In the torture rooms of #Kherson city the chairs were screwed into the floor, ankles of those electrocuted taped to the chair legs.
Who, where and how the Russians did this as described by the men sitting in those chairs.
Full investigation
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Paraic O'Brien
@paraicobrien
Foreign Correspondent
Paraic O'Brien’s posts
Yesterday, in recently liberated village of Mykhailivka, #Kherson, the remaining (mainly elderly) residents gave us fascinating insights into the sham referendum there at end of September.
Good morning. I’m in Salerno (south of Naples) to cover the funerals of the 26 Nigerian women (mainly teenagers) who drowned crossing Med on the 3rd Nov.
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Over last 2 days, we’ve traveled to villages in the Kherson region, which have been retaken by Ukrainian forces. We’ve drilled into stories of war crimes, some committed by convicts released from prison in the so called ‘Donetsk People Republic’, fighting with the Russians.
300+ people attended a demo against asylum seekers in hotels in Cannock, Staffordshire on Saturday.
Anatomy of an anti-asylum seekers demo….in 3 Acts.
Act 1: Local organisers Tracey & Caz explain why they organised demo.
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A couple of days after ‘referendum result’ the village was liberated!!
I’ve woke up in worst places.
Thank you seminarians at Holy Cross Cathedral, Uzhhorod, Ukraine for the hospitality.
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One of the elderly women asked
“Why the armed escort?”
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“In case we get attacked by a dog.”
Cue laughter.
I understand the interest in #titanicsub. Something to also think about:
The scene now at the tiny fishing harbour of El Lousa, #Tunisia. Boat capsized with 40 people. 11 drowned.
Bodies arriving into port.
Happening almost everyday.
Pictures to follow
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Valentyna and her friends told us it was farcical - an official wandering around the village with a ballot box accompanied by 2 Russian soldiers with automatic weapons
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The Irish activists/YouTubers stirring up anti-immigrant sentiment: channel4.com/news/how-onlin
PS the vast majority of people we spoke to in lovely #Longford have no truck with this
“I’ve more in common with Joe Bloggs who’s 23 on the Shankhill than ‘Sebastian Cockworth’ in Blackrock, Dublin who has loads of money, even though we’ve the same passport.” on Irish Unity
Couple of hundred demonstrators outside Brazilian embassy in London #AmazonFires
Took hours to get through border crossing from #Ukraine into Slovakia tonight. As we waited asked people (& parents) in the queue with us for a portrait. #whatrefugeeslooklike
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Act 2: Tracey & Caz explain that fascist group Patriotic Alternative have been supporting them with advice & social media, although they say they don’t know what PA stands for.
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“We’re hardly changing at all - if you do that you give in to it” #notDunkirkspirit
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On the 13th March in the village of Pryhir’ya. Pensioners, Ihor & Tetiana Tarasiuk were sheltering in the cellar behind their farmhouse. Russian soldiers shot Ihor then threw 2 grenades at his body in the cellar. Tetiana pretended to be dead.
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1st June - occupied Vysokopiliya, Serhiy & Svitlana Lanevich were murdered by the Russians. They’d cycled out of the occupied area to get medicines for them & their neighbours, then returned. Their family wanted story told but not all of it. Suffice to say, the horror had layers
I saw this incident. It was touch & go but then a group of older demonstrators surrounded this man and carried him over to the police and medics. What a picture. Dylan Martinez 👏
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A protester carries an injured counter-protester to safety during a Black Lives Matter demonstration in London. More photos as far-right and anti-racism protesters scuffle: reut.rs/3hpbR7M 
Dylan Martinez
Dylan Martinez
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That’s hardest bit of job, not so much reporting from active frontline but reporting from atrocities frontline. So, I salute this amazing team: & the men who made it all happen (not in pic) security Peter Griffin & driver Oleh Karasiov
All the words & TV reporting of the refugee crisis in a single photo. Humbled by
No one forgets a great teacher. Tonight we remember Lyudmila Semernya. Killed by shrapnel from a missile on the 4th March in #Mariupol
channel4.com/news/what-happ
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I’ve also spoken to a number of groups who are opposed to hotels accommodating migrants in their neighbourhoods (for a variety of reasons) who have no truck whatsoever with fascists.
