A pro-Russian politician who was a Ukrainian MP, Oleg Tsaryov, is in intensive care in a gun attack.

The former deputy was shot twice around midnight in the spa where he lives in Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014.. When the ambulance arrived, Tsaryov was unconscious and had lost a lot of blood.

Tsaryov's name was floated last year to head a puppet government in kyiv after Moscow launched its invasion on February 24.. That morning Tsaryov declared that “as promised, the denazification operation has begun,” reporting that he “was already in Ukraine” and that soon “Kiev would be “liberated from the Nazis.”.

It was the president of the We Stand With Russia movement, Vladimir Rogov, who was the first to report what happened.. “Oleg's condition is very serious. (…) Oleg was shot. I ask the Orthodox to pray for Oleg's health,” Rogov wrote on Telegram. A message written by the administrator later appeared on Tsarev's Telegram channel, stating that the politician's relatives confirmed the information about the assassination attempt.

During his time as a Ukrainian deputy, Tsaryov was part of Victor Yanukovych's Party of Regions.

Oleg Tsaryov was born in 1970 Dnipropetrovsk (now Dnipro), Soviet Ukraine. He represented his region in the Rada and was one of the most fervent supporters of the violent dispersal of the Maidan protests between 2013 and 2014.. He called the protesters “terrorists and bandits”. Shortly afterward he was expelled from his party..

In July 2014 he took refuge in the separatist regions and became speaker of the Parliament of Novorossiya, a confederation that includes the separatist People's Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk.. He held the position until its dissolution in May 2015.

For years he has been wanted by Ukrainian police accused of promoting separatism.. and violence. After Boris Johnson's visit to kyiv on April 10, Tsaryov proposed shooting down planes with foreign politicians, even though his son went to study in the United Kingdom. In Ukraine he was sentenced in absentia to 12 years in prison for “attacking the territorial integrity of Ukraine” and “trying to overthrow the constitutional order”. Furthermore, in May 2023 he was accused in absentia of treason.

His most famous incident was when, a month after the start of the invasion. On March 20, 2022, Tsaryov addressed the acting mayor of Zelensky's hometown, Kryvyi Rih, to surrender, warning him that “his” Russian troops “are now near the city.”. Tsaryov addressed councilor Oleksandr Vilkul because “they used to be my party colleagues” and recalled that Vikul “had always adopted a pro-Russian stance”. On Facebook Vikul responded to Tsaryov: “Fuck you, traitor, and your masters too!”.

Currently he was away from politics and managed clinics in the Black Sea. When his name was floated to replace a deposed Zelensky if the Moscow coup was successful, Tsaryov himself ruled out that possibility, saying that the idea was “quite funny” because he was simply running a health and wellness business in Crimea and he “wasn't the important enough.”

Other Ukrainians loyal to Vladimir Putin, such as Yevheniy Murayev and Victor Medvedchuk, also sounded like possible 'viceroys' imposed by the Russian regime if Moscow's coup against Kiev had worked.. But the abandonment of attempts to take the capital frustrated the ambitions of the entire pro-Russian caste..

His last major public speech was last March to open the first session of China's annual political conclave.. Prime Minister Li Keqiang, as he had done so many other times, appeared in front of the 3,000 delegates of the National People's Congress and read the usual parish leaflet of the Communist Party, exposing some of the latest achievements of the Government, giving glimpses of the future management policy and forecasts on the growth of the economy. After two five-year terms, always in the shadow of the omnipresent President Xi Jinping, Li said goodbye to the legislature that day.. He was retiring. Almost eight months later, he died suddenly of a heart attack in Shanghai.

“He died ten minutes after midnight on Friday despite all efforts to revive him,” read a note issued by the state broadcaster CCTV.. Li was 68 years old and, during the last decade, he was the second most powerful politician in the Asian giant.

Even last year, with the country's economy being torn apart by restrictions under the zero Covid policy and with popular fatigue with continuous closures, the profile of this veteran economist gained strength as a more reformist counterweight to the conservative nationalism of Xi Jinping .

