US historian leads charity run in Kyiv to highlight the plight of Ukrainian POWs

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — U.S. historian and author Timothy Snyder on Saturday led a charity run in Kyiv to raise awareness of the conditions under which Ukrainian prisoners of war are held in Russia as the conflict approaches a third winter.

The race came following a recent escalation in Russian missile and drone attacks, largely aimed at Ukraine's electricity infrastructure.

People clapped and cheered after Snyder, a 55-year-old Yale University professor who has written extensively on eastern Europe and the global resurgence of authoritarian regimes and is much admired in Ukarine, addressed the nearly thousand runners. He then joined a workout and participated in the run.

“Thousands of Ukrainian civilians and soldiers are illegally held in captivity during an illegal war,” Snyder told The Associated Press just ahead of the run. “This race is about reminding everyone of that and expressing solidarity with Ukrainians and giving Ukrainians a chance to do something together,” he said.

The 5 and 10-kilometer runs took place around a sprawling park in the Ukrainian capital created out of a renovated Soviet-era exhibition center.

The runners included members of the public, servicepeople and veterans, as well as wives of the POWs. Among them was 27-year-old Anastasia Ofyl, whose husband Oleksandr was captured by the Russians. “We have to fight for him,” she said. “That’s why I’m running.”

Ukrainian soldiers often give harrowing accounts of their conditions in Russian captivity when they return home as part of regular prisoner exchanges.

In a report issued in July, a United Nations human rights agency said it “continued to document the widespread use of torture and ill-treatment, including sexual violence, against civilians and Ukrainian prisoners of war held by the Russian Federation.”

Snyder, who has organized fundraisers as part of the country’s war-relief effort, enjoys near-celebrity status in Ukraine. On Tuesday, he visited President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who thanked him for his charity work. The Ukrainian head of state also received former UK prime minister Boris Johnson, former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and the American actor Michael Douglas this week.

After Saturday’s race, Snyder was surrounded by admirers, many of whom waited in line for autographs and selfies. Some asked the historian to sign translated copies of his widely-read books on Ukraine, “Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin” and “The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America.”

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office on Sept. 10, 2024, U.S. historian and author Timothy Snyder, right, meets President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

A man participates a charity run to raise awareness on Ukrainian prisoners of war held by Russia, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

People participate a charity run to raise awareness on Ukrainian prisoners of war held by Russia, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

People participate a charity run to raise awareness on Ukrainian prisoners of war held by Russia, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

People warm up before a charity run to raise awareness on Ukrainian prisoners of war held by Russia, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

A man pushes a woman in a wheelchair during a charity run to raise awareness for people with disabilities as they pass Wave pedestrian bridge in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Women on wheelchairs participate in a charity run to raise awareness for people with disabilities in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

A man is cheered on during a charity run to raise awareness on Ukrainian prisoners of war held by Russia, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

A woman runs with her dog during a charity run to raise awareness on Ukrainian prisoners of war held by Russia, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

A man cheers as he participates in a charity run to raise awareness on Ukrainian prisoners of war held by Russia, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

People participate a charity run to raise awareness on Ukrainian prisoners of war held by Russia, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

People participate a charity run to raise awareness on Ukrainian prisoners of war held by Russia, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

People participate a charity run to raise awareness on Ukrainian prisoners of war held by Russia, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

U.S. historian and author Timothy Snyder gives autographs on his books before charity run to raise awareness on Ukrainian prisoners of war held by Russia, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, shakes hands with Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, shakes hands with Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his wife Olena, center, pose for photo with US actor and UN ambassador Michael Douglas, right, and his son Dylan, left, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

PHOENIX (AP) — Nearly 100,000 voters who haven't submitted citizenship documents might be prevented from participating in Arizona's state and local elections, a significant number for the battleground state where races have been tight.

The announcement Tuesday of an error in state-run databases that reclassified voters comes just four days before county election officials are required to mail ballots to uniformed and overseas voters.

Democratic Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said the error was resolved Tuesday morning, but the voter status of those caught up in it hasn't. Fontes and Stephen Richer, the Republican recorder for Maricopa County, disagree over whether the voters should have access to the full ballot or the ability to vote only in federal races.

Richer filed a special action Tuesday asking the state Supreme Court to settle the question.

“It is my position that these registrants have not satisfied Arizona’s documented proof of citizenship law, and therefore can only vote a ‘FED ONLY’ ballot,” Richer wrote on the social platform X.

Arizona is unique among states in that it requires voters to prove their citizenship to participate in local and state races. Those who haven’t but have sworn to it under the penalty of law are allowed to participate only in federal elections.

Arizona considers drivers’ licenses issued after October 1996 to be valid proof of citizenship. However, a system coding error marked more than 97,500 voters who obtained licenses before 1996 — roughly 2.5% of all registered voters — as full-ballot voters, state officials said.

While the error between the state’s voter registration database and the Motor Vehicle Division won’t impact the presidential race, that number of voters could tip the scales in hotly contested races in the state Legislature where Republicans have a slim majority in both chambers.

It also could affect ballot measures, including the constitutional right to abortion and criminalizing noncitizens for entering Arizona through Mexico at any location other than a port of entry.

Richer said his office discovered earlier this month that someone was classified as both a noncitizen and a full-ballot voter — in violation of state law. The person registered to vote in 2022 but has not cast a ballot in Arizona elections, Richer said.

The discrepancy led to a larger systemic issue with state databases, according to the court filing.

Fontes said the roughly 97,500 voters who were reclassified because of the error — more than half in Maricopa County — are longtime Arizonans and mostly Republicans who should be able to fully participate in the general election.

“This was discovered not because somebody was voting illegally and not because somebody was attempting to vote illegally as far as we can tell,” Fontes said at a Tuesday afternoon news conference. “And this was basic voter roll maintenance and it showed us that there is this issue.”

Richer said Fontes ignored state law by advising county election officials to let affected voters cast full ballots. Fontes said not allowing the voters who believed they had satisfied voting requirements access to the full ballot raises equal protection and due process concerns.

“I am unwilling to disenfranchise this many voters by limiting them suddenly, and with little notice, to a federal only ballot when none of them had notice of or blame for this issue,” Fontes wrote in a letter to county recorders.

Fontes said elections officials eventually will contact the voters but not until the high court settles their status. He said his office would set up an electronic portal where voters can submit citizenship documents, if needed.

Fontes and Richer agreed that the voters would be required to prove they are U.S. citizens to participate in state and local elections after the 2024 general election.

FILE - A voter casts their ballot at a secure ballot drop box at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center in Phoenix, Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)

FILE - Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer speaks during a voting records trial Sept. 21, 2023, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, Pool, File)

FILE - Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes speaks at a campaign rally, Saturday, July 27, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri, File)