title: The Quiet American

text: The novel has been filmed twice. The original 1958 Hollywood film inverted the theme of the novel, turning it into an anti-communist tale instead of a cautionary story about American interventionism. The 2002 film version was true to the book. It was test-screened to positive audience reactions on September 10, 2001. However, the 9-11 event took place the next day, and audience ratings declined with each subsequent screening. Reacting to criticism of its "unpatriotic" message, Miramax shelved the film for a year.


title: Malice Mizer

text: Malice Mizer (stylized as MALICE MIZER) was a Japanese visual kei rock band active from August 1992 to December 2001. Formed by guitarists Mana and Közi, their earlier music and themes were characterized by their strong French and classical influences, later moving away from deliberate French romanticism and incorporating Gothic aspects after several difficulties befell the band. Their official fan club is named "Ma chérie".


title: Malice Mizer

text: Malice Mizer was as famous for their live shows as they were for their music, featuring lavish historical costumes and stage sets, short silent theater pieces preluding various songs, and even a particularly notable instance of the vocalist descending to Earth (the stage) as a fallen angel, only to ascend again at the end of the concert. Throughout their history, the band has gone through several different lineups and three drastic image changes. At their peak, they were considered one of "the big four of visual kei" alongside La'cryma Christi, Fanatic Crisis and Shazna. On December 11, 2001, it was announced that Malice Mizer would go on an indefinite hiatus. Mana, Közi and bassist Yu~ki have performed together several times since 2010.


title: Malice Mizer

text: After leaving Matenrou, guitarists Mana and Közi formed Malice Mizer in August 1992 with Tetsu on vocals, Yu~ki on bass and Gaz on drums. The band's name is a coined word for "Malice and Misery ", extracted from "Nothing but a being of malice and tragedy." — their reply to the question "What is a human being?" From the outset, the band established their trademark "twin guitar"' sound, whereby two guitars play different melodies creating polyphony. Malice Mizer's sound during the Tetsu era was a mixture of early 1980s gothic rock, progressive rock and strong classical influences. Their first official release was the song "Speed of Desperate" on the 1993 compilation "Brain Trash". Before this, they had released a demo tape called "Sans Logique" (a nod to French pop singer Mylène Farmer's hit song "Sans Logique") which contained no vocals. Shortly after the release of "Brain Trash", Gaz left the band to join Kneuklid Romance, while Kneuklid Romance's drummer Kami in turn joined Malice Mizer. In 1994, after a couple more demos, the band released their debut album "Memoire" on Mana's newly founded independent record label . It was re-released it at the end of the year with an additional bonus track, "Baroque", under the title "Memoire DX". Only days later, singer and lyricist Tetsu left the band after his last gig on December 27, 1994. While the exact reasons are unknown, Tetsu went on to take a different direction in his work. The band's continued use of his lyrics in songs they continued to perform with later vocalists suggest an amicable split.


title: Malice Mizer

text: After almost a year of inactivity, Malice Mizer recruited Gackt as their new vocalist and released the single "Uruwashiki Kamen no Shoutaijou" on December 10, 1995. It was with this single that Malice Mizer started to actively differentiate themselves from other bands; when the song was performed live, Mana and Közi put down their guitars and instead performed a dance routine. With a new concept, the band's music became more art rock and synthpop, incorporating even stronger classical and electronic elements. Visually, the band abandoned their 1980s goth look for colorful historical costumes with a gothic feel.


title: Malice Mizer

text: Malice Mizer released their second album, "Voyage ~Sans Retour~", in 1996, and their first home video in 1997; "Sans Retour Voyage "Derniere" ~Encore Une Fois~", a concert video recorded at Shibuya Public Hall featuring an elaborate stage and dance routines. The band became increasingly popular and signed with major record label Nippon Columbia that same year, where they released a number of successful singles and a short film, "Bel Air ~Kuuhaku no Toki no Naka de~ de L'image". Their major label debut album, "Merveilles", was released in 1998. The band even had their own radio show around this time and played a two-day live at the Nippon Budokan, which involved a large building as a stage prop and elaborate theatrics; each member performing a skit with another member on their own (including [on "Le Ciel"] the aforementioned skit in which Gackt fell to the stage [to sing the song] and returned to "Heaven" by song's end). It was a massive success and was released on video as "merveilles ~Shuuen to kisuu~ l'espace". In July 1998, the Yokohama Arena's stage would be the last for Gackt as in January 1999, at the height of Malice Mizer's success, he would suddenly leave the band. No reason was given, but after just four months he would release his first solo EP. Malice Mizer left Nippon Columbia shortly after and returned to Midi:Nette (established as Midi:Nette M.†.M).


title: Malice Mizer

text: A few months after Gackt's departure, drummer Kami died of a subarachnoid hemorrhage on June 21, 1999. He left behind a handful of songs, which the band eventually released as part of the EP/video boxset "Shinwa", which consists of two songs composed by him and the short track "Saikai" written by the band. Kami was never officially replaced; from that point on, Malice Mizer would only use support drummers (namely ex-Aion member Shu, who is not shown in the band's later promotional material, nor credited) and Kami would be credited as "eternal blood relative" on all their future releases. Possibly due to Kami's death and other factors, the band shifted to a "darker" image and sound.


title: Malice Mizer

text: In the second half of 1999 and the beginning of 2000, Malice Mizer, still without an official vocalist, released a number of singles and began to work on a new album. Eventually, they recruited Klaha (vocalist of dark wave band Pride of Mind), officially inducted into the band as a full member in January. By then the band had abandoned the lighter pop music sound of the Gackt era for a dramatic mixture of classical music, dark wave, with slight heavy metal elements, and adopted an elaborate funerary elegant gothic look. In the summer of 2000, they released what would be their last album, "Bara no Seidou". On August 31 and September 1, they gave a theatrical two-day live at the Nippon Budokan, featuring pyrotechnics, a choir of veiled nuns and a scaled-down cathedral as a stage prop. In 2001, Malice Mizer starred in a feature-length vampire movie ("Bara no Konrei ~Mayonaka ni Kawashita Yakusoku~"), and released three more singles: "Gardenia", "Beast of Blood" and "Garnet ~Kindan no Sono e~"; "Gardenia" and "Garnet" being of a considerably lighter tone than their previous album, suggesting another new era for the band. However, the band members decided to go their own separate ways in 2001, leaving messages on their official website, which can still be viewed today. The split was spoken of as a "hiatus", so as not to exclude the possibility of a future reformation.


title: Malice Mizer

text: After his departure in 1994, Tetsu released one solo album, and has subsequently taken part in a series of bands such as Zigzo, Mega 8 Ball, Nil; his most recent being The JuneJulyAugust.


title: Malice Mizer

text: After his departure in early 1999, Gackt started a solo career a year later which has been enormously successful; he is one of Japan's top musicians and TV personalities.


title: Malice Mizer

text: Klaha started a solo career as well in December 2002, but in the middle of 2004 it was announced that his fan club would be closing down, and after that there have been long periods of silence, only broken by rare updates on his site. In 2007 he stated on his site that he would resume musical activity that year. But this did not happen and no information has been announced since.


title: Malice Mizer

text: Yu~ki has not been active on the music scene since 2004 when he wrote the song "Memento", about Kami, for Közi's solo project. In an informal conversation with Klaha, he said he would like to return to the music scene.


title: Malice Mizer

text: Közi formed the industrial duo Eve of Destiny with Haruhiko Ash (ex:The Zolge) and also started a solo career. As of Halloween 2008 he is part of the band Dalle. Around June 2010, Közi started to perform with a band called My Horror Revue. He has also formed the band XA-VAT, who held their first performance on November 16, 2010 and released their first single on December 2. In 2012, he formed the band ZIZ with the musicians who supported him with his solo career.


title: Malice Mizer

text: Mana has formed his own solo project Moi dix Mois, which has performed live concerts across Europe. In addition to the successful solo project, Mana is a designer for his fashion label Moi-même-Moitié (created in 1999), which focuses on the styles Elegant Gothic Aristocrat and Elegant Gothic Lolita. He also continues to run his indie record label , and has produced for artists such as Schwarz Stein and Kanon Wakeshima.


title: Malice Mizer

text: Malice Mizer's song "Gekka no Yasoukyoku" was covered by D on the compilation "Crush! -90's V-Rock Best Hit Cover Songs-", which was released on January 26, 2011 and features current visual kei bands covering songs from bands that were important to the '90s visual kei movement. Their song "Illuminati" was covered by Moran on its sequel, "Crush! 2 -90's V-Rock Best Hit Cover Songs-", that was released on November 23, 2011.


title: Malice Mizer

text: Since 2008, Mana's band Moi dix Mois has held a special event, most taking place every two years, which has had some sort of connection to Malice Mizer. The first was Dis Inferno Vol.VI ~Last Year Party~ on December 27, 2008, where Malice Mizer's "Speed of Desperate" was played in a session by Mana on drums, Közi on guitar and Mana's cousin on vocals. Közi said that this was the first time he and Mana had met since 2001. In 2009, Moi dix Mois and Közi went on a short two-date tour called Deep Sanctuary, on July 17 in Osaka and the 19th in Tokyo.


title: Malice Mizer

text: A year later in July 2010, Közi once again went on a tour with Moi dix Mois, titled Deep Sanctuary II. This tour had six shows, but the gig at Akasaka Blitz on the 17th was special, as Yu~ki was a special guest. This was the first time in 9 years that the three original members of Malice Mizer played together, and they were supported by Hayato (Moi dix Mois) on drums. They played "Saikai no Chi to Bara" and "Beast of Blood", as well as a cover of Rob Zombie's "What Lurks on Channel X?". In 2012, the three played together twice more for Deep Sanctuary III; once on September 12 at Akasaka Blitz and again on November 14, 2012 at Osaka Muse Hall.


