however, has been marred by a high-level corruption case that landed Croatia’s health minister in jail last month and which featured prominently in pre-election debates.

During the election campaign, Primorac has sought to portray himself as a unifier and Milanović as divisive.

“Today is an extremely important day,” Primorac said after casting his ballot. “Croatia is going forward into the future. Croatia needs unity, Croatia needs its global positioning, and above all Croatia needs peaceful life.”

Trailing a distant third in the pre-election polls is Marija Selak Raspudić, a conservative independent candidate. She has focused her election campaign on the economic troubles of ordinary citizens, corruption and issues such as population decline in the country of some 3.8 million.

Sunday’s presidential election is Croatia’s third vote this year, following a snap parliamentary election in April and the European Parliament balloting in June.
…

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev said Sunday that the Azerbaijani airliner that crashed last week was shot down by Russia, albeit unintentionally, and criticized Moscow for trying to “hush up” the issue for days.

“We can say with complete clarity that the plane was shot down by Russia. […] We are not saying that it was done intentionally, but it was done,” he told Azerbaijani state television.

Aliyev said that the airliner, which crashed Wednesday in Kazakhstan, was hit by fire from the ground over Russia and “rendered uncontrollable by electronic warfare.” Aliyev accused Russia of trying to “hush up” the issue for several days, saying he was “upset and surprised” by versions of events put forward by Russian officials.

“Unfortunately, for the first three days we heard nothing from Russia except delirious versions,” he said.

The crash killed 38 of 67 people on board. The Kremlin said that air defense systems were firing near Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, where the plane attempted to land, to deflect a Ukrainian drone strike.

Aliyev said Azerbaijan made three demands to Russia in connection with the crash.

“First, the Russian side must apologize to Azerbaijan. Second, it must admit its guilt. Third, punish the guilty, bring them to criminal responsibility and pay compensation to the Azerbaijani state, the injured passengers and crew members,” he said.

Aliyev noted that the first demand was “already fulfilled” when Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to him on Saturday. Putin called the crash a “tragic incident” though stopped short of acknowledging Moscow’s responsibility.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state media on Sunday that Putin had spoken to Aliyev over the phone again, but did not provide details of the conversation.

The Kremlin also said a joint investigation by Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan has begun at the crash site near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan. The plane was flying from Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, to Grozny when it turned toward Kazakhstan, hundreds of kilometers (miles) across the Caspian Sea from its intended destination, and crashed while making an attempt to land.

Passengers and crew who survived the crash told Azerbaijani media that they heard loud noises on the aircraft as it was circling over Grozny.

Dmitry Yadrov, head of Russia’s civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia, said Friday that as the plane was preparing to land in Grozny in deep fog, Ukrainian drones were targeting the city, prompting authorities to close the area to air traffic.

The crash is the second deadly civil aviation accident linked to fighting in Ukraine. Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was downed with a Russian surface-to-air missile, killing all 298 people aboard, as it flew over the area in eastern Ukraine controlled by Moscow-backed separatists in 2014.

Russia has denied responsibility, but a Dutch court in 2022 convicted two Russians and a pro-Russia Ukrainian man for their role in downing the plane with an air defense system brought into Ukraine from a Russian military base.

 
…

LONDON — The U.K. will end a tax exemption for private schools Wednesday, the center-left Labour government has announced, in a move set to raise over £1.5 billion ($1.9 billion) for public education.

After years of worsening educational inequalities, from Jan. 1, private schools will have to pay 20% value added tax on tuition fees, which will be used to fund thousands of new teachers and improve standards in state schools.

“It’s time things are done differently,” finance minister Rachel Reeves said in a statement Sunday.

The funding will “go towards our state schools where 94% of this country’s children are educated,” she said.

The policy was promised by Labour in its election campaign and officially laid out in its inaugural budget in October.

It hopes the move will bring in $1.9 billion for the 2025-2026 school year and rise to $2.1 billion a year by 2029-30, which will be used to fund 6,500 new teachers in the public sector.

Tuition fees in private schools already average $22,600 a year, according to the Independent Schools Council, which represents private schools.

That figure is set to rise, with the government estimating that tuition fees will increase by around 10%, with schools taking on part of the additional cost.

“High and rising standards cannot just be for families who can afford them,” said education secretary Bridget Phillipson.

Opponents of the reform say state school enrolment will explode if the private sector is lost, increasing the cost to the government.

But studies contradict this.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies calculated that the number of children in state schools will actually fall by 2030 due to a projected population decline.

Several research centers also point out that the disparity between private and state schools widened sharply under the 14-year Conservative rule.

The Labour government won a landslide election in July promising to boost economic growth and improve public services.
…

TALLINN, ESTONIA — Belarus’ authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko pardoned 20 more people that rights activists describe as political prisoners, a statement on the president’s website said Saturday. 

The announcement came amid persistent oppression in the run-up to presidential elections next month that are likely to extend Lukashenko’s decadeslong rule. 

Belarusian officials did not provide the names of those released, but the statement posted on the website of the president said that all of them had been convicted of “crimes of an extremist nature.” 

