Russia-Ukraine Crisis: The Cannes Film Festival opened up Tuesday with crowded red carpet arrivals, a star-studded ceremony and a call from Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the world of cinema to speak out against the war. “We need a new (Charlie) Chaplin to prove that today cinema is not silent,” said Zelenskyy, referring to Charlie Chaplin’s satire of Adolf Hitler at the outset of World War Two in 1939.
The first war crimes trial since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, against a Russian soldier accused of killing an unarmed civilian, gets underway in Kyiv on Wednesday. Meanwhile, some civilians across the east Ukrainian front are making the difficult decision to wait out the war under ceaseless Russian fire. Their varying reasons often involve a mixture of insufficient money to start a new life and fear of permanently losing their homes.
U.S. President Joe Biden has hammered Russia over what he calls “major war crimes” committed in Ukraine, and has underscored his resolve to hold Moscow accountable for launching the largest land war in Europe since World War Two. In other news, Russian attacks killed seven civilians in the Donetsk region on Tuesday, regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said. Kyrylenko said six people had been injured.