title: Malice Mizer

text: In 2014, another reunion of the three original members happened for Deep Sanctuary IV at Akasaka Blitz on October 11. This marked the first time they performed under the Malice Mizer name since 2001. It was followed by Deep Sanctuary V at Akasaka Blitz on August 7, 2016. On September 8 and 9, 2018, Mana, Közi, and Yu~ki reunited as Malice Mizer to perform two shows for the band's 25th anniversary special at Tokyo Toyosu Pit. Titled Deep Sanctuary VI, Moi dix Mois and ZIZ also performed. They were supported on drums by Sakura, who was Kami's drum mentor, and who used Kami's original drum kit for the show. Mana tried reaching out to Tetsu, Gackt and Klaha regarding their participation, but the first two declined and he was unable to reach the third. Instead, the band's former roadies Shuji (Cali Gari), Kamijo, and Hitomi filled in as guest vocalists. A Blu-ray of the concert was released on June 21, 2019.


title: Malice Mizer

text: Deep Sanctuary VII was scheduled to take place at Mynavi Blitz Akasaka on June 7, 2020, but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan.


title: Malice Mizer

text: Mana stated that the opening theme music scared him a lot in childhood and Malice Mizer's music has its roots in that experience.


title: Storm of Steel

text: Storm of Steel (; original English title: "In Storms of Steel") is the memoir of German officer Ernst Jünger's experiences on the Western Front during the First World War from December 1914 to August 1918.


title: Storm of Steel

text: It was originally printed privately in 1920, making it one of the first personal accounts to be published. The book is a graphic account of trench warfare. It was largely devoid of editorialization when first published, but was heavily revised several times. The book established Jünger's fame as a writer in the 1920s. The judgment of contemporaries and later critics reflects the ambivalence of the work, which describes the war in all its brutality, but neither expressly condemns it nor goes into its political causes. It can be read affirmatively, neutrally or as an anti-war book.


title: Storm of Steel

text: "Storm of Steel" begins with Jünger as a private entering the line with the 73rd Hanoverian Regiment in Champagne. His first taste of combat came at Les Éparges in April 1915 where he was first wounded.


title: Storm of Steel

text: After recuperating, he took an officer's course and achieved the rank of "Leutnant". He rejoined his regiment on the Arras sector. In 1916, with the Battle of the Somme underway, Jünger's regiment moved to Combles in August for the defence of the village of Guillemont. Here Jünger was wounded again, and absent shortly before the final British assault which captured the village — his platoon was annihilated. In 1917 Jünger saw action during the Battle of Arras in April, the Third Battle of Ypres in July and October, and the German counter-attack during the Battle of Cambrai in November. Jünger led a company of assault troops during the final German spring offensive, 21 March 1918 when he was wounded again. On 23 August he suffered his most severe wound when he was shot through the chest.


title: Storm of Steel

text: In total, Jünger was wounded 14 times during the war, including five bullet wounds and earned Golden Wound Badge. He was awarded the Iron Cross 1st and 2nd Class, House Order of Hohenzollern and was the youngest ever recipient of the "Pour le Mérite".


title: Storm of Steel

text: The first version of "Storm of Steel" was essentially Jünger's unedited diary; the original English title was "In Storms of Steel: from the diary of a Shock Troop Commander, Ernst Jünger, War Volunteer, and subsequently Lieutenant in the Rifle Regiment of Prince Albrecht of Prussia (73rd Hanoverian Regiment)". Since it was first published there have been up to seven revisions of "Storm of Steel", with the last being the 1978 version for Jünger's "Collected Works". The major revision came in 1934, for which the explicit descriptions of violence were muted. This edition carried the universal dedication "For the fallen".


title: Storm of Steel

text: The first translation came out in 1922 with Julio A. López's Spanish translation titled "Bajo la tormenta de acero" and based on the original 1920 edition. The 1924 edition was translated into English by Basil Creighton as "The Storm of Steel" in 1929 and into French in 1930. A new English translation, based on the final 1961 version, was made by Michael Hofmann in 2003 which won the 2004 Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize. In his introduction to his own edition, Hofmann is highly critical of Creighton's translation.


title: Skif (anti-tank guided missile)

text: The Skif or Stuhna-P (Ukrainian: Стугна-П) is a Ukrainian anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) system developed in the 2010s by the Luch Design Bureau. The guidance device (ПН-С) of the Skif is developed and manufactured by Belarusian design bureau Peleng based in Minsk while the Stuhna-p uses a domestic Ukrainian one. Skif is the Ukrainian word for "Scythian" and Stuhna is the name of a local river.


title: Skif (anti-tank guided missile)

text: The Skif is designed to destroy modern armored targets with combined carried or monolithic armor, including explosive reactive armor (ERA). Skifs can attack both stationary and moving targets. They can attack from both long range (up to 5 km in the daytime) and close range (100m). They can attack point targets such as weapon emplacements, lightly armored objects, and hovering helicopters. The Skif has two targeting modes: manually steered, and automated fire-and-forget that uses no manual tracking of a target. In 2018, an upgraded export variant of the Skif was tested by the Ukrainian military.


title: Skif (anti-tank guided missile)

text: The Skif consists of a tripod, missile container, PDU-215 remote control panel, guidance device, and thermographic camera (thermal imager).


title: Skif (anti-tank guided missile)

text: The PDU-215 control panel is a briefcase-like laptop computer with a control panel, holding a small joystick and a flat-panel display, that is connected to the firing unit by a cable, allowing it be used at distances up to 50 metres away. Two firing modes are available: manual, and fire-and-forget. Fire-and-forget provides automatic control of the missile flight using a targeting laser beam.


title: Skif (anti-tank guided missile)

text: A three to four-person team is optimal for deploying the Skif. Operators require specially-made backpacks. Once the missile is fired, the operator controls the Skif and corrects the aim when needed, by using the joystick on the remote control. The Skif's system has a shelf life of 15 years. The missiles have a 10-year shelf life.


title: Skif (anti-tank guided missile)

text: The system comes complete with 130 mm and 152 mm caliber missiles in transport and launching containers. Tandem charge high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) RK-2S warheads might be able to counter medium weight main battle tanks such as the T-90A with penetration of 800 mm behind ERA. RK-2M-K warheads might be able to counter heavy main battle tanks such as M1A2 Abrams with their penetration of 1100 mm behind ERA. The system also includes high explosive (HE) fragmentation RK-2OF and RK-2М-OF warheads to attack infantry positions and light armored vehicles. The system can use all four types of missiles with no modification. The system's thermal imager can be used during night operations. According to a 2014 article, SLX-Hawk thermal imaging camera produced by Selex ES can be installed for use at night and in poor visibility conditions.


title: Skif (anti-tank guided missile)

text: System configuration with 130 mm missiles using RK-2S and RK-2OF warheads. This or a very similar version is fielded by the Ukrainian armed forces as the Stuhna-P (Stugna-P).


title: Skif (anti-tank guided missile)

text: SERDAR is a stabilized remote controlled weapon station (RCWS). The system was developed jointly by the Luch Design Bureau, Turkish company Aselsan Spets, and Techno Export, part of Ukraine’s Ukroboronprom enterprise. The system carries two (in some versions four) 130 mm or 152 mm missiles with RK-2S or RK-2M-K tandem-charge HEAT warheads. The system is also equipped with 12.7 mm and 7.62 mm caliber machine guns. A joint company for the production of Skif missiles was established in Turkey and production began in early 2020.


title: Skif (anti-tank guided missile)

text: Shershen is a Belarusian ATGM based on Skif. It also has different types of 130 mm and 152 mm missiles.


title: Skif (anti-tank guided missile)

text: The missile system was used during the pre-2022 Russo-Ukrainian War by Ukrainian forces following first deliveries in 2018. However, it gained wider prominence against Russian Army forces during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine beginning in February alongside anti-tank systems provided by NATO countries such as the FGM-148 Javelin (US), NLAW (UK), and Panzerfaust 3 (Germany). On April 5, 2022, Ukrainian forces used the missile system to down a Russian Kamov Ka-52 attack helicopter.


title: Skif (anti-tank guided missile)

text: As the war has moved to the Donbas and fighting has changed from wooded areas to open plains, the missile has been fitted to light vehicles to make it mobile. The Stugna-P is being used in the same way US forces used the TOW missile system in the 1980s and the Gulf War Desert Patrol Vehicle. Its increased range gives it an edge over the NLAW and Javelin missiles. On 25 April, near Izyum, during one engagement four tanks were destroyed or damaged in 4 minutes by the same Stugna-P operator. The Skif missile is also some twelve times cheaper to manufacture than the Javelin missile.


title: Skif (anti-tank guided missile)

text: Many of the missiles were to be exported to Middle Eastern countries. However, upon the outbreak of war these export models were used by Ukrainian soldiers. According to Ukrainian soldiers, one Skif missile has hit a Russian tank at 5,300 meters (300 m beyond the nominal maximum range of 5 km).


title: Karen Carney

text: Karen Julia Carney (born 1 August 1987) is an English sports journalist and former professional footballer who played as a winger and midfielder. Carney has been a regular broadcaster for live football on Sky Sports and Amazon Prime, including Women's Super League and men's Premier League matches since 2019. She is also a sports columnist for BBC Sport, BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Television, and The Guardian.


title: Karen Carney

text: Carney began her career at Birmingham City and was twice named FA Young Player of the Year in 2005 and 2006. After signing with Arsenal, she experienced great success in 2006–07 winning the UEFA Women's Cup and all three domestic trophies: the FA Women's Premier League, FA Women's Cup, and the FA Women's Premier League Cup. Following two seasons with Chicago Red Stars in the American Women's Professional Soccer (WPS), Carney re-joined Birmingham City from 2011 to 2015. Carney finished her career with Chelsea where she was named Player of the Year in 2016 and captained the club to an FA Women's Cup title in 2017–18. She retired in July 2019.


title: Karen Carney

text: Carney made her senior international debut for England in 2005. She represented England at four FIFA Women's World Cups (2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019) and at four UEFA Women's Championships (2005, 2009, 2013 and 2017). At the time of her retirement, she was the second most capped England player with 144 appearances, although this has since been surpassed by Jill Scott. She also represented Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Olympics.


title: Karen Carney

text: In 2015, Carney was inducted into Birmingham City's Hall of Fame, and 2021, she was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame. In 2017, she was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to football.


title: Karen Carney

text: Carney joined Birmingham City Ladies at the age of 11 and played at various age levels for the club alongside the likes of Eniola Aluko and Laura Bassett. She made her first-team debut for Birmingham City in the FA Women's Premier League National Division against Fulham Ladies at the age of 14. She earned FA National Young Player of the Year honors in 2005 and 2006.