Myself & ’s full report from Cannock
Yeva & Irina arrived in Dublin airport last night. Here they are with . Arrived safe & well with their new amazing host family, community & country. Thank you to everyone who offered to help. #YevasDiary #UkraineUnderAttack
Assaulted on Wednesday. Back doing his job on Thursday. = true grit (& his pictures are always full of heart).
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Act 3: Patriotic Alternative’s Sam Melia explains why they’re in Cannock
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Enormous gathering of London’s Irish (& friends) in support of the Murphy family outside now #AshlingMurphy
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announces “Book of Executioners" to collect evidence of war crimes. says 15,000+ war crimes committed since Feb 24th. We investigate 3 in retaken villages, Kherson region, some involving ‘DPR’ convicts fighting with Russians
Niloofar Ebrahim was due to graduate from Kingston University, London today at 10.30. She had just married Saeed Tahmasebi Khademasadi. They were both passengers on PS752.
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All of the testimony was doubled sourced (at least). We were free to talk to everyone in these villages. Sometimes we agreed with families not to broadcast all details - in order to preserve their dignity. But they were some of the worst atrocities myself & team have heard.
For many of my generation #SineadOConnor was like a bold, beautiful, big sister - blazing trails, taking the heat, making a fuss. The rest of us quietly followed in her slipstream. #RIPSinead
There were tears at the O’Briens tonight (much more than usual!). He’s taught me so much: you can do journalism with heart and still be fair & vigorous. We love you
The 2 coffins with the blue flowers are for 2 of the 26 women who were pregnant
Meet Abdul & Sarah.
He is the Muslim; Russia-born; mayor of a bombed out village in NE Ukraine (3 miles from Russian border).
She is the transgender; American; re-development worker helping him rebuild.
“We are Ukraine” Abdul told us.
Vladimir Putin’s head may explode.
On #Channel4News tonight myself & report on a group called ‘Alpha Men Assemble.’ They’ve been organising military style training exercises around Britain. Members believe that the Pandemic has been orchestrated to curtail people’s freedom.
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For those asking, our report about the handful of YouTubers stirring up the immigration debate in Ireland is on tonight’s
It includes the following meta-media moment: ‘MSM’ TV journo & activist YouTuber doorstepping each other!
This 29yr old is going in the opposite direction - back into Ukraine to fight
Can’t help but think that forced departure of Cressida Dick is part of a much bigger picture - as a society we are asking way too much of the police.
We’ve been sent a 25sec WhatsApp audio clip of a distress call from a position inside the SARS area of last night’s Channel crossing incident. The call is from a boatload of people to a local charity. In the audio you can hear children crying & people praying.
For East Galway bog-men & women everywhere ✊🏻🚜
(Especially those younger ones who want to be journalists but feel they don’t belong in the media - you do!)
Celebrating being shortlisted by for journalism about refugees & migration by going back to where I came from 😉 This auld fella unimpressed with the news. Didn’t have much time for journalists.
Sound of Survival: 1st few independent breaths coming off ventilator in #COVID19 ICU. Extubation is dangerous - patient basically coughs out a cloud of virus & still #Craigavon Area Hospital staff lean in! We spent 2 days there.
Getting lively outside Old Bailey after Stephen Yaxley Lennon found guilty of contempt of court
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All day long & into the night this woman has quietly been handing out food & water to refugees arriving in from Ukraine at the Ubl’a border crossing, Slovakia. By their fruits…not by their fanfare!
Hadia stared down the barrel of a Rapid Support Forces gun in #ElGeneina, #Sudan.
