Conflict

Alfad Halimov and Elmira Halimova open the Irpin Cafe, the cafe on wheels they run in Uzhhorod. The couple arrived in western Ukraine in late February 2022, the last stop of a journey that began in the heart of Central Asia and took them to Sevastopol, in now Russia-occupied Crimea, and then to Irpin. As Russian forces occupied the town in the outskirts of Kyiv, they packed their life up again and moved west.
Alfad Halimov and Elmira Halimova open the Irpin Cafe, the cafe on wheels they run in Uzhhorod. The couple arrived in western Ukraine in late February 2022, the last stop of a journey that began in the heart of Central Asia and took them to Sevastopol, in now Russia-occupied Crimea, and then to Irpin. As Russian forces occupied the town in the outskirts of Kyiv, they packed their life up again and moved west. © Romaniia Gorbach

Crimean Tatars: a Life on the Move

A café on wheels in Uzhhorod encapsulates a story of deportation and resilience.

17 Mar 23
Soledar, the town in Ukraine’s eastern region of Donetsk, is home to Europe’s largest salt deposits: a vast, cavernous network of underground tunnels extending for about 200 kilometres. Such is the scale of the mines that geologists claim that less than five per cent of the seam has been removed since industrial mining began in 1881. Explored reserves amount to about five billion tonnes.
Soledar, the town in Ukraine’s eastern region of Donetsk, is home to Europe’s largest salt deposits: a vast, cavernous network of underground tunnels extending for about 200 kilometres. Such is the scale of the mines that geologists claim that less than five per cent of the seam has been removed since industrial mining began in 1881. Explored reserves amount to about five billion tonnes. © Artemsil

Ukraine: The Battle for Soledar’s Salt Mines 

Russians took control of the symbolic town with commercial as well as strategic purposes in mind.

9 Mar 23
A view of Badara village, in Nagorny Karabakh’s Askeran district, about 25km from Stepanakert, where HALO Trust teams conduct clearance activities. Since 2000, the British NGO has cleared nearly 500 minefields in the South Caucasus region. Since late 2020, however, mines are no longer the only danger. The 44-day war Armenia and Azerbaijan fought for the control of the region has left roads, yards, and houses strewn with deadly explosives like cluster munitions. Clearance activities now focus on removing
A view of Badara village, in Nagorny Karabakh’s Askeran district, about 25km from Stepanakert, where HALO Trust teams conduct clearance activities. Since 2000, the British NGO has cleared nearly 500 minefields in the South Caucasus region. Since late 2020, however, mines are no longer the only danger. The 44-day war Armenia and Azerbaijan fought for the control of the region has left roads, yards, and houses strewn with deadly explosives like cluster munitions. Clearance activities now focus on removing © Siranush Sargsyan

Nagorny Karabakh’s Female Deminers

The region has the highest per capita rate in the world of accidents due to unexploded ordnance.

8 Mar 23
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