title: Karen Carney

text: Carney joined Arsenal Ladies on 13 July 2006, and played a major part in the team that won four major honours in the 2006/07 season: the FA Women's Premier League, FA Women's Cup, FA Women's Premier League Cup, and the UEFA Women's Cup. She made 21 appearances in the Premier League in her first season and scored 10 goals. In all competitions, she made 36 appearances and scored 13 goals. The following season saw Carney take on a greater role at Arsenal. She made 20 Premier League appearances and scored 10 goals. In all competitions, she made 34 appearances and scored 17 goals. 2008–09 marked Carney's final season with Arsenal. She made 13 Premier League appearances and scored eight goals. In all competitions, she made 21 appearances and scored 12 goals.


title: Karen Carney

text: After a new professional league was announced in the United States, Carney was selected by Chicago Red Stars in the third round (19th overall) of the 2008 WPS International Draft. The Red Stars made Carney their first signing on 27 January 2009. It was confirmed the following day by Arsenal. She joined Head Coach Emma Hayes, who had served as Arsenal's first team assistant coach.


title: Karen Carney

text: In the inaugural 2009 Women's Professional Soccer season, Carney appeared in and started 17 games (1471 minutes) and scored two goals while assisting on another. She scored her first goal for the club during a 4–0 win against the Boston Breakers. The Red Stars finished in sixth place with a record.


title: Karen Carney

text: During the 2010 season, Carney competed in 21 matches. She scored the game-winning goal against Sky Blue FC on 2 August lifting Chicago to a 2–1 win on her birthday. The Red Stars finished the regular season in sixth place with a record.


title: Karen Carney

text: After Chicago Red Stars folded ahead of the 2011 season, Carney re-signed for Birmingham City. During the 2011 FA WSL, she started in all 13 matches and scored 3 goals helping lift the club to a second-place finish. During a 4–0 win against Bristol City, Carney scored a brace. She scored the game-winning goal in a 2–1 win against Arsenal on 28 April.


title: Karen Carney

text: During the 2012 season, Carney started in all 14 matches and scored 3 goals. Birmingham City finished in second place with a record. She scored the winning goal and was Player of the Match in the 2012 FA Women's Cup Final. Due to national team obligations, Carney competed in six matches for Birmingham City during the 2013 season. The club finished in fourth place with a record.


title: Karen Carney

text: Carney was a starting player during the 2014 season in all 14 matches. Her 6 goals ranked first on the team and tied


title: Karen Carney

text: for top in the league. During a match against Manchester City on October 5, her brace led Birmingham City to a 2–1 win. In October 2014 Carney was fined and received a one-match suspension for an incident in July when she told opposition player Natalia Pablos to "fuck off back to Spain". In the last game of the 2014 FA WSL season, she missed a penalty in Birmingham City's 2–2 draw with Notts County that might have led to a league title. Birmingham City finished in third place during the regular season with a record.


title: Karen Carney

text: Carney was the first woman inducted into Birmingham City's Hall of Fame in March 2015. She scored two penalties in Birmingham's 3–0 win at relegation-bound Bristol Academy in September 2015, to help secure the club's WSL 1 status. Despite national team duty at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada, Carney finished the 2015 season with three goals in 11 matches. Birmingham City finished in sixth place with a record.


title: Karen Carney

text: In December 2015, Carney left Birmingham for the second time in her career, transferring to FA WSL champions Chelsea on a two-year contract. She was described as "world-class" by Chelsea manager Emma Hayes, who previously worked with Carney at Arsenal and Chicago Red Stars.


title: Karen Carney

text: During the 2016 FA WSL, Carney scored 3 goals in 16 matches. Chelsea finished in second place with a record. She scored the game-opening goal in the club's 4–1 against Doncaster on 24 March off a penalty. After the match, Hayes noted, "Karen Carney was at the heart and the core of everything, especially in the first half, and she looks like she's been playing at Chelsea for years. I thought she was instrumental in everything we did, whether she was on the left side, down the middle, or on the right." She scored Chelsea's second goal in the 4th minute of a 4–0 against her former club, Birmingham City on 28 August, in her hometown of Solihull. She was named the club's Player of the Year and was short-listed for England Women's Player of the Year.


title: Karen Carney

text: After extending her contract with Chelsea through 2020, Carney's four goals in the seven matches she competed in during the 2017 FA WSL ranked third in the league. Chelsea finished in first place during the regular season with a record. During the 2017–18 FA WSL season, she scored three goals in eight matches, including a brace against Yeovil on 29 October. Chelsea won the league title as well as the 2017–18 FA Women's Cup.


title: Karen Carney

text: In October 2018, Carney's ninth-minute penalty goal captained Chelsea's 1–0 Women's Champions League win over Fiorentina. Carney was named to the 2018–19 Women's Champions League Squad of the Season . Following the match, Carney experienced sexist, death and abuse threats by an Instagram user after the match. The user was banned from the social media platform for threatening and abusive behaviour. Although Carney declined to press charges, England's Football Association called for police involvement. During her final season with the club, Carney scored one goal in 14 matches in the 2018–19 FA WSL.


title: Karen Carney

text: Carney made her senior international debut in England's 4–1 victory over Italy in 2005, coming off the bench to score England's fourth goal. She was the youngest player to earn a senior debut during Hope Powell's tenure as England coach. The same year, she was an integral part of the team at the UEFA Women's Euro 2005 and scored a last-minute, game-winning goal in the 3–2 win over Finland, which earned her significant media attention.


title: Karen Carney

text: In her late teens, Carney won FA Young Player of the Year in 2005 and 2006. In August 2009, she was named to Powell's national team squad for Euro 2009. In the semi-final win over the Netherlands, Powell utilised 20-year-old Jessica Clarke's pace and energy to tire the Dutch full-backs, before introducing substitute Carney to decisive effect.


title: Karen Carney

text: On 23 November 2014, Carney competed in her 100th senior international match in a 3–0 loss to Germany at Wembley Stadium in front of a record 45,619 fans. Carney was the youngest and the eighth player to earn 100 caps for England. The match marked the first time a women's national team game had been played at Wembley. Carney stated the game was her favourite moment in her career: "Getting my 100th cap for England was a real honour... It's every boy's dream to play at Wembley so for me being a girl and leading the national team out at one of the most iconic stadiums in the world is a moment I will never forget."


title: Karen Carney

text: In May 2015, England manager Mark Sampson named Carney in his final squad for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, hosted in Canada. Carney scored in England's 2–1 group stage wins over Mexico and Colombia. England eventually finished third.


title: Karen Carney

text: Carney was named to the 2019 England World Cup squad, and earned her 141st cap in England's first match against Scotland. On 5 July 2019, Carney announced that she would retire after the World Cup third-place final match against Sweden. England lost the match 2–1, and the match saw an Ellen White goal disallowed due to handball.


title: Karen Carney

text: In June 2012, Carney was named in the 18-player Great Britain squad for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. She played in all four games as Great Britain were beaten 2–0 by Canada in the last eight.


title: Karen Carney

text: Carney is from Birmingham. She was born in Hall Green and attended St. Ambrose Barlow Catholic Primary School and St. Peter's RC Secondary School, Solihull. Asked about her origins and outlook in June 2019, she said, "I'm from Birmingham: my mum works at Sainsbury's, my dad is a fire-fighter. We keep it real. We know who we are. I don't need a Bentley; I don't need a Rolex”.


title: Karen Carney

text: Carney graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree from Loughborough University in Sports and Exercise Science with a specialization in Physiology and Sports Psychology. Her dissertation was on "The impact of caffeine on repeated sprint performance in elite female football". In 2013, she graduated from the University of Gloucestershire with a Master of Science in Sports Psychology with a specialization in Performance Psychology. Her dissertation was on "video analysis and coach reflection of team talks within football". As of 2021 she was studying towards a Master of Business Administration at the James Lind Institute, and was set to graduate in 2022. Carney was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to football.


title: Star Wars Forces of Destiny

text: Star Wars Forces of Destiny is a 2D animated web series by Lucasfilm Animation released through Lucasfilm's YouTube channel. Set across multiple eras of the "Star Wars" franchise, it is a collection of two- to three-minute shorts centering on female characters featured in previous "Star Wars" installments. The series premiered on July 3, 2017, beginning the daily release of a set of eight episodes; these episodes subsequently began broadcasting on Disney Channel on July 9. An additional eight episodes were released in Fall 2017, and the second season of eight episodes was released in 2018.


title: Star Wars Forces of Destiny

text: First announced and presented in April 2017 during " Star Wars" Celebration Orlando, "Forces of Destiny" is part of a franchise expansion initiative by Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media and includes a companion toy line by Hasbro and a series of youth-aimed books. The series is the first 2D animated series produced by Lucasfilm since the 2003 "" series and the first 2D project by Lucasfilm Animation, which formed after the development of "Clone Wars".


title: Star Wars Forces of Destiny

text: An animated micro-series starring female characters such as Princess Leia Organa, Sabine Wren, Jyn Erso, Rose Tico, Ahsoka Tano, Padmé Amidala, Hera Syndulla, and Rey.


title: Star Wars Forces of Destiny

text: Matt Lanter and Jim Cummings reprised the roles of Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and space pirate Hondo Ohnaka from "" and "Rebels". Tom Kane returned as Jedi Master Yoda from The Clone Wars, while Taylor Gray and Ritesh Rajan reprised the roles of Jedi Padawan Ezra Bridger and Mandalorian warrior Tristan Wren from Rebels.


title: Star Wars Forces of Destiny

text: Film actor John Boyega returned as defected First Order stormtrooper Finn, with Mark Hamill returning as Luke Skywalker and Anthony Daniels once again providing the voice of protocol droid C-3PO.


title: Star Wars Forces of Destiny

text: Other characters to appear include smugglers Han Solo and Chewbacca, the ewok Wicket W. Warrick, and droids R2-D2, BB-8 and Chopper.


title: Star Wars Forces of Destiny

text: "Forces of Destiny" was announced on April 12, 2017, and a special preview of the series presented at "Star Wars" Celebration Orlando on April 14. The series is the first 2D animated series produced by Lucasfilm since the 2003 "" series and the first 2D animation project created by Lucasfilm Animation; previous 2D animated series such as "", "", and early installments of "Clone Wars" were created before the formation of the studio. The series is part of Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media's franchise expansion initiative.