There were many rumors about whether Li, just as his boss extended his power for an unprecedented third term since the Mao Zedong era, would renew the position of prime minister for another term.. In the end, in the midst of a reorganization of key positions in the party, the boss of the Asian superpower retired the person who had been his right-hand man and firm defender of the country's openness..

In the early years of Xi's government, the prime minister was responsible for macroeconomic policies. He was seen by many as a kind of guru of unbridled economic growth.. But the truth is that, little by little, his hand in key decisions weakened while President Xi concentrated more and more power in his figure..

The number 2, on many occasions, seemed little more than an extra with a more diplomatic than executive role.. But the pandemic arrived and Li reemerged, leading the strategy to combat the spread of the virus, as well as supervising all the necessary steps that had to be taken so that the economy did not collapse.

Li comes from humble origins in Anhui province, eastern China. The son of a low-level official and experienced in the youth of the party, he trained in the capital, where he earned a doctorate in Economics from Peking University and went on to win the Sun Yefang Prize, the most important award in economic circles. chinese. In 1998, at the age of 43, he was appointed governor of Henan, a province in the center of the country, being the youngest politician in Chinese history to hold that position..

He went through several CCP secretariats in a couple of provinces until he returned to Beijing in 2008 as vice prime minister.. Then, his name was widely heard as a candidate to replace former President Hu Jintao.. He was the favorite in all the pools. Finally, Xi Jinping was chosen and Li was promoted to prime minister in 2013.. He took office with force, leading popular economic policies of structural reform and debt reduction, which were baptized as “Likonomics.”

But his hand at the reform helm lasted until Xi promoted himself as head of the Leading Group on Comprehensively Deepening Reform, one of the strong groups directing economic policies.. In 2018, Li, who also held the second seat on the Politburo Standing Committee, the top ruling body, was re-elected for a second five-year term. But Xi, on that occasion, entrusted economic management to one of his trusted men, former Vice Premier Liu He.

Only a small fraction – about 2.8% – of Israel's more than nine million inhabitants live on kibbutzim.. For their residents, they are more than just plots of land formerly used for agriculture and an example of cooperativism.. They are, as five relatives of Israelis kidnapped in Gaza explained this Thursday, rather “extended families”, being the “best and safest place to live for Jews”. That was, until Hamas arrived on October 7.

“The terrorists entered the kibbutz and massacred an entire community. They burned houses with people inside. They went house to house and kidnapped or killed neighbors,” explained Marev Mor Raviv, whose uncles, cousin and nephew were kidnapped in Nahal Oz on the morning of October 7.. The body of another cousin of his was found dead, riddled with bullets and with his hands tied, lying on the road 48 hours later. “My family has been in the kibbutz for more than 50 years, it is their home. My uncle Avraham has been helping children from Gaza for years to come to Israel to receive better medical treatment. We have always wanted peace, but what these people do…. I can't even call them people or animals.. They are something that we are not able to understand. Help us save our families,” he asked.

Mor Raviv was just one of five Israelis who traveled to Madrid this Thursday – during a European tour that will also take them to Brussels, The Hague and Berlin, among other cities – to demand the release of their loved ones held by the Islamist group and the help from the Spanish Government and denounce the “war crimes” that Hamas has openly documented on social networks. In total, at least 224 people have been arrested and are believed to be held in the Gaza Strip.. The relatives made this request at a press conference held at the headquarters of the Jewish Community of Madrid after meeting with the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, where they also demanded the support of the Executive for the release of the hostages.

The event, which took place just a few minutes after Hamas announced the death of 50 kidnapped by Israeli bombings, was attended by the Israeli ambassador to Spain, Rodica Radian-Gordon, who thanked her compatriots for “sharing their first-hand testimonies” and asked the Spanish people to “join” his requests for release.

