Information for Decision Making

[DaffyVina]

Please see the information previous posted in the threads "Freedom of Information" and "Sources of Information" to understand more detail on why I am posting these threads.

In view of the most recent developments I thought it may be helpful for anyone facing difficult decisions to have some updated free information on here.

I can't post regularly so I have collected a few pertinent recent news articles in this thread.

[DaffyVina]

Ukraine war: Accounts of Russian torture emerge in liberated areas
By Orla Guerin
BBC News, eastern Ukraine
Published 13 September


Artem, a former prisoner of war held by Russian forces in the Ukrainian city of Balakliya
Image caption: Artem says he was held by Russians in a police cell for more than 40 days, and was electrocuted

In north-eastern Ukraine, a counter-offensive has seen the nation's forces recapture swathes of territory, and drive out Russian troops.

But in the newly-liberated areas, relief and sorrow are intertwined - as accounts emerge of torture and killings during the long months of Russian occupation.

Artem, who lives in the city of Balakliya in the Kharkiv region, told the BBC he was held by Russians for more than 40 days and was tortured with electric shocks.

Balakliya was liberated on 8 September after being occupied for more than six months. The epicentre of the brutality was the city's police station, which Russian forces used as their headquarters.

Artem said he could hear screams of pain and terror coming from other cells.

The occupiers made sure the cries could be heard, he said, by turning off the building's noisy ventilation system.

"They turned it off so everyone could hear how people scream when they are shocked with electricity," he told us. "They did this to some of the prisoners every other day... They even did this to the women".

And they did it to Artem, though in his case only once.

"They made me hold two wires," he said.

"There was an electric generator. The faster it went, the higher the voltage. They said, 'if you let it go, you are finished'. Then they started asking questions. They said I was lying, and they started spinning it even more and the voltage increased."

Artem told us he was detained because the Russians found a picture of his brother, a soldier, in uniform. Another man from Balakliya was held for 25 days because he had the Ukrainian flag, Artem said.

A school principal called Tatiana told us she was held in the police station for three days and also heard screams from other cells.

We visited the police station, and saw the Lord's Prayer scratched on the wall of one of the cramped cells, alongside markings to indicate how many days had passed.

Ukrainian police officers say as many as eight men were held in cells intended for two people. They say locals were scared to even pass the station when the Russians were in charge, in case they were grabbed by Russian soldiers.

A wrecked Russian military vehicle abandoned after Ukrainian troops liberated the town of Balakliya, Ukraine, 11 September 2022
IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES
Image caption, Destroyed military vehicles abandoned by Russian forces line the roads of Balakliya

In Balakliya's city centre, where the Ukrainian flag flies again, crowds gathered around a small truck carrying food supplies. Many in the queue were elderly and looked exhausted, but there were happy reunions too as friends embraced each other for the first time since the Russians were driven out.

Just a short walk away at the end of a lonely laneway, some of their victims lie hastily buried by their neighbours. A crude wooden cross marked the makeshift grave of a taxi driver called Petro Shepel. His passenger - whose identity is still unknown - lies next to him.

The stench of death filled the air as the police exhumed their remains, and zipped them into body bags.

The authorities say the two men were shot near a Russian checkpoint on the last day of the occupation.

Petro's mother, Valentyna, looked on as the bodies were exhumed, and she railed against the Russians who killed her only son.

"I want to ask Putin, why did he shoot and kill my son?" she cried.

"What for? Who asked him to come here with such threatening weapons? Not only did he kill our children, but he killed us, their mothers.

"These days I am a dead woman. And I want to address all mothers of the world: rebel against that assassin."

On the road to Balakliya, we saw military vehicles marked with the pro-war "Z" symbol - apparently abandoned by the Russians as they fled.

In a nearby village, we were shown the extensive damage to the school. Local authorities said this was one of the last acts of destruction before the Russians were driven out.

Standing in the ruins, the regional head of Kharkiv, Oleh Syniehubov, said the critical task now was to restore water and electricity supplies, but there are concerns the power lines could be mined.

Asked by the BBC if he thought the Russians could return he replied: "We are in war, there is always danger".


UN: Disabled people used as human shields by Russia
By Ruth Clegg - Disability news producer
Published 9 September

Child in a cot
Image caption: The BBC met this teenager living in a cot in a Ukrainian institution. His protruding ribs show years of malnourishment.

A UN committee has called for the urgent evacuation of disabled people living in institutions in Ukrainian areas under Russian control.

The human rights body said it had received reports of people being used as human shields and being denied access to basic care.

It said at least 12 people had died in one of the facilities in the occupied territories.

The Russian Federation did not give any evidence to the report.

During its press conference, the UN Committee for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities said it was "gravely concerned" about the safety of disabled people in institutions in both Ukraine and the occupied territories.

Its vice-chairman, Jonas Ruskus, said Russian aggression had made what was already a bad situation far worse, with people with learning disabilities and disabled children particularly at risk.

Malnourished children

Mr Ruskus called for the urgent release of the thousands of disabled people living in Ukraine's network of orphanages. The committee's recommendations come after a BBC News investigation exposed widespread abuse of disabled people.

The human rights body is calling for rapid de-institutionalisation, and investment in community services.

We found severely malnourished children neglected and in pain, teenagers tied to benches and adults existing in cots.

The BBC gave evidence at one of the hearings into the experiences of disabled people at a time of war in Ukraine last month.

Olena Zelenska, the First Lady of Ukraine, admitted there should be an "overhaul of the entire system".

She was pressed on the BBC's findings earlier in the week during an interview with Laura Kuenssberg, on her new BBC politics show: "We will have to rebuild the infrastructure. We want kids to stay in foster families and adopted families, in family-type setting. There should be no more orphanages around," she said.

Media caption: BBC footage reveals abuse of disabled Ukrainians

Soviet-era system
Before the Russian invasion, 100,000 children and young people were housed in this kind of facility, with around half of them having a disability. It was estimated that 250 children a day were entering the system - a network of 700 orphanages.

When war broke out in February, many institutions were evacuated, with thousands fleeing to neighbouring countries.

Mrs Zelenska said she wanted those children to come back to Ukraine and a different way of life, but admitted the whole process of de-institutionalisation would be a "challenging thing".

Victor and Ivan
IMAGE SOURCE,BBC NEWS
Image caption: Victor and Ivan were left in an institution from a young age

Her country has the largest number of children living in institutions in Europe. They are casualties of a Soviet-era system which encouraged parents to give their disabled child up to the state.

There is still a belief in parts of Ukrainian society that an institution is the best place for a person with a disability. The majority of children and young people in orphanages have families, but due to a lack of community support, many end up spending their lives in an institution.

The committee also highlighted concerns about the way funding - from the European Union and other international agencies - is being used to support disabled people during the war. It stressed that money should not be spent on expanding or renovating institutions, but should be used on ensuring people could live independently in their own communities, rather than in residential care.


Ukraine war: Hundreds of graves found in liberated Izyum city - officials
By Hugo Bachega in Kyiv and Matt Murphy in London
BBC News
Published 16 September


Ukrainian serviceman walks among graves of mostly unidentified civilians and Ukrainian soldiers at an improvised cemetery in the town of Izium
IMAGE SOURCE,REUTERS
Image caption, A soldier walks among the graves found in the forest

Ukraine says hundreds of graves have been found outside Izyum, days after it was re-taken from Russia.

Wooden crosses, most of them marked with numbers, were discovered in a forest outside the city by advancing Ukrainian forces.

Authorities said they would start exhuming some of the graves on Friday.

It is not yet clear what happened to the victims, but early accounts suggest some may have died from shelling and a lack of access to healthcare.

Speaking on Friday, the head of Ukraine's national police service said most of the bodies belonged to civilians.

Ihor Klymenko told a news conference that although soldiers were also believed to be buried there, there was so far no confirmation.

Earlier, Ukrainian authorities told the BBC more than 400 bodies were thought to be buried at the site.

Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, that "many places of mass burials" had been discovered in some liberated areas.

"We saw many places where people were tortured," Mr Podolyak said. "We saw wildly frightened people who were kept without light, without food, without water, and without the right to justice. Because there was no authority there, there were only people with weapons."

A map showing the burial site in Izyum

The UN says it hopes to send a monitoring team to the city in the coming days.

A spokesperson for the body's human rights' office said it would be trying to find out whether those who died were civilians or military personnel, and the cause of any of the deaths.

Izyum, invaded in the early days of the war, was used by Russia as a key military hub to supply its forces from the east.

In his nightly address, President Volodymyr Zelensky said the "necessary procedural actions" had begun in the area.

"We want the world to know what is really happening and what the Russian occupation has led to. Bucha, Mariupol, now, unfortunately, Izyum... Russia leaves death everywhere," he said. "And it must be held accountable for that."

The Ukrainian leader was referring to alleged mass graves found this spring in Bucha, near the capital Kyiv, and also near Mariupol - the key south-eastern Ukrainian port now occupied by Russian troops.

Andriy Yermak, the head of President Zelensky's office, tweeted a photo of the alleged mass burial site, also saying that more information was expected on Friday.

"A mass burial was found in Izyum, Kharkiv region. Necessary procedures have already begun. All bodies will be exhumed and sent for forensic examination. Expect more information tomorrow.
Russia is a murderer country. A state sponsor of terrorism. pic.twitter.com/7pKTrYvlUF
— Andriy Yermak (@AndriyYermak) September 15, 2022"

Much of Izyum lies in ruins, with one local politician telling reporters that up to 80% of the town's infrastructure has been destroyed, and bodies are still being discovered in the rubble.

Izyum and a number of other cities in the Kharkiv region were liberated earlier this month during a swift Ukrainian counter-offensive that appeared to have surprised Russian troops and left them unprepared to defend their positions.

Ukraine says it has identified more than 21,000 possible war crimes - including killing civilians and rape - committed by Russian troops since President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of the country on 24 February.

Investigators and journalists found what appeared to be evidence of the deliberate killing of civilians in Bucha and other nearby areas.

The International Criminal Court has already sent a team of investigators and forensics experts to Ukraine to investigate this.

The Russian government has repeatedly denied targeting civilians, accusing Ukraine and the West of fabricating evidence.

In a separate development on Friday, the prosecutor general of the Russian-backed self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic was killed in a bomb blast, according to Russian news agencies.

Sergei Gorenko was reported to have died along with his deputy in an explosion at his office in the regional capital.

