How Allied weapons strengthened Ukraine's defences

When the Russians began their invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Ukrainian military fought back with whatever equipment was at hand: Soviet-era aircraft, tanks, armoured vehicles and artillery, as well as a range of Western-supplied weapons such as Javelin anti-tank missiles. Within weeks, shipments of military support began arriving from Ukraine's allies, helping to steer a war that already seemed to be going badly for the Russian military anyway.

ReutersReuters reviews the most important types of weaponry the Allies have supplied to Ukraine since the war started and explains in depth, with detailed pictures, how they work and how they help the Ukrainian defence.

Dance like there's no tomorrow

Since the outbreak of the war, the underground music scene in major Ukrainian cities, such as Lviv and Kiev, has seen an increase in creativity and popularity, as musicians and music lovers seek an escape from the realities of war. The techno and rock music scenes in particular have launched a new generation of DJs and bands, infusing the sounds and experiences of war into their music. "Young people didn't appreciate music in the same way before the war," says Boghdan Sulanov, who works as a software developer and in his spare time plays with the heavy metal band YAD, which recently performed in an underground club in Lviv.

Take a journey into the world of underground music in wartime Ukraine, by British journalist Niels Adler, for Al Jazeera.

Why Bakhmut is so important for the future of Ukraine

In an interview with the US news agency The Associated Press, a two-night long sit-down, on a train he took around the country, President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that if his nation does not win the long battle for Bakhmut, a key city in the east of the country, Russia could start to gain international support for an agreement that could require Ukraine to make unacceptable compromises. If Bakhmut would fall to Russian forces, Vladimir Putin would "sell this victory to the West, to his society, to China, to Iran," Zelensky said. He also invited the leader of China, long time aligned with Russia, to visit.

A Japanese student graduated from university dressed as Zelensky

As a sign of solidarity with Ukraine, a Japanese student attended the university's graduation ceremony dressed as the Ukrainian president. Known as Amiki on Twitter, the student wore Zelensky's famous long-sleeved green T-shirt and even grew a beard in an attempt to imitate him. As part of his look, the graduate also carried signs with messages of support, as well as quotes from Zelensky's speech to the US Congress last December. Kyoto University allows its students to wear whatever they want to the graduation ceremony, and over the years graduates have dressed up as everything from Pokémon to Where's Wally and even Jesus Christ.

The war in Ukraine is a reminder of the EU's purpose

Despite the efforts of disingenuous nationalists such as Hungary's Viktor Orbán, European solidarity with the Ukrainian cause has been maintained through 10 rounds of tightening economic sanctions on Russia. At the same time, Ukrainian refugees have been welcomed everywhere, putting Britain's stingy and obstructive visa procedures to shame. Since the start of the war in Ukraine, the EU has also seen increased support from the majority of European citizens, and a recent poll shows that after Brexit, even Britons have come to trust the EU more than their own government and parliament. So the war in Ukraine is a reminder of what the EU's purpose really is, but also of the big challenges ahead, argues British historian Timothy Garton Ash, professor of European studies at Oxford, in an editorial published in The Guardian on Friday.

American and Canadian surgeons repair faces scarred by the war in Ukraine

Even in a country like Ukraine, with a sophisticated medical system and highly trained surgeons, a dedicated team was needed to deal with the scale of some of the injuries sustained by Ukrainian soldiers and civilians. American and Canadian surgeons repairing faces scarred by the war are part of the Face the Future Foundation team, launched in 1996 by Canadian doctor Peter Adamson. To be on the safe side, the surgeries were planned from Ivano-Frankivsk, a small town in western Ukraine, with doctors holding video sessions and exchanging X-rays and CT scans long before they arrived. The CNN correspondent in Ukraine documented one such case of surgery and told his story at length, in a report published a few days ago.

Putin should have no place to hide

While members of the International Criminal Court (ICC) have a legal obligation to bring Putin into custody, the enforcement of the warrant will be a source of immense political and possibly legal wrangling, says British lawyer Aarif Abraham, a member of Garden Court North Chambers and the Accountability Unit in London. Writing for politico.eu, the lawyer compares the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials, which prosecuted the leaders of the Axis powers after World War II, and outlines what he considers the most likely path to Putin's investigation and conviction.

Regional World Press Photo Award 2023

A series of 11 photos out of which the first four are from Ukraine.