“There is no precedent in the world for the criminal kidnapping of such a large mass of civilians, it is a clear war crime, with all the ethical, legal and international connotations. I have come here today to ask Spain and all democratic communities not to remain silent and demand the release of my relatives,” claimed Maayan Sigal-Koren.

This Israeli with Argentine nationality has five relatives in the hands of Hamas, including her mother, who live in the Nir Vitzhak kibbutz. He deduced that Hamas had not murdered his family after authorities visited the family home: “The army entered their house but found no trace of them.”. “The house was in disarray, but there were no signs of physical violence or blood.”. Later, the mobile phones of his mother, his stepfather, his uncles and his cousin were traced in Gaza.

“It's been 20 days now and there hasn't been a single day that my children haven't asked where my mother is and why we can't go to Gaza to bring her home.”. I just want help to bring them all safe and sound,” pleaded Maayan, who assured that they searched the videos released by Hamas but could not find them.

Wearing T-shirts with the phrase in English “Bring them home now” and photos of their parents Raz and Ohad, Yulie Ben Ami and her partner Roberto César Padrón Meyer cried when listening to the testimonies of their compatriots. Unlike the others, they experienced firsthand the entry of the Islamist group into the Be'eri kibbutz, one of the most massacred in the coordinated attack against Israel.

“I woke up at 6:20 in the morning and 10 minutes later I received a message saying that someone had entered the kibbutz. There were shouts in Arabic and many shots. At 7, I spoke to my mother on WhatsApp and she told me that she was already at the shelter, but that she had heard the terrorists outside,” explained Yulie.. Two hours later, Hamas had destroyed her parents' house, and around 11 a.m., Yulie received a photo of her father in pajamas in Gaza with two terrorists holding his hands.. It was not until almost 8:42 p.m. when the army rescued them, along with their sister: “We saw bodies lying on the ground. Even when we reached the safe place, the terrorists were still shooting.”

Several of the relatives, including Yulie, criticized the actions of the Red Cross, which is in Gaza, but does not provide help to the kidnapped: “My mother is sick, she needs medicine. We don't know if he is receiving them, or how long he will be able to survive without them.. “We want them to be given medicine so they can be well.”

With a broken voice, Naama Weinberg joined the requests for the release of her compatriots, regretting “the absolute ignorance” about her loved ones.. “This issue is not only an Israeli problem, but one for the entire world.”. We cannot remain silent, we need immediate help,” concluded the young woman, whose uncles were murdered in Be'eri and who has her cousin, Itai Sirvsky, 38, kidnapped.. “We ask that Spain speak with the only two countries that speak with Hamas [Qatar and Iran]. If we do not want the same thing that happened with ISIS to happen again, we have to act now. We beg you to help us free them.”

The EU has been insisting for years that “quickly learning to speak the language of power” is not an option but a necessity. The problem is that while in various parts of the globe that language is spoken with aircraft carriers, credible threats and deploying troops, in Brussels, too often, it is limited to semantic fights, to weeks of intense fighting literally just over an adjective or a comma..

What happened these days, and this Thursday on the first day of the European Council that brought together the heads of state and government of the 27 is a perfect example. After hesitant beginnings, a controversy over Ursula von der Leyen's desire for prominence and criticism for an attempt to rewrite the community position on the conflict between Israel and Palestine, a series of clear conclusions were reached in the middle of the month.. A unanimous, resounding condemnation, without nuances, of the massacre perpetrated by Hamas. An insistence on Israel's right to self-defense, but within international law. And the need to provide humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. From there, the problems.

The battle at the meeting of foreign ministers last Monday, and of ambassadors and Sherpas since then, has centered on a few words. At the summit they have talked or are going to talk about the EU's annual Budget and the need to increase contributions to face challenges that were impossible to anticipate when they were negotiated; of Ukraine and how support must be maintained even though the cameras and the planet's attention have gone back to the Middle East. From the Sahel and other regional concerns. But the important thing, where the power, politics, feelings, passions are, is the part of Israel and Gaza. That's where language, of power or powerlessness, transforms into something else..