[DaffyVina]

Ukraine war: Mass exhumations at Izyum forest graves site
By Orla Guerin
BBC News, Izyum, Ukraine
Published 16 September

Emergency workers wearing blue plastic coverings as they dig
IMAGE SOURCE,REUTERS
Image caption, Emergency workers wore blue plastic coverings as they dug



In a pine forest at the edge of Izyum the stench of death filled the air as a mass exhumation got under way.

The earth is giving up its secrets. Ukrainian officials believe war crimes have been committed, which they are determined to document.

Around 100 Ukrainian emergency service workers wearing blue plastic coverings dug into the earth, opening makeshift graves.

They are trying to establish the cause of death of hundreds of people buried in a forest at the edge of the city, recently liberated by advancing Ukrainian forces.

Izyum, invaded in April, was used by Russia as a key military hub to supply its forces from the east.

The exhumation was conducted mostly in silence, as police and prosecutors looked on. One officer put his head in his hands. Another walked away.

Kharkiv regional prosecutor Olexander Ilyenkov says there is no doubt war crimes have been committed here.

"In the first grave, there is a civilian who has a rope over her neck. So we see the traces of torture," he told the BBC.

He said almost everyone died because of Russian soldiers.

"Some of them were killed, some were tortured, some were killed because of Russian Federation air and artillery strikes."


A name written on a grave
Image caption, Some graves were marked with a name, but most only had numbers


Ukraine was determined to show this disturbing sight to the world. Convoys of international journalists were brought to watch on.

The burial ground - beside an existing cemetery - contains row after row of graves, marked by crude wooden crosses.

Names were written on a few, but most were marked only by a number. The burials here were carried out under the orders of the Russians when they were in control.

Ukrainian police say there are 445 new graves at the site, but some contain more than one body. It's unclear how all of them died. Many are said to be civilians, women and children among them.

Prosecutors say some were killed by Russian shelling and others were victims of a Russian airstrike on an apartment block in March, in which 47 people were killed.

Officials say one grave contained around 20 soldiers, some with their hands bound and one with a noose around his neck. The body of a man in military uniform was exhumed and zipped into a white body bag.

As the graves were opened there were sporadic explosions in the distance as the security forces worked to de-mine the area.

72-year-old Hryhorii came to the burial site today to see the grave of his wife, Ludmilla. He told us she was killed on 7 March during heavy shelling in Izyum.

Hryhorii, whose wife is buried at the site
Image caption, Hryhorii's wife is buried at the site

He first had to bury her in the yard of their home, then she was reburied in August. Now her remains will be disturbed once again.

It's only now, since the Russians have been pushed out, that Ukraine can carry out detailed investigations here, and can determine how many victims the occupiers left behind.

A woman who lived opposite the forest told us Russians troops had kept locals away from the cemetery.

A local man named Maxim appeared at the burial site, asking journalists to record his account of torture.

He said he was detained by the Russians in early September, and released by Ukrainian forces when they arrived in Izyum last Saturday (10 September).

He showed us the marks on his wrists caused by handcuffs, and said he had been subjected to electric shocks.

A senior advisor to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky told the BBC evidence of torture was found in some areas recently retaken by Ukrainian forces.

"We saw wildly frightened people who were kept without light, without food, without water, and without the right to justice," Mykhailo Podolyak said.

Kharkiv prosecutor Mr Ilyenkov said several similar burial sites had been found in areas recently retaken by Ukrainian forces.

US national security spokesman John Kirby said reports of the graves in Izyum were "horrifying" but "in keeping with the kind of depravity and the brutality with which Russian forces have been prosecuting this war against Ukraine".

"We're going to continue to actively support efforts to document war crimes and atrocities that Russian forces commit in Ukraine and to assist national and international efforts to identify and hold Russians accountable," he added.

French President Emmanuel Macron condemned "in the strongest possible terms" what he described as the "atrocities" committed in Izyum.

British lawyer Nigel Povoas, who specialises in the prosecution and investigation of major international and transnational crime and who has just returned from Izyum, told the BBC's Newshour he would not be surprised if the exhumations revealed evidence of war crimes.

"I think that the early signs at the moment - although it's very very early - is that some of the bodies have died from shelling or malnutrition and a lack of healthcare," he said. "But as normal bodies are tested and the cause of death determined, I would expect there to be also evidence of torture and executions, because it follows a pattern of what's been happening in the occupied territories."


Ukraine war: Grave sites prompt calls for tribunal over Russian killings
BBC Published 18 September

An exhumed body lies at a grave site in the town of Izyum, 17 September 2022
IMAGE SOURCE,REUTERS
Image caption, Ukrainian and international investigators have been collecting evidence of war crimes

The European Union presidency has called for an international tribunal over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The call, from the Czech Republic which currently holds the rotating presidency of the bloc, came after the discovery of hundreds of graves in Izyum, a town recently liberated by Ukrainian troops.

Many are said to be civilians, women and children among them.

"We stand for the punishment of all war criminals," Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said.

Ukraine says it believes war crimes have been committed in Izyum, where 59 bodies have been exhumed so far - with more expected from the graves in a forest at the edge of the city.

"In the 21st Century, such attacks against the civilian population are unthinkable and abhorrent," Mr Lipavsky said.

"We must not overlook it. We stand for the punishment of all war criminals," he said.

"I call for the speedy establishment of a special international tribunal that will prosecute the crime of aggression."

In his regular address on Saturday evening, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said investigators had discovered new evidence of torture used against the people buried in Izyum, in Kharkiv region.

"More than 10 torture chambers have already been found in the liberated areas of Kharkiv region, in various cities and towns," Mr Zelensky said.

He said the Russians would have to answer "both on the battlefield and in courtrooms".

On Thursday, EU Commission President chief Ursula von der Leyen said she wanted Mr Putin to face the International Criminal Court over war crimes in Ukraine.

Russia claims it is fighting to de-Nazify Ukraine, in a conflict it still refers to as a "special military operation" rather than a war.

It has not commented on the burial sites at Izyum. Moscow has previously denied targeting civilians.

Media caption, Watch: Putin failing on all his strategic military objectives - Radakin

The discovery of the burial sites came as Ukrainian troops continue their counter-offensive in the country's north-east, after successfully recapturing territory from Russia in recent days.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Ukrainian counter-offensives would not change Russia's military plans in the east of Ukraine.

The UK defence ministry says Russia is intensifying attacks on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.

"As it faces setbacks on the front lines, Russia has likely extended the locations it is prepared to strike in an attempt to directly undermine the morale of the Ukrainian people and government," it said in its daily assessment of the conflict.

But Mr Putin is failing "on all his military and strategic objectives" in Ukraine, UK Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin told the BBC on Sunday.

Adm Radakin, however, urged caution as "the likely result with all of this is that it's going to grind on for a long time.

"And that's why there's a wishfulness when people jump to conclusions that either President Putin is weak and his power base might be undermined, or that Ukraine has gained some ground and there's been a magnificent action in the north-east.

"But it doesn't automatically lead on to easy victories elsewhere."


'Walls full of pain': Russia's torture cells in Ukraine
By Orla Guerin
BBC News, Izyum, Ukraine
Published 5 days ago

Russian prison cell in Izyum
Image caption, A cell in a prison abandoned by the Russians in Izyum

For those held in the dank basement cells of a makeshift Russian prison in the Ukrainian city of Izyum, there was more than one type of torture. The occupiers had a menu of abuses.

Mykhailo Ivanovych, 67, says he experienced most of them.
WARNING: You may find the following description distressing.

Sitting in a ward in the city's main hospital - which was badly damaged by shelling - the pensioner recounts the abuses he suffered: electrocution, beatings, broken bones and needles inserted beneath the skin.

His left arm is bandaged and in a sling. He is weary, but his voice is unwavering.


Mykhailo Ivanovych

"They tortured me for 12 days," he tells us.

"They beat me everywhere. They broke my arm. One Russian was holding it and another one beat it with a pipe. They beat me to the point where I didn't feel anything. They used an electric current on my fingertips - how they burned."

Then there were the needles pushed into his back.

"They were long, and they put them under my skin here and here," he says, gesturing to his shoulders. "I was taken from there half-dead when our forces liberated this place."

That was on 11 September, when Ukrainian forces swept into the city, ending more than five months of Russian rule. During the occupation the Russians used the city as a launchpad for attacks in the eastern Donbas region, and as a key logistics base.

Mykhailo was detained along with others who the Russians suspected of sabotage. The prisoners were hooded, sharing the cramped conditions and the abuse.

"All of those held with me were tortured," he says. "Sometimes they took someone from their cells two or even three times in a day. I saw someone being carried out. I think he was dead."

Mykhailo wears a cross around his neck over a striped T-shirt. I ask if he prayed during his time in the cells. "Of course," he replies. "I had to pray. Anyone would be praying there."


A prisoner's message scratched on a cell wall

The torture took place in the police station in Izyum. When we enter it is in disarray, with some doors missing and windows blown out. Like much of Izyum it was shelled by the Russians before they took the city.

Darkness closes in as we descend the stairs to two lower floors of cells. Most are small and bare, apart from grimy bedding and some discarded clothing.

In one cell someone has etched lines on the wall, recording the length of their captivity. The silence is broken by a Ukrainian soldier.

"It seems like all these walls are full of pain and suffering," he says.

Mykhailo's account of suffering electric shocks echoes other testimony we have heard recently in newly liberated areas - including from a former journalist called Maxim, who said he was held in the same cells.

"They attach electrodes and connect a current, and you begin to shake," he said. "I was falling from the chair. The pain was too strong. It was pitch black. They tortured us in complete darkness. They had head lamps. I asked my cellmates how long I had been absent, and they told me 40 minutes. I think that you black out after 15 to 20 minutes."

Ukraine is keen to prove that the torture of civilians - a war crime - was systematic, not haphazard. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky says "10 torture chambers" have been found in recent days in areas here in Kharkiv province retaken by Ukrainian forces.

A short distance from the prison we find investigators at work, combing through a damaged office building used by the Russians as their command centre. We are allowed to enter, wearing protective coverings on our shoes, and face masks, so we don't disturb the evidence.

A sign saying "police" in Russian still hangs over the door. Inside on a desk is a thumbed edition of a Russian daily newspaper.

Lead investigator Leonid Pustovit - wearing white protective overalls - has made a grim discovery. He opens a drawer to show us an axe bearing traces of what looks like blood.

"Our investigation will reveal whose blood it is," he tells us.