title: Star Wars Forces of Destiny

text: "Forces of Destiny" was created as a series of web shorts because it was felt to better appeal to children's watching patterns: "The way that kids are consuming content today, they're still watching linear television, but increasingly they're consuming content digitally, online. We've created a story format here that reflects that. It's a combination of digital and linear." Each episode is written by Jennifer Muro and directed by Brad Rau.


title: Star Wars Forces of Destiny

text: A second season of fifteen additional episodes was announced in September 2017. The episodes were released on March 19, 2018 online and aired on Disney Channel on March 25, 2018.


title: Star Wars Forces of Destiny

text: "Forces of Destiny" premiered on July 3, 2017, through Disney's YouTube channel, beginning the daily release of a set of eight episodes. It was initially announced that this release would culminate in the broadcast premiere of the eight episode set on Disney Channel on July 9 as a thirty-minute special, but on July 9, Disney announced via Twitter that only two episodes were going to be broadcast. A second set of eight episodes was released in October 2017. It was subsequently announced that episodes will air in two half-hour specials on Disney Channel on October 1 and 29. The series is available on the Disney+ streaming service, which launched on November 12, 2019.


title: Star Wars Forces of Destiny

text: A series of youth books adapted the episodes. "Daring Adventures: Volume 1" adapted shorts about Sabine, Rey, and Padmé, and "Daring Adventures: Volume 2" adapted shorts about Jyn, Ahsoka, and Leia. IDW Publishing published "Star Wars: Forces of Destiny", a weekly all-ages five-issue comic book miniseries that ran from January to May 2018.


title: Star Wars Forces of Destiny

text: Alongside the initial series announcement, Lucasfilm also announced a related toy line from Hasbro and an apparel line. The toy line features a new class of figures, adventures figures fill the space between action figures and dolls. These 11-inch articulated figures of the six core female characters and smaller paired figures of other characters launched on August 1, 2017 alongside accessories such as lightsabers. Other characters, including Luke Skywalker and Kylo Ren, are intended to be released.


title: Star Wars Forces of Destiny

text: SyFy Wire calls "Forces of Destiny" "a great concept in search of a far better execution. ... What could have been a female-centric version of Genndy Tartakovsky's "Clone Wars" shorts from 2003 is instead a series of disconnected stories tied to a singular visual aesthetic ... As fun as it is to watch these female characters get a bit more screentime, it's still not enough."


title: Mauser Model 1893

text: The Mauser Model 1893 is a bolt-action rifle commonly referred to as the Spanish Mauser, though the model was adopted by other countries in other calibers, most notably the Ottoman Empire. The M1893 was based on the experimental M1892 rifle, which Paul Mauser developed for the Spanish Army as part of a program to correct deficiencies in the earlier 1889, 1890, and 1891 series of Mauser rifles. The M1893 introduced a short staggered-column box magazine that fit flush with the bottom of the stock; the magazine held five smokeless 7×57mm Mauser rounds, which could be reloaded quickly by pushing a stripper clip from the top of the open bolt.


title: Mauser Model 1893

text: The M1893 was developed into several variants, including a shortened carbine adopted by the Spanish as the M1895, and as the M1913 and M1916 short rifles. All versions of the rifle saw extensive service in the Spanish Army, beginning in the Spanish–American War in 1898, the Rif War of 1920–1927, and the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939. The M1916 short rifles remained in production in Spain until 1951, and many of these later rifles were converted to shoot either 7.92×57mm Mauser or 7.62×51mm NATO, including some that were extensively modified as the FR7. The converted rifles were used for training and for the Guardia Civil through the 1950s. In Ottoman service, M1893 rifles saw limited action during the Greco-Turkish War of 1897, the Balkan Wars of 1912–1913, and World War I in 1914–1918.


title: Mauser Model 1893

text: The M1893 proved to be a major success for Mauser, as it provided the basis for later developments, including the Models 1894 and 1896—commonly referred to as Swedish Mausers—the Model 1895, and ultimately the Gewehr 98, one of the most successful bolt-action rifle designs ever produced. For his work, Mauser received the Grand Cross of the Order of Military Merit from Spain. The marked superiority of the M1893 over its American opponent in the Spanish–American War, the Krag–Jørgensens, led the US Army to develop the M1903 Springfield, which itself heavily copied Mauser's designs.


title: Mauser Model 1893

text: In 1887, the Spanish Army began trials of the Turkish Model 1887 Mauser rifles, which utilized black powder cartridges. These rifles did not satisfy the Spanish Army, and so on 2 December 1891, the Army ordered 1,200 Model 1891 Mausers that used new smokeless powder ammunition. The impetus for the change was a series of defeats of Spanish forces around the enclave at Melilla in North Africa. Trials with these guns provided a series of improvement suggestions for Mauser; in addition to Spanish experiences, by that time, the 1889, 1890, and 1891 series of Mauser rifles had been in service with various armies long enough to highlight deficiencies in the designs. Among the issues that had been identified were an unreliable extractor, a detachable box magazine that was frequently lost and extended below the bottom of the stock, which caused problems with carrying the rifle slung. The stripper clip guide and the clips themselves were also unreliable and the bolt design allowed the rifle to double-feed rounds of ammunition. As a result, Paul Mauser decided to design a new rifle that would correct the problems with the earlier rifles, and allow the company to secure more arms contracts.


title: Mauser Model 1893

text: Mauser's design work produced the Model 1892, a transitional design that was manufactured in limited numbers for the Spanish Army. Between 5,000 and 8,000 of the rifles were built for Spain. At the same time, Mauser developed the 7×57mm Mauser cartridge for the Spanish Army, which adopted the round the following year for the M1892 rifles. The M1892 rifle introduced a number of innovations to remedy the problems of the earlier rifles, including the large non-rotating claw extractor on the bolt, which prevented double-feeds. The magazine box and trigger guard were machined as a single piece, preventing the box from being removed and lost, though the magazine was still a single-stack design that extended below the bottom of the stock. The stripper clips and the clip guides were improved to make them easier to use. Other internal changes were made to simplify the action and increase its reliability and safety, including alterations to the sear to prevent it from releasing the firing pin if the bolt was not fully in battery.


title: Mauser Model 1893

text: Spain placed an order for 20,000 of the M1892 rifles on 21 July 1893, with a further 10,000 added on 27 August, but the design quickly led to an improved version, the Model 1893, which replaced the M1892s ordered. The new M1893 version incorporated a staggered 5-round magazine that did not extend below the bottom of the stock. This was the first time a Mauser rifle included a fully contained magazine. Apart from a redesigned receiver to fit the wider magazine, the action of the M1893 was essentially identical to the M1892. The Spanish Army adopted the M1893 on 7 December 1893. For his work in developing such an effective rifle, Mauser received the Grand Cross of the Order of Military Merit from the Spanish government.


title: Mauser Model 1893

text: The M1893 was manufactured in two variants for Spain, a standard rifle with a barrel and a short carbine with a barrel. According to historian John Walter, however, the short version might have been an experimental design only. Both of these variants were chambered in the 7 mm caliber developed by Mauser, and the barrel had 4-groove rifling with a right-hand twist. The rifling twist rate was 1 revolution in . The 7 mm ammunition was fired at a muzzle velocity of from the standard rifle-length barrel. The rifle weighed , while the carbine weighed about . Another variant, built for the Ottoman Army, had the same 29.06-inch barrel as the Spanish rifle, but it was chambered in the slightly larger 7.65×53mm Mauser round. The Ottoman variant weighed about .


title: Mauser Model 1893

text: The receiver for all versions of the rifle and the one-piece bolt were forged steel. The receivers had guides for stripper clips milled into the bridge for increased reliability, though the rifles could also be loaded individually. Most bolts featured a straight handle with a rounded grasping knob, though the short rifles were fitted with bolts that had turned down handles. As was standard for Mauser rifles, the M1893 was configured with a three-position safety that locked the action or allowed the bolt to be worked but with a disabled firing pin, in addition to the fire setting. The safety could only be applied while the action was cocked. The bolt was a cock on close design, and locked with a pair of forward locking lugs; unlike later Mauser designs, it did not include a third, rear locking lug, which was introduced with the Model 1895. The forward receiver ring diameter were the two forward locking lugs achieved lockup is . As a result, the bolt was not as strong as later designs. The M1893 magazine included a bolt stop, which prevented the bolt from being closed on an empty magazine, thus indicating to the soldier that the rifle was empty. To close the bolt with an empty magazine, the follower had to be depressed to clear the bolt stop.


title: Mauser Model 1893

text: The iron sights included a tangent V-notch rear sight that was graduated from to . Later rifles, manufactured from May 1906 onward, received a modernized rear sight, and a third version of the rear sight was adopted in 1913 after an improved 7 mm round, which had the significantly higher muzzle velocity of , was adopted. The barreled receiver was fitted with a wood stock with a straight grip. The stock was attached to the barrel with two barrel bands, the forward-most of which also included a bayonet lug for the rifle variant, while the short carbine did not receive the bayonet lug. Each rifle was issued with an M1893 sword bayonet.


title: Mauser Model 1893

text: In 1894, Mauser designed a new version of the rifle, designated the Model 1894, chambered in 6.5×55mm for the Swedish Army. Further alterations of the basic M1893 design produced the Model 1895, which was chambered in 7 mm and sold in large quantities to Central and South American countries, including Chile, El Salvador, Honduras, Uruguay, and Mexico. The M1895 was also sold to China, Luxembourg, and Persia. Spain also acquired a variant of the M1895 that was essentially identical to the M1893 series with the exception of its barrel.


title: Mauser Model 1893

text: The design was refined further into the Model 1896, which was sold to Sweden and the Boer states, the latter placed into very effective use during the Second Boer War of 1899–1902. The Mauser action was further refined in 1898 with the version that was adopted in Germany as the Gewehr 98, which proved to be the most influential of all bolt-action rifles of its time, leading to various military rifles like the German Karabiner 98k, Czech vz. 24, and the Yugoslav M24 series. The Mauser M98 action is still copied in modern, commercial hunting rifle designs.