The statement said the group included 11 women and 14 of those pardoned suffered from chronic illnesses. 

“All of those released repented for their actions and appealed to the head of state to be pardoned,” the presidential administration said in a statement, using wording familiar from a series of previous group pardons in the past six months. 

Saturday’s announcement marks the eighth such pardon by Lukashenko since the summer of 2024. In all, 207 political prisoners have been freed, according to Belarus’ oldest and most established human rights group, Viasna. 

Most were jailed following mass anti-government protests in 2020, when Lukashenko secured his sixth term in a vote widely condemned as fraudulent. 

According to Viasna, over 1,250 political prisoners remain behind bars. No prominent opposition figures, many of whom have not been heard from for months on end, have been released. 

They include Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Viasna founder Ales Bialiatski; Siarhei Tsikhanouski, who planned to challenge Lukashenko at the ballot box in 2020 but was jailed before the vote; and Viktar Babaryka, who was also imprisoned after gaining popularity before the election. 

The mass pardons come amid a new wave of repression, said Viasna activist Pavel Sapelka, as Minsk prepares to hold new presidential elections in January 2025 that are likely to hand Lukashenko a seventh term in office. 

“Lukashenko is sending contradictory signals (to the West), pardoning some but jailing twice as many political prisoners in their place,” Sapelka said. “Repression is intensifying, and authorities are trying to root out any signs of dissent before the January elections.” 

Belarusian authorities engineer harsh conditions for political prisoners, denying them meetings with lawyers and relatives, and depriving them of medical care. At least seven political prisoners have died behind bars since 2020, according to Viasna. 

Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus with an iron fist for more than 30 years, is one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest allies, allowing Russia to use his country’s territory to send troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and to deploy some of its tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. 
…

ROME — Efforts to release Italian journalist Cecilia Sala from prison in Iran are “complicated,” Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Saturday. 

Sala was detained on December 19 by police in Tehran and is being held in the city’s notorious Evin prison, according to her employer. 

“We are trying to resolve a complicated issue and to ensure in the meantime that Cecilia Sala is detained in the best possible conditions,” Tajani said. 

Asked when she might be released, he said “I hope shortly, but it does not depend on us.” 

“She is obviously detained, which is not ideal, but she is fed and in a single cell,” he said. 

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s office said she was “following the complex affair” closely, and Rome was pursuing “all possible avenues of dialogue” to bring Sala home “as soon as possible.” 

Chora Media, an Italian podcast publisher for which Sala worked, said she had traveled from Rome to Iran on December 12 on a journalist visa, and was due to return on December 20. 

But she went quiet on December 19 and then did not board her flight. Shortly afterwards she called her mother to say she had been arrested, it said. 

“She was taken to Evin prison, where dissidents are held, and the reason for her arrest has not yet been formalized,” Chora Media said in a statement Friday. 

Sala also worked for Italian newspaper Il Foglio, which said she had been in Iran “to report on a country she knows and loves.” 

“Journalism is not a crime, even in countries that repress all freedoms, including those of the press. Bring her home,” it said. 

Sala, reported to be 29 years old, last posted on X on December 17, with a link to a podcast entitled “A conversation on patriarchy in Tehran.” 

She had previously reported from Ukraine. 
…

LONDON — Olivia Hussey, the actor who starred as a teenage Juliet in the 1968 film “Romeo and Juliet,” has died, her family said on social media Saturday. She was 73. 

Hussey died on Friday, “peacefully at home surrounded by her loved ones,” a statement posted to her Instagram account said. 

Hussey was 15 when director Franco Zeffirelli cast her in his adaptation of the William Shakespeare tragedy after spotting her onstage in the play “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie,” which also starred Vanessa Redgrave. 

“Romeo and Juliet” won two Oscars and Hussey won a Golden Globe for best new actress for her part as Juliet, opposite British actor Leonard Whiting, who was 16 at the time. 

Decades later, Hussey and Whiting brought a lawsuit against Paramount Pictures alleging sexual abuse, sexual harassment and fraud over nude scenes in the film. 

They alleged that they were initially told they would wear flesh-colored undergarments in a bedroom scene, but on the day of the shoot Zeffirelli told the pair they would wear only body makeup, and that the camera would be positioned in a way that would not show nudity. They alleged they were filmed in the nude without their knowledge. 

The case was dismissed by a Los Angeles County judge in 2023, who found their depiction could not be considered child pornography and the pair filed their claim too late. 

Whiting was among those paying tribute to Hussey on Saturday. “Rest now my beautiful Juliet no injustices can hurt you now. And the world will remember your beauty inside and out forever,” he wrote. 

Hussey was born on April 17, 1951, in Bueno Aires, Argentina, and moved to London as a child. She studied at the Italia Conti Academy drama school. 

She also starred as Mary, the mother of Jesus, in the 1977 television series “Jesus of Nazareth,” as well as in the 1978 adaptation of Agatha Christie’s “Death on the Nile” and horror movies “Black Christmas” and “Psycho IV: The Beginning.” 