Bloodstained axe

He has also found a watch-list kept by the Russians, with names of those thought to be supporting the Ukrainian government. "They were called 'the ones with extremist views'," he says. "They brought them here and interrogated them. They were kept on a short leash."

This broken city is just beginning to tell its stories and reveal how many victims the Russians left behind.

In a pine forest on the edge of the city forensic teams are continuing to exhume human remains from more than 440 graves. The authorities say the dead are mostly civilians, but one grave contained the bodies of 17 soldiers, some with their hands bound and bearing signs of torture.


Body recovered from mass grave in Izyum, 19 Sep 22
IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES
Image caption, Ukraine is examining bodies found in a mass grave on the edge of Izyum

The regional prosecutor told us the Russians had killed almost all of those buried here - one way or another - including by shooting, shelling or air strikes.

As emergency workers carry away remains in a white body bag, Olena Kazabekhov looks on, caught between hope and dread. She has come in search of her father, Petro Vasylchyshyn, who served with Ukraine's 95th Airborne Battalion. The young woman is tearful, leaning on her husband Yurii for support.

"The last phone call we had was on 17th of April," he tells us. "The next day they moved to the frontline, and many of his unit went missing. We know five were killed. Their bodies were found by another unit."

Tormented by unanswered questions, Yurii says they are almost envious of those who at least have remains to bury.

"We know families that were in the same situation as we are now, but they found the bodies, and they are - it's hard to describe - happier than we are, because at least they found them."


Olena Kazabekhov
Image caption, Olena is desperate to find out what happened to her missing father

So far, the military remains unearthed in the forest are of soldiers from a different brigade to his father-in-law's, so he and Olena may have to search elsewhere. For others, the exhumations have already provided answers.

One widely published photo from the burial site showed a decayed hand with blue and yellow bands around the wrist - the colours of Ukraine's flag. A reddish mark was barely visible underneath.

According to a statement on the Facebook page of Ukraine's 93rd Mechanised Brigade, they were the remains of a soldier called Serhiy Sova. When his wife Oksana saw the photo, she recognised the tattoo on his wrist.

Izyum is now a city with deep scars. In every direction there are scorched and battered buildings. The streets are largely lifeless. It's as if residents who survived the shelling and occupation are still scared to come out.

A handful gather in a sunlit square in the city centre to collect some aid being handed out from the back of a van - just small bags of bare essentials. Dasha, 25, is among them, with a lively six-year-old called Tim. She recounts the hardships of recent months, as he chases around the bushes.

"We cooked outside," she says. "The fire truck brought water from the river, but we didn't have drinking water. We went looking for wells so we would have water to drink. Tim was scared to sleep alone. He twitched and had nightmares. The hardest thing was not knowing what tomorrow would bring."


We are still scared... there is no certain victory
Dasha, Resident of Izyum


The Russians may be gone, but she is still unsure what's ahead.

"We are still scared," she says. "We don't know if we will be safe over the longer term. Military actions are still going on, and there is no certain victory. We're hoping and praying for a peaceful sky and for a bright future for our children."

Having regained so much territory so quickly, Ukraine now has to secure it. Driving around in recent days we have seen convoys of tanks and troops, rushing to plug any gaps, and have occasionally heard incoming fire.

President Zelensky says it's not a lull, but the build-up to the battles to come. "It's preparation for the next sequence," he says, "because Ukraine must be free, all of it."

Dasha has a different phrase for the current situation. "It's thin ice," she says.

[DaffyVina]

Sri Lankans freed from Russian brutality in Ukraine
By Sofia Bettiza
BBC News, Kharkiv, Ukraine
Published 6 days ago

Sri Lankan in tears, Kharkiv, 18 Sep 22
Image caption, Tears were shed when the Sri Lankans reconnected with loved ones by phone

Ukraine's recapture of the city of Izyum has brought multiple allegations of atrocities under Russian occupation. Among the accounts emerging is that of a group of Sri Lankans held captive for months. Here, they tell their story.

"We thought we would never get out alive," says Dilujan Paththinajakan.

Dilujan was one of seven Sri Lankans captured by Russian forces in May. The group had just set out on a huge walk to safety from their homes in Kupiansk, north-eastern Ukraine, to the relative safety of Kharkiv, some 120km (75 miles) away.

But at the first checkpoint they came across, they were captured by Russian soldiers. The Sri Lankans were blindfolded, their hands tied, and taken to a machine tool factory in the town of Vovchansk, near the Russian border.

It was the start of a four-month nightmare which would see them kept prisoner, used as forced labour, and even tortured.

WARNING: You may find some of the details below about abuse distressing.


The group had come to Ukraine to find work, or study. Now, they were prisoners, surviving on very little food, only allowed to use the toilet once a day for two minutes. On the occasions they were allowed to shower, that too was restricted to just two minutes.

The men - mainly in their 20s - were all kept in one room. The only woman in the group, 50-year-old Mary Edit Uthajkumar, was kept separately.


Mary Edit Uthajkumar
Image caption, Mary Edit Uthajkumar, 50, said months of solitary confinement had taken a toll

"They locked us in a room," she said "They used to beat us when we went to take a shower. They didn't even allow me to meet the others. We were stuck inside for three months."

Mary, her face already scarred by a car bomb in Sri Lanka, has a heart condition, but didn't receive any medicine for it.

But it was the impact of the solitude which really took its toll.

"Being alone, I was so tense," she says. "They said I was having mental health issues and gave me tablets. But I didn't take them."

Others have been left with even more visible reminders of what they had endured: one of the men removed his shoes to show his toenails had been torn off with pliers. A second man reportedly also suffered that torture.

The group also spoke of being beaten for no apparent reason - of Russian soldiers who would get drunk and then attack them.

"They hit me across the body many times with their guns," said 35-year-old Thinesh Gogenthiran. "One of them punched me in the stomach and I was in pain for two days. He then asked me for money."

"We were very angry and so sad - we cried every day," Dilukshan Robertclive, 25, explained.

"The only thing that kept us going was prayer - and family memories."

Russia has denied targeting civilians or committing war crimes, but the Sri Lankans allegations come alongside many other reports of atrocities committed by Russian occupying forces.

Ukraine has been exhuming bodies from a burial site in forest near Izyum, some of which show signs of torture. And Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said "more than 10 torture chambers have already been found in the liberated areas of Kharkiv region, in various cities and towns".


The liberated Sri Lankans with Ukrainian police in Kharkiv, 18 Sep 22

Freedom for the seven Sri Lankans finally came when the Ukrainian military began retaking areas in eastern Ukraine earlier this month - including Vovchansk.

Once again, the group was able to begin their walk towards Kharkiv. Alone, and without their phones, they had no way to contact their families.

But finally, their luck changed: someone spotted them along the way and called the police. One officer offered them their phone.

The moment Ainkaranathan Ganesamoorthi, 40, saw his wife and daughter on the screen he broke down in tears. Other calls followed, more tears flowed. Eventually, the group huddled around the surprised police chief, engulfing him in a hug.

The group have been taken to Kharkiv, where they are getting medical attention and new clothes, while sleeping in a rehabilitation centre with a pool and gym.

"Now I feel very, very happy," says Dilukshan, with a broad smile.


Prisoner released by Russia 'treated worse than a dog'
By Charley Adams
BBC News
Published 1 day ago

Aiden Aslin
IMAGE SOURCE,THE SUN
Image caption, Aiden Aslin, who was held by Russian-backed forces in Ukraine says he was made to sing the Russian national anthem every morning

A British man released by Russia has said he was "treated worse than a dog" and kept in solitary confinement for five months.

Aiden Aslin has returned to the UK after being detained for months following his capture by Russian-backed forces in Ukraine.

Speaking to the Sun on Sunday, he said after being stabbed he was asked if he wanted a quick or "beautiful death".

He said the prisoners had to sing the Russian national anthem every morning.

"And if you didn't sing it, you would get punished for it. You would get beaten," he said.

In the interview, the former prisoner said he was stabbed during his time being held captive - and beaten because of his tattoos.

Ten detainees, including Mr Aslin, were released on Wednesday evening after Saudi Arabia said it had brokered an exchange between Russia and Ukraine.

Among them were five British nationals who were freed - including John Harding, Dylan Healy, Andrew Hill and Shaun Pinner.

Mr Aslin from Newark, Nottinghamshire was held in April while fighting in the south-eastern city of Mariupol.

He, Mr Pinner and a Moroccan national, Brahim Saadoun, were put on trial in the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic and told they faced the death penalty.

John Harding, Shaun Pinner and Aiden Aslin
IMAGE SOURCE,AIDEN ASLIN
Image caption,
John Harding, Shaun Pinner and Aiden Aslin (pictured left to right) were among the five prisoners of war released.

Referring to a time he was stabbed in the back with a knife, Mr Aslin said: "I knew there was a very high possibility I was about to be killed."

He was then asked by a Russian who was guarding him: "Do you want a quick death or a beautiful death?"

Answering a quick death, Mr Aslin was told: "You're going to have a beautiful death and I'm going to make sure it's a beautiful death."

He said he was beaten for having a tattoo of a Ukrainian trident and for one showing his time in Syria.

Mr Aslin said he was kept in a two-man cell with four people and had to sleep on a mat infested with lice.

"We couldn't go to the toilet properly because we didn't have a toilet", he said, adding that they had to use empty bottles.

Mr Aslin said he survived for three weeks eating pieces of bread and water - and "eventually we had to beg them to give us tap water".

There was a window in the cell, but it had "nothing to protect us from the outside elements" he said, which led to it being cold in the winter.

Talking about when his passport was checked, "as soon as I said Great Britain I got a straight punch to the nose" he said.

Mr Aslin said the only time he was let out was to do propaganda or take phone calls.


War in Ukraine: Fact-checking Russian claims that Nato troops are fighting in Ukraine
By Josh Cheetham & Jake Horton
BBC Reality Check
Published
4 days ago

Russian President Vladimir Putin says there are military units in Ukraine "under the de-facto command of Western advisers".
Claims have also appeared on Russian television and social media channels that Nato troops are actively involved in the war.

Nato member countries have been providing weaponry and logistical support, but have said they aren't sending troops into Ukraine, which is not a member of the alliance.

We've looked at the evidence provided for these claims of Nato boots on the ground in Ukraine.

What is being claimed?
In his national address on 21 September, President Putin said: "The Kyiv regime has launched new gangs of foreign mercenaries and nationalists, military units trained to Nato standards and under the de-facto command of Western advisers."

