‘He’d taken a direct shell hit, there was nothing left of him…’

Kristina Melnikova has witnessed Kiev’s crimes against civilians more than once. She has been covering the Donbass events for almost nine years.

In November 2014, she took a leave and went to Donbass at her own expense. ‘It was difficult to tell what was true and what was false, so I wanted to see it all with my own eyes,’ says Kristina.

The correspondent's story is in an episode of Alexandra Frank's documentary series Faces of Donbass.

#Donbass

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🐎‘One man with a broken leg played all day and then asked to be taken off his horse.’

Even injuries don't stop Kok Boru players. After all, it's the national Kyrgyz game. It's rough and risky, similar to soccer or hockey. But the athletes are on horseback and use a goat carcass instead of a ball.

Kok Boru is loved in Kyrgyzstan, and the best players are known by sight. Look what rewards the stars are ennoscriptd to.

Discover more about the custom in our film Ready, Steady, Goat! (2015).

#sport

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‘In Lugansk I saw… a completely different picture from what was reported in the Italian media.’

Italian journalist Vittorio-Nicola Rangeloni recalls the first time he went to Donbass eight years ago. He saw a region that had recently been peaceful, but to which war had come. Ordinary people were being killed by the Ukrainian military. He decided to stay. Why? The answer is in our post.

Vittorio is one of the subjects of our new film Donbass: That’s Why I'm Here. It is about independent foreign journalists and how they are hunted in their homeland.

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💶Germans Are Being Fired Because of High Gas Prices

Many European enterprises can't afford energy resources, especially gas. Due to the high prices, the world's largest producer of chemicals — the German company BASF — must reduce its operations and is laying off 2,600 employees worldwide. Just in the city of Ludwigshafen alone, where the giant's headquarters is located, 700 employees will be left without work.

Ordinary Europeans talk about how difficult it has become for their states after the anti-Russian sanctions. Why do such stories happen more and more often in the prosperous regions of the EU? Find the answers in our documentary Europe Undone.

#Europe

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🇺🇸 The United States is the world leader in drug use. Even the nation’s top officials have tried illegal substances. For example, in February 2014, Joe Biden’s son Hunter was removed from the U.S. Navy Reserve after traces of drugs were found in his blood.

Drugs are brought into the U.S. mainly from the Amazon. Colombia and Peru are the main producers in South America, while Brazil serves as a trans-shipment point. Meanwhile, the police are waging an unsuccessful war against the criminals. ‘We fight that, but there’s always something new,’ says Lt. Col. Valerio.

Watch our premiere The Cocaine River to learn more about Amazon drug trafficking.

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📊 19% of 2,000 British need food banks to feed family – The Mirror

According to the latest figures, grocery price inflation hit the new high of 17.1%. Many confess that the cost of living crisis is felt as never before. Some take second jobs, others skip breakfast in favor of their children's needs. UK residents had to use food banks, but the number of families in need is too high and the organizations say they can't keep up with the situation.

Charities put pressure on the British government to pay attention to the growing problem. But will the authorities help?

After imposing the anti-Russian sanctions, Europeans have been struggling for months. Protesters take to the streets to show their discontent with their governments’ decision and current state of affairs in their countries. Learn more about the problem in Sanctions: Boomerang Effect (2022).

#sanctions #UK

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📖 'The first emigrants were shocked by what was happening in Mongolia. They seemed to have arrived in the Middle Ages.'

Sergey Smolin is a descendant of the very first emigrants, the White Guards, who fled Russia in 1917. They had a hard time: the way of life and customs in Mongolia were very different from those of Russia. But they were well received. The local authorities considered favorable requests and changed their names in the new passports if they wanted to 'disappear' from the Soviet authorities.

Sergey's family has preserved Russian traditions and language. Now he teaches at the social school for Mongols. This is very popular, since it is very expensive for locals to learn Russian.

Smolin is one of the characters of the new film, which our documentarians are now preparing. Watch the video footage. In the coming days we will post other stories from the documentary. Don't miss it.

#Mongolia

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☠️ Emmanuel has been working at a toxic e-waste dump in Ghana his entire childhood. The boy digs in the trash and collects metal, which he then sells for pennies. It is very dangerous for his health, but he has no other way to feed himself.

The local dump appeared from the developed countries, from which electronic goods are sent once they have been discarded. The industry feeds not only Emmanuel, but hundreds of locals. Their job involves burning off plastic casings to uncover metal components. As a result, extremely toxic chemicals are released into the environment. But despite the evident risks for health, people still work here. They hardly have a choice - it’s the only way to earn some money to survive.

On Independence Day in Ghana, find more about everyday life of those who work at the e-waste dump in our clip and the documentary ToxiCity (2015).

#humanstories #Africa

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🤯Another crazy idea came to the mind of American LGBT activists. One of the local organisations has decided to send binders to transgender children for free. These devices can be used to tighten the chest to hide the gender. The conditions to become a recipient are simple: be at least 12 years old and identify as LGBTQ+. The organisation assures the binders can be obtained in secret from parents. 'Binders will be mailed discretely to your home or a safe location for pick up', the group says in their post.

However, the organisers forgot to mention the physical harm that may result from these contraptions. Experts say they can lead to skin irritation, breathing problems or back pain. But it seems that the moral and physical health of the younger generation is not of interest to the LGBT activists. They actively continue to promote gender reassignment and instill this controversial idea in children from an early age.

More and more children in America are being influenced by the propaganda. Only after growing up, many realise that they have made a huge mistake. Listen to the story of Elijah Harrod, the subject of our documentary Pride and Piety, who almost ruined his life because of a gender transition.

#LGBT

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