She is survived by her husband, David Glen Eisley, her three children and a grandson. 
…

KYIV, UKRAINE — Five months after their shock offensive into Russia, Ukrainian troops are bloodied and demoralized by the rising risk of defeat in Kursk, a region some want to hold at all costs while others question the value of having gone in at all. 

Battles are so intense that some Ukrainian commanders can’t evacuate the dead. Communication lags and poorly timed tactics have cost lives, and troops have little way to counterattack, seven frontline soldiers and commanders told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity so they could discuss sensitive operations. 

Since being caught unaware by the lightning Ukrainian incursion, Russia has amassed more than 50,000 troops in the region, including some from its ally North Korea. Precise numbers are hard to obtain, but Moscow’s counterattack has killed and wounded thousands and the overstretched Ukrainians have lost more than 40% of the 984 square kilometers of Kursk they seized in August. 

Its full-scale invasion three years ago left Russia holding a fifth of Ukraine, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has hinted that he hopes controlling Kursk will help force Moscow to negotiate an end to the war. But five Ukrainian and Western officials in Kyiv who spoke on condition of anonymity to freely discuss sensitive military matters said they fear gambling on Kursk will weaken the whole 1,000-kilometer front line, and Ukraine is losing precious ground in the east. 

“We have, as they say, hit a hornet’s nest. We have stirred up another hot spot,” said Stepan Lutsiv, a major in the 95th Airborne Assault Brigade. 

Border raid turned occupation 

Army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi has said that Ukraine launched the operation because officials thought Russia was about to launch a new attack on northeast Ukraine. 

It began on August 5 with an order to leave Ukraine’s Sumy region for what they thought would be a nine-day raid to stun the enemy. It became an occupation that Ukrainians welcomed as their smaller country gained leverage and embarrassed Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

Gathering his men, one company commander told them: “We’re making history; the whole world will know about us because this hasn’t been done since World War II. 

Privately, he was less certain. 

“It seemed crazy,” he said. “I didn’t understand why.” 

Shocked by the success achieved largely because the Russians were caught by surprise, the Ukrainians were ordered to advance beyond the original mission to the town of Korenevo, 25 kilometers into Russia. That was one of the first places where Russian troops counterattacked. 

By early November the Russians began regaining territory rapidly. Once in awe of what they accomplished, troops’ opinions are now shifting as they come to terms with losses. The company commander said half of his troops were dead or wounded. 

Some frontline commanders said conditions are tough, morale is low, and troops are questioning command decisions, even the very purpose of occupying Kursk. 

Another commander said that some orders his men have received don’t reflect reality because of delays in communication. Delays occur especially when territory is lost to Russian troops, he said. 

“They don’t understand where our side is, where the enemy is, what’s under our control, and what isn’t,” he said. “They don’t understand the operational situation, we so act at our own discretion.” 

One platoon commander said higher-ups have repeatedly turned down his requests to change his unit’s defensive position because he knows his men can’t hold the line. 

“Those people who stand until the end are ending up MIA,” he said. He said he also knows of at least 20 Ukrainian soldiers whose bodies had been abandoned over the last four months because the battles were too intense to evacuate them without more casualties. 

Russia doubles down 

 

Ukrainian soldiers said they were not prepared for the aggressive Russian response in Kursk, and cannot counterattack or pull back. 

“There’s no other option. We’ll fight here because if we just pull back to our borders, they won’t stop; they’ll keep advancing,” said one drone unit commander. 

Ukraine’s General Staff told The Associated Press in a written response to questions that Ukrainian combat units are inflicting losses to Russian personnel and military equipment on a daily basis, and they are provided with “everything necessary” to carry out combat duties. 

“Troops are managed in accordance to situational awareness and operational information, taking into the account the operational situation in areas where tasks are performed,” the response said. 

American longer-range weapons have slowed the Russian advance and North Korean soldiers who joined the fighting last month are easy targets for drones and artillery because they lack combat discipline and often move in large groups in the open, Ukrainian troops said. 

On Monday, Zelenskyy said 3,000 North Korean soldiers had been killed and wounded. But they appear to be learning from their mistakes, soldiers added, by becoming more adept at camouflaging near forested lines. 

One clash took place last week near Vorontsovo tract, a forested area between the settlements of Kremenne and Vorontsovo. 

Until last week, the area was under Ukraine’s control. This week part of it has been lost to Russian forces and Ukrainian troops fear they will reach a crucial logistics route. 

Eyeing frontline losses in the eastern region known as the Donbas — where Russia is closing on a crucial supply hub — some soldiers are more vocal about whether Kursk has been worth it. 

“All the military can think about now is that Donbas has simply been sold,” the platoon commander said. “At what price?”
…

As Russia’s war against Ukraine enters its third year, centers focused on soldiers’ rehabilitation and mental health are appearing across Ukraine. An active serviceman started one such place in his native village in the Carpathian Mountains. Omelyan Oshchudlyak has the story. Videographer and video editor: Yuriy Dankevych
…