It's well known that foreign fighters have joined Ukrainian military units. However, claims are being made by Russian officials and media outlets of serving Nato troops on the ground in Ukraine.

On 13 September, Ruslan Ostashko, the host of Vremya Pokazhet (Time Will Tell) on Russia's Channel One said: "In the grand scheme of things, Ukrainian soldiers are there more for appearances, for having photos taken and uploading videos to TikTok, but it's mainly Nato troops fighting there."

RUslan Ostanshko IMAGE SOURCE,CHANNEL ONE
Image caption, Ruslan Ostashko is the host of a daily talk show on Russia's Channel One

Throughout the programme, footage taken from social media of foreigners allegedly fighting in Ukraine was shown as "evidence" of Nato boots on the ground.

Andrei Marochko, a military spokesman for the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) in the east of Ukraine, told Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti: "Our intelligence agencies revealed the arrival of regular Nato officers in the Kharkiv region.

"The purpose of their trip to this area is to organise interaction between foreign and Ukrainian units."

Mr Marochko has also told Russian state TV that Nato officers have arrived in Kramatorsk, a city in the Donetsk region of Ukraine.

Other claims are more generally about the presence of foreign fighters and don't make the direct connection to Nato - but leave the link implied.

For example, Vladimir Kornilov, a columnist for RIA Novosti, has said there had been a "dramatic increase in video footage of people who've come to 'liberate' Izyum, with English being spoken."

What evidence is being given?
It's important to make a clear distinction between those foreign fighters who've travelled independently to Ukraine and troops deployed by Nato member countries.

Russian media outlets haven't provided evidence of serving Nato personnel on the ground, only pointing to the presence of individual foreign fighters on the battlefield.

One of the fighters shown on the Vremya Pokazhet television programme is Malcolm Nance, a former US naval officer, who has regularly posted videos of himself in Ukraine over recent months.

One video, highlighted in the TV programme, shows Mr Nance with an artillery battery behind him, firing what he describes as "the first artillery shot of a massive combined arms, multi-axis ground offensive."

Malcolm Nance tweet: Text: PSA: "What does the first artillery shot of a massive arms, multi axis ground offensive look like? Well according to this Norwegian donated M109 SPG that rolled up next to us I say it sounds distinctly like "What now b*tches?"

With over a million followers on Twitter, there's very little that could be considered covert about Mr Nance's presence in Ukraine.

He is not currently serving in the US military and back in April, he shared online that he had joined the Ukrainian Foreign Legion.

A second individual identified in pro-Russian social media posts is another American, Rob-Roy Lane, who grew up in the US state of Idaho.

Mr Lane also regularly posts online videos of himself embedded with a Ukrainian military unit and names several other foreign volunteers in the team. These videos have been widely shared on pro-Russian social media channels.

Image of Rob-Roy Lane. Text "The presence of American mercenaries in the Izyum grouping of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was confirmed."

There's no online evidence to suggest he has any previous military experience. The US Department of Defense has not responded to requests for comment about his involvement with American military forces.

On his social media account, Mr Lane names several other members in his unit including two British nationals.

​​The UK's Ministry of Defence said it would not comment on the service records of former personnel, or on their activities in conflict zones.

What support is Nato giving?
Nato member countries are providing large quantities of sophisticated weaponry and logistical support to Ukraine, with the United States by far the largest donor.

This equipment includes several weapon systems which are believed to have played key roles in the conflict so far, such as long-range rocket launchers and anti-tank weapons.

And there has also been Western media speculation that Nato members have been helping both with intelligence and the selection of military targets.

Largest providers of military support to Ukraine


There are around 40,000 Nato troops stationed in alliance member countries in the region, such as in the Baltic states and Poland, with another 300,000 troops on high alert in response to Russia's invasion.

Extensive training of Ukrainian forces by Nato members has been taking place outside the country, but no Nato member country has said it has contributed military personnel to fight in Ukraine.

"There is no evidence of Nato ground forces participating in Ukraine," says Edward Arnold at the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi), a defence and security think tank.

"Nor of Nato commanders directing Ukrainian units on the battlefield," he adds. "There is also a very low likelihood of this happening in the future as Nato seeks to mitigate escalation risks."

[DaffyVina]

The following 3 articles are from Al Jazeera:

Latest updates: World leaders address General Assembly
(summary at top of the liveblog)

• Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid has addressed the 77th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) as world leaders gather for the third day.

• A UN Security Council (UNSC) meeting was held on Thursday to discuss the ongoing war in Ukraine.

• Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the UNSC that Ukraine and the West were attempting to impose a “completely different narrative” that sees Moscow as the aggressor.

• Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said there will be “no peace without justice” and expressed confidence in the work of the International Criminal Court.

• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called on UNSC members to hold Russian President Vladimir Putin accountable for shredding the international order.

• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged for a probe into “a catalogue of cruelty” in Ukraine.

• The UNSC has been unable to take any meaningful action on Ukraine because Russia is a permanent veto-wielding member along with the United States, France, the United Kingdom and China.

UN experts conclude war crimes committed in Ukraine conflict
Investigators visited graves and detention and torture centres, and interviewed more than 150 victims and witnesses.
Published On 23 Sep 2022

Two Ukrainian women stand in village of Verbivka in Kharkiv region
Residents wait for a car distributing humanitarian aid, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in the village of Verbivka, recently liberated by Ukrainian Armed Forces, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine, on September 13, 2022 [File: Gleb Garanich/Reuters]

United Nations investigators have concluded that war crimes have been committed in the Ukraine conflict, listing Russian bombardment of civilian areas, executions, torture and sexual violence.

A team of three independent experts visited 27 towns and settlements, as well as graves and detention and torture centres in four regions – Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Sumy. Their findings are based on interviews with more than 150 victims and witnesses.

“Based on the evidence gathered by the commission, it has concluded that war crimes have been committed in Ukraine,” Erik Mose, the head of the investigation team, told the UN Human Rights Council on Friday.

The categorical nature of the statement was unusual. UN investigators typically couch their findings on international crimes in conditional language, referring the final confirmation of war crimes and similar violations to courts of law.

The council was set up by the Commission of Inquiry (COI) – the highest possible level of investigation – in May to investigate crimes following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February.

Speaking a day before the seven-month anniversary of the war, Mose pointed to “the Russian Federation’s use of explosive weapons with wide area effects in populated areas”, which he said was “a source of immense harm and suffering for civilians”.

Mose highlighted that a number of attacks the team had investigated “had been carried out without distinguishing between civilians and combatants”, including attacks with cluster munitions in populated areas.

The team, which plans to broaden the probe beyond the four regions, had been especially “struck by the large number of executions in the areas” that they visited, Mose said, and the frequent “visible signs of executions on bodies, such as hands tied behind backs, gunshot wounds to the head, and slit throats”.

Mose said the commission was currently investigating such deaths in 16 towns and settlements, and had received credible allegations regarding many more cases which it would seek to document.

Forensic technicians dig at the site of a mass grave in a forest on the outskirts of Izyum, eastern Ukraine on September 18, 2022. Ukrainian authorities discovered about 450 graves outside the formerly Russian-occupied city of Izyum with some of the exhumed bodies showing signs of torture [Juan Barreto/AFP]

The investigators had also received “consistent accounts of ill-treatment and torture, which were carried out during unlawful confinement”.

Some of the victims had told the investigators they were transferred to Russia and held for weeks in prisons. Others had “disappeared” following such transfers.

“Interlocutors described beatings, electric shocks, and forced nudity, as well as other types of violations in such detention facilities,” Mose said.

The commission chief said the investigators had also “processed two incidents of ill-treatment against Russian Federation soldiers by Ukrainian forces”, adding that “while few in numbers, such cases continue to be the subject of our attention”.

The team had also documented cases of sexual and gender-based violence, Mose said, in some cases establishing that Russian soldiers were the perpetrators.

“There are examples of cases where relatives were forced to witness the crimes,” he said. “In the cases we have investigated, the age of victims of sexual and gendered-based violence ranged from four to 82 years.”

The commission had documented a wide range of crimes against children, he said, including children who were “raped, tortured, and unlawfully confined”.


At UN General Assembly, leaders condemn Russia’s war in Ukraine
Germany and France denounce Putin’s imperialism in Ukraine, as Qatar, Senegal and Turkey call for peace talks.
Published On 21 Sep 2022

Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz addresses the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly, at UN headquarters, Tuesday, September 20, 2022 [Jason DeCrow/ AP]

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has taken centre stage at the United Nations General Assembly, with Germany and France condemning Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “imperialism”, Qatar, Senegal and Turkey calling for immediate peace talks, and Lithuania urging the establishment of a war crimes tribunal to punish Moscow’s atrocities.

Standing at the UN rostrum in New York late on Tuesday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said there was “no justification whatsoever” for Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine in February. “This is imperialism, plain and simple,” he said, adding that it spelled disaster not just for Europe, but also for the global, rules-based order.

“If we want this war to end, then we cannot be indifferent to how it ends,” Scholz said. “Putin will only give up his war and his imperialist ambitions if he realises that he cannot win.” Germany, therefore, he pledged, will not accept a peace dictated by Russia and will continue supporting “Ukraine with all our might financially, economically, with humanitarian assistance and also with weapons”.

The ongoing General Assembly is the UN’s first full, in-person leader’s summit since the COVID-19 pandemic and comes as the war in Ukraine approaches its seventh month. That conflict has become the largest war in Europe since World War II, with thousands killed and millions forced to flee their homes.

The loss of important grain and fertiliser exports from Ukraine and Russia has meanwhile triggered a global food crisis, especially in developing countries.

In two General Assembly votes soon after the Russian invasion, about 140 of the UN’s member nations overwhelmingly deplored Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and called for an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of all Russian forces from Ukrainian territory. But more than 30 countries abstained, including China, India and South Africa.

French President Emmanuel Macron, in an impassioned speech, said no country should stay neutral about condemning the Russian invasion.

“Those who remain silent today – despite themselves or secretly with a certain complicity – are serving the cause of a new imperialism, a contemporary cynicism that is destroying the world order,” he said, dismissing the narrative that the West was trying to defend outdated values to serve its interests.

“Who here can defend the idea that the invasion of Ukraine justifies no sanction?” he asked. “Who of you here can consider that the day when something similar with a more powerful neighbour happens to you, there’ll be silence from the region, from the world?”

“I call on all the members of this assembly to support us on the path to peace and act to force Russia give up the choice of war so that it realises the cost on itself and us and ends its aggression,” he said. “It’s not about choosing a camp between East and West, but the responsibility of everybody to respect the UN charter.”