Escaped to #Chad
This is the moment she was reunited with her family - those who survived the killings:
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Just for record - Yeva & her grandmother, Irina chose Ireland (&EU) for now because they felt it would be the best/most straightforward option given that Irina doesn’t have her passport with her. #YevasDiary
So encouraged by chat with digital team just now - global audience still hungry for news on #Ukraine. Can’t remember a story with this level of sustained interest. Our team on the ground working hard not to let you down.
Yesterday, the perspective of those demonstrating outside asylum seekers hotels.
Today what it feels like from inside.
Najib was walking in a local park. A group of girls saw him coming & ran away, leaving their belongings behind…
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A first (for me at least). Lorry stopped by migrant barricade on #Calais motorway, set alight last night
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3/3 Senior source Arklow Shipping: “There was absolutely no pressure applied by the Irish government (to pull out of deal). I read about Jacob Rees-Mogg’s tweet this morning. But no. We’ve had no contact with anyone in the Irish government over this.”
Taking a sideways look at Irish visit tonight on #C4News with & the clientele of the Dublin pubs Joe Biden would have been least likely to visit!
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This is excellent 👇🏻
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9 mins on the untruths and distortions that Russia is spreading about 'Nazis' in Ukraine - including about the role of the Azov regiment of Ukraine’s National Guard. Produced by Mary Fuller, Michael Cox, Priyanka Deladia bbc.co.uk/news/world-605
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Picture = 1000 words. Polish police on beat, stop at Arek Jozwik floral tribute, Harlow #PolesinUK
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This is how Ukrainians look after a rag tag bunch of #channel4news journos……so imagine how they look after their own, who are in dire need. Covered my share of ‘refugee crises,’ never seen anything like this level of civic mobilisation to help those displaced.
A heartfelt word of thanks to the friends & colleagues who sent me a screen shot of the TV captions on my report on #c4news last night….
What can we learn about homelessness from the relationship rough sleepers have with their dogs? A lot. Trust me. The remarkable Andy (& Bailey) will explain on #C4News tonight. #outinthecold
Approaching scene like I've never seen before: 2 doubledeckers (1400 people approx), 2 wooden boats (600),multiple inflatables (?) & NGOs
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Finally got round to watching . One of the most beautiful films I’ve seen in years. Everything about it is near perfect - acting, writing, directing, cinematography, everything.
In the coming days we hope to bring you excerpts of Yeva’s journal. Written and spoken in Russian. The 12yr old refugee’s house was destroyed in Kharkiv by Russian shelling. She’s leaving #Ukraine with her grandmother. #YevasDiary : History but in real time.
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12yr old Yeva, from Kharkiv, reads from her war diary (in Russian). She’s written 80 pages in 10 days. Herself & her grandmother are in a refugee centre in Western Ukraine. #YevasDiary
A quiet night in Belfast - testament to (among others) the community/youth workers, police, clergymen & women out on the streets last night until the wee hours
2/3 Jemmy Gunnery was a docker in Dublin during the 60/70s. He had an heroic parallel life: used to rescue children who were being abused in the infamous Catholic Industrial Schools. He used to break them out & local mums would hide them!
Made a short film on tonight’s #c4news about some young Catholic’s vision of a United Ireland. It features controversial Republican rappers . If you feel a need to complain, by all means do but please also listen to what they’re actually saying (between the f%#*s)!
I first watched this film with a group of tough, ‘seen it all before’ journos. 5 minutes in, you could hear a pin drop. We hadn’t seen it all before! Turn over to #channel4
#forsamafilm
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If you want to know why this #Bangkok demonstrator is wearing a crop top and German flag headband tune in to #C4News this evening. Gilded King V Jilted Generation twitter.com/zenjournalist/
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So is it paramilitary cosplay? Just a chance to get together & vent? Or something else?
Either way, the Pandemic has disconnected us from each other in different ways. The danger for civic society is that for some, that disconnect becomes permanent & potent.
