Hundreds of bodies have been exhumed from a mass grave in the recaptured city of Izium, the governor of Kharkiv region said. Oleh Synyehubov told reporters on Friday that 30 of the 436 bodies showed signs of torture. The mass grave was discovered after Ukrainian troops retook Izium on September 10. Three others were also spotted this month in territory previously held by Russian troops, according to Mr Synyehubov. The exhumation comes as the UN has reported that the Russians committed war crimes in Ukraine, including executions, rape and torture. Eric Mose, who heads the Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva that Moscow’s troops were guilty of “a large number” of crimes. There were only two cases involving Ukrainians mistreating Russian soldiers, he added. In other developments, “mock referendums” are being held in an attempt to turn four Moscow-controlled regions of Ukraine into Russian territory. The results are expected to be announced on Tuesday and are likely to dramatically escalate the seven-month war, as experts fear Putin will use the referendum results to justify “self-defence”.
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‘Armed groups’ force Ukrainians to vote in ‘fake’ referendum as Russians show support for occupied territories
Voting began on Friday in hastily organized and highly contested referendums in four Russian-held regions of Ukraine. Serhiy Gaidai, governor of Ukraine’s Luhansk region, said armed pro-Russian groups were sent from house to house to force locals to vote on whether their areas should become part of Russia. The results of the “mock referendums” will be announced on Tuesday.
“Armed groups” force Ukrainians to vote in “fake” referendums
Votes are held in the occupied territories Rory Sullivan23 September 2022 17:25 1663948806
West tries to bridge North-South divide exacerbated by Ukraine war
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari told the General Assembly that the war in Ukraine would hinder “our ability to work together to resolve conflicts elsewhere, especially in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.” He said the war “makes it harder to address perennial UN issues such as nuclear disarmament, Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, Palestinian aspirations for statehood and ‘reducing inequalities within and between nations’.” Some countries have also cited double standards exposed by the way the West has responded to Russia’s war in Ukraine. South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor said the founding principles of the UN were not always applied consistently and fairly, describing the problem as follows: “We believe that international law matters when this is affected, but it does not matter when it is affected this other.” He said global solidarity was needed to address other challenges, such as energy and food insecurity, climate change, other conflicts and the existential threat of nuclear weapons. “Instead of working collectively to address these challenges, we have drifted further apart as geopolitical tensions and mistrust permeate our relationship,” Pandor said. Polish President Andrzej Duda used his speech at the UN to say “a few words of truth to us” leaders of the rich North, or “as others would like to say – the West”. He questioned whether the West was “equally decisive during the tragedies of Syria, Libya, Yemen” and whether the same weight was given to condemning the invasion of Ukraine and issues such as “fighting mercenaries that seek to destabilize the Sahel and threaten many other States in Africa?” “This is how I see the lesson learned from this war: if the United Nations is truly united, any response to violations of international law should be the same – decisive and principled,” Duda said. Maryam Zakir-Hussain23 September 2022 17:00 1663947906
436 bodies exhumed from mass grave in Izium, Ukraine says
Several weeks after Ukraine recaptured the strategic city of Izium, 436 bodies have been exhumed from a mass grave there, the governor of Kharkiv region said. On Friday, Oleh Synyehubov told reporters that 30 of the bodies showed signs of torture. Three other graves have been found in areas retaken by the Ukrainian military this month, he added. Rory Sullivan23 September 2022 16:45 1663947006
France and international partners announce plans to help war-hit food production in Ukraine
France this week convened a meeting with partners including African nations, United Nations agencies and the European Union to urgently address the international food crisis stemming from the war in Ukraine, France’s Elysée presidential palace said. The meeting, held on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, comes as President Emmanuel Macron this week urged neutral countries – many of them in the global South – to side with Ukraine and the West. “Tensions on the food market are worsening more than ever in the context of the war in Ukraine,” the French presidency said in a statement, reiterating its warning of a global food crisis caused by the war. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began in late February, has affected the market for fertilizers and crops, many of which are produced in Ukraine, and this in turn has led to a sharp rise in food prices. Ukraine has been unable to export most of its crops this year because of the war, while production of energy-intensive fertilizers has been hit hard by rising electricity prices around the world. “The EU recalled the existing exemptions on all agri-food products and the provision of additional guidelines to clarify the implementation of the sanctions regime on Russia,” the Elysee said, adding that it also plans to launch an emergency fertilizer purchase mechanism for Africa. A meeting of fertilizer company executives will be convened in Paris ahead of the next G20 summit in mid-November to ramp up production as quickly as possible, the Elysee also said. “Finally, we call on natural gas producers around the world to take responsibility for limiting price increases and ensuring market transparency, which are necessary to maintain fertilizer production capacity in all regions of the world,” added the Elysee. Maryam Zakir-Hussain23 September 2022 16:30 1663945206
Ukraine will never forgive Russia – Russian Nobel laureate
Ukraine will never forgive Russia for a shameful conflict that has set back Russia’s development by half a century to the era of the Soviet Union before Mikhail Gorbachev, journalist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dmitry Muratov told Reuters. Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine has killed tens of thousands, left some Ukrainian cities deserted and sparked Moscow’s biggest confrontation with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Muratov, the longtime editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta, one of Russia’s last independent media outlets, said Ukraine would never agree to peace or the annexation of any of its territory. “Ukraine will never forgive Russia,” Muratov, who founded Novaya Gazeta in 1993 with money from Gorbachev’s Nobel Peace Prize, said in an interview in his office, which is decorated with ice hockey sticks and dozens of front pages from the newspaper. Muratov said modern technology brought the horrors of war to people, along with the devastation of the battle for Mariupol in southern Ukraine and allegations of war crimes against Russian soldiers in Irpin and Bucha. “Many want to forgive everything, but you click on the search engine: Mariupol, Irpin or Bucha. And you can’t forgive anything anymore,” Muratov said. “Every step of this war, every crime and every shot, every torn scrotum will now remain forever.” Ukraine has accused Russia of war crimes. Russia says such accusations are lies. The Russian government did not respond to a request for comment on Muratov’s statements. President Vladimir Putin says Russian soldiers are “heroes” and that all of Russia’s goals will be achieved. Putin sees the operation in Ukraine as an attempt to thwart a Western plot to break up Russia. Ukraine says it is fighting an illegal occupation and will never back down. Maryam Zakir-Hussain23 September 2022 16:00 1663942336
‘I don’t want to die’: Russians continue to flee after Putin orders them to join Ukraine war
About 7,000 people entered Finland from Russia on Thursday, an increase of more than 100% on the same day last week, the latest figures from officials in Helsinki revealed. The exodus comes days after Vladimir Putin announced the mobilization of reservists for the war in Ukraine, with some reports that up to a million people would be called up. Amid somber farewell scenes across Russia, traffic at Vaalimaa, the busiest crossing point between the two countries, was busy in Fridau, with cars queuing up to 400 meters long, longer than the day before, a border official said.
‘I don’t want to die’: Russians continue to flee after Putin orders
The number of people leaving Russia is increasing, Finnish officials say Maryam Zakir-Hussain23 September 2022 15:12 1663939806
Berlusconi, on eve of Italian election, says Putin ‘pushed into war’ with Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin was “pushed” into invading Ukraine to put “decent people” in charge, former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi controversially claimed, days before an Italian general election where his party could help form the new government. The comments by Berlusconi – whose Forza Italia party is part of a right-wing coalition expected to win Sunday’s general election – are likely to worry Western allies. “Putin was pushed by the Russian people, by his party, by his ministers to come up with this special operation,” Berlusconi told Italian public broadcaster RAI late Thursday, using the official…