‘New Cold War’
Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nauseda meanwhile called on UN member states to create a tribunal to punish alleged Russian war crimes.

“There must be no impunity for the brutal crimes and atrocities committed during the war. Guaranteeing justice and accountability is of vital importance from the standpoint of credibility of the United Nations and the international community,” he said, also urging countries buying Russian oil to end imports and “stop financing this bloody war”.

But some countries expressed unease at having to choose sides.

“I have come to say that Africa has suffered enough of the burden of history; that it does not want to be the breeding ground of a new Cold War, but rather a pole of stability and opportunity open to all its partners, on a mutually beneficial basis,” said Macky Sall, the president of Senegal and the current chairman of the African Union.

“We call for a de-escalation and a cessation of hostilities in Ukraine as well as for a negotiated solution to avoid the catastrophic risk of a potentially global conflict,” he said. “Negotiations and discussions are the best tools we have to promote peace. I launch an appeal to put together a high-level mediation mission to which the African Union stands ready to contribute.”

Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani echoed the call for peace.

“We are fully aware of the complexities of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and its international dimension, nevertheless, we call for a ceasefire and the immediate pursuit of a peaceful solution to the conflict,” he said. “This is how the matter would eventually end anyway, no matter how long the war lasts. Its continuation would not change this result, but would rather increase the number of victims, and double its severe consequences for Europe, Russia and the global economy in general.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, meanwhile, said the deal his country and the UN had recently helped broker on Ukrainian grain exports was one of the global body’s greatest achievements in recent years.

“As a result of our intense efforts with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, we have ensured that Ukrainian grain reaches the world via the Black Sea,” Erdogan said in his address. “This agreement, which is of critical importance in maintaining global grain supplies, is one of the greatest achievements of the UN in recent years.”

Turkey, he said, will continue its efforts to end the war with an agreement that is “based on Ukraine’s territorial integrity and independence”.

Other leaders who spoke on the first day of the general debate included Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Chilean President Gabriel Boric and Swiss President Ignazio Cassis.

United States President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will address the UN General Assembly on Wednesday.

Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping are not attending. They sent their foreign ministers instead.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

[DaffyVina]

Ukraine 'referendums': Soldiers go door-to-door for votes in polls
By James Waterhouse in Ukraine, Paul Adams and Merlyn Thomas in London
BBC News
Published 2 days ago

Soldier casts vote in ballot box
IMAGE SOURCE,REUTERS
Image caption, Russia allowed the media into some polling stations, including this one in Luhansk, where a soldier cast his vote

Ukrainians have reported armed soldiers going door-to-door in occupied parts of the country to collect votes for self-styled "referendums" on joining Russia.

"You have to answer verbally and the soldier marks the answer on the sheet and keeps it," one woman in Enerhodar told the BBC.

In southern Kherson, Russian guardsmen stood with a ballot box in the middle of the city to collect people's votes.

The door-to-door voting is for "security", Russian state media says.

"In-person voting will take place exclusively on 27 September," Tass reported. "On the other days, voting will be organised in communities and in a door-to-door manner."

One woman in Melitopol told the BBC that two local "collaborators" arrived with two Russian soldiers at her parents' flat, to give them a ballot to sign.

"My dad put 'no' [to joining Russia]," the woman said. "My mum stood nearby, and asked what would happen for putting 'no'. They said, 'Nothing'.

"Mum is now worried that the Russians will persecute them."

The woman also said there was one ballot for the entire household, rather than per person.

Although the evidence is anecdotal, the presence of armed men conducting the vote contradicts Moscow's insistence that this is a free or fair process.

Experts say the self-styled referendums, taking place across five days, will allow Russia to claim - illegally - four occupied or partially-occupied regions of Ukraine as their own.

In other words, a false vote on annexation, seven months into Russia's invasion.

The "annexation" would not be recognised internationally, but could lead to Russia claiming that its territory is under attack from Western weapons supplied to Ukraine, which could escalate the war further.

US President Joe Biden described the referendums as "a sham", saying they were a "false pretext" to try to annex parts of Ukraine by force in violation of international law.

"The United States will never recognise Ukrainian territory as anything other than part of Ukraine," he said.

British Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, said the UK had evidence that Russian officials had already set targets for "invented voter turnouts and approval rates for these sham referenda".

Mr Cleverly said Russia planned to formalise the annexation of the four regions - Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia - by the end of the month.

Armed soldier walks past ballot box as people line up to vote
IMAGE SOURCE,REUTERS
Image caption, Ballot boxes being guarded by armed soldiers in Luhansk

A source in Kherson told the BBC there was no public effort to encourage voting, apart from an announcement on the Russian news agency that people can vote at a port building, which had been disused for 10 years.

Another woman in Kherson said she saw "armed militants" outside the building where the vote seemed to be taking place. She pretended to forget her passport, so she didn't have to vote.

The woman said all her friends and family were against the referendum. "We don't know how our life will be after this referendum," she said. "It is very difficult to understand what they want to do."

Kyiv says the referendums will change nothing, and its forces will continue to push to liberate all of the territories.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin's recent mobilisation of at least 300,000 extra troops has caused many Russian men of fighting age to flee.

One young Russian man who left St Petersburg for Kazakhstan to avoid the draft told BBC World Service's Outside Source programme that that most of his friends were also on the move.

"Right now, I feel like it's a total collapse. I know only maybe one or two folks that don't think about exile right now," he said.

He said some, like him, are travelling across the border, whereas others have gone to small Russian villages to hide.

"The big problem of Russia is that we didn't think about the war in Ukraine in February as we think about it right now," he said.

Additional reporting by Hanna Chornous and Daria Sipigina in Ukraine


What is being asked in the 'referendums'?
In the self-declared, unrecognised Luhansk and Donetsk "people's republics", people are being asked whether they "support their republic's accession to Russia as a federal subject"
In Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, they are being asked if they "favour the region's secession from Ukraine, creation of an independent country and subsequent accession to Russia as a federal subject"
In Luhansk and Donetsk, ballots are printed in Russian only
In Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, the ballot is in Ukrainian and Russian
Source: Tass

[DaffyVina]

Ukraine war: Russian pop megastar Alla Pugacheva condemns conflict
By Laurence Peter
BBC News
Published 18 September

Alla Pugacheva, 22 Mar 11
IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES

One of Russia's most popular singers, Alla Pugacheva, has called on the Russian authorities to declare her a "foreign agent", in solidarity with her strongly anti-war husband Maxim Galkin.

A showbiz star too, he was labelled a "foreign agent" on Friday after condemning Russia's attack on Ukraine.

On social media Pugacheva called her husband "a true incorruptible Russian patriot, who wants... an end to our lads dying for illusory aims".

She has been a big star for decades.

She said the Kremlin's "illusory aims" in Ukraine "make our country a pariah and the lives of our citizens extremely difficult".

Galkin, a comedian, TV presenter and singer, wanted "prosperity for his motherland, peace, free speech", she added.

Alla Pugacheva meets President Putin, 22 Dec 14
IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES
Image caption, President Putin greeted Alla Pugacheva in the Kremlin in December 2014

The label "foreign agent" has been applied by the Russian government to various media organisations, campaign groups and individuals openly critical of Kremlin policies.

line
Megastar speaks out
Analysis by Steve Rosenberg, Russia editor

Alla Pugacheva has been a musical megastar here for decades. First, in the Soviet Union, where she began her career in the 1960s; then, after the fall of the USSR, in Russia.

She is a hugely popular and well-respected artist, which makes her public comments about Russia's offensive in Ukraine big news.

Her assertion that "our lads are dying for illusory aims that make our country a pariah and the lives of our citizens extremely difficult" is likely to infuriate the Kremlin.

It remains to be seen whether it will have any effect on Russian public opinion over what the Kremlin still calls its "special military operation".

line
Pugacheva and Galkin went to Israel in late March, a month after the Russian invasion, and Pugacheva returned to Russia late last month with her children.

In early September President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said of Galkin: "Our paths have clearly diverged - he has made very bad statements."

Galkin condemned Russian troops' alleged atrocities and said there could be no justification for the Ukraine invasion.

Artemy Troitsky, a leading figure in Russian music who left the country in 2014 because of his opposition to Vladimir Putin and now lives in Estonia, told the BBC Pugacheva's intervention was significant.

"Alla Pugacheva is the biggest pop star in Russia in the past almost 50 years," he said.

"Her fame is monumental and she's a legendary figure. I think this is something that many people have expected her to do some time ago because her husband, Maxim Galkin, he's made his anti-war statements already many times and several months ago.

"I think this is her first ever strong political statement and this in itself, of course, is quite shocking for the people in Russia. I think she's not the only one who may turn the public opinion. The obvious wrongdoings of the Russian army and the offensive of the Ukrainian army and the worsening economic situation and so on, all those factors they work against Putin and against the war.

"But I think that morally and emotionally this statement of Alla Pugacheva is maybe one of the most strong efforts in these directions."

Russia says it is fighting neo-Nazis in Ukraine - a claim widely dismissed - and that it is threatened by the Nato alliance's strong relations with Ukraine.

Since the invasion on 24 February, the UN has recorded at least 5,718 civilian deaths, with 8,199 injured, and more than seven million Ukrainians have been recorded as refugees across Europe.

The actual civilian death toll is believed to be thousands higher. Tens of thousands of combatants have been killed or injured.

Russia, a global energy supplier, is locked in an economic struggle with the West which imposed sweeping sanctions in response to the invasion.


Ukraine war: The Russians risking freedom to protest against Putin's invasion
By Will Vernon
BBC News, St Petersburg
Published 4 days ago

Two members of the secretive Feminist Anti-War Resistance group in Russia
Image caption, These members of the secretive Feminist Anti-War Resistance group in Russia say the war in Ukraine is "senseless"

It is 03:00 in St Petersburg and the streets are deserted. But in one tiny flat in the centre of the city, two activists are wide awake preparing to do something that can be very dangerous in Russia - stage an anti-war protest.

The pair agreed to meet us, but requested that we protect their identities.

"We do it anonymously, at night, in quiet areas, and we hide from CCTV cameras," says one activist, who goes by the nickname Mitya.

"We always have our hoods up and we wear masks. We make our posters in gloves and we hang them up in gloves," explains the other, who we will refer to as Vorobei.