3/3 We’ve been working for some time on a short film telling Jemmy’s story. Tonight it’ll be broadcast on #c4news The story of a small working class neighbourhood in Dublin who stood up to institutional abuse, when no one else was. They were the resistance.
Just a few weeks ago we were reporting live from outside #Mauripol’s theatre. Can’t stop thinking about those we met in the city & environs.
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Then we met the Bishop who helped prepare dinner for us!
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There is an enormous rescue operation happening right now off the coast of Libya. Our boat: 300-400 people #sea4news In total: thousands
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1/5 We traveled with to deliver pensions to elderly residents of recently liberated Novomykolaivka, #Kherson region. 1st time they’d got them in 8 months. We met the remarkable Yulia Borukh👇🏻
Wanted to also share a few things I learned that aren’t in TV report.
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Sidebar - tonight’s TV report on about the refugee crisis & #YevasDiary will be brought to you because incredible journalists like will spend 2 hours editing it under a coat on a very hot evacuation train.
Very moving service at the Ukrainian Catholic Church, London to mark the anniversary of the invasion. The paper angels representing children who have been killed in the last 12 months in Ukraine
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Last night we stumbled across a small Greek Catholic church in the middle of nowhere (on the Slovakian/Ukraine border). The parish priest - a small, cigarette-smoking, powerhouse of a man invited us in….
Live music really does change the atmos at a demo. Downing St
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The stamina & resilience of this team kept us all going 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
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Thanks for the feedback on our report about the tragedy we saw unfold in #Tunisia today - a catastrophe, unfolding life by lost life everyday.
The report, if you missed it:
channel4.com/news/a-near-da
The tireless team who brought it to you:
Facebook, anonymous websites, mystery foreign interference....here we go again. Our Irish Abortion Referendum report from tonight’s #c4news youtu.be/n9lw7qwfX6g (Piggybacking on work of & )
Back stage at in Lodz, Poland. An impromptu rendition of Myroslav Skoryk’s ‘Melody’ by Ukrainian artists with himself as the audience. Music in a time of war - coming soon to
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In the msg a man says: “We’re in a boat & we have a problem. Please help. We have children and families in a boat. Water is coming in. We don’t have anything for this. For feeling safety. Please help me bro. Please. Please. We are in the water. We have a family.”
‘Refugee crises’ appear monolithic, they’re not, of course. 2 of the 1 million+ just arrived after 3 days from Kyiv. Sisters: Irina (with Nina the cat) and Christina.
2/3 Senior source Arklow Shipping: “We had nothing (in Seaborne). We hadn’t even finalised anything. The problem was politicians were pushing it all ahead of normal pace....absolutely nothing had been signed....it was being forced through by the UK government.”
This is Andy. He used to be a homeless, heroin addict. He’s still taking small steps in the right direction. His dog, Bailey, coaxed him off the edge - literally #outinthecold
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“He loves me unconditionally, I count my blessings every day.”
The loving bond this man has with his dog helped take him off the streets – and even saved his life.
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Looks like Yeva & Irina are going to Ireland! #YevasDiary
Students at sent her this.
Watched it with her now on evacuation train outa Ukraine. Chokes up.
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Dear @AsoRock could you confirm whether or not you had an Embassy representative at the funeral of the 26 Nigerian women in Salerno this morning? I can’t get an answer from Embassy staff. Thank you.
If you get a chance, watch our film from #InsideIdlib tonight on #c4news.
What happened to one Syrian family - #TheKhadbans - after an airstrike last week?
(There were, not ashamed to admit, a couple of ‘crying breaks’ during the edit)
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Her family told us that on Wednesday she got on a dinghy at a stretch of beach near Dunkirk. Her body was recovered that afternoon along with 26 others
We spent yesterday & today near frontline with Ukrainian soldiers. They included:
- a political chat show host
- married couple who are lawyers (Oxsana & Stanislav 👇🏻)
- their commander who is….Russian.
Our film will be on #C4News tomorrow. You won’t want to miss it