title: Mauser Model 1893

text: In addition to Mauser, the Spanish 1893 rifles were manufactured under license by a variety of other firms, including Ludwig Loewe & Company (and its successor, ) of Germany, Fabrique Nationale of Belgium, and and of Spain. A total of 206,830 rifles were manufactured in Germany for Spain by 1899, and from 1896 to 1943, Spanish arsenals manufactured more than 2 million of the rifles including all variants. Over the course of Spanish Mauser production, built some 500,000 M1893 rifles at its factory in Oviedo, along with 850,000 M1895s and 325,000 of the modernized Model 1916 rifles.


title: Mauser Model 1893

text: The 1893 Mauser was used by the Spanish Army in Cuba against US and Cuban insurrectionist forces and in the Philippines against the Philippine Revolutionary Army and US forces during the Spanish–American War in 1898. It gained a deadly reputation particularly from the Battle of San Juan Hill, where only 750 Spanish regulars significantly delayed the advance of 8,500 US troops armed with a mix of outclassed .30–40 Krag–Jørgensen bolt-action rifles and older single-shot, breech-loading Trapdoor Springfield rifles, inflicting 1,400 American casualties. The use of smokeless powder gave the Spanish a major advantage over the single-shot, black powder Springfield that was issued to many United States troops. The Mauser's 7mm cartridge gave some higher velocity and a resultant flatter trajectory over the .30 Army cartridge used in the Krag–Jørgensen rifle. This extended the effective range of Spanish defensive fire. In addition, the higher velocity gave the 7 mm Mauser significantly greater penetrating capability than the .30-40. The M93's stripper clip system allowed the Spaniards to reload far more quickly than could be done with the Krag, whose magazine had to be loaded one round at a time. A United States Army board of investigation was commissioned as a direct result of this battle. They recommended replacement of the Krag. By 1903, American authorities had adopted the M1903 Springfield, which copied the 1898 Mauser's bolt and magazine systems, along with a higher-velocity .30 caliber cartridge, the .30-03 (which was later replaced by the more potent .30-06 Springfield).


title: Mauser Model 1893

text: Spain remained neutral during World War I, but Model 1893 Mausers saw extensive service with both regular troops and the Spanish Legion during the Rif War of 1920–1927 against Moroccan rebels. The rifles were still in service during the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939 on both sides of the conflict. Many of the Model 1893 rifles were modernized during the war. The 7 mm chambered Mausers were replaced in Spanish service in 1943 by the Spanish M43, a derivative of the German 98k, chambered in the more powerful 7.92×57mm Mauser cartridge, though the M1893 and M1916 versions of the rifles remained in service in various capacities into the 1950s. They were still the standard rifle of some Spanish units during the Ifni War, the rifle being also used by their opponents of the Moroccan Army of Liberation. Some of the M1916 guns were modernized in the 1950s and served even longer, though the widespread development of semi-automatic rifles after World War II quickly rendered the Mausers suitable only for second-line duties.


title: Mauser Model 1893

text: Between 1894 and 1899, Mauser manufactured approximately 201,100 of the M1893 rifles for the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Army did not widely issue the rifle to its troops, or indeed train those who were equipped with it. During the Greco-Turkish War of 1897, only about a tenth of Ottoman soldiers were equipped with the rifle, with the remainder carrying obsolescent Snider–Enfields and Martini–Henrys. Many of the M1893s (and other models of modern rifles) acquired by the Ottoman Army were kept in government arsenals rather than issued to soldiers. The same remained true in the Balkan Wars of 1912–1913. Ottoman soldiers, who were typically familiar with old muzzle-loading rifles, frequently had trouble operating the rifle. The rifles continued on in Ottoman service through World War I.


title: Mauser Model 1893

text: A slightly modified M1893 rifle were also sold to Brazil, chambered in 7 mm and designated M1894. Produced in long rifle and carbine version, it was used during the War of Canudos in 1897 and later during the Contestado War alongside the Mauser Model 1908. Moreover, some M1893 long rifles and cavalry carbines in 7.65 mm were made at Fabrique Nationale for the Belgian Gendarmerie, the Garde Civique and the Congo Free State after 1894.


title: Mauser Model 1893

text: When the Ottoman Army learned about the new Spanish model of 1893, it ordered some 200,000 rifles in the same configuration. Their rifles were chambered for the 7.65×53mm Mauser cartridge and were identical to the Spanish model, except for a magazine cut-off, which when engaged permitted the feeding and extraction of single cartridges only while keeping the cartridges in the magazine in reserve, and a cylindrical bolt. The bayonet lug fit the M1890 Bayonet, which the Ottomans had already acquired in large numbers. Most of these rifles still in Turkish hands were later re-barreled and converted to fire the far more common and powerful 7.92×57mm Mauser after the Turkish Army adopted that caliber.


title: Mauser Model 1893

text: The Spanish Army adopted the Model 1895 carbine on 7 May 1895; the rifle was essentially a shortened M1893, with a full-length stock that ran to the muzzle. Though the carbine bears the 1895 designation, it did not include the improvements made in the M1895, and was essentially just a shortened M1893. It received the 1895 designation as the Spanish Army did not approve the carbine for service until that year. Ludwig Loewe manufactured around 22,500 of the M1895 carbines between 1896 and 1897 before licensing production to "Fábrica de Armas", which built an unknown number of the rifles between 1898 and 1915, when production changed over to the Model 1916 short rifle.


title: Mauser Model 1893

text: The carbine had an overall length of , with a barrel and a stock that extended to the end of the barrel. The carbine weighed empty. The M1895 carbine also differed in some minor details, including the rear sight, which was graduated only to , and the bolt handle, which was turned down. Since the carbine was intended to be used by cavalry, it used a single, large lanyard loop on the bottom of the wrist instead of traditional sling loops. In 1896, the design was modified slightly, to add a sling ring to the barrel band and a sling bracket in the left side of the butt. Unlike on the longer rifles, the upper barrel band did not include a bayonet lug. The left side of the rear of the receiver was cut down to facilitate the use of stripper clips.


title: Mauser Model 1893

text: The Model 1913 short rifle was an experimental development to replace the M1895, though it was identical to the M1895 in most respects. The short rifle was slightly shorter than the carbine, at overall, though it was slightly heavier, at empty. It retained the same length barrel and the same action, but unlike the M1895, the forward barrel band incorporated a bayonet lug for the M1893 sword bayonet. The rifle was issued in small numbers for field trials beginning in 1914, but they were soon superseded by the Model 1916 short rifle. Surviving M1913s were issued to buglers in cavalry squadrons beginning on 2 April 1918.


title: Mauser Model 1893

text: The Model 1916 rifle was adopted on 14 November 1916 to replace the M1895 carbine, the short barrels of which were not optimized to take advantage of the higher velocity of the M1913 cartridge. Like the M1913, the left rear of the receiver was cut to facilitate stripper clip loading, though it was cut fully flush with the stock. Gas escape holes were added to the bolt and to the receiver to vent excess gas in the event of a case failure. Also like the M1913, the M1916 rifle had a bent bolt handle, a full-length stock with a lug for an M1913 sword bayonet. Beginning in 1913, large sight protectors were added to the front sight. These rifles featured a barrel, though a carbine version was also manufactured with a barrel, though this may have been an experimental version. The M1916 was manufactured by "Fábrica de Armas" from 1916 to 1951 and "Industrias de Guerra de Cataluna" from 1936 to 1939.


title: Mauser Model 1893

text: Starting in 1943, many of the M1916 rifles were converted to fire the larger and more powerful 7.92×57mm Mauser cartridge, which Spain had adopted that year with the M43 rifle. Some of these guns received new stocks with pistol grips and finger grooves in the fore end. In the 1950s, many of the M1893 and M1916 rifles were converted to accept the 7.62×51mm NATO round. These rifles retained their original furniture and fittings, though some were converted further to the FR7 standard, which received cut down stocks, a shorter barrel, and more modern aperture sights. Both versions of the re-barreled rifles were employed for military training and Guardia Civil use, along with the similarly converted FR8, which was based on the M43 action.


The 2021–2022 Belarus–European Union border crisis is a migrant crisis consisting of an influx of tens of thousands of immigrants, primarily from Iraqi Kurdistan, with smaller groups hailing from elsewhere in Asia and from parts of Africa, to Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland via those countries' borders with Belarus. The crisis was triggered by the severe deterioration in Belarus–European Union relations, following the 2020 Belarusian presidential election, the 2020–2021 Belarusian protests, the Ryanair Flight 4978 incident and its sanctions, and the attempted forced repatriation of Olympic sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya from Tokyo, Japan.


title: 2021–2022 Belarus–European Union border crisis

text: The crisis began sometime around July 7, 2021, when Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko threatened to "flood" the EU with human traffickers, drug smugglers, and armed migrants. Later, Belarusian authorities and state-controlled tourist enterprises, together with some airlines operating in the Middle East, started promoting tours to Belarus by increasing the number of connections from the Middle East and giving those who bought them Belarusian visas, ostensibly for hunting purposes. Social media groups were additionally offering fraudulent advice on the rules of crossing the border to the prospective migrants, most of whom were trying to reach Germany. Those who arrived in Belarus were then given instructions about how and where to trespass the European Union (EU) border, and what to tell the border guards on the other side of the border. Migrants said that Belarus provided them with wire cutters and axes to cut through border fences and enter the EU; however, those who did not manage to cross the border were often forced to stay there by Belarusian authorities, who were accused of assaulting some migrants who failed to get across. Belarusian authorities later confirmed that the involvement of the border troops is "absolutely possible". Belarus refused to allow Polish humanitarian aid for the migrants, which would have included tents and sleeping bags.


text: Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia have described the crisis as hybrid warfare, calling the crisis an incident of human trafficking of migrants, waged by Belarus against the EU. The three governments declared a state of emergency and announced their decisions to build border walls on their borders with Belarus, with Poland approving an estimated €353 million in spending to build a barrier. The EU sent additional supporting officers and patrol cars to Lithuania, and 12 EU governments stated their support for a physical barrier along the border.