The Feminist Anti-War Resistance is a secretive protest group that sprang up on the second day of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

When we meet Mitya and Vorobei, their protest has taken the form of an anti-war message spray-painted on the pavement outside a school. It is part of a series of actions targeting mothers - who may one day have to send their sons off to war.

The activists tell me they were motivated to join the group after being shocked at Russia's actions in Ukraine. "The war is horrific," says Mitya. "It's a completely senseless, imperialist war that should never have happened. It's all about the vanity of our president, whom we didn't even elect."


Image caption, Anti-war graffiti painted on a street near a school in St Petersburg lasted just hours before it was painted over

The next morning, we set off to inspect the graffiti that Mitya and Vorobei had painted in front of the school. It is a crisp, clear morning in St Petersburg, and the anti-war message is easily visible to dog walkers in the morning sunshine. But it survived just a few hours before it was painted over.

Vorobei says the group hopes the demonstrations will attract others: "If someone was indifferent before, if they see our poster or sticker, maybe that person will decide they don't support the war."

Being an anti-war activist in Russia is dangerous. Rights groups say there have been more than 16,000 detentions across the country for anti-war actions. Very few people now publicly oppose the war. Those who do speak out risk arrest or losing their job, university place or business.

"There were [street] protests against the war in the first week," Vorobei explains.

"They were all broken up in the most violent way - the police use tasers, batons, there's complete helplessness. And then you might get tortured in the police station. It's absolutely terrifying," says Mitya.

The authorities say the vast majority of Russians support what the Kremlin refers to as the "special military operation" in Ukraine, and they deny allegations that activists are persecuted.

It is very difficult to gauge how many people in Russia oppose the war. Both state polls and those conducted by independent researchers put the level of public support for the military campaign at around 70%.

However, critics say opinion polls cannot be trusted in an authoritarian system like Russia, as people often give a dishonest response for fear of repercussions. Russians are often reluctant to talk about politics openly with strangers.


Vitaly in Smolensk
Image caption, Vitaly began his daily protest when Russia invaded Ukraine in February, and has missed only three days since

Vitaly, though, is one of those Russians who wants to talk.

We travelled to Smolensk, a city in western Russia, to meet him. The 32-year-old former aircraft engineer has staged a public protest in the centre of Smolensk every day since the war began.

In seven months, he has missed just three days - when he was either in jail or at a funeral.

"Why do I go out every day? In order to create a chain reaction of protest," he says.

Vitaly has been arrested, fined and even brutally beaten. But he carries on, and tries to convince others to join him. So far, nobody has. We walk with him to the city centre, where he stands under a fir tree with his anti-war placard.

"Has anything changed? No, but that doesn't mean I'm upset and I'll stop. At the moment I'm still able to do something, I'm not disillusioned yet."

Vitaly's placard reads in Russian: "No to the war!" But he has replaced the first two letters of the word "war" with asterisks.

In March, shortly after the invasion began, the Russian parliament passed a series of new laws making it illegal to use the words "war" or "invasion" in relation to Russia's military campaign in Ukraine.

Doing so could land you in prison.

"The fear is very high," he says, wearily. "I have no solution for how to fight this fear. I understand it completely - people have children, jobs. We are silent, and we are afraid. This is what we need to work on - overcoming the fear."

While we talk, a woman angrily confronts him. She snatches his sign and rips it to pieces, bellowing that he is "selling the Motherland for money".

Vitaly carefully picks up the pieces of his sign, then pulls another from his rucksack. He always carries a spare - just in case.

People in the western Russian city of Smolensk walk past a sign that reads: "We don't abandon our own"
Image caption, A billboard in Smolensk displays the pro-war "Z" symbol with the words: "We don't abandon our own"

I stop passers-by to ask whether they support Vitaly. Many are too scared to speak openly about the war, and almost everyone refuses to give their name.

One woman tells me she totally disagrees with Vitaly: "Russia is doing the right thing [in Ukraine]. Our victory should be total and final."

But many people in Smolensk clearly support his anti-war stance. We see several locals stop to chat, shake his hand and offer kind words.

A young mother called Kira, out walking with her daughter, agrees to speak to me. "We support that young man," she tells me. "The war is very bad. It won't bring anything good, not for our country, or for any other."

Not everyone has been as lucky as Vitaly, who has managed to avoid a long prison sentence - so far. Back in Moscow we went to meet Elena, who wanted to tell us about her son. She shows me his room, untouched since his arrest: "I really miss him. I miss talking to him."

Dima Ivanov, 23, is a gifted student from Moscow State University. He ran a popular social media channel, where he posted anti-war material. In April, he was arrested and given serious criminal charges.

He faces between five and 10 years in prison. In Russia, over 99% of criminal cases end in a guilty verdict.

Russian anti-war protester Dima Ivanov with his lawyer Maria Eismont
Image caption, Russian anti-war protester Dima Ivanov (left) with his lawyer Maria Eismont


Hundreds of political activists have left Russia since the military operation began in February. "I wanted him to leave," says Elena, "but he always refused. He said 'this is my country, why should I leave? I want things to be better here'."

Elena begins to cry. "I didn't want him to end up in prison... it's very difficult for me to think about him suffering."

Amnesty International has declared Dima a "prisoner of conscience".

His mother tells me conditions in the detention centre where Dima is awaiting trial are poor. She reads a letter he has written to her, describing his cell: "It's damp, it's mouldy and the toilets and sinks are broken."

While few in Russia openly voice their opposition to the war, as the conflict drags on and casualties mount, the Kremlin will be uneasy about the potential for more dissent.


Ukraine war: 'What's happening in Russia now is total fear'
By Sarah Rainsford
Eastern Europe correspondent, Vilnius
Published 3 days ago

Police officers detain a woman in Moscow on 21 September 2022, following calls to protest against partial mobilisation announced by President Vladimir Putin
IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES
Image caption, Russian President Vladimir Putin's order for partial mobilisation led to protests in Moscow

In the centre of the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, a large banner is taped to a tall building, above a Ukrainian flag, that reads: "Putin, the Hague is waiting for you."

On city buses, electronic displays flick between announcing their destination and declaring "love" for Ukraine with little hearts.

This week Lithuania - together with Latvia, Estonia and Poland - banned all Russian tourists, arguing they should not be enjoying democracy and freedom in Europe while their government attacks those very values in Ukraine.

The move has raised concerns among Russian opposition activists already abroad.

"It's strange to ban people for being Russian, whether or not they support Putin's regime," argues Anastasia Shevchenko, an activist who spent two years under house arrest for protesting against the Russian president.

When Russia invaded its neighbour, she was serving a suspended sentence and one wrong move, even an anti-war comment, could have put her behind bars.

But Anastasia could not bear to be silenced, so she squeezed her family's life into a couple of cases and they fled in the middle of the night for Lithuania.

Anastasia Shevchenko
Image caption, Anastasia Shevchenko left Russia for Lithuania after her son was asked to write a letter wishing Russian soldiers victory

"What is going on in Russia now is like total fear," Anastasia tells me, in Vilnius. "So many people are frightened because we know they can do anything. It's not only prison, or fines: you can be killed or poisoned. It's like a huge prison. All the country."

Since we spoke, Vladimir Putin has declared a partial mobilisation of Russian reservists - the first real test of support for his invasion. The early signs do not look good.

Protesters came out in several cities shouting "no to war!" and even "Putin to the trenches!". More than a thousand people were detained and some were then served with call-up papers at the police station.

But even more Russians are heading for the border by any route left to them.

While queues to enter Finland are growing, Latvia and Estonia both say escaping enlistment is not grounds for asylum. Lithuania will consider cases individually, but the prime minister clarified that it was "not the duty of other countries to save Russians fleeing mobilisation".

A banner on a building in central Vilnius, Lithuania, reads: "Putin, the Hague is waiting for you"
Image caption,
A building in central Vilnius, Lithuania, displays an anti-Putin message above the Ukrainian flag

Ukrainians have no sympathy with those now protesting against the draft, if those same people did not come out against the killing of Ukrainian civilians.

Some see even the most persecuted Russian activists as cowards, because the risk they face for resisting President Putin is nothing compared to being bombarded by his military.

Those activists, however, insist that it is not that simple.

"Of course, we feel this responsibility. We should have used the opportunity to change our country," former opposition MP Dmitry Gudkov accepts.

"Putin is a war criminal, he is killing people. But how can Russians inside Russia stop Putin? It's not possible."

Mr Gudkov left Moscow well before the war, saying he was warned to go - or go to jail. Today, all prominent Russian opposition figures are either in custody, dead or in exile.

So at a recent gathering in Vilnius, a slogan on stage called on those abroad to "be brave, like Ukraine", but the mood was subdued with a hint of helplessness.

Many are actually now looking to Ukraine to do what they could not achieve peacefully inside Russia: defeat Putin.

"I think the West should ramp-up military assistance to Ukraine, that's the only option," Mr Gudkov says.

Alexei Navalny's team agree, but go further. Since the opposition politician was imprisoned, dozens of his team have moved to Vilnius to escape prosecution as "extremists" themselves.

Leonid Volkov
Image caption, Leonid Volkov, an aide of Putin critic Alexei Navalny, is calling for Western sanctions on Russia's "war enablers"

"Putin committed his gravest mistake when he invaded Ukraine. I believe he dramatically decreased the duration of his reign," Mr Navalny's right-hand man, Leonid Volkov, tells me.

This week's call-up has confirmed that belief, as videos of men saying tearful goodbyes to their families pop up all over the country.

"No-one attacked Russia, no-one needed these separations and these deaths," Mr Volkov wrote on Twitter. "But on 24 February, a maniac led his country down a dead-end."

Mr Navalny's team have been trying to undermine support for the war via YouTube. The audience for their shows, made in Vilnius, has doubled since the invasion.

They are also pushing for more Western sanctions - not visa bans against a whole nation.

They want Ukraine's allies to look beyond President Putin's near-circle and sanction those whom Mr Volkov calls "war enablers" - a list of over 6,000 names, from judges to state journalists.

"Our call to Western governments is to sanction all those people and present them with an exit strategy: tell them what they have to do to get off the list," Mr Volkov says.

"This will create splits. Many will start to jump ship, and Putin's system can't work without them," he adds.

A woman is silhouetted against a TV screen displaying Russian President Vladimir Putin during a televised address to the nation, 21 September 2022
IMAGE SOURCE,EPA
Image caption, In a televised address this week, Vladimir Putin said he was calling up thousands of extra troops to fight in Ukraine

Russian troops have since been forced into retreat from large areas of Ukraine and President Putin has responded as usual: by escalating.

