On YouTube Now: On the winter solstice, soldiers of the International Battalion of the 12th Special Forces Brigade Azov — foreign volunteers from the US, UK, Poland, and beyond — gathered on the banks of a frozen Ukrainian river to honor seven fighters killed in the past year. Torches were lit, shields bearing the names of the fallen were laid on the ground, and illumination rounds were fired into the fog.
The ritual is called the Mysteriya — a tradition rooted in ancient Ukrainian and pagan solstice beliefs, organized by Azov’s Harunjee, combatant-chaplains unique to the unit. They believe the winter solstice is when souls pass most easily from earth to what Azov soldiers call Azov Heaven.
Story supported by @qilotactical
Reporter: @thousandyardstyle
Video: @cocobongo666
Edited: @therielbryan
Ukraine - BTS episode on our Azov story is out now, with your questions and some personal experiences and perspectives about being 19 years old and at war. Live now with @frontsightofficial linked in stories
Ukraine - BTS episode on our Azov story is out now, with your questions and some personal experiences and perspectives. Live now with @frontsightofficial linked in stories
#Ukraine #russianinvasion #Azov #conflictjournalism
Tchernobyl, 40 years later - for @frontsightofficial
On a warm late April evening, in a town a hundred kilometres north of Kyiv, the night is broken by two explosions. The first, almost muffled. The second, half a minute later, lights up the sky. In Ukraine, such blasts have become part of the night. Here, they came before the war.
On the night of April 26, 1986, at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, a routine test was underway. Intended to simulate the reactor’s cooling capacity in the event of a blackout, it unfolded under flawed conditions. Human error meant the test went ahead despite insufficient power output, leaving the reactor in an extremely unstable state.
Design failures in the safety systems of the Soviet RBMK reactors led to a catastrophic surge when the emergency shutdown was initiated. Shortly after 1:20 a.m., reactor number four exploded, blasting its casing through the roof of the plant. A second, more powerful blast, equivalent in power to 225 tonnes of TNT, dispersed the highly radioactive core of the reactor.
In the months that followed, more than 500,000 liquidators were mobilised by the Soviet Union to contain the fallout, sealing the reactor and stabilising the surrounding area. A thirty-kilometre perimeter was established around the plant, the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.
11 years ago today, the ground gave out beneath Nepal.
A 7.8 magnitude earthquake killed nearly 9,000 people in under a minute. I was there to cover it.
Full documentary on YouTube — link in bio.
I’ve been speaking with Mahmoud about his appalling living conditions in Gaza, and his desperate efforts to fundraiser for his mother’s cancer treatment. You can find out more about Mahmoud on his X account, @AbwYI10389
As Israel continues to refuse independent access for journalists to the Gaza Strip, allowing only tightly controlled military embeds, it has never been more important to learn about the suffering of Gazans in their own words.
This video will be the first in a series highlighting verified stories from my contacts in Gaza.
Additional footage of Gaza used from the AFP and Reuters.
Haiti, Port-Au-Prince - A Haitian GSF (Gang Suppression Force ) patrol returns fire during a gang ambush in the capital. Read, and definitely listen to the the latest @frontsightofficial dispatch from Haiti. Linked in bio and stories. If you enjoyed this story please share it with others. Questions? Ask away
#Haiti #photojournalism #conflictjournalism #journalism #leicamd
Haiti - Audio recording and Images from the ambush against Haitian Gang Suppression Force Officers described in the latest @frontsightofficial Dispatch, you can read or listen to it in the links in bio and stories. Questions? Drop us a comment #Haiti #journalism #conflictjournalism #photojournalism #leicamd
Haiti - I spent several weeks in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti’s dystopian capital, documenting a country clinging to statehood with @frontsightofficial . What I expected to be policing action was instead a war carried out by trained and capable gangs against outnumbered, outgunned yet determined Police.
Read, and definitely listen to the story on @frontsightofficial linked in bio and stories
#journalism #conflictjournalism #photojournalism #Haiti
We all felt the shockwaves in central Beirut that night. I shot out of bed to find my neighbours on their balconies, half asleep, acknowledging each other with terrified eyes.
Israeli fighter jets dropped what appeared to be four bunker-buster munitions in the nearby neighbourhood of Basta. Israeli media reports said it was an assassination strike, but we never got a clear answer as to who the target was. Every new strike made it harder to justify spending time investigating the last.
As dawn was breaking I packed up and got to the impact site. Two apartment blocks had been levelled and several others badly damaged. One mangled body was pulled from the rubble, then another, sometimes just pieces. Blood stains on the heaps of concrete left behind.
November 23rd, 2024
Under the Nets: Life in Sloviansk as the Front Closes In - for @frontsightofficial
Despite the return of spring sunlight, Sloviansk feels empty. Military vehicles line up outside the last restaurants still open. Russian artillery rumbles a few kilometres away, the grim omen of a front drawing closer. Gutted buildings line streets now covered in anti-drone nets.
Just a day earlier, three glide bombs struck Torska Street in a quiet residential district, killing four and wounding twenty civilians. One was a direct hit, while the other two landed near Soviet-style Khrushchevkas, spraying shrapnel into the surrounding buildings.
Video by @cocobongo666
Full article available online.
Sloviansk and Kramatorsk were rear-area cities. Not anymore.
Russian forces are now 15–20km from the front. Glide bombs are hitting residential blocks. FPV drones patrol city streets — targeting soldiers, civilians, and first responders.
Drone nets are going up. Schools are filling with displaced families.
Story by @louislemairesicre
🎥 @cocobongo666