text: Human rights organizations voiced concerns over the use of asylum seeker pushbacks by Lithuanian and Polish border guards, the denial of the possibility to lodge an asylum claim, as well as inadequate food, water, and shelter for the migrants, the latter of which was a subject of a European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) order. Polish officials have additionally been criticised for not allowing journalists, doctors, and non-governmental organizations to the border. Human Rights Watch accused Belarusian authorities of manufacturing the crisis, making Belarusian border guards responsible for violence, inhuman and degrading treatment and coercion, and making Polish border guards responsible for pushing the migrants back to Belarus.


text: Alexander Lukashenko has ruled Belarus since July 1994. The Lukashenko regime has been widely accused of electoral fraud in previous elections, including by Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) observers, who were often restricted from monitoring election conduct. He claimed victory in the 2020 Belarusian presidential election, his sixth; however, this has not been recognised in an official capacity by the United States, the EU, the UK, Canada, and their allies. According to independent digital exit polls, Lukashenko might have lost the elections to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and the official results were generally implausible, particularly at the countrywide level but also on a sizeable portion of small electoral districts. Numerous countries refused to accept the result of the election, as did the European Union, which imposed sanctions on Belarusian officials deemed to be responsible for "violence, repression and election fraud". The results of the election also led to widespread protests in Belarus.


text: After the election, security forces brought the primary opposition candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya to the border with Lithuania and pushed her to cross the border under threats of repercussions, which could have possibly affected her children. On 11 August, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius announced that Tsikhanouskaya was "safe" in Lithuania while also acknowledging that she had "few options".


text: On 23 May 2021, Ryanair Flight 4978 was intercepted while in Belarusian airspace and forced to land at Minsk National Airport where two of its passengers, opposition activist and journalist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega, were arrested by authorities. Following the incident, the United States, EU, the United Kingdom and Canada issued a joint statement on 21 June announcing further sanctions against members and supporters of the Belarusian government as well as Belarusian state-owned companies. These included individual travel bans, asset freezes and other sanctions. The European Union also banned Belarusian carriers from flying into EU airspace and imposed economic sanctions on Belarus.


text: At the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, during July and August 2021, Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya criticized national coaches, who then tried to force her back to Belarus; she sought help at the airport and was subsequently granted asylum in Poland.


text: Ethnic and religious minorities from Iraq (Kurds and Yazidis) are the most frequent category of migrants. According to the CBC investigation, many flee persecution from the Islamic State, but also many migrants come from the Kurdistan Region, which is among the safest in the Middle East; they seek a better life abroad due to the lack of opportunities in the region. Thus most of the migrants are Iraqi Kurds but also include numbers of Iraqi Arabs, Syrians, Yemenites, and some from other regions in both Asia and Africa, including from Afghanistan and Cameroon, and a number of Russians.


text: A "reform.by" investigation reported that Iraqi TV repeatedly broadcast statements of Lukashenko about a green light for illegal migration to the EU. News about Belarus–EU tensions were widely discussed in Iraq. Equally high attention to the news related to possible migration to the EU was also reported in Syria. , the Lithuanian vice-minister of internal affairs, said that Belarusian authorities spread fake news, assuring the migrants that Belarus is a convenient gateway to Europe, in order to attract migrants and use them against the EU.


text: It was reported that Iraqi travel agencies were organizing "tourist trips" to Belarus. According to a "reform.by" investigation, in 2021, tourist agencies in Iraq reduced prices for tours to Belarus making them more affordable, and the number of planes to Minsk was increased. Belarusian travel agencies were also active in promoting "tours" to Belarus from Iraq, which advertisement the French foreign ministry says could have been ultimately directed by the Belarusian authorities. Iraqi Airways increased the frequency of service from Baghdad to Minsk to four times in a week; Belavia, Belarus's state-owned airline, also provided more offers to Middle East flyers. A journalist from "Komsomolskaya Pravda" noted that while the flight from Baghdad to Minsk carried about 180 people, only 5 people flew in the opposite direction. On 2 August, it was announced that three new destinations to Minsk were opened from the Iraqi cities of Basra, Erbil and Sulaymaniyah. The country's visa rules were also made much looser that month, allowing citizens of Middle Eastern countries to be issued a Belarusian visa on arrival in Minsk. As a result, tours to Belarus were considered to be one of the easiest and safest ways to get to the EU. Belavia was accused of orchestrating the influx of illegal migrants to Minsk. Another major air route was the Istanbul—Minsk flight operated by Belavia and the Turkish Airlines. On 28 October, Syrian Cham Wings Airlines, after having made several charter flights, launched a daily connection from Damascus to the Belarusian capital. In November, the top manager of the Minsk airport said that the airport was planning to organize new flights to Algeria, Ethiopia, Iran, Kenya, Morocco, Moldova, Qatar, Venezuela and Vietnam.


text: Belarusian state-owned "Tsentrkurort" travel agency (), which is subordinated to the presidential administration of Belarus, is named among the organizations directly responsible for human trafficking. On 13 August, Russian "Dossier" and German "Spiegel" published an investigation based on leaked documents of "Tsentrkurort," according to which "Tsentrkurort" made business with different travel agencies, helping to make visas for hundreds of Iraqi citizens with a "hunting tour" as a legal justification of the tour. The company also organized the transfer of people from the airport to hotels in Minsk. "Oskartur" travel agency () was named another major party involved in this particular scheme. Contentions exist that the label of "hunting tours" are a cover story, since COVID-19 pandemic travel laws have two exceptions to avoid quarantine for foreigners: business trips and hunting. Migrants were allowed in Minsk hostels even though some of them had their visas expired. Belarusian minister of finance reported that the migrants are profitable for Belarusian economy because they bring cash to the country and fill up hotels. It was also reported that several fly-by-night companies and two travel agencies ("Oskartur" and "Vizak") got full access to the international zone of Minsk airport and were even delegated the power, normally reserved to the border guards, to issue visas to the newly arrived people from the Middle East. It was noted that these companies enjoyed the patronage of the airport staff and authorities, while other travel agencies were not allowed to provide similar services for real tourists.


text: According to the investigation of LRT, the Lithuanian state media outlet, Iraqi Kurds claimed that they were told that entering the European Union via Belarus was legal. After a few days in Belarusian hotels, migrants were collected, taken to the border and instructed to proceed on foot, believing that a car would be waiting for them in Lithuania. It was reported that they paid up to €15,000 for travel and tourist visas as well as US$3,000–4,000 deposits. According to the investigation of Belarusian news server "reform.by", people from the Middle East believe that they should destroy their passport in order to avoid deportation from the EU. Belsat TV journalists found groups in social networks and Telegram groups which provide help and advice for those who cross the Belarus–Lithuania border. Videos of people crossing fences on the Lithuanian side were published there. Migrants repeatedly used the cover story that they are students from Belarusian universities.


text: The involvement of Belarusian authorities was unclear during first weeks of the crisis, but it became obvious after several published videos with Belarusian border guards (including the border guards' special forces) assisting migrants to cross the border and preventing them from returning to Belarus. In July, anonymous sources among Belarusian border guards claimed that their bosses had started to encourage cigarette smuggling via checkpoints and to encourage gaps in border cover. Another border guard told "reform.by" about receiving a verbal order to turn a blind eye to illegal migrants. It was also reported that Belarusian border guards stopped communicating with their Lithuanian colleagues. Lithuanian border guards claimed to have visual proofs representing assistance of human traffickers from the Belarusian side: for example, warning them of Lithuanian patrols approaching and indicating which direction to run. On 3 August, Lithuanian authorities published footage made by a Frontex helicopter with a group of migrants and a special vehicle used by Belarusian State Border Committee visible. According to the Lithuanian Minister of Defence Arvydas Anušauskas, unidentified people wearing camouflage uniform instructed the migrants in Belarus before transfer to the border. They gave the migrants advices what to say under interrogation and what to keep silent about. A number of migrants reported that Belarusian security forces helped them by coordinating sneaking through the border, and a conversation was overheard in which a Belarusian guard ordered a few hundred migrants to go to another Belarusian checkpoint in order to spread the flow of those wanting to get to the European Union. "The Times" additionally reported about migrants brought to the border at gunpoint or trucked by people wearing balaclavas; the migrants were then additionally given planks to cross a small border river called Svislach. Later in the crisis, the migrants would be given tools to destroy the border infrastructure (see Poland section). Exiled politician Pavel Latushko claimed that the Belarusian military trained several war veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan to carry out attacks on borders and inside the EU. It was stressed that Belarus previously received significant financial assistance to strengthen the border: in 2001–2012, Belarus received €47.5 million for "integrated border management" and €21 million additionally for related regional projects. After 2012, Belarus received at least €15 million for border-related issues (excluding customs). In particular, EU funded the reequipment of Belarusian border infrastructure which was considered a "significant and effective" help, paid for special BOMBEL project against illegal migration and other projects (AENEAS and AWABEL). On 19 November, Alexander Lukashenko confirmed that the involvement of the border troops is "absolutely possible".


text: Illegal migrants enjoyed full permissiveness violating several Belarusian laws without any punishment. Belarusian lawyer Mikhail Kiryliuk suggested that the migrants made at least five violations of the Code about administrative offenses (articles 11.3, 16.17, 18.20, 18.29, 24.23) and three violations of the Criminal Code (293, 371, 126). He also suggested that inaction of the Belarusian military who stood just behind the migrants attacking Polish border guards can be treated as a violation of the Criminal Code.


text: Smugglers pick those migrants who managed to cross the border in the EU and transfer them westwards (usually to Germany). While human trafficking is a crime, Polish authorities have encountered misinformation suggesting that Poland allowed such operations to take place. Up to 4 November 2021, 235 people have been detained in Podlaskie Voivodeship alone due to human trafficking charges since the crisis on the Polish border began. However, those migrants who fail to cross the border are often prohibited to return home from Belarus and are forced to stay on the border (one of the tactics used by the Belarusian military was compared to anti-retreat forces). A group of Yazidi migrants complained to reporters that they were beaten by Belarusian border guards when they tried to return to Iraq after an unsuccessful attempt to sneak to Poland. The guards, according to these people, forced them to stay on the border. An Iraqi Kurd who decided to seek political asylum in Belarus after unsuccessful attempt to sneak to Poland claimed that the Belarusian police used a stun gun and forced him to leave the country after he declared his wish to stay in Belarus as a legal refugee. According to the Human Rights Watch research, Belarusian border guards gathered those migrants who were pushed back from Poland to Belarus detaining and abusing them in special sites and not letting them to return to Minsk or their home.