Although from the outside it may seem incredible, ridiculous, embarrassing or pathetic, the bulk of the discussion has been centered around a few words and just a couple of ideas.. Everyone agrees that urgent help is needed (food, water, fuel, medicine) and that there cannot be bombings for the trucks to arrive every day.. But while some wanted a “ceasefire” request, others maintained that it was too much, an interference in Israel's plan and its right to defense.. That is why they advocate using only the expression “humanitarian pause”. But even there they disagree, because some capitals, including Washington, would prefer to talk about “pauses,” in the plural, which sounds, to their ears, more informal and vague.. The paroxysm reached its peak when Austria came to the room talking about “windows for humanitarian corridors to open”, something that no one really understands what it means..

Much of the debate has focused on something like this, which few can understand while so much is at stake and many people die. “Language matters, this is how agreements are reached, clarifying, polishing words, fighting commas. It matters, it is the way to position yourself in the European Union. We are a peace project that is based on rules, defending values, and the way to do it is like this. “Words are important if they serve to achieve the objectives,” a senior European source explained these days in the face of criticism for the feeling of importance..

The leaders, therefore, have dedicated their afternoon and night to it and in the end the agreement was something in between, a paragraph that begins by expressing “serious concern about the deterioration of the situation in Gaza”, a request for “humanitarian access to reach continuously, quickly and safely to those who need it”. And to do this, they defend, “all necessary measures, including humanitarian corridors and breaks for humanitarian needs”, a horrible, confusing expression, but acceptable in the end for everyone..

The day before, diplomats from the continent were confident that the document of conclusions would be “stabilized” enough so that the discussion could be freer, more substantial.. But it was not like that. In the room, Ireland and Spain were the two most combative countries. Both wanted a “ceasefire”, more forceful or an emphasis on the protection of civilians “at all times and in line with international law”, something that was ultimately achieved.. There was no force, however, to resurrect the reference to the United Nations and the role of Antonio Guterres, something that was in the first drafts of the draft conclusions and disappeared as the week began to get ugly..

Pedro Sánchez, also active this weekend at the conference held in Cairo, is the one who has most clearly defended the UN Secretary General and the one who has most requested a peace conference to recover dialogue and begin to build bridges.. Their insistence, which some delegations at the end of the afternoon almost blocked due to their insistence, was rewarded. The document speaks, in point 18, that the EU must “contribute to reviving the political process on the basis of the two-state solution” and says that the European Council “supports the holding of an international peace conference soon”. Something that Spain would like to host, just as it wants to use the next meeting of the Union Minister for the Mediterranean to promote that diplomatic moment.

There is a completely fair criticism of that feeling of division, of impotence, of wasting time for something that doesn't matter too much.. Because European countries can say what they want, ask for ceasefires, pauses or windows, but what the actors involved want to do is another matter.. But then there is another part of the criticism that does not take into account the functioning of the EU. Which is slow, bureaucratic, naive at times, but it has a method. It is the only way to understand each other, to coordinate, to move forward 27. “Unlike what we saw in Ukraine, here each country has a historical position, sympathies, inheritances, debts.. The Middle East is something else and that is why it is so important to establish a position down to the smallest detail,” explains a senior community source involved in this negotiation.. Only in this way, when everyone agrees on every comma, can there be a guide, a compass, and thus, when someone deviates, it rings the alarms.

It is frustrating, it is insufficient and it does not seem to be the most operational mechanism for a world that advances at breakneck speed, that demands or demands positioning in minutes, where sparks fly no matter what is done.. But it is, at least for the moment and as long as foreign policy always requires unanimity, the only and best thing there is.. Perhaps a community of values is not valid in a Hobbesian world, but it is a starting point on which to build and unite the wills, traumas and interests of 27 countries that until not long ago hated or fought against each other in zero-sum games..