As well as the call-up, there is his threat of annexing more Ukrainian land and another nuclear warning for the West.

Russia's president has staked a huge amount on this campaign and things could well get much worse.

That leaves activist Anastasia Shevchenko struggling with a sense of guilt that she could not do more to stop him.

"I blame myself and it's not a good feeling, believe me," she admits.

But her decision to leave Russia was sealed when her son had to write a letter at his primary school to the soldiers, wishing them victory.

Instead, he told them they had no right to fight their neighbours.

"I think all we can do now as Russians is say sorry - and protest against Vladimir Putin," Anastasia says. "Because Putin personally is the reason for what's going on. Why so many people are dying."

[DaffyVina]

From Al Jazeera:

Hundreds arrested at anti-mobilisation protests in Russia
More than 1,300 arrested at rallies in cities including Moscow and St Petersburg, says independent protest monitoring group.

Published On 21 Sep 2022

UKRAINE-CRISIS/MOBILISATION-PROTESTS
Russian police officers detain a person during an unsanctioned rally [Reuters]


Demonstrators have taken to the streets in several cities in Russia to protest against President Vladimir Putin’s decree to partially mobilise reservists in the country’s armed forces.

Hundreds of people were arrested at anti-mobilisation rallies in cities including Moscow and St Petersburg on Wednesday, according to an independent protest monitoring group.

Protesters in Moscow chanted “No to war!” and “Life to our children!” The Associated Press news agency reported.

In St Petersburg, protesters chanted “No mobilisation!”, the AFP news agency reported.

“Everyone is scared. I am for peace and I don’t want to have to shoot. But coming out now is very dangerous, otherwise, there would be many more people,” said protester Vasily Fedorov, a student wearing a pacifist symbol on his chest.

“I came to say that I am against war and mobilisation,” Oksana Sidorenko, a student, told AFP.

“Why are they deciding my future for me? I’m scared for myself, for my brother,” she added.

Russian police officers detain a man during an unsanctioned rally, after opposition activists called for street protests against the mobilisation of reservists ordered by President Vladimir Putin, in Moscow [Reuters]


Riot police detain a demonstrator during a protest against mobilisation in Moscow [Dmitry Serebryakov/AP Photo]


Despite Russia’s harsh laws against criticising the military and the war, protests took place across the country. More than 1,300 Russians were arrested in anti-war demonstrations in 38 cities, according to the independent Russian human rights group OVD-Info.

The Russian news agency Interfax quoted the interior ministry as saying it had quashed attempts to “organise unauthorised gatherings”.

All the demonstrations were stopped and those who committed “violations” were arrested and led away by police pending an investigation and prosecution, it added.

Earlier, the anti-war movement Vesna Youth Democratic Movement called for demonstrations.

“We call on the Russian military in units and at the frontline to refuse to participate in the ‘special operation’ or to surrender as soon as possible,” Vesna said in an appeal on its website, referring to the Russia-Ukraine war.

“You don’t have to die for Putin,” the statement continued. “You are needed in Russia by those who love you. For the authorities, you are just cannon fodder, where you will be squandered without any meaning or purpose.”

Russian police officers stand guard during an unsanctioned rally, after opposition activists called for street protests against the mobilisation of reservists ordered by President Vladimir Putin, in Moscow, Russia [Reuters]

The website also included a hotline for soldiers within the military who do not want to participate in the war.

The demonstrations came after Putin’s televised address earlier on Wednesday, where he said he was defending Russian territories and that the West wanted to destroy the country.

“We are talking about partial mobilisation, that is, only citizens who are currently in the reserve will be subject to conscription, and above all, those who served in the armed forces have a certain military specialty and relevant experience,” he said.

According to Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu, about 300,000 reservists will be called up.

The mobilisation is being carried out to control “already liberated territories” Shoigu said, in reference to the Russian-controlled regions in eastern and southern Ukraine.

Russian-backed separatists in those areas said they will hold referendums on becoming part of Russia between September 23-27.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES



Russians defy Putin’s mobilisation push, hundreds arrested
Rights groups say more than 730 people were detained at anti-war protests across the country.
Published On 24 Sep 2022


A Russian law enforcement officer detains a person during a rally. [Reuters]


Russian police have dispersed peaceful protests against President Vladimir Putin’s military mobilisation order, arresting hundreds, including some children, across the country, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned Russians that their president was knowingly “sending citizens to their death”.

Police detained nearly 750 people, including more than 370 in the capital Moscow and some 150 in St Petersburg, according to OVD-Info, an independent website that monitors political arrests in Russia. Some of the arrested individuals were minors, OVD-Info said on Saturday.

Protests erupted within hours on Wednesday after Putin announced a call-up of 300,000 army reservists in a move to beef up his forces fighting in Ukraine after the Russian military suffered battlefield setbacks. A Russian general who handled supplies at the Ukraine front lines was replaced on Saturday.

Police deployed in cities where protests were scheduled by opposition group Vesna and supporters of jailed opposition leader Alexey Navalny, quickly arresting demonstrators before they could hold protests.

The Ukrainian president, in his late-night address, called on Moscow’s forces to surrender, saying they would “be treated in a civilised manner… no one will know the circumstances of your surrender”.

The comments came just hours after Russia passed a law making voluntary surrender and desertion a crime punishable by 10 years of imprisonment.

A separate law, also signed on Saturday, facilitated Russian citizenship for foreigners who enlist in the Russian army for at least a year, bypassing the normal requirement for five years of residency in the country.

Russia officially counts millions of former conscripts as reservists – most of the male population of fighting age – and the “partial mobilisation” gave no criteria for who would be called up.

Reports have surfaced of men with no military experience or who are past draft age receiving call-up papers, adding to the outrage that has revived anti-war demonstrations.

Criticism appeared to be spreading

Criticism also appeared to be spreading among Putin’s supporters. The head of the Russian president’s human rights commission, Valery Fadeyev, called on defence minister Sergei Shoigu to put a halt to the brutal manner with which many draft boards were proceeding.

The editor-in-chief of pro-Kremlin Russian television RT also expressed anger at the new recruitments. “They’re infuriating people, as if on purpose, as if out of spite. As if they’d been sent by Kyiv,” she said.

In another rare sign of turmoil, the defence ministry said the deputy minister in charge of logistics, four-star General Dmitry Bulgakov, had been replaced “for transfer to another role”, giving no additional details.

As long queues of men trying to leave the country formed at Russia’s borders, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov delivered a fiery speech at the UN General Assembly accusing Western nations of seeking to “destroy” the nation.
“The official Russophobia in the West is unprecedented, now the scope is grotesque,” Lavrov said.
“They are not shying away from declaring the intent to inflict not only military defeat on our country but also to destroy and fracture Russia.”.

Meanwhile, Russia staged its second day of the so-called referendums in four occupied regions of Ukraine and appears set to formally annex a swath of the territory next week.
Kyiv and the West have denounced the votes as a sham and said outcomes in favour of annexation are pre-determined.

Putin this week warned that Moscow would use “all means” to protect its territory, which former Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev said on social media could include the use of “strategic nuclear weapons”.

The annexation raises concerns that Russia could then view any military move on the occupied regions as an attack on its own territory.


And from the BBC

Ukraine war: Hundreds arrested as Russian draft protests continue
By Matt Murphy
BBC News
Published 1 day ago

A woman is arrested by Russian police
IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES


Hundreds of people have been arrested by authorities as protests against Russia's new "partial mobilisation" continue across the country, an independent rights group has said.

OVD-Info said 724 people were detained across 32 different cities on Saturday.

Widespread demonstrations have broken out since President Vladimir Putin announced plans to draft 300,000 men to fight in Ukraine.

Unsanctioned rallies are banned under Russian law.

But Mr Putin's move to draft civilians into the military has sparked large scale protests in urban areas, with more than 1,000 people being detained at demonstrations earlier this week.

In Moscow, news agency AFP reported witnessing one demonstrator shouting "we are not cannon fodder" as she was arrested by officers.

And in St Petersburg, Russia's second city, one man told reporters: "I don't want to go to war for Putin."

Seventy-year-old Natalya Dubova told AFP that she opposed the war and confessed she was "afraid for young people" being ordered to the front.

Some of those arrested on Saturday reported being given their draft papers after being detained. The Kremlin defended the practice earlier this week, saying "it isn't against the law".

Moscow has also approved harsh new punishments for those accused of dereliction of duty once drafted.

Mr Putin signed fresh decrees on Saturday imposing punishments of up to 10 years imprisonment for any soldier caught surrendering, attempting to desert the military or refusing to fight.

The president also signed orders granting Russian citizenship to any foreign national who signs up to serve a year in the country's military.

The decree, which some observers have suggested displays how severe Moscow's shortage of troops has become, bypasses the usual requirement of five years of residency in the country.

Elsewhere, other young Russians continue to flee mobilisation by seeking to leave the country.

On the border with Georgia, queues of Russian cars stretch back more than 30km (18 miles) and the interior ministry has urged people not to travel.

Local Russian officials have admitted that there's been a significant influx of cars trying to cross - with nearly 2,500 vehicles waiting at one checkpoint.

The admission is a change of tone from Russia, with the Kremlin describing reports of Russians fleeing conscription as "fake" on Thursday.

One man the BBC spoke to in Vladikavkaz in North Ossetia, on the Russian side of the border, said he could see car registration numbers from all over Russia.

"Our people don't have the correct information about the situation in Ukraine," he said. "Also, what I can say about people that I've been speaking with… it's simple, people don't want to go to war."

Meanwhile, Finland has also seen a sharp increase in the number of Russians seeking to enter the country.

Matti Pitkaniitty, a spokesperson for the country's Border Guard, said the number of Russians arriving had more than doubled since last week.

Media caption, Watch: Sped-up footage from earlier this week appears to show large queues at the Russia-Georgia border


On Friday, the government announced plans to stop Russian tourists entering the country.

"The aspiration and purpose is to significantly reduce the number of people coming to Finland from Russia," President Sauli Niinistö told the state broadcaster.

Several other neighbouring states have already ruled out offering asylum to Russians seeking to avoid the draft.

"Many Russians who now flee Russia because of mobilisation were fine with killing Ukrainians," Latvia's Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs said. "They did not protest then. It is not right to consider them as conscientious objectors."

On Friday, the Kremlin revealed a host of occupations it said will be exempt from conscription aimed at boosting its war effort in Ukraine.

IT workers, bankers and journalists working for state media will escape the "partial mobilisation" announced by President Putin on Wednesday.