text: The main purpose of the Lukashenko-led crisis is, according to Maksim Samorukov of the Carnegie Moscow Center, the attempt to legitimize his rigged reelection in 2020 and to lift sanctions by showing his ability to stop the influx of migrants.


text: Lithuania has a border with Belarus. The border is described as poorly protected, often with low wooden fences or small ditches. Lithuania did not have the necessary infrastructure to accommodate large numbers of migrants.


text: According to public figures, the country had 81 refugees in 2020. Lithuanian and EU officials claim that the illegal immigration was weaponized by the Belarusian president as a response to the harsh sanctions the EU imposed on Belarus, which were imposed due to election fraud, oppression of protests, and the forced landing of Ryanair Flight 4978. Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya is currently living exile in Lithuania, whose government officially recognizes her as the legitimate president of Belarus.


text: In June, Lukashenko threatened to allow human traffickers and drug smugglers into Europe. Later Lukashenko talked about the possible emergence of armed migrants, which was perceived by the Lithuanian officials as a threat.


text: In the years preceding the crisis, the number of illegal migrants crossing into Lithuania via Belarus averaged around 70. However, in June 2021, the number of illegal migrants who were detained rose to around 470, rising to thousands the next month. Lithuanian officials said that Belarusian authorities were encouraging illegal migration from Iraq and Syria to Lithuania by organizing groups of refugees and helping them cross the Belarusian-Lithuanian border. European officials blamed Belarusian travel agencies for helping illegal migrants. The majority of migrants were from Iraq, but citizens of other Middle Eastern and African countries were also among them. Their final destination is usually not Lithuania, but Germany.


text: Belarusian authorities were harshly critical of the EU's decisions. On 28 June, Belarus unilaterally withdrew from its readmission agreement with the EU. The Belarusian representative at the OSCE criticized European officials for politicizing the problem and not cooperating with Belarus. In August, Lukashenko hinted at the possibility of sending not only illegal migrants but also radioactive materials for a "dirty bomb" through the border.


text: Illegal migration from Belarus forced the Lithuanian government to declare a state-level "extraordinary situation" (similar but weaker legal regime than the state of emergency) on 2 July 2021. Lithuania had no experience in dealing with large numbers of illegal migrants and lacked places to accommodate them. Tent camps, which Lithuanian officials described as "not comfortable", were built to accommodate migrants. On 23 July, Lithuanian authorities published a plan to build a container camp near Švenčionėliai for 40,000 migrants in the worst-case scenario. Also that month, residents of Dieveniškės protested against proposed construction of a new camp in their region. On 26 or 27 July, locals tried to block a road to the area near Rūdininkai where a migrant camp was to be placed.


text: Also in July, the Lithuanian Seimas passed a law (signed by president Gitanas Nausėda on 21 July) making deportation of illegal migrants from Lithuania easier. The public opinion in Lithuania opposes illegal migration and xenophobic sentiment is reported to have spread.


text: Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis travelled to Baghdad in order to discuss the problem with the Iraqi authorities. During the trip, he requested the Iraqi government to halt the flights to Belarus. On a separate occasion in mid-July, Landsbergis stated that of those who crossed the border illegally, virtually none would be granted asylum and they would be detained in a tent camp until they could be sent home. By early August 2021, Lithuania had processed 230 asylum applications, all of which were later rejected.


text: In the meantime, in early July, Lithuania announced a plan to build a border barrier to stem the flow of illegal crossings. On 5 August 2021, the chief of the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service presented a project of the proposed barrier for the entire Belarus-Lithuania border which would be high and would use multiple layers of the Concertina wire. The cost of the project is estimated at €150 million and the Lithuanian parliament approved it as a matter of urgency. Other countries and institutions sent reinforcements to assist with the surge. On 24 July, Estonia sent 100 km of barbed wire to help Lithuania to build the border barrier and three drones for the Lithuanian border guards. Non-EU member Ukraine also sent more than 38 tonnes of barbed wire to Lithuania. Meanwhile, by the end of July, EU Frontex deployed 100 officers, 30 patrol cars and 2 helicopters to support Lithuania. Poland provided another helicopter.


text: By 7–8 August, the number of migrants crossing into the country dropped to almost zero after Lithuania sent reinforcements to the border area and began broadcasting warning messages in Arabic, Kurdish, French, Russian and English on loudspeakers.


text: As the number of migrants on the Polish borders surged, and some of them were active in damaging its infrastructure, on 9 November, the Parliament of Lithuania declared the state of emergency in the border regions for one month, prohibiting entry in the area within of the border without Lithuanian State Border Guard Service's approval and authorising the border guards to use "mental coercion" and proportionate physical force to contain the surge.


text: According to a poll conducted in August, 33% (the highest portion) of respondents in Lithuania answered that the best solution to the migration crisis would be to build a physical fence or a wall with Belarus. Other solutions in the answers included: pressure to Iraq, with the help of EU, to stop the flights to Minsk (17%); requesting a transfer of some migrants to the other EU states (14%); paying the migrants for their voluntary return (12%). Another 10% suggested negotiations with Lukashenko and only 3% suggested accepting the migrants with the strong integration programs in place. The remaining 11% did not answer or did not have an opinion.


text: On 12 July 2021, Polish President Andrzej Duda stated that Poland would provide assistance to Lithuania, which it sent later that month. Following the granting of humanitarian visas to an Olympic athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya and her husband, Poland also accused Belarus of organizing hybrid warfare as the number of migrants crossing the Belarus–Poland border sharply increased when compared to the 2020 statistics. On 6 August, Poland reported 133 illegal crossings from Belarus over two days, which is more than the total number in the previous year, with the total number of illegal crossings up to that date being 552. On 9 August, Poland reported an additional 349 migrant arrivals over the weekend. The number of intercepted attempts increased significantly in the autumn. In September 2021, Polish authorities estimated the number of migrants waiting to sneak from Belarus to the EU at 10,000. In total, there were more than 32,000 intercepted attempts of immigrants to cross the Polish border as of 11 November 2021, of which 3,500 attempts were made in August, almost 7,700 in September and almost 17,300 in October. In November 2021, the Polish government estimated that 3,000–4,000 migrants were waiting in the vicinity of the border.


text: In early August, a group of 32 Afghans and 41 Iraqi Kurds appeared on the border in the aftermath of the fall of Kabul and were denied entry to either country, resulting in lines of military personnel on each side isolating the encamped migrants. Their appearance follows an influx of thousands of mostly Western Asian migrants that had crossed the border from Belarus into Poland and other eastern EU members Latvia and Lithuania in the months leading up to the fall of Kabul, with the EU claiming that Belarus purposefully engineered the migration in response to union sanctions. While the Belarusian government denied this accusation, Poland called it a "hybrid attack" on the bloc and said the migrants should not be allowed entry because they are technically still in Belarus. After the migrants sought asylum assistance, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) summoned Poland and Latvia to provide them "food, water, clothing, adequate medical care and, if possible, temporary shelter" for three weeks, according to a statement from the court on 25 August, although neither country was ordered to allow the migrants past the border.


text: Since 18 August 2021, the Polish Armed Forces were sent to secure the border with Belarus. As the number of attempted crossings increased, on 2 September, Poland announced a state of emergency in the areas close to the border, limiting the freedom of movement, freedom of assembly, and, controversially, ordering human rights activists and doctors unaffiliated with the Border Guard to go and effectively forbidding journalists from reporting from the area, which described as an "informational blockade" instituted by Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. The majority of Polish outlets signed a letter demanding that journalists be allowed to enter the restricted zone. Because the Sejm already extended the state of emergency for another 60 days and since Article 230 of the Constitution of Poland prohibits to extend it further, the government announced that it would let the journalists in, while attempting to maintain most of the regulations barring people from entering the zone.


text: Just like Lithuania, Poland announced its intention to build a border wall with Belarus. On 25 October, Mariusz Błaszczak, the defence minister, announced the construction of a permanent border wall on Poland's 400 km border with Belarus at a cost of about 350 million euros. It also announced beefing up the security personnel at the border, which numbered 7,500 as of October 2021 and has steadily risen to 15,000 by mid-November, and using military helicopters to patrol the border.


text: In general, Poles are somewhat approving the government's actions on the border. In August 2021, a poll showed that 45 percent of the Polish public positively assess the government's handling of a migrant standoff on the Belarus-Poland border while 29 percent were critical of it and 26 percent had no opinion. A survey in October found fewer people undecided about the issue of migration, with 54 percent supportive of the government policies and 36 percent opposed, while the one in November saw many more people undecided – a quarter of respondents did not have an opinion on the topic, and the support dropped to 39 percent, with the same proportion of disapproving opinions as the previous month. Moreover, in November 2021, a poll appeared that suggested that some 54.5% of those surveyed were in favour of the policy of pushbacks.


text: In October 2021, the head of the ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) and Poland's deputy Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński accused the Polish opposition parties of supporting Lukashenko's actions. In November 2021, Poland's state-controlled news channel, TVP Info, accused the Polish opposition of "supporting migrants and Lukashenko."


text: On 8 November, former Polish prime minister Donald Tusk called for Poland to invoke Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which would convene a meeting of NATO members to discuss the crisis.


text: On 15 November, the National Bank of Poland announced that it will issue commemorative coins and banknotes dedicated to the defense of the eastern border.


text: On 18 November, Polish authorities announced that Belarus should stop provocations on the border threatening to close the railroad border checkpoint Kuźnica—Bruzgi otherwise.


text: Migrants who wanted to illegally cross the EU border into Poland used violence on several occasions, according to videos published by Polish border forces.


text: On 9 September, the Polish Border Guard published a video of Belarusian military vehicles transporting migrants and instructing them on the Belarusian side of the border.


text: On 8 October, Polish authorities published a video with Belarusian border guards helping the migrants cross the border. On the same day, the Polish military reported shooting (presumably with blank cartridges) occurring from the Belarusian side.


text: On 25 October, Polish media reported about a clash between the Polish soldiers and about 60–70 migrants near the village of Usnarz Górny. Two Polish soldiers were injured by branches and stones, and unidentified people attempted to break a razor wire on the border.


