Illia Ponomarenko: Last News

Russian forces who took him prisoner for nine days.The shocking account provided by “Nikita”, who works for Radio France, is just the latest story to emerge about the cruel techniques and policies being ordered by Vladimir Putin in his invasion of Ukraine.Nikita was beaten with an iron bar, tortured with electricity and subjected to a mock execution during his captivity, according to a report by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).The 32-year-old, who has worked with foreign media for nearly a decade, was seized by Russian soldiers on March 5 in the middle of the country, said Fox News.RSF, which confirmed it had been able to verify Nikita’s story, said: “Nikita’s account is frightening: machine-gunning of his car, torture with a knife and electricity, repeated beatings with rifle butts and steel bars in the face and body, mock execution, food deprivation for 48 hours.” Nikita has now been released and is safe somewhere in Ukraine. Journalists Oleh Baturyn and Viktoria Roshchina, who had previously been snatched, have since been released, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.But photojournalist Maks Levin is still missing, having last been seen on March 13 near Ukraine's capital Kyiv.In a tweet, Kyiv Independent reporter Illia Ponomarenko said: “Our good friend, talented war photojournalist Maks Levin, has gone missing.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened Ukraine – and the world – with nuclear weapons, as he bids to bring back the era of the Soviet Union.But it now appears that Soviet infrastructure could be saving the lives of thousands of innocent Ukrainians.In a tweet from Ukrainian front-line journalist Illia Ponomarenko, it is now clear that many of Kyiv's metro stations are actual nuclear war vaults.Posting a picture of one of the entrances from the Akademmistechko Station in the country's capital city, he tweeted: “In case you were interested, this is how a sealed subway station look like in Kyiv.“The Soviets designed them as potential nuclear war vaults. Now our metro protects us form the new Soviets.”Mr Ponomarekno is the defence reporter with The Kyiv Independent newspaper.Around 47 of the city's 52 stations have features enabling them to be used as bomb shelters, and they have been used as such during the current invasion.The system is the oldest and largest underground network in the country, and has become the main source of protection as Russian bombs and missiles rain down on the country.The Arsenalna station, located in the Pecherskyi district is thought to be the safest station to go to, as it is the deepest of all of them.It goes down underground by around 346ft, or 105.5 metres.

soldiers who told a Russian warship to "go f**k yourself" while defending a Black Sea island have been confirmed alive, officials say. The 13 border guards had been defending the remote Zmiinyi (Snake) Island on Thursday, February 24 when they were approached by an enemy vessel.