Pope Francis recently praised Russian historical figures in a speech to Russian youth. To members of Ukraine’s Greek Catholic community, these comments were deemed "painful" amid the ongoing war with Russia, and put a spotlight on their needs and concerns.
The western Ukrainian city of Lviv has become a center for internally displaced people who come to the city from all around Ukraine seeking medical care. Hospitals there are working in overdrive, providing care for kids injured as a result of Russian attacks.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that a lot of students are also going to class far from home, or online because of the war.
Lviv Mayor Andriy Ivanovych Sadovyi speaks to The World’s Daniel Ofman about how the city is preparing for a long winter ahead. Top concerns are housing for internally displaced people, sufficient fuel for heat and medical supplies.
Hundreds of thousands of displaced people have ended up in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, near the Polish border, where prefabricated homes have become a fast and affordable way for the city to house refugees.
Rent prices in the western city of Lviv have nearly quadrupled in some cases since the war began, making it very difficult for displaced people fleeing war to find stable, affordable housing.
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, medical workers have been concerned about the possibility of Russia using chemical agents against civilians. That hasn’t happened yet (none on official record) but a Syrian American nongovernmental organization is helping Ukrainian medical workers prepare for the worst.
In the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and on the east of the country, museums and churches have already been targeted as Moscow escalates its bombardment of civilian areas. Meanwhile, the residents of Lviv race to ensure their city does not suffer the same fate.
The western city of Lviv is regarded as one of the safest parts of Ukraine, at least for now. On the first day of the invasion, an airport 80 miles southeast to Lviv was bombed by Russian forces but no fighting has occurred in the city itself.
The conflict between Russia and Ukraine started more than seven years ago when Russia annexed the Ukrainian Crimean Peninsula. Now, the two countries are at war in eastern Ukraine. The so-called “frozen conflict” has heated up again. Fighting is escalating in eastern Ukraine despite a ceasefire, and there have been reports of military buildup in Crimea and on the Russian side of the border. Host Carol Hills speaks with Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, the commanding general of the US Army in Europe until 2017.
The Space of Synagogues memorial comes at a time when Ukraine attempts both to sort out its national identity and commemorate its Jewish past. Neither effort has been straightforward.