text: On the night between 1 and 2 November, some unidentified uniformed men entered a few hundred meters into the Polish territory and subsequently fled back to Belarus, which made the Polish ministry of foreign affairs to summon the Belarusian "chargé d'affaires."


text: On 8 November, a big crowd of several hundred illegal migrants, escorted by the Belarusian military (presumably Belarusian "siloviki"), tried to break through the Belarus–Poland border near Bruzgi, Grodno Region. The Polish border guards were expecting the column to arrive since the weekend preceding the attempted breakthrough, while the first reports about the big column of migrants heading to the Bruzgi-Kuźnica border crossing appeared in the morning that day. According to "reform.by", the majority of migrants in this group were Iraqi Kurds, who organized and gathered via social media. Belarusian authorities did not allow migrants to go to the neutral zone via the border crossing, but forwarded them to the neutral zone through the nearby forest. Both sides published videos showing attempts to cut the barbed wire with wire cutters and scissors, provided by the Belarusian military, or to destroy it with logs. The migrants threw stones at Polish border guards, who used tear gas in response. Some 21,000 soldiers, border guards and policemen were concentrated in the area. According to "The Guardian" and "Associated Press", the standoff was an attempt to increase pressure on Poland and the European Union by Lukashenko. The atmosphere calmed down the following day.


text: Due to the standoff, the Polish government closed the border crossing at Kuźnica, to the north-east of Białystok. As the traffic was directed to other border crossings, they saw immense queues, with "Rzeczpospolita" reporting a traffic jam full of lorries towards Bobrowniki checkpoint, which it estimated could be passed in 67 hours. The Polish government considered the closure of the whole border with Belarus. The situation on the border also prompted Estonia, France and Ireland to convene a meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the matter on 11 November, and some human rights organisations, including the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, to sue Belarus in the International Criminal Court, alleging crimes against humanity (Belarus is not party to the ICC). Belarus, in its turn, dismisses the allegations as a ploy to detract the inhabitants of the European Union from its own problems. Local representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and International Organization for Migration who visited the camp near Bruzgi offered the migrants to voluntarily return home or to apply for refugee status in Belarus.


text: Belarus's leader raised the possibility of interrupting the Yamal–Europe pipeline carrying Russian gas to the European Union if the bloc imposes further sanctions on Belarus. However, Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose consent was needed before closing the pipe, said that Lukashenko had not consulted him before raising the possibility of stopping gas deliveries coming from Russia to the EU via a pipeline through Belarus, adding that such a move would risk harming relations between the two countries.


text: On 12 November, the Polish Border Guard reported that the Belarusian side was destroying the border fence near Czeremcha and used green lasers and strobe lights in an apparent attempt to blind the patrolling officers, which claim the Belarusians denied. The usage of lasers as blinding weapons is generally prohibited by the United Nations Protocol on Blinding Laser Weapons.


text: On 16 November, the migrants undertook another major attempt to break through the border forcefully. They started to throw rocks, bottles and pieces of wood at the Polish border guards and tried to destroy the border fence in attempt to break through the border at the temporarily closed checkpoint of Bruzgi-Kuźnica. Polish border guards used water cannons, stun grenades and tear gas on the attackers. Polish authorities accused the Belarusian military of supplying the attackers and giving them stun grenades. One Polish officer was wounded in the head. Altogether, Poland registered 161 attempts of illegal border crossing into its territory on 16 November. The Polish border guards were also being attacked by migrants with stones and debris.


text: On 4 August 2021, it was reported that the situation on the Latvia–Belarus border was still relatively peaceful with only four registered incidents of illegal border crossing and a total of 27 third-country nationals detained in the whole 2021. However, that soon changed and already by 8 August, 101 additional third-country nationals had been detained for illegally crossing the Latvia–Belarus border.


text: On 13 August, Latvian Armed Forces (LAF) published a video showing three cases of armed Belarusian border guards trying to expel migrants to Latvia, and not allowing them return to Belarus. The video has not been interdependently proofed. Similar reports about Belarusian border guards pushing out migrants from Belarus to Latvia appeared later.


text: The Cabinet of Ministers of Latvia declared a state of emergency from 11 August until 10 November in the border municipalities of Ludza, Krāslava, and Augšdaugava, and also in Daugavpils city. The government prohibited the submission of applications for refugee status in these border regions, and all migrants captured there had to return to Belarus. President of Latvia Egils Levits said that under international law, refugees should apply for asylum in the first safe country they arrive after leaving their own countries, in this case – Belarus. On 12 November, the Latvian Saeima approved the construction of a border wall on the stretch with Belarus.


text: Latvian border guards reported having turned back over 6,500 people attempting to cross the border from Belarus since the introduction of the state of emergency in August 2021 up to March 2022. The findings of the researchers, however, suggest that what lies behind these figures are largely the same people who were/are subjected to daily pushbacks. This has been officially confirmed by a representative of the State Border Guard who stated in an interview that those apprehended at the border every day are largely the same individuals.


text: According to an independent estimate, the total number of individuals who have attempted to illegally cross the Latvian border since August 2021 could be as low as 250. The same study, based on remote interviews with approximately 30 of the migrants, has also alleged extreme violence and even torture against them at the hands of the Latvian "commandos", police and soldiers. Minister of the Interior of Latvia Marija Golubeva categorically denied the accusations, as did the Ministry of Defense. The State Border Guard called the accusations "blatant defamation" and pointed out that not a single case of the use or even complaints about the use of "physical force and/or special means" by a member of the State Border Guard, the National Armed Forces or the State Police against an illegal border crosser has been recorded, nor has the Emergency Medical Service any information about the injuries that could have been caused by such actions of the aforementioned institutions.


text: The EU condemned the use of migrants as weapons, threatened to impose further sanctions on Belarus, and pressed Iraq to suspend migrant flights between Iraq and Belarus. Iraq had previously promised to establish a joint commission with the EU to address the issue. The EU initially refused a request by the Lithuanian government to help finance a border wall, noting its longstanding policy of not providing money for border barriers. In November, however, a proposal was circulated proposing some EU funding for "border infrastructure", provided the recipient countries permit the EU's own border agency Frontex to help manage the borders, which Poland has to date refused to do. Joanna Hosa of the European Council on Foreign Relations noted that "Poland has an ongoing battle with Brussels over the rule of law situation, and so Poland is trying to show that it can manage the problem alone. Asking the EU for help would not necessarily be an easy thing for the Polish government to do."


text: The EU and Archbishop Wojciech Polak, the head of Catholic Church in Poland, called for humanitarian organizations such as Médecins Sans Frontières to gain access to the borders to help migrants.


text: Estonia, which shares a border with the Russian Federation, has been mobilizing its troops to protect its Southeastern and Northeastern border and constructing border barriers from barbed wire. 17th Engineer Battalion is moving from its place of dislocation (Tapa) towards the Southeastern border. From 19 to 26 November, all flights around the Russian border are forbidden due to the construction of barriers for "hybrid attacks". In November, Estonia announced that they will send 100 troops from engineering, military police and reconnaissance units to Poland.


text: Despite Iraq stopping all direct flights to Belarus, the number of arrivals did not reduce as many people instead began using indirect routes via Dubai, Turkey, Lebanon or Ukraine. There were calls for Ireland, where many companies leasing airplanes are located, to revoke their leases to Belavia, the airline carrying most of the migrants to Belarus. Simon Coveney, the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs, said forcing airlines to break these contracts would be difficult and instead called for further sanctions.


text: Belavia itself originally did not intend to restrict the flow of passengers from the Middle East to Belarus, saying that because it is not a border agency and they cannot distinguish migrants from other passengers, it may not decline services to its customers. Belarus's director of the aviation department of the ministry of transportation, Artem Sikorsky, additionally said that they were forced to fly to Istanbul because they had been shut out of the European Union in May due to the grounding of the plane carrying Roman Protasevich. However, on 12 November 2021, Belavia was legally required by Turkey to deny boarding on any flights to Belarus to the citizens of Iraq, Syria and Yemen. Two days later, Belavia announced that it would deny boarding to the citizens of said countries as well as Afghan nationals on flights from Dubai. Measures to prevent potential migrants from boarding on flights to Belarus were taken by the authorities of Lebanon, UAE and Uzbekistan.


text: The legal status of migrants became more vulnerable after Belarus unilaterally withdrew from the readmission agreement with the EU, and up to 40% of migrants in Lithuanian camps belong to vulnerable groups. EU leaders have supported the Lithuanian government in its efforts.


text: On 4 August 2021, Belarusian border guards claimed that they found an Iraqi man in serious condition in Benyakoni, near the border with Lithuania. The unidentified man allegedly "died in the arms of the [Lithuanian] border guards". Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko ordered an investigation into his death. The Lithuanian Interior Ministry dismissed the Belarusian reports that the Iraqi migrant had been found beaten to death after being turned away at the Lithuanian border, describing it as part of a hybrid war and disinformation being waged by Belarus.


text: Human rights activists accused Polish authorities of denying adequate medical care, food and shelter to stranded migrants, which prompted the intervention of the European Court of Human Rights. On 25 August 2021, the court ordered Poland and Latvia to provide the migrants food, water, clothing, adequate medical care and temporary shelter, should the countries have such possibility. Belarusian authorities refused to accept the Polish humanitarian aid intended for migrants who got stuck on the Belarusian-Polish border at least twice, in August and October.


text: A migrant from Yemen complained to reporters that Belarusian border guards beat up his companion and broke his leg. A group of Yazidis from Iraq made a similar complaint. They also reported food shortages and said they were cold, and some of them sick. Another migrant was reported to be thrown into a river by a Belarusian border guard. Belarusian border guards were also accused of robbing the migrants of their money, phones, documents and other things from their bags. One of the migrants claimed that Belarusian border guards forced to pay US$100 to charge the phone. A Syrian migrant who managed to sneak into Poland but got caught there claimed that the Belarusian military threatened him not to return to Belarus, reportedly claiming that "if you come back, we will kill you". In November 2021, after Iraq launched rescue flights for its citizens, migrants on the Belarusian side of the border reported problems that hindered their return, such as an impossibility to leave the border zone among other problems.