But some have cast doubt on the truth of the Kremlin's claims, and reports have been emerging of Russian men who do not meet the criteria being called up by local recruiting officers.

Margarita Simonyan, the editor of the state-run media outlet RT, posted to Twitter a list of elderly and disabled citizens ordered to report for duty.

[DaffyVina]

Ukraine war: Zelensky calls for 'just punishment' for Russia
By James FitzGerald
BBC News
Published
3 days ago

Media caption,
Watch: Zelensky demands "just punishment" for Russia

Russia must face "just punishment" over its invasion of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky has told the UN General Assembly in New York.

In a pre-recorded video, the Ukrainian leader called for the creation of a special war tribunal and detailed alleged war crimes by Russia.

He also set out a "formula", including more military support and to punish Russia on the world stage.

Russia's Vladimir Putin had earlier called up 300,000 reservists for duty.

The move prompted rare protests in dozens of Russian cities and Mr Zelensky said the partial mobilisation showed his enemy was not serious about peace talks. Monitoring group OVD-Info said 1,315 Russians had been arrested.

The Kremlin said the call-up would be limited to those who had completed military service and had important skills and combat experience. But some of those arrested during protests in Moscow were also told they would have to sign up, reports say.

The Ukrainian leader said creating a special tribunal would help hold Moscow to account for stealing territory and murdering thousands of people. His address on Wednesday received a standing ovation from many of the session's attendees.

Despite Russia's decision to bolster its military campaign, the two sides took part in the biggest exchange of prisoners since the start of the war.

In a deal brokered by Saudi Arabia, 215 fighters were returned to the Ukrainian side, including 10 foreigners - while Russia took back 55 soldiers. Pro-Russian politician Viktor Medvechuk was also part of the swap. He has been seen as President Putin's closest ally in Ukraine and faced treason charges.

Ukraine said that among those released were 108 members of the Azov battalion who for weeks defied Russia's bombardment of Mariupol and the city's steel plant.

Battalion commander Denys Prokopenko and his deputy were among five senior officers freed. So too was Ukrainian military medic Mariana Mamonova, who is more than eight months pregnant and was being held in the notorious Olenivka prison in an area of eastern Ukraine held by Russian-backed separatists.

She can be seen, looking heavily pregnant, in a video of the exchange released by Ukrainian authorities.
IMAGE SOURCE,UKRAINIAN GOVERNMENT
Image caption, A heavily pregnant Mariana Mamonova was seen in a video of the exchange released by Ukrainian authorities
https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpspr ... 3.png.webp

A fellow prisoner, who was released in July, told the BBC how the medic was forced to live in a cell with several other people, sleeping on the floor and going outside only once a day. Her husband had feared their baby would be taken away.

Ten foreign prisoners held by Russian-backed forces were also released, including five British nationals and two Americans.

In his UN address, Mr Zelensky condemned Russian plans to stage so-called referendums on joining Russia in occupied areas of Ukraine. The vote which is due to start on Friday has been widely condemned as a sham by Western leaders.

He addressed the discovery of 445 new graves in Izyum, a north-eastern city recently retaken from Russian forces during a sweeping Ukrainian counter-offensive.

Mr Zelensky detailed allegations of war crimes in the city, including against one man said to have been castrated and murdered.

"Why are the Russian military so obsessed with castration?" he asked.

UN delegates stand and applaud President Zelensky's video address
IMAGE SOURCE,REUTERS
Image caption, Zelensky's words received a standing ovation from some quarters

The word "punishment" cropped up some 15 times in Mr Zelensky's speech, and was the first of his five non-negotiable conditions for peace.

Russia must face consequences for its aggression, he said, through further sanctions and by the UN stripping Moscow of its powerful role as a permanent Security Council member.

He also called for Ukrainian lives to be protected, and for the country's internationally-recognised borders to be respected.

As his fourth and fifth conditions, he called for new security guarantees for Kyiv, and for the world to unite in calling out Moscow's armed aggression.

Later on Wednesday, the European Union's foreign policy chief said EU countries had agreed to hit Russia with new sanctions.

Josep Borrell told reporters the new restrictions would target Russian individuals and the country's economic sectors.

Sporting his signature green T-shirt in his video, Mr Zelensky thanked the 101 countries at the UN which voted to allow him to address the assembly in a video rather than in person.

He blasted the seven countries including Russia which voted against his video appearance, and criticised those which have remained neutral during the conflict.


Ukraine war: Ukraine will treat Russian deserters fairly, Zelensky vows
By Elsa Maishman
BBC News
Published
22 hours ago

Volodymyr Zelensky
IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES

Russian soldiers who surrender to Ukraine will be treated in a "civilised manner", Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

In his nightly address, Mr Zelensky appealed to Russians to run away or surrender once at the front.

It comes after Vladimir Putin signed a law doubling the punishment for Russian soldiers who desert or disobey orders.

Fresh protests have also broken out over Russia's partial mobilisation of 300,000 extra troops.

Russian human rights organisation OVD-Info reported that 700 people were arrested on Saturday, while more than 1,000 were detained earlier in the week. Unsanctioned rallies are banned under Russian law.

Speaking in Russian - his first language - Mr Zelensky urged Russians to surrender to Ukraine rather than risk being tried as a war criminal after the conflict.

Ukraine will treat deserters in line with international conventions and will not return anyone to Russia if they are afraid of repercussions, he said.

"It is better to surrender to Ukrainian captivity than to be killed by the strikes of our weapons," he added.

President Putin signed a law on Saturday which means Russians who desert, refuse to fight, disobey orders or surrender now face 10 years in prison.

The Russian president's moves are widely seen as an attempt to regain the initiative after his forces suffered setbacks on the battlefield.

A woman is detained by police officers
IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES
Image caption, Hundreds of arrests have been reported at protests in Russia against the mobilisation.


Self-styled referendums on joining Russia are continuing in four regions of Ukraine: Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.

Ukraine and the West have condemned the votes as undemocratic, and there have been numerous reports of locals being intimidated into voting by armed Russian soldiers.

The votes would pave the way for Russia to annex the four regions.

Mr Putin's top diplomat, Sergei Lavrov, said that any regions voting to join Russia would receive the country's full protection, and be bound by all laws and doctrines of Russia.

While annexation would not be recognised internationally, it could lead to Russia claiming that its territory is under attack from Western weapons supplied to Ukraine, escalating the war further.

The partial mobilisation sparked a rush to the border, with some Russians attempting to evade a call-up.

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have closed their borders to most Russians, saying they are not prepared to automatically grant asylum to those fleeing the draft.

Estonian Interior Minister Lauri Laanemets was quoted by the Baltic News Service as saying that the invasion of Ukraine was the "collective responsibility of Russian citizens" and that refusing entry to Russians would hopefully "increase discontent" in Russia.

[DaffyVina]

Nord Stream: Ukraine accuses Russia of pipeline terror attack
By Merlyn Thomas & Robert Plummer
BBC News
Published 3 hours ago

Media caption,
Watch: Footage from the Danish Defence of what it says is a gas leak from the pipelines

Ukraine has accused Russia of causing leaks in two major gas pipelines to Europe in what it described as a "terrorist attack".

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhaylo Podolyak said the damage to Nord Stream 1 and 2 was "an act of aggression" towards the EU.

He added that Russia wanted to cause pre-winter panic and urged the EU to increase military support for Ukraine.

Seismologists reported underwater blasts before the leaks emerged.

"There is no doubt that these were explosions," said Bjorn Lund of Sweden's National Seismology Centre, as quoted by local media.

The operators of Nord Stream 2 warned of a loss of pressure in the pipeline on Monday afternoon. That led to a warning from Danish authorities that ships should avoid the area near the island of Bornholm.

The operator of Nord Stream 1 said the undersea lines had simultaneously sustained "unprecedented" damage in one day.

Denmark's Defence Command has released footage of the leaks which shows bubbles at the surface of the Baltic Sea near the island.

The largest patch of sea disturbance is 1km (0.6 miles) in diameter, it says.

Pipes from Nord Stream projects.
IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES
Image caption,
The gas pipelines have sustained "unprecedented" damage

"Gas leak from NS-1 [Nord Stream 1] is nothing more than a terrorist attack planned by Russia and an act of aggression towards the EU. Russia wants to destabilise the economic situation in Europe and cause pre-winter panic," Ukraine's Mr Podolyak tweeted in English.

He also called on European partners, particularly Germany, to increase military support for Ukraine.

"The best response and security investment are tanks for Ukraine. Especially German ones," he said.

Other European leaders have raised the idea that the damage to the pipelines was deliberately inflicted.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki blamed it on sabotage and said it was probably linked to the war in Ukraine.

Denmark's Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, said it was too early to come to conclusions, but that it was hard to imagine the multiple leaks could be a coincidence.

At the same time, unconfirmed reports in German media said authorities were not ruling out an attack on the undersea gas network.

A Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said he was "extremely concerned" about the incident, and the possibility of a deliberate attack could not be ruled out.

The EU has previously accused Russia of using a reduction in gas supplies as an economic weapon, in response to European sanctions imposed because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

However, Moscow denies this, saying the sanctions have made it impossible to maintain the gas infrastructure properly.

Map showing the route of the Nord Stream pipelines between Russia and Germany.


Whatever the cause of the damage, it will not immediately affect the supply of gas to Europe, as neither pipeline was operational.

The Nord Stream 1 pipeline - which consists of two parallel branches - has not transported any gas since August when Russia closed it down for maintenance.

It stretches 745 miles (1,200km) under the Baltic Sea from the Russian coast near St Petersburg to north-eastern Germany. Its twin pipeline, Nord Stream 2, was halted after the Russian invasion of Ukraine began.

Although neither pipeline is in operation, they both still contain gas.

German, Danish and Swedish authorities are all investigating the incidents.

The Danish energy authority told the Reuters news agency that the leak could continue for several days and perhaps even a week.

The pipeline's operators - Nord Stream AG - said it was impossible to estimate when the system's infrastructure would be restored.

Energy prices have soared since Moscow invaded Ukraine and scarce supplies could push up costs even further.

There are growing fears that families in the EU will be unable to afford the cost of heating this winter.

Poland is leading the effort to curb reliance on Russia, once Europe's main energy supplier, with the inauguration of a new gas pipeline.

The Baltic Pipe will be a new link for Norwegian gas to Europe, which will allow countries to the south of Poland, including Slovakia and the Czech